Look! Out on the sidewalk! It’s a bird… It’s a plane…
No, it’s a dog in a spandex bodysuit. This isn’t a Halloween costume in the making — it is an actual treatment to relieve itching in dogs with severe allergies.
I recently read about the K9 Top Coat — a spandex suit that might be able to help pets who suffer from severe allergies. Many pets who have severe allergy problems end up on a lifetime of steroids that can stop the itching but in the long term is bad for your pet’s health.
The K9 Top Coat is a drug free alternative. It looks pretty much like a dog-shaped wetsuit. Researchers think the suit works to stop itching because it distracts the brain from registering the itching message. Basically, the feel of the material on the skin overrides the itch of the allergies. (Kind of like how rubbing an injury seems to dissipate the pain.)
Unfortunately, the K9 Top Coat doesn’t stop the source of the problem: the allergies. (The steroids don’t stop the source of the allergies, either.) It can be very helpful in managing symptoms while you try other treatments like allergy testing to find specific allergens and allergy shots to help build up tolerance. Testing and shots can take time before your pet sees much relief — which is where the K9 Top Coat comes in.
I think the idea is a fantastic one, and wonder if a similar suit would work on humans with skin allergies, rashes, or even chicken pox. Of course, I can also envision the hilarity of trying to get one of these spandex suits onto my dogs! It’s hard enough to get Moose’s feet into his harness the right way… I can’t imagine trying to wrestle him into a full bodysuit.
It sure would be fun! If you’d like to check out the K9 Top Coat for yourself, visit www.k9topcoat.com.