Beyond Itchy Pet Awareness Month: turning awareness into action

Photo: Bigstock/Life on White

 

Most of us can remember a time when an itchy mosquito bite or a patch of poison ivy left us restless, distracted, and uncomfortable. Now, imagine that same discomfort lingering day after day, with no relief in sight. That's the reality for millions of pets living with chronic skin allergies.

Each August, Itchy Pet Awareness Month shines a spotlight on these conditions, some of the most common, costly, and frustrating problems seen in veterinary practice. However, this is a 12-month-a-year issue. In 2024 alone, Nationwide received more than 450,000 canine claims for skin allergies, marking the 13^th consecutive year they topped the list of most frequent canine insurance claims. These conditions don't just affect pets' skin; they impact their quality of life, the human-animal bond, and often require a lifetime of management. For veterinary teams, this month offers a timely opportunity to educate, engage, and empower pet families. 

Skin allergies by the numbers

Skin allergies are among the top non-wellness reasons for veterinary visits, especially in dogs. Symptoms range from paw licking and ear scratching to severe inflammation, secondary bacterial or yeast infections, and recurrent otitis.

• Commonality: In addition to skin allergies being the most common canine insurance claim for over a decade, skin infections and ear infections are also in the top 15.
• Cost: On average, families spend about $841 in the first year after diagnosis for dogs and $592 for cats, with expenses often persisting for the pet's lifetime.
• Chronic nature: These are not one-and-done problems; they are conditions that require ongoing care, monitoring, and often multi-modal management.

This frequency and cost highlight the need for financial planning, collaboration between pet families and veterinary healthcare teams, and tailored management strategies across a spectrum of care.

The animal welfare perspective

One December night a few years ago, I awoke at 2 a.m. feverishly scratching my arms. The rest of the night was spent tossing, awake, and trying to minimize excoriations as I escalated to 10/10 on the pruritus scale. It took 10 sleepless nights and distracted days, scratching from scalp to soles of my feet, to get an appointment with a dermatology PA and the steroid injection that finally helped curb my unexplained pruritic reaction. Many pets experience comparable clinical signs over much longer durations, but without the ability to articulate their discomfort.

Treating itchy pets so frequently can make it easy to forget that these dermatologic conditions have real welfare consequences. Persistent itch prevents relaxation, disrupts sleep, and leads to self-trauma. Once the skin barrier is broken, pets face pain, risk of infection, and further inflammation. While healing can take weeks, only a few moments of scratching can restart the cycle.

Recognizing dermatologic disease as a welfare issue reframes the conversation from treating a "nuisance" problem to addressing a legitimate source of suffering.

The pet family burden

Skin allergies don't just affect pets, they weigh heavily on the families who love them.

• Emotional toll: Watching a pet itch constantly can evoke feelings of helplessness, frustration, and guilt.
• Time and financial demands: Frequent veterinary visits, medications, dietary trials, topical therapies, and environmental management require ongoing investment.
• Strain on the human-animal bond: Chronic disease management can lead families to feel disconnected from the joy of pet ownership.

Veterinary healthcare teams can play a pivotal role in easing this burden through empathetic communication. The spectrum of care framework is especially powerful here: by tailoring treatment recommendations to a family's needs for choice, cost and convenience, clinicians can provide practical options without judgment. For example:

• Offering tiered diagnostic approaches (basic cytology vs. dermatology referral).
• Presenting a range of topical or systemic therapies at different price points.
• Acknowledging and validating the family's efforts, even when outcomes are slow or variable.

Empathy is not an add-on; it is a clinical tool that fosters adherence and strengthens trust. 

Leveraging a community of care for itchy pets

Managing chronic skin allergies rarely falls to a single intervention or even a single point of care. These cases highlight the importance of a community-wide continuum of care, where multiple levels of service can be leveraged to meet pets' needs while honoring the family's preferences for cost, convenience, and depth of care.

Just as human healthcare relies on a layered system ranging from primary care providers, urgent care clinics, and specialty hospitals, veterinary medicine is evolving toward a stratified model that fills gaps across communities. This model recognizes no single practice type can meet every pet family's needs, and overlapping options increase accessibility and affordability without compromising welfare. There are typically four tiers in the continuum of care:

1. Telehealth: For many itchy pets, the first step may be a virtual consultation. Telehealth platforms allow veterinary teams–where permissible under state law and regulation–to triage concerns, guide families on at-home interventions, and determine whether an in-person exam is needed. For conditions such as mild seasonal itching or early paw licking, timely telehealth guidance may prevent escalation or provide convenient recheck options if families feel the pet is improving.
2. General practice: Most cases of allergic dermatitis can be managed in a primary care setting with cytology, parasite prevention, anti-pruritic therapies, and client education. Importantly, this level of care can be tailored using a spectrum-of-care approach, balancing thoroughness with what families feel ready and financially able to pursue.
3. Focused general practice: Just as urgent care or dental-only practices have emerged, there is potential for skin-focused general practices to evolve. These clinics could streamline their services and expertise around dermatology, offering families a more efficient and cost-effective alternative to full specialty referral when advanced but not complex care is required.
4. Board-certified dermatology referral: For refractory cases or those in which pet families wish to pursue the most advanced levels of care, board-certified dermatologists will continue to be our best option. For allergy testing, or pets with multiple concurrent conditions, referral to a veterinary dermatologist provides access to advanced diagnostics, much-valued expertise, and cutting-edge therapies. For some families, the time and financial investment is worthwhile to achieve comfort and control in complicated cases.

This stratified continuum of care is not about replacing the general practitioner but about strengthening the ecosystem around them. By embracing multiple entry points—telehealth, general practice, specialists, and possibly focused care centers, veterinary healthcare teams can match pet families with the right care, at the right place and at the right time.

In practice, this means fewer unnecessary ER visits, more timely interventions, and ultimately, reduced suffering for itchy pets. It also acknowledges that families will make different decisions depending on their resources and priorities, and that each of these choices deserves validation. Families should be able to access models of care that align with their expectations and budgets, while still ensuring their pets' welfare.

Financial transparency and long-term planning

Cost is one of the biggest stressors for pet families managing skin allergies. Chronic dermatologic disease is rarely resolved with a single visit or short course of medication. Instead, families must plan for years of intermittent flare-ups, recheck exams, and layered treatment strategies.

According to Nationwide 2024 claims data, 80^th percentile of allergy-related costs is $841 in the first year after diagnosis for dogs and $592 for cats, with costs often rising in subsequent years as new therapies are added or referrals to specialists are recommended. For some families, that level of expense feels unsustainable, leading to delays in care or reliance on stopgap solutions.

Veterinary teams can reframe this financial challenge by practicing cost transparency and helping families plan:

• Break costs into digestible units: Monthly cost estimates help families visualize ongoing care in the same way they might budget for preventive medications.
• Phase treatment options: For example, starting with parasite prevention and anti-itch medications, then layering in allergy testing or dietary trials as families are ready.
• Highlight insurance early on: Pet health insurance can provide predictable cost structures and reduce financial anxiety and does require coverage prior to developing skin allergy clinical signs or a diagnosis. Remember that most insurance plans do not cover pre-existing conditions.
• Revisit care plans often: What was financially feasible at one point in time may change; adjusting treatment to align with a family's evolving situation shows respect and flexibility.

Families consistently report that honest, proactive discussions about finances increase their trust in their veterinary team.

Supporting families: Home care and tools

Pet parents are often the first to notice subtle signs: paw licking mistaken for boredom, ear scratching dismissed as "quirky behavior," or a cat grooming excessively until hair loss appears. Helping families recognize these early cues is vital.

Practical at-home strategies include:

• Regular bathing with veterinary-recommended shampoos.
• Consistent flea and parasite prevention.
• Environmental modifications (washing bedding, wiping paws after outdoor time).
• Careful drying of coats and ears after swimming or bathing to prevent hot spots and otitis.

Educational resources can further empower families by:

• Highlighting breed-specific predispositions.
• Explaining seasonal triggers (e.g., pollen-related flare-ups).
• Guiding families on when to seek veterinary care.

When education is framed around empowerment, families are better prepared to partner in care.

Turning awareness into action

Skin allergies are among the most common chronic conditions in small animal practice. They are costly, emotionally draining, and a significant welfare concern, but they are also manageable when addressed early, empathetically, and collaboratively.

Itchy Pet Awareness Month is more than an August campaign. It is a reminder of the ongoing need for veterinary teams to normalize conversations about dermatologic disease, to provide flexible and transparent care options, and to strengthen the human-animal bond through compassion and partnership.

When we help itchy pets find relief, we don't just heal their skin, we restore their comfort, their well-being, and the joy they bring to their families.

Emily Tincher, DVM, uses data-informed approaches to create sustainable systems that meet the needs of pet families, veterinary healthcare teams, and businesses. A second-generation veterinarian, she graduated from Auburn University's College of Veterinary Medicine in 2016.

As chief veterinary officer for Nationwide, Dr. Tincher manages strategy and operations for pet health programs, develops partnerships within the animal health industry, and directs engagement with veterinary students and teams. Before joining Nationwide full-time, Tincher worked at Idexx in medical education and partnerships. She has practiced in small animal emergency and general practice.

Tincher is president of the board of directors for the Veterinary Leadership Institute and is a member of the board of directors of the Veterinary Innovation Council. She co-authored a chapter in Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice, "Cost of Care, Access to Care, and Payment Options in Veterinary Practice," and has become a sought-after speaker, most recently on spectrum of care topics, presenting at major veterinary conferences across North America.