Itchy Pet Awareness Month 2024: Purpose & Ways to Celebrate
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Pets are crucial parts of our lives. We provide them with food, water, and care, and they provide us with loyalty, companionship, and stability. Unfortunately, many pets deal with skin problems. Itchiness is never fun for pets, and it can be stressful and worrisome for their human family members. Fortunately, there is such a thing as Itchy Pet Awareness Month, which is every August, and it helps highlight skin problems in our beloved pets. Here’s more information about it.
Why August Has Been Designated Itchy Pet Awareness Month
There is no specific reason that August was chosen as the month for bringing awareness to itchy pets and the problems that itchiness creates. It just happens to be the month that the organization that created the holiday chose. Now that a month has been established, though, more and more veterinarians are getting on board to support it. Pet owners are also doing their part by promoting the month on social media.
Why Itchy Pet Awareness Month Is So Important
About 30 million household pet dogs have pruritus, which is the official term for itchy skin.1 Also, skin allergies can result in itchy skin, and they are the most common reason that dog owners will visit a vet. Unfortunately, about 7 million dogs that suffer from pruritus go untreated. By drawing attention to itchy pets, chances are greater that more will find relief through proper treatments.
Itchy skin typically leads to scratching, which can be annoying for everyone involved, especially your pet. All the scratching can result in excessive hair and dander shedding, which can lead to more allergens being in the air, making allergic humans in the household suffer. Excessive scratching can also create scratches and sores that can get infected, which will cause even more skin problems.
Hopefully, more people will become aware of the problem of itchy skin in pets and learn what the signs are so they can seek help from a veterinarian if they notice any in their own pets. Itchy Pet Awareness Month is also a great opportunity to promote and learn about home remedies that can be used to relieve mild cases of pruritus in pets.
Ways to Celebrate Itchy Pet Awareness Month
Simply spreading the word about Itchy Pet Awareness Month is enough to celebrate the holiday with pride! However, if you want to do more, there are a few ideas worth considering. For example, you can pass out fliers about the holiday at local parks, in front of veterinarian clinics and pet stores, and at other places that pet owners are likely to frequent. Other options include:
- Schedule a skin checkup with a veterinarian for your own pets.
- Have a small banner printed to install in your yard.
- Share information about Itchy Pet Awareness Month on social media.
Get creative about spreading the word, and you can be proud to know that you are doing your part to help animals that suffer from itchy skin.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, millions of pets live with itchy skin problems. It doesn’t have to be this way, however. There are home remedies to try and veterinarian treatments to take advantage of. The problem is that many people are not aware that itchy skin is a common problem among pets. Promoting Itchy Pet Awareness Month is a great way to change this and ensure that all pet owners are armed with the right information.
Featured Image Credit: AlexanderDubrovsky, Shutterstock
