Do other animals get allergies?

Asked by: Sachin Patel, Milton Keynes

Yes. Cats, dogs and horses can all develop allergies in much the same way that humans do. There are three main kinds of allergy in animals – food, flea bites and environmental allergies such as grass pollen and mould spores.

Allergies seem to be much more common in domestic pets than in wild animals or farm animals that spend most of their time outdoors. This may be because the more hygienic conditions in human houses leave less work for the immune system and so it gets inappropriately sensitised to normally harmless particles in the environment. Animals typically get more allergic as they get older.

Subscribe to BBC Focus magazine for fascinating new Q&As every month and follow @sciencefocusQA on Twitter for your daily dose of fun science facts.