She Was Allergic to Her Own Dog. Then She Went Out and Bought a Cat
Dr. John Erickson, DC | Laser & Chiropractic Center of the Rockies | Loveland, CO
Case 002 | Series Post #2
She Knew She Was Allergic. She Kept the Dog Anyway.
Every time her dog licked her arm, a rash broke out. Every time he scratched her, the same thing happened.
She owned a large, affectionate dog and she was severely allergic to him. She knew it. She did it anyway.
That’s the kind of problem that doesn’t have a conventional solution. You can’t antihistamine your way out of living with a dog you love.
A Life Built Around an Inhaler
She was 35 years old with adult-onset asthma. She never went anywhere without her inhaler. It was part of her daily routine, the way keys and a wallet are for most people.
She knew she was sensitive to both cats and dogs. The runny nose, the sneezing, the watery eyes — these were constants in her life. On bad days she could count on adding wheezing to the list. She had tried to manage it all.
But she hadn’t gotten rid of her dog; she loved it too much. So the battle continued every single day inside her own home.
She came into my office hoping for something different. She had been told what she was allergic to. What she hadn’t been given was any path forward that didn’t involve avoidance or suppression.
We tested and found multiple sensitivities. We began working through a systematic NAET protocol — addressing the basics first, then animal dander and animal epithelial specifically.
The Rash Stopped. The Wheezing Settled. Then She Made Her Move.
The change was gradual, then obvious. After treatment for animal dander and epithelial, she reported that her arms and hands were no longer breaking out when her dog made contact. The ever-present wheezing and sneezing subsided.
She wasn’t fighting her own home anymore.
She was so pleased with her results that she went out and bought a cat.
That detail still makes me smile. She didn’t just report improvement. She expanded. She added a second animal she had always been reactive to — and reported no reaction. Another patient, a different animal, an outcome nobody planned for – read Case 001.
The Body Had Learned the Wrong Response
Initial assessment revealed the expected — significant reactivity to animal dander and epithelial. What was notable was how broadly the sensitivity was affecting her daily function. It wasn’t just a cat or dog problem. It was a whole-body reactivity state.
In NAET, we assess the body’s response to specific substances and work to address the underlying neurological signal driving that response. The goal is not to suppress the reaction — it’s to change the signal the body is sending about whether a substance is a threat.
Her nervous system had learned that animal proteins — animal hair, fur, dander, saliva — meant danger to her body. We worked to address that encoding directly.
Patient-Reported: The Dog No Longer Cost Her Anything
She reported that contact with her dog — licking, scratching — no longer produced the rash that had been a daily occurrence. The wheezing and sneezing that had been constant in her own home were reported to have subsided significantly.
Her inhaler use, which had been a daily necessity, decreased. She reported feeling like she could breathe in her own space.
And then she added the cat. Her report? No reaction.
The Body’s Response to Allergens Is Learned — and Can Be Unlearned
Research published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine documented something counterintuitive: exposure to cats in the home was actually inversely associated with cat sensitization and asthma incidence in children — meaning the body, under certain conditions, can develop a non-reactive immune response rather than a sensitized one.[1] The immune system is not rigidly programmed. It learns.
What NAET works with is that learning capacity. The nervous system and immune system are in constant bidirectional communication, as confirmed by peer-reviewed research in the Journal of Clinical Investigation — neurons and immune cells share the same tissue spaces and directly regulate each other’s responses.[2] When that communication produces an unfavorable learned response, it can be addressed at the source.
The question worth sitting with: if the body can learn to react to animal proteins — and research shows it can also learn not to — what determines which direction it goes?
Some Problems Have Doors That Haven’t Been Tried Yet
She came in because she loved her dog and she was tired of paying for it with her health. She didn’t expect what happened next.
Most people living with pet allergies have been told to manage exposure. Nobody told them the response itself might be addressable.
If you’ve accepted an allergy recovery ceiling and it feels permanent — meaning you’ve gotten as good as you’re going to get in relationship to your allergy — it’s worth asking whether the ceiling is actually fixed.
— Dr. John Erickson, DC | Laser & Chiropractic Center of the Rockies | Loveland, Colorado
To learn more about NAET at Laser & Chiropractic Center of the Rockies, visit laserchirorockies.com or call 970-412-3212.
Individual results vary. This story is de-identified and shared with permission. It represents a reported patient experience and is not a guarantee of outcome. NAET is a complementary wellness approach and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or medical condition.
[1] Perzanowski, M.S. et al. “Effect of Cat and Dog Ownership on Sensitization and Development of Asthma Among Preteenage Children.” Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2002;166(5):696-702. PMID: 12204868. DOI: 10.1164/rccm.2201035
[2] Veiga-Fernandes, H. & Artis, D. “Neuro-Immune Crosstalk and Allergic Inflammation.” J Clin Invest. 2019;129(4):1475-1482. PMC: PMC6436850. DOI: 10.1172/JCI124609