Meet Adam, a rescued black labrador that was recently diagnosed with the most bizarre condition – he’s allergic to humans!

For several months, Adam had suffered from unexplained hair fall and skin inflammation. He was blistered and balding with wounds where he’d bitten and scratched himself. Robin Herman, who chose to rescue Adam despite his condition, tried everything to fix his illness. But she and the rest of the staff at Lucky Dog Retreat Rescue were totally perplexed about his condition, they just couldn’t figure out what was wrong.

“We fed him the best possible food, got him flea free, gave him baths twice a week, special baths from the vet,” she said. Although Adam started to look better with all the care, his skin condition wasn’t going away.

“We still couldn’t figure out what was wrong, so we took him in for a blood test,” she said. And the test revealed the shocking truth – that Adam is allergic humans. “I didn’t believe her (the vet) at first,” said Robin. “I thought she was kidding.” Robin was surprised to learn that just as humans can be allergic to dogs, they can also be allergic to us.

Adam was diagnosed with a specific infection – he is allergic to human dander, which are minute particles we constantly shed from our skin and scalp. The poor dog was so intolerant to the stuff that his skin was constantly inflamed. The condition got so bad that it was driving him to scratch and bite himself constantly, and the folks at Lucky Dog had to keep his head in a cone all the time.

So Robin took it upon herself to find a vet who could provide some kind of allergy shot that would help alleviate his suffering. She finally found one who decided to use immunotherapy – a kind of treatment that uses the proteins of the allergen itself to slowly teach the body’s immune system to tolerate it.

“They just put a serum together, just like with kids’ allergies and other dogs’ allergies, and he starts on allergy shots this week,” said Robin. She has no intention of giving up on Adam; she believes he’s a wonderful pup in need of some help. “He’s smart, he learns, knows a bunch of commands, he’s a great dog.”

“It’s not his fault,” she added. “We raised as much money as we could and we’re not going to stop until he’s better. The vet seems to think we can fix him.”

Photos: LuckyDog Retreat Rescue/Facebook

via Nothing to Do with Arbroath