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Allergies and treatments
12/26/2011 5:45:20 AM
My dog seems to have rather significant inhaliation allergies
We had him tested last year and he came back as allergic to dust mites, cockroaches (Not in Alaska) and a chemical used in carpet
The poor guy is losing patches of hair (his whole back is pretty moth eaten) and if we dont stay on top of his ears they get nasty and the flaps get leathery and crack (and bleed)
We have tried damn near everything. He has a special HEPA filter where he sleeps. We clean his bedding with special cleaner. We vaccum often and generally try to keep things as clean as possible. Hes tried numerous antihistamines. Predisnone is the one thing that seems to help, BUT its not an answer
Ripping up the entire house worth of carpet is not an option
At this point, it looks like allergy shots are the last hope, but our vet isnt really excited about it as she said the dont work very well in her experience.
Anyone that has been through this have other suggestions?
We did a food challenge and it didnt change the results plus his allergy panel showed no food allergies. Ironically, he has always eaten top brand foods. For the first year and a half, he always had very soft poop that on a good day was like soft serve ice cream and on a bad day was bad. We have tried 5 different foods plus the food challenge the vet did and no change. He was out of food and they were out of what he ate, so on a whim I bought a bad of Purina Pro Plan (still pretty top shelf) and he literally had one of his first normal poops that night and has been solid since. He has had several fecal floats and smears to rule out GI issue. Just thought I would add that to the mix.
We had him tested last year and he came back as allergic to dust mites, cockroaches (Not in Alaska) and a chemical used in carpet
The poor guy is losing patches of hair (his whole back is pretty moth eaten) and if we dont stay on top of his ears they get nasty and the flaps get leathery and crack (and bleed)
We have tried damn near everything. He has a special HEPA filter where he sleeps. We clean his bedding with special cleaner. We vaccum often and generally try to keep things as clean as possible. Hes tried numerous antihistamines. Predisnone is the one thing that seems to help, BUT its not an answer
Ripping up the entire house worth of carpet is not an option
At this point, it looks like allergy shots are the last hope, but our vet isnt really excited about it as she said the dont work very well in her experience.
Anyone that has been through this have other suggestions?
We did a food challenge and it didnt change the results plus his allergy panel showed no food allergies. Ironically, he has always eaten top brand foods. For the first year and a half, he always had very soft poop that on a good day was like soft serve ice cream and on a bad day was bad. We have tried 5 different foods plus the food challenge the vet did and no change. He was out of food and they were out of what he ate, so on a whim I bought a bad of Purina Pro Plan (still pretty top shelf) and he literally had one of his first normal poops that night and has been solid since. He has had several fecal floats and smears to rule out GI issue. Just thought I would add that to the mix.
12/26/2011 11:58:47 AM
My dog Tundra (A Great Pyrenees) is allergic to many things as well.
Her primary allergies are food related, however, we battle airborne allergies in the spring and fall (pollen related)
We treat the symptoms right now. Mostly with just Benadryl (1mg per pound of dog, she is around 90 lbs, so I give her 4 25mg tablets)
For the really bad times, we have done the prednisone treatment as well.
When she chews a spot on herself and gets a skin infection, we treat with Neo-Predef powder. Damn stuff is a miracle drug, usually takes care of the problem in a day or two.
It's used for the wet and crusty type infections. It dries them out, treats for itching and pain, and helps heal things up fast.
Primarily though, we changed her over to Venison and potato dog food (First using prescription only Science Diet Z/D or Royal Canin Venison and Sweet Potato, now use are using Nurto's grain free, limited ingredient Venison) The key to food based allergies is making sure you only feed her that single protein source food. No treats or anything (we use Carrots as treats)
When you did the food trial, how long did you go? It can take over 8 weeks to get a result and if any other protein source is ingested, you pretty much have to start the clock again. You switch to a single protein source food that the dog has never had and you only feed that single food for at least 8 weeks. This was from our dogs dermatologist.
Have you tried Benadryl?
Has he been checked for mites and such to rule them out as well? Some of them can be very hard to detect. Our dermatologist put Tundra on Revolution (Flea, Tick, Mites, Heart worm) as most heart worm meds have beef flavoring (which would screw up the food trial) in them and it would also get rid of the mites if she had them.
Her primary allergies are food related, however, we battle airborne allergies in the spring and fall (pollen related)
We treat the symptoms right now. Mostly with just Benadryl (1mg per pound of dog, she is around 90 lbs, so I give her 4 25mg tablets)
For the really bad times, we have done the prednisone treatment as well.
When she chews a spot on herself and gets a skin infection, we treat with Neo-Predef powder. Damn stuff is a miracle drug, usually takes care of the problem in a day or two.
It's used for the wet and crusty type infections. It dries them out, treats for itching and pain, and helps heal things up fast.
Primarily though, we changed her over to Venison and potato dog food (First using prescription only Science Diet Z/D or Royal Canin Venison and Sweet Potato, now use are using Nurto's grain free, limited ingredient Venison) The key to food based allergies is making sure you only feed her that single protein source food. No treats or anything (we use Carrots as treats)
When you did the food trial, how long did you go? It can take over 8 weeks to get a result and if any other protein source is ingested, you pretty much have to start the clock again. You switch to a single protein source food that the dog has never had and you only feed that single food for at least 8 weeks. This was from our dogs dermatologist.
Have you tried Benadryl?
Has he been checked for mites and such to rule them out as well? Some of them can be very hard to detect. Our dermatologist put Tundra on Revolution (Flea, Tick, Mites, Heart worm) as most heart worm meds have beef flavoring (which would screw up the food trial) in them and it would also get rid of the mites if she had them.
12/26/2011 1:49:48 PM
It sounds like you have been really good to your dog by looking for things that might help. At this point, I would probably look for a vet that specializes in dog allergies. If your vet doesn't know one, maybe try a veterinary school and ask them where to look. It can be hard to tell if it something in the environment, or if it is something he is consuming. It could even be something in the water, on your lawn, or if on a farm, some of the chemicals that are normally used on a farm.
Good luck, and good on 'ya for trying so hard for your furry friend.
Good luck, and good on 'ya for trying so hard for your furry friend.
12/26/2011 10:36:56 PM
A friend of mine had a cat that was severely allergic to dust mites. Even with large doses of antihistamines and steroids, the allergies were still not quite manageable, and the cat suffered quite a bit.
The problem is that no matter what you do, you will never be completely free of dust mites.
The problem is that no matter what you do, you will never be completely free of dust mites.
12/27/2011 1:14:36 AM
Originally Posted By Genin:
It sounds like you have been really good to your dog by looking for things that might help. At this point, I would probably look for a vet that specializes in dog allergies. If your vet doesn't know one, maybe try a veterinary school and ask them where to look. It can be hard to tell if it something in the environment, or if it is something he is consuming. It could even be something in the water, on your lawn, or if on a farm, some of the chemicals that are normally used on a farm.
Good luck, and good on 'ya for trying so hard for your furry friend.
It sounds like you have been really good to your dog by looking for things that might help. At this point, I would probably look for a vet that specializes in dog allergies. If your vet doesn't know one, maybe try a veterinary school and ask them where to look. It can be hard to tell if it something in the environment, or if it is something he is consuming. It could even be something in the water, on your lawn, or if on a farm, some of the chemicals that are normally used on a farm.
Good luck, and good on 'ya for trying so hard for your furry friend.
Options are limited in Alaska
We have a very compotent vet that I am happy with
Just looking for other ideas that I could discuss with her
12/29/2011 8:50:42 PM
Can either try single therapies or multimodal therapies consisting of:
Antihistamines: Diphenhydramine, doxepin, hydroxazine, loratadine, or clemastine (lots out there but these are my go to ones)
Fatty acids and fish oils to help with skin health.
Allergy shampoos to help skin health and itch (I use epi-soothe mainly made by Virbac)
Leave on such as Resicort leave on again made by Virbac
Pruritis relief sprays such as ones containing pramoxine or sometimes lidocaine
Cyclosporine is also a med I get some pretty good results with and is a nice alternative to steroids.
If wanting to pursue food route my go to is hypoallergenic diets such as Hills prescription diet z/d ultra instead of novel protein type diets.
These are lots of things I use either alone or in combination depending on the patient if not doing allergy shots.
Antihistamines: Diphenhydramine, doxepin, hydroxazine, loratadine, or clemastine (lots out there but these are my go to ones)
Fatty acids and fish oils to help with skin health.
Allergy shampoos to help skin health and itch (I use epi-soothe mainly made by Virbac)
Leave on such as Resicort leave on again made by Virbac
Pruritis relief sprays such as ones containing pramoxine or sometimes lidocaine
Cyclosporine is also a med I get some pretty good results with and is a nice alternative to steroids.
If wanting to pursue food route my go to is hypoallergenic diets such as Hills prescription diet z/d ultra instead of novel protein type diets.
These are lots of things I use either alone or in combination depending on the patient if not doing allergy shots.
