Posted: 12/27/2011 5:30:48 AM EDT
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Hi Everybody,
I searched the pet forum for thread titles that included “allergy” and “allergy test” and got no results, hopefully this isn’t a dupe. Has anyone here had their dog allergy tested? My yellow lab has been scratching at her chin and I think the membrane under her bottom eyelids are too red sometimes. Is this a blood test or do they shave a patch and give lots of little injections like I got when I was a kid? Any info would be appreciated. 
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Yes, you can get her tested.
However, according to my dermatologist, they can end up hitting on everything. I would try treating the symptoms first. You can use Benadryl. 1mg per pound of dog (yes, it's a larger dose than humans) so your 70lbs lab would get 70mg of benadryl (around 3 x 25mg tablets, I use the generic wal-mart tablets) It may be seasonal, chemical, insect or food related. Seasonal, just like us, not much you can do but pop some pills and wait it out. Chemical (like the glue in your carpet) it tough. Insect related, try using Revolution (Flea, tick, mites and heart worms) as it will kill some very hard to detect mites. Food would involve switching over to a protein source he's never had before. We switched my dog to Venison and sweet potato (grain free, single protein only) First was the prescription only Z/D from our Vet. Now I have her on Nurto grain free limited ingredient Venison and Sweet potato (also available from California Naturals, Natural Balance) You would need to switch to that food and only that food (no treats, etc) for at least 8 weeks. After 8 weeks, if everything is normal, you can introduce new foods to the diet to watch for a reaction. We use carrots as treats btw. Nothing else. My dog is allergic to Chicken and peanut butter. If she gets any at all, she starts scratching her face, armpits and nibbling at her feet/legs. She scratched all the fur off her face once (around the eye and mouth). All that said, if it's just light itching, I'd at least try the Benadryl first and see if she stops the itching. |
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Thanks guys. I called our vet today and was shocked to find out this test costs about 350 bucks. Yeah, that's why my dogs dermatologist wanted to do the food trial first. She said that food allergies are the most common, so it's easy to try that first and it ends up saving money if it works for you. My pup Tundra in October last year (3 months old): 
November (Food Trial started): 
December: 
In February: 
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Thanks guys. I called our vet today and was shocked to find out this test costs about 350 bucks. What are you feeding him? She ate Nutro for about four years then I switched to Blue Buffalo about a year ago (this stuff is pricey). I’ve tried chicken, lamb and now salmon. My friend suggested another one recently, taste of the wild I think. I honestly don’t think it’s food related but who knows. Fortunately she’s not compulsively itchy but I obsess about her since I don’t have kids to worry about. |
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Thanks guys. I called our vet today and was shocked to find out this test costs about 350 bucks. Yeah, that's why my dogs dermatologist wanted to do the food trial first. She said that food allergies are the most common, so it's easy to try that first and it ends up saving money if it works for you. My pup Tundra in October last year (3 months old): http://gallery.mac.com/chrismartin/100049/IMG_6609/web.jpg?ver=13002007460001 November (Food Trial started): http://gallery.mac.com/chrismartin/100049/IMG_6752/web.jpg?ver=13002007860001 December: http://gallery.mac.com/chrismartin/100049/IMG_6978/web.jpg?ver=13002032150001 In February: http://gallery.mac.com/chrismartin/100049/IMG_7748/web.jpg?ver=13002008300001 Thats a fine looking pooch. 
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Thanks guys. I called our vet today and was shocked to find out this test costs about 350 bucks. What are you feeding him? She ate Nutro for about four years then I switched to Blue Buffalo about a year ago (this stuff is pricey). I’ve tried chicken, lamb and now salmon. My friend suggested another one recently, taste of the wild I think. I honestly don’t think it’s food related but who knows. Fortunately she’s not compulsively itchy but I obsess about her since I don’t have kids to worry about. Testing food is a process that can take awhile (two months per diet change). I mention Diamond Dog ALOT since we had such great success with it and the price is $27/40lbs of kibble. Their ingredients are posted at the their website and they are very close to BB food sans the weird berries. Heck, our Mastiff spit out the tiny little "life pellets" LOL. We use Diamond Naturals 60+ and they both do great and love the food. http://www.diamondpet.com/ |
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Thanks guys. I called our vet today and was shocked to find out this test costs about 350 bucks. What are you feeding him? She ate Nutro for about four years then I switched to Blue Buffalo about a year ago (this stuff is pricey). I’ve tried chicken, lamb and now salmon. My friend suggested another one recently, taste of the wild I think. I honestly don’t think it’s food related but who knows. Fortunately she’s not compulsively itchy but I obsess about her since I don’t have kids to worry about. Testing food is a process that can take awhile (two months per diet change). I mention Diamond Dog ALOT since we had such great success with it and the price is $27/40lbs of kibble. Their ingredients are posted at the their website and they are very close to BB food sans the weird berries. Heck, our Mastiff spit out the tiny little "life pellets" LOL. Thanks man, I'll look into that. I appreciate the info. We use Diamond Naturals 60+ and they both do great and love the food. http://www.diamondpet.com/ |
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Thanks guys. I called our vet today and was shocked to find out this test costs about 350 bucks. What are you feeding him? She ate Nutro for about four years then I switched to Blue Buffalo about a year ago (this stuff is pricey). I’ve tried chicken, lamb and now salmon. My friend suggested another one recently, taste of the wild I think. I honestly don’t think it’s food related but who knows. Fortunately she’s not compulsively itchy but I obsess about her since I don’t have kids to worry about. It will seem cheap once they get put opn prescription food that is $90 for a 24# bag |
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We did allergy testing Our guy came back allergic to dust mites, coack roaches (none in Alaska), a chemical used in carpet manufacturing, and something else Dust mites seem to be the battle I bought our first bag of food with no grains in it today. I guess we'll see................... |
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I bought our first bag of food with no grains in it today. I guess we'll see................... No grains is important, but a single protein is more important. You really want something that she hasn't ever eaten before. You want ONLY that single protein. Also the most simple food possible to avoid other allergens. A ton of high quality foods have TON of "random" stuff in there (blueberries, other fruits and veg, etc) You also want to avoid ambiguous terms like "Digest" or "Animal Digest" (basically ground up random animal parts) As I mentioned before, there are several brands of limited ingredient foods, but I can only vouch for California Naturals, Natural Balance and Nutro Limited Ingredient. All of those were the Venison versions. The Nutro was successful with my pup and not too expensive. For just skin and coat issues, my other dogs are on Taste of the Wild Salmon. It's got fatty oils and other skin/coat things that really make them soft and shiny. Something like that may help if it's a dry skin/coat issue. You can also supplement coat/skin issues with vitamin E oil (Lipiderm brand for example). However, you would want to avoid them during a food trial. You really want to avoid EVERYTHING during a food trial. We use Carrots as treats instead of biscuits, etc. |
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I bought our first bag of food with no grains in it today. I guess we'll see................... No grains is important, but a single protein is more important. You really want something that she hasn't ever eaten before. You want ONLY that single protein. Also the most simple food possible to avoid other allergens. A ton of high quality foods have TON of "random" stuff in there (blueberries, other fruits and veg, etc) You also want to avoid ambiguous terms like "Digest" or "Animal Digest" (basically ground up random animal parts) As I mentioned before, there are several brands of limited ingredient foods, but I can only vouch for California Naturals, Natural Balance and Nutro Limited Ingredient. All of those were the Venison versions. The Nutro was successful with my pup and not too expensive. For just skin and coat issues, my other dogs are on Taste of the Wild Salmon. It's got fatty oils and other skin/coat things that really make them soft and shiny. Something like that may help if it's a dry skin/coat issue. You can also supplement coat/skin issues with vitamin E oil (Lipiderm brand for example). However, you would want to avoid them during a food trial. You really want to avoid EVERYTHING during a food trial. We use Carrots as treats instead of biscuits, etc. It was Taste of the Wild salmon. She was previously on Blue Buffalo Salmon so I thought this would have the least impact on her tummy. Thanks for the info. |
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It was Taste of the Wild salmon. She was previously on Blue Buffalo Salmon so I thought this would have the least impact on her tummy. Thanks for the info. My dogs love TotW. We have 4 dogs that eat it, we go through about a bag a week to a week and a half... 
We buy when it's on sale and we buy a lot of it. If you have a Tractor Supply Co. near you, they usually carry it and will run sales on it. My dog trainer told us about it. He trains German Shepards. One of his younger ones had a very rough coat, was itchy, etc. He switched to the TotW Salmon and the coat was all fixed in just a few weeks. He was very happy with it and we've been happy as well. |
| Had my oldest male Boxer tested when he was approximately 1 year old due to non-stop scratching of chest, neck, ears. Took to an allergy specialist. After a lot of $$$, was told to move to Arizona as he was allergic to everything. Instead, I opted to get him allergy shots (steroids) once per month. Dog is now 12 years old and non the worse for the wear. Itching controlled. Cost of steroid shots: $20(?)/$30(?) per month. |