Sooooo............after a year of allergy shots (made with her own blood, was supposed to reduce her sensitivity over time), my dog is no better. In fact, she's currently having one her worst flares EVER. I put her back on steroids and an antibiotic to clear up the secondary infection. She's also on antihistamines. I am beyond frustrated. I feel bad for the dog, she is miserable with the itching and scratching. Did some more internet research last night. I've seen some holistic approaches with some sort of enzyme supplements that are supposed to put the flora back in her gut. I also saw that fish oil supplements may help. Any of you tried anything other than allergy shots that worked? I am either going to try vet number 3 and hope for a new treatment or just continue to treat the symptoms which will prob shorten her life due to the damage from steroids. :? I don't know what to do at this point. :banghead::banghead::banghead:
Oh no, poor baby. My Mayan had skin allergies but nowhere near as bad as your girl's. i used a cortizon cream and gave her benadryl and that really helped.
RUN, do not walk, to dr. barzola at clayton animal hospital. my doggie was near death when we got him out of poor living conditions that included fleas, so he became very allergic to a lot of things (including fleas, fescue, dust, you know, the standard things in every square inch of mainland north carolina!). she was the only doctor that knew exactly what to do with him. (we tried 2 before her.) he still has a couple little flare-ups every now and then, but he is soooooooooo much happier and healthier. tell her thunder and his mom sent you.
ps, we do not do daily steroids...i can not for the life of me remember the names of the pills we give him. but she'll know exactly what to do. good luck!!!
Thanks Kaci. I may switch her to Benedryl rather than the RX stuff she's been on. I have the proper dosage from the vet. Can't hurt, might help. I've been putting a topical cortisone/antibiotic spray from the vet on her, special vet shampoos, etc. I also tried the cortisone cream and have even done Neosporin too, then I have to put a t-shirt on her to keep her from getting it all over the house. That hasn't done much. Hence my FB post last night about the $$$ we spend on pets! LOL Believe it or not, there are dogs out there that are worse. I saw some pics last night that made me shudder, they were just about hairless and covered in sores. Poor babies. I just don't want her to get in that shape.
This whole odyssey started at Clayton Animal Hospital with a vet who insisted it was a flea allergy despite the dog not having fleas!! I messed around with them for 6 months prior to switching. It wasn't Barzola though. I may give her another shot then. Thanks!
dr. barzola, if i remember correctly, did her training in the dermatology dept at the ncsu vet school, so i think we really lucked up getting her specifically when we started there.
Fish oil tablets might help, and also raw, unfiltered apple cider like you get at GNC. https://sites.google.com/site/fidocanfetch/system/app/pages/search?scope=search-site&q=allergies That is Zookeeper's site. You may want to pm her for more suggestions.
aww poor Molly I don't know, but like someone else said ask zookeeper or dr lash (both are "friends" on FB if you need to get to one of them)
Do you think its that her skin has gotten used (or becoming immune) to the Rx's she has been on, maybe a switch to the Benadryl for a period of time and then back to Rx would work?
Thanks so much everyone! I have Zoo on my page, and she's awesome! I just don't want to bug her since I'm not a paying customer. :jester: I am going to get some of that vinegar, it can't hurt! I will give it a couple weeks and see how she's doing with this round of meds and then might try the vet recommended. I'm ready to pull my own hair out. I freaked out a bit the other night when I gave her a bath and gobs of her hair kept falling out. :?
I don't know if this will help, but a gal that works for me has a dachsund with very similar issues. It turns out he was allergic to wheat and corn that was in his food. As soon as they found a food without those products in it, he was fine.
obx, you're right! i forgot about that part. thunder eats blue buffalo, salmon and sweet potatoes. his breath stinks from the fish, but he has to avoid lamb, beef, and chicken. (yes, he is worth it!) and it is grain-free, i believe. expensive...but if you do pet perks at petsmart, occasionally you'll be emailed a q for $ off a total purchase. i stock up at those times.
She's been off all grains (and chicken, pork, lamb, etc) for a year. No change. They came up as allergens on her panel. She's on a bison and sweet potato dog food. We've tried venison dog food too. Thankfully, beef is also available to us. I'm seriously considering making her food myself, it's gotten to that point. :cheers:
Another thought, do you bath and blow her dry with a dryer? My mom's baby was scratching and biting at her own skin after every grooming and Mom was having to take her to the vet for allergy shots every time until Mom figured out it was the heat from the blowdryer. Stopped blowdrying and no more problems.
Nope, she only gets a haircut once or twice a year. I don't blow her dry much either, she doesn't like it. I did try it a couple months ago thinking it would help dry up the spots, but it didn't help and I haven't done it again. She just air drys (more like rubs herself all over my carpet, LOL) I don't use a lot of chemicals on the floors either. I thought for a while it might be something in the house. I switched to a Shark mop and only clean the carpets when necessary. Vacuum fairly often and wash her bedding too. I appreciate all the suggestions though!!
