Update On Monty's Allergies And The New Derm Vet

[Guest greytmonty]

Sorry if this is long.

As some of you know, we have fired Monty's old derm vet for what I would call basic NEGLECT.

We saw a new derm vet today at U Penn who was great. He is taking us back almost to square one. Monty does not need to repeat his allergy testing but we are going back to a food trial (with IVD Potato and Rabbit, has anyone fed this?) and working on his severe skin infections and what the new vet is fairly sure is iatrogenic Cushings from his Temaril P and his Genesis spray. He was SORT OF MORTIFIED that the other derm vet had not noticed that the sores that he has (calcinosis cutis?) and his skin thinning and the other skin changes are ALL SUGGESTIVE of Cushings.

I want to throw up.

We spent thousands on his care and it turns out I have been poisoning him twice a day with the medicine.

Anyway, Monty looks like a soldier back from the war today. He had multiple skin biopsies (including one with multiple stitches on his hoo-hoo, OUCH) and he is in his Elizabethan collar looking MIZ-A-BLE. Stitches come out in 10 days. Did your dogs keep their E collars on?

We are weaning the Temaril P.

His new meds are:

Hydroxyzine 50 mg, 2 tabs BID, and vitamin E.

He is continuing his antibiotic (Zenequin) which seems to be working.

He is also going to get topical flea preventive every 2-3 weeks instead of every 4 weeks.

no more treats, no nothing, just IVD Potato and Rabbit.

The new vet is as unimpressed with his dx of Hypothyroid as Dr. Couto was, but he doesn't want to change 1,000 things at once so Monty will continue his thyroid med for the next two weeks and reeval at that point.

We are also supposed to bathe him twice weekly with Chlorhexiderm, however he can't get his stitches wet and he has 4 sites, so I think we have to bag that for now.

Anyway, maybe our experience can help others with allergic dogs, as I am soon going to be an expert on this.

Edited August 21, 2007 by greytmonty

[Guest Bodie]

I hope Monty is finally on the right track now and headed towards healing. The skin biopsies should give a good idea of what's going on. I know how you feel about wanting to throw up. I felt the same way when Dr. Couto immediately took Bodie off his allergy medicine and said it had a number of long term side effects that Bodie's first derm/vet never mentioned to me. And I felt the same way this week when I realized that Bodie's staph infection has improved dramatically in the past two weeks. When he had his surgery two weeks ago he went off the autoimmune serum that the first derm/vet prescribed. To think that I might have been injecting him with something that was actually creating a problem instead of fixing it. I also spent thousands for nothing.

 

For those with dogs with allergies - my only suggestion is to go to a doctor who is recommended by a veterinary teaching hospital and is willing to work with that hospital. Allergies are so tricky and I think they need a vet who is totally up to date on the subject and willing to accept new ideas.

 

Good luck with Monty and his E-collar and give him some sushi to appease him.

[grey14me]

poor Monty...I hope the new vet gets things under control quickly

[Guest dauphinelaura]

Poor Monty! Feel better!

[Houndtime]

re: E Collar, you can remove it for walks. I didn't and that made it more difficult, until I realized he won't scratch at his eyes if all 4 feet are on the ground. Duh!

 

John E is a patient at U of Penn for anxiety, and I couldn't be more pleased. I think the price equates with most other veterinary practices and you have the opinions of a whole team as opposed to just one doctor.

 

Good luck and I hope everything will get on the right track now.

[Guest greytmonty]

Thanks everyone. I WILL take off that darn E collar for walks, I just tried to walk him and he kept crashing the collar into things as he tried to sniff, and ended up looking more and more depressed.

No sushi for Monty, however.

no NOTHING, just the prescribed food. for 8 weeks.

Poor Monty, he loves his treats and no more for now.....

[Guest Bodie]

No sushi for Monty, however.

no NOTHING, just the prescribed food. for 8 weeks.

Poor Monty, he loves his treats and no more for now.....

 

Oops, that's right - no treats with the new diet - how about some ear scritches instead... as long as you aren't scratching any of the itchy areas. Poor Monty. All the good things in life (for a greyhound) are unavailable to him now. I guess lots of long walks (without the E collar) are the only thing...

[Guest greytmonty]

No sushi for Monty, however.

no NOTHING, just the prescribed food. for 8 weeks.

Poor Monty, he loves his treats and no more for now.....

 

Oops, that's right - no treats with the new diet - how about some ear scritches instead... as long as you aren't scratching any of the itchy areas. Poor Monty. All the good things in life (for a greyhound) are unavailable to him now. I guess lots of long walks (without the E collar) are the only thing...

Monty says please give his sushi (and bananas) to Bodie for now.

Mommy will buy Monty a new squeaky toy in the meantime.....

[Guest PhillyPups]

Oh Karen to you . All you have been through with your prior vet just trying to do the VERY BEST for Monty at all times, which is what he so deserves.

 

Poor Monty, give him butt scritches from me, and no sushi or treats, but an extra piece of kibble from your hand while he is getting his ears scritched can work wonders.

[SPDoggie]

Good luck with the e-collar. It freaked Kingsley out so much that he would run into doors and walls with it, which would frighten him, so he would dart off in a panic and fall... not a good scene. So we just did 24 hour constant surveillance with him until the stitches came out!

 

So glad to hear he is on the road to a real diagnosis and recovery!

[turbotaina]

Good grief, Karen, you guys have been through the wringer! Hope you get Monty under control soon, poor baby.

 

[Jackandgrey]

Oh Monty, we're rooting for you buddy. Hopefully you're on your way to the right answers now.

[LuvAPuppy]

Thanks everyone. I WILL take off that darn E collar for walks, I just tried to walk him and he kept crashing the collar into things as he tried to sniff, and ended up looking more and more depressed.

No sushi for Monty, however.

no NOTHING, just the prescribed food. for 8 weeks.

Poor Monty, he loves his treats and no more for now.....

 

see if he'll eat raw sliced potatoes. or, try slicing them and baking them and see if you get some kind of edible potato type chips.

we're on the IVD duck and potato for IBD, but fortunately I know Misty can tolerate oatmeal so we bake cookies out of baby oatmeal, "adult" oatmeal and water. (they're VILE but she eats them). I've also been lucky enough to find duck jerky at our high end pet food shop...but I've never seen rabbit jerky. You might be able to buy rabbit meat and bake it in to jerky strips.

 

be creative but careful!

 

[MarcR]

You guys have been tthrough a real ordeal, but now it sounds like he's gotten the vet he deserves. Only one of my girls ever needed an e-collar and she hated it. Scared the daylights out of her and she could still reach her wound.

[Greytlady94]

Poor Monty, how awful for him (and you).

[Guest greytmonty]

Thanks everyone. I WILL take off that darn E collar for walks, I just tried to walk him and he kept crashing the collar into things as he tried to sniff, and ended up looking more and more depressed.

No sushi for Monty, however.

no NOTHING, just the prescribed food. for 8 weeks.

Poor Monty, he loves his treats and no more for now.....

 

see if he'll eat raw sliced potatoes. or, try slicing them and baking them and see if you get some kind of edible potato type chips.

we're on the IVD duck and potato for IBD, but fortunately I know Misty can tolerate oatmeal so we bake cookies out of baby oatmeal, "adult" oatmeal and water. (they're VILE but she eats them). I've also been lucky enough to find duck jerky at our high end pet food shop...but I've never seen rabbit jerky. You might be able to buy rabbit meat and bake it in to jerky strips.

 

be creative but careful!

thanks for the great ideas. Our local pet store which is high end has raw food, I am going to see if they have rabbit meat which I could bake.

The potato chips are a great idea, and since potato is in his food, it must be "allowed" by the vet!

Oh my!

[fritofeet]

Poor Monty. I second the potato chips. I bake thick slices in the oven, or just break down and buy the baked ones sometimes for Hogan.

 

I get sweet potato chews from BooMooandDoo's store in Seattle, along with a bunch of other allergy treats. I don't know if she has rabbit, but I know maybe later Monty can have fish and duck.

 

Hugs for both of you.

 

I think you can get canned rabbit meat and mix it with instant potatoes and bake something stinky for him too.

[Guest vahoundlover]

You guys have been thru so much!! Sending prayers the changes work and Monty will be feeling better soon!

[ml529]

Oh, poor Monty, I hope everything works out with the new vet. Give him some scritches for me.

[Guest greytexplorer]

Hey Karen,

I was wondering if (and no one has brought it up prolly cuz they're more pc than me) you're gonna tell the fired vet what they did WRONG and remind them that their incompetence $et you back quite a bit for NOTHING?

I would, but then, that's just me. Monty, I hope the next 8 weeks FLY BY for you!

 

Pat

(not pc since 9/12/01)

 

eta== remember the Veterinarians motto: First, do no harm..............

Edited August 22, 2007 by greytexplorer

[Guest DeweytheGreyt]

I am so sorry that you went through such an ordeal with your first derm vet. I certainly feel your pain. But I am thrilled to hear that you have a vet that has a vested interest in getting your handsome boy on the road to recovery. Hugs to you both, I know it has been such a long road.