Allegery Testing

[Guest GiJenn51]

I know Ruler has allergies. When he gets bad I give him 1 benedryl. But seriously? Do I need to take him for testing??

[NHNora]

I don't know if allergy testing is better for dogs than people, but a few years ago I had a mysterious anaphylactic reaction to something, and they tested me and told me I HAD TO BE allergic to corn, b/c that's something I had eaten for dinner. Uh . . . no! They poked up my back and arms, got NO reactions, and settled on corn for some reason. So now I have an epi pen, have only had one other mild reaction (again mysterious), and have been safely eating corn for years.

 

Seriously though, we had Nora in b/c she has had a bad coat and itchy skin forever. Our vet said it's probably canine atopy to something that's always around, like dust. He said just to give her Benadryl when she was really itchy and that there was no reason to do anything further unless she went naked, started opening sores, etc. So we give her one or two a day, during periods when she seems itchy, or if her eyes get red when OUR allergies are going.

[CaliforniaGreys]

I can tell you what the kennel vet told me when I adopted Wayne.When he was picked up at the track, he was so bad he barely had any fur left and was full of sores from scratching. When he was brought to the kennel here, the vet decided to treat him for the most common causes of allergies. Food was first, no chicken,no corn, and there were a few other things that commonly caused allergies. They put him on the omega 3 fatty acids and also Benadryl.The result was remarkable, and he remains on all of the same and is doing great. Several other dogs came in with the same conditions and again, same regime followed with great results. Allergy testing(according to the vet) is expensive and a crap shoot. Don't know if this helps, but I hope so

[Guest BigPercyInMa]

It sure helped my Collie. Couldn't figure out what she was allergic to on our own. After the testing she got her allergies specific shots every week and she's been terrific ever since. The test wasn't all that expensive either.

 

BTW, Benadryl didn't do anything at all for my Collie.

[GeorgeofNE]

Jenn, the testing isn't that expensive, but I believe the stats are that many dogs with obvious allergies don't benefit from testing--in other words, the tests don't reveal the allergy. Also, 25% or so of dogs aren't helped by the shots even if you can figure it out. Here's a link to one of my favorite veterinary practices with a terrific library of articles: Marvista Vet--Inhalant Allergies You can read about food allergies on the same site.

 

I didn't do the testing myself--a neighbor had an English Bulldog, and he had the testing done, and gave the shots. They helped, somewhat, but the dog still had to take antihistamines and even prednisone when it got really bad--and that was the same thing I did, so I didn't really see the point.

[Guest greytmonty]

Feel free to PM or email me, as we have been going thru' this allergy thing with Monty for about 1 1/2 years. In our experience the allergy testing was A FORTUNE and our first derm vet only made big bucks off Monty but did nothing to help him. Having said that, our second derm vet used the information from Monty's testing to set up a good treatment plan for him. We are now in our second awful allergy season with him and (knock wood) he is tolerating it ok.

[Guest GiJenn51]

Well, we're getting ready to change food anyway. So that should be fun. I'm thinking that's what it is. Since Chris will bring home track food sometimes, and he seems better...

[GreyTzu]

Maybe Jeff will see this and share what they did with Lexie.