Anybody Have Experience With Auto Immune Disorders?

[Guest Gideon]

We think this is what Tankala has. He has to go to a dermatologist in Ben Salem soon but the vets at NGAP think he's got an auto immune issue.

 

His paws get infected and lumpy and his eyes get cruddy. We give him antibiotics and it clears up right away. When he's off it comes back right away.

 

Any ideas?

[CaliforniaGreys]

I don't know if this will be of any help or not. But when Misty was having an issue losing her nails, rather than SLO, my vet thought it may be as a result of her thyroid.

We did find out that she had a low thyroid but my vet wasn't totally confident at first and also put her on something called Immuno-Support which is taken twice daily.

He has several dogs on it with excellent results. It really boosts the immune system but it is taken for life.

[ahicks51]

Can they do a sed rate and C-reative protein on a dog? I'm pretty sure they can. Those numbers will help tell if there's systemic inflammation.

 

The second thing to do is suspect severe allergies. Either blood test, skin test, elimination diet, or go raw/homecooked with novel proteins. There are some data to suggest that the latter- raw food or whatever- may have positive effects on some "autoimmune" disorders. At the very least, get out the wheat, and get rid of the corn. Pray for rain.

[Guest KennelMom]

Our Bridge guy Grandpa had an auto-immune condition secondary to Ehrlichia. He'd scab up on his orifices...mostly his eyes. May be worth checking to rule out tick disease. Grandpa could not tolerate prednisone, but he was OK on a maintenance dose of doxy.

[krissn333]

Can they do a sed rate and C-reative protein on a dog? I'm pretty sure they can. Those numbers will help tell if there's systemic inflammation.

 

The second thing to do is suspect severe allergies. Either blood test, skin test, elimination diet, or go raw/homecooked with novel proteins. There are some data to suggest that the latter- raw food or whatever- may have positive effects on some "autoimmune" disorders. At the very least, get out the wheat, and get rid of the corn. Pray for rain.

 

I would look at food allergies. I have a dog with lupus (which IS an autoimmune disorder) and she does very well on antibiotics along with some good skin supplements, but what's really made the difference for her is switching to a grain free food where fish is the source of protein. I feed Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream and it's made a HUGE difference. Now she just takes the supplements and we add the antibiotics back in if she has a flare up, and prednisone if the flare is really bad (she has a tough time in the winter).

 

I've not seen a dog with autoimmune problems display the kind of symptoms you're describing, but, I'm no veterinarian. I think before I did anything else I'd rule out food allergies.

[Guest Gideon]

Can they do a sed rate and C-reative protein on a dog? I'm pretty sure they can. Those numbers will help tell if there's systemic inflammation.

 

The second thing to do is suspect severe allergies. Either blood test, skin test, elimination diet, or go raw/homecooked with novel proteins. There are some data to suggest that the latter- raw food or whatever- may have positive effects on some "autoimmune" disorders. At the very least, get out the wheat, and get rid of the corn. Pray for rain.

 

I would look at food allergies. I have a dog with lupus (which IS an autoimmune disorder) and she does very well on antibiotics along with some good skin supplements, but what's really made the difference for her is switching to a grain free food where fish is the source of protein. I feed Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream and it's made a HUGE difference. Now she just takes the supplements and we add the antibiotics back in if she has a flare up, and prednisone if the flare is really bad (she has a tough time in the winter).

 

I've not seen a dog with autoimmune problems display the kind of symptoms you're describing, but, I'm no veterinarian. I think before I did anything else I'd rule out food allergies.

 

I've been thinking allergies too.

 

We feed Kirkland Chicken & Rice. We were feeding another food he came to us with which gave him soft poo. Switched him to Solid Gold, soft poo then to Kirkland. On Kirkland, he gained weight and poo has been perfect.

 

My budget is tight so is there a grain free food which runs under $50 for 40 lbs bag???

 

I was thinking of keeping on antibiotics but I don't see that as a fix and possibly leading to other issues down the road.

 

[turbotaina]

Check Taste of the Wild. I'm not sure how much it costs but it is cheaper than Evo and grain free.

[Burpdog]

Switch the protein and see how he does. I think Kirkland makes a lamb.

 

Remember, if you go to a grain free food you will be feeding at least half as much so it's not as expensive as you may think.

[dbullwinkel]

my Ig flex has discoid lupus..which effects his nose typically (crusty, bleeds and is painful). The vet always checks his paws for crust and his eyes do get weepy at times. I use natural tears. He has been on doxy long term, uses protopic cream on his nose when he flares. He gets vitamin E 400mg and 1000 salmon oil. at times the tips of his ears will scab as well.

I would also suspect he has allergies...he gets so itchy at times that he goes crazy licking himself; overall he has been doing well. At this time he's on a low dosage of pred for a little flare up.winter can be hard on him. I have tried to switch to grain free..not seeing much difference. I have never tried the fish based..thinking of giving pacific stream a try. He also avoids sun and wears sunscreen.

Do you give any supplements such as salmon oil to him?

[Guest SoulsMom]

my Ig flex has discoid lupus..which effects his nose typically (crusty, bleeds and is painful). The vet always checks his paws for crust and his eyes do get weepy at times. I use natural tears. He has been on doxy long term, uses protopic cream on his nose when he flares. He gets vitamin E 400mg and 1000 salmon oil. at times the tips of his ears will scab as well.

I would also suspect he has allergies...he gets so itchy at times that he goes crazy licking himself; overall he has been doing well. At this time he's on a low dosage of pred for a little flare up.winter can be hard on him. I have tried to switch to grain free..not seeing much difference. I have never tried the fish based..thinking of giving pacific stream a try. He also avoids sun and wears sunscreen.

Do you give any supplements such as salmon oil to him?

 

Soul has DL too. Until his GI issues, he did awesome on Pacific Stream. The winter has been very hard on us here as well

 

[Guest longdogs]

We think this is what Tankala has. He has to go to a dermatologist in Ben Salem soon but the vets at NGAP think he's got an auto immune issue.

 

His paws get infected and lumpy and his eyes get cruddy. We give him antibiotics and it clears up right away. When he's off it comes back right away.

 

Any ideas?

If antibiotics help it is unlikely to be autoimmune unless immune compromise is allowing secondary bacterial infections. Antibiotics do not work for autoimmune conditions themselves. William suffered from an AI condition but his problem was nothing like Tankala's.

[Guest LynnM]

Best of luck... I deal with autoimmune wierdness with Joplin now that he's quite elderly. He had inflammatory bowel disease that is kept pretty well under control with steroids and some other meds. However, he's had some other autoimmune wierdness from time to time... occasionally his platelets will decide to drop down to almost nothing, and we had a brief episode of what appeared to be masticatory myositis. Thankfully that resolved quickly. Your vets can explain and recommend some of the tests that will need to be done. There is some amount of trial and error, as even with positive test results, there may not be actual disease, and conversely, negative test results may not mean that he doesn't have an AI problem. It's a combination of test results, symptoms and how those symptoms do or do not respond to meds. Clear as mud?

 

Lynn

[Guest LindsaySF]

Switch the protein and see how he does. I think Kirkland makes a lamb.

Agreed. My Clancy has less itchy ears on the Lamb than on the Chicken.