Allergies Have Us At The End Of Our Rope

[Guest stereosilence]

Our poor Eugene has been diagnosed by the vet as a "chronic allergy dog". It is weird because it didn't seem like the allergies started until around the time we had our baby. The vet tells us that an allergy panel is extremely expensive ($2000?) and that there is a drug that would probably fix it, but it is too expensive for us.

 

Over a year ago, he scratched his neck very badly and it got scabbed and he scratched and it got pretty bad by the time we could get a cone on him. He has been wearing the cone for around a year and he still manages to find ways to irritate the spot on his neck. On top of that, his skin has gotten...scabby? There are something like very tiny scabs on his skin from his eyebrows down his spine. Yesterday, he scratched the top of his head and tore the skin. His eyes also get quite bloodshot and the corners of his eyes look terrible.

 

We are going back to the vet on Monday, but I don't know what they will do. We have tried many different kinds of food and he is currently on diamond naturals seafood and sweet potato which seems to be the best for him (his poops are very solid and his health has seemed to be better than when he was on other foods).

 

If there is anything else we can do or try, we would like to but it seems like everything is too expensive (they keep giving us eye ointment that is in a very small tube and it works but when we run out the problems return). We really love our dog but with all the problems and the fact that he seems to be allergic to something in our life (and we don't really use a lot of chemicals or anything) and we have a new baby on the way, we are struggling with whether we will be able to keep him.

 

Any suggestions, things to ask the vet for, etc?

[KF_in_Georgia]

Are you seeing your regular vet? Or have you been to a veterinary dermatologist? The latter is more expensive, but might be worth it.

[Guest stereosilence]

Just the regular vet. Is there a good derm vet that you know of in the Atlanta area?

[greysmom]

Has your vet suggested doing a food trial too see if you can figure out what he's allergic to? Of course, it may not be a food item that is causing his trouble. If it's environmental it can be tough to determine. Have you tried weekly baths with a soothing shampoo? Even wiping down your dog with baby wipes after coming in can help decrease environmental allergens. For foods, compare the lists of ingredients for the foods you've tried to see if there are any common elements - he could be allergic to the protein source (chicken is the most common allergen), the carb source (corn and wheat), or something much further down the list.

 

If the drug your vet suggested was Apoquel, it is completely worth the price IMO. Out of the blue one of ours started licking and biting her skin raw - we had changed nothing in her environment or her food. Within an hour of her first dose of Apoquel she stopped the behavior completely and we were able over time to get her skin healed up. There *are* cheaper drugs to try, but they may or may not work. Apoquel is a relatively new drug and there isn't a lot of long-term use info. Some people also feel that it's method of treatment is not well understood and may have unintended consequences down the road. Again, IMO, those people haven't had a dog chew it's fur off in front of them, when you will do literally anything to help your poor dog. We have been able to cut back on Lilly's dosage over time (making them cheaper by stretching out the monthly costs), and we hope to be able to get her off them completely soon.

 

Good luck.

Edited February 16, 2017 by greysmom

[XTRAWLD]

I copied my response to from another topic with some edits:

 

Kasey was terrible for allergies. He had both environmental and food based. What I suggest is try to narrow down what might be causing the allergies by doing a blood test. Just honestly get that done and out of the way and save yourself a bit of grief. While it is not as accurate as a skin test, you'll get some information and a better direction than just trying to shoot anything that moves. With new baby, maybe there was a new introduction of laundry detergent, or fabric softener, or he's getting some baby food.....it could be anything, just a small thing, but it's put him over the brink. What you have going for you is that he's not currently on meds, so you can still do a skin test.

 

Kasey's itching occurred mainly on his ears, neck, head and face, and he would scratch like crazy so to keep him from harming himself, prednisone is what worked to keep the allergies at bay and he stayed on that until the end of his days. It wasn't ideal, but it was affordable. I sympathize with the head scratching and open sores and wounding himself. In the interim, use neosporin to help heal the open wounds and if he has really itchy skin that are not open wounds, apply some hydrocortizone to help stop the itch. Also Natural Tears II would help his eyes. ONLY use this brand and type. NO OTHER brand/type as they are not good for dogs.

 

I became quite the pro at the pet store trying to read ingredient lists on different foods. Food trials were lengthy as it takes a while for everything to leave the system and for the body to react. You also have to be SUPER SUPER diligent of rewarding with cookies, and not giving ANY table scraps. Isolating the food source is paramount with food trials. But you need to have some guidance, so a blood test or skin test to help narrow down the food sensitivity.

 

Switching to raw made an immense difference, because he was allergic to chicken, and chicken is in SO many varieties of kibble, even the derivatives of it we had to stay away from. To be truthful, we also avoided raw chicken. But turkey, not in the same family, was fair game! If you want to investigate the raw option, I also highly recommend it. Poops will also be good. I wholeheartedly wish I had done the blood test first, and then went raw, so that is my strongest recommendation to you. It would have saved years of trials and money and doggie wellness.

 

Prednisone took care of the environmental allergies that I couldn't alleviate with food, and he was on the lowest dose possible to keep them at bay. We did try many medications too, but you know what, they were expensive and not a sustainable method for me to upkeep.

 

If you need any other info about my experience, feel free to PM me directly!

Edited February 16, 2017 by XTRAWLD

[Guest stereosilence]

I have used hydrocortizone topical cream. It just doesn't last long and he doesn't get after it when we are around. It always seems to be in the night or something.

 

It would be nearly impossible to restrict his food intake. We have a toddler and although we try to keep the food away from him, he usually camps out under the high chair.

 

We have had problems getting rid of fleas, so I don't know if he might be allergic to fleas or flea treatment.

 

Does anyone have good recommendations for therapeutic shampoo? I feel like if we could get him to a good place, he would probably stay there.

[XTRAWLD]

I fear that a diagnosis with a chronic allergy does not have an easy solution without some effort on your part to eliminate certain foods or environmental things that are causing him discomfort.

[GreytTerp]

Not with our guy, but my parents' dog has terrible allergies as well. They have her now successfully on a limited diet (some type of natural balance dry kibble), but the major changer for her severe skin allergies has been mixing the Dynovite supplement powder with some canned pumpkin every night after dinner. Flare-ups with skin and eye issues from allergies are now down to just 2 or 3 times a year over the past 4 years. Sorry that you're struggling with this!

[sarabz]

We were working on allergies with our guy and tried Apoquel - immediate difference. Essentially our vet wanted us to try Apoquel until seasonal allergies could be noted as a factor, then do a Hills Z/D diet to rule out food allergies, then go to a specialist for skin testing. We ended up having to return him before we could do all of that, but there is no easy fix, unfortunately.

[greyhoundlady]

You mentioned fleas - are you using a topical flea treatment on him? I am wondering if that could be the irritant - it has been known to happen. Try to think of anything that he could be touching/laying on - like carpet that may have been cleaned with chemicals (maybe from flea treatments), etc. Perhaps that could be what is bothering his skin. If so, don't use it anymore and see if that helps him.

 

We use an edible flea/tick medication - Nexgard.

[greysmom]

If he has fleas, it could get as simple as a flea allergy. If you don't want to use a topical due to the children, there are plenty of ingestable options.

 

For shampoos, use something gentle with oatmeal in it to sooth his skin.

[Opals_mom]

My cat was allergic to one of the topical flea meds all the sudden after having used it in the past. The whole patch of fur where I put it she scratched that into a quarter inch thick scab. I felt AWFUL and she was so miserable. She ended up having a flea allergy and the vet recommended one that was made from mushroom fungus or something that came in a chewable tablet. After a while nothing helped her so she was getting prednesone shots every month.

 

Allergies are no fun.

[PrairieProf]

Hill's makes a specific prescription food for skin allergies now.

 

Following up on the mention of Apoquel above, my Cocoa is on Atopica, another mild immune-suppressant medication -- she's on it for discoid lupus, but it is designed for severe allergies. It's not cheap, but I think its success record is pretty good. Cocoa has tolerated it well. I'm actually really surprised your vet hasn't proposed medication already.

[Scoutsmom]

What is your dog sleeping on? I knew a dog an allergic reaction effecting his skin everywhere. Turned out he was allergic to the cedar in his bed. Owners got rid of the bed and the dog instantly improved.---Just a thought of something to check.

[spottydog]

Little tiny scabs sounds like a flea allergy...I would try treating the fleas.

[Batmom]

Make sure there are no fleas. Use an oral med such as Comfortis or Nexguard. Give him a thorough bath. Wash everything washable. Consider spraying nonwashables like carpet with Knockout or one of the Adams products. Then see how he does over the next 2-4 weeks. I have had a dog with a flea allergy, and I myself have a flea allergy. Just one bite can make a creature miserable for weeks.

 

Best luck!

Edited February 17, 2017 by Batmom

[Guest Rainy]

For shampoos try Malaseb. It's pretty strong (anti-bacterial and anti-fungal) but I know someone whose shepherd suffered from chronic allergies to basically everything (all protein sources, environmental, and on and on). The only thing that kept him from scratching himself raw constantly was weekly baths with Malaseb. Our family golden was prone to skin infections, possibly from allergies, and he had weekly or bi-weekly baths to keep infections from flaring up again.

 

There are other shampoos, too. Chlorhexidine-only based ones are good anti-bacterial, (but not as good as Malaseb which is anti-bac and anti-fungal). A tar based shampoo can also help itching (similar to T-gel for people). Oatmeal shampoos also work. There are other natural ones with aloe, tea tree, etc. I would start off with Malaseb, or a chlorhexidine one, to clear up the sores and any skin infection he may have. Once that's better, try a gentler anti-itch one to keep him from scratching himself raw again. After ruling out fleas of course....underlying causes are a whole other can of worms.

 

For testing, look into Dr. Dodds Nutriscan test (she also runs the Hemopet greyhound blood bank adoption centre). From what I know, it's the most accurate allergy test available. My super super type-AAA friend with the allergic shepherd wanted to do it, but couldn't because of shipping samples cross border.

[cleptogrey]

Capstar will eliminate the fleas, bombing the house may be in order. have a clean start.

[Guest stereosilence]

Thanks for all the kind replies and advice! The fact that we had him for several months without any severe problems makes me think we can get this figured out without drastic actions. I'm hoping that if we can give him medicine to get him "over the hump" and back to a healthy state, he might just be able to stay there.

 

He did have a persistent case of fleas and we really had to douse him in the topical stuff we have. I think we got the fleas, but then his skin got worse. I think he may be allergic to fleas and to the topical treatment. Since we have had him, we have lived in two different houses and his bedding and environment has changed so I don't think he is allergic to something really specific that he might rub against and his problems have persisted through seasons, so it seems unlikely it is pollen or something. We really don't use many chemicals in our house.

 

I am going to try to give him more frequent baths with the natural oatmeal shampoo we already have. I am going to talk to the vet about switching to an oral flea treatment. I am also going to talk to the vet about Apoquel, Dermoscent, and Prednisone to figure out what the best option is to get him to stop itching long enough for his hair to grow thick where he had the scabs. I'll probably just get more of the same eye ointment we have used before. Hopefully if we do all that at once, he will see a great improvement and we can reduce or eliminate the medication. I'm also going to see what it costs to get the blood allergy test.

[XTRAWLD]

To be fair, Kasey's allergies first hit when we moved and changed houses. Don't be surprised that it's the environment that has set him off. Was the house you moved into a smokers house? Does it have a different type of grass out back than what he's used to?

 

Frequent oatmeal baths might soothe him, but really you can't over due it with the frequency or he'll just start to get dried out, then you'll be battling two skin conditions.

 

Dermoscent is wonderful, but it's expensive. We tried it for months and while Kasey grew a healthy coat, and it helped strengthen his skin to help put a better barrier up against the environmental allergens, it still wasn't enough so we discontinued.

 

I was fortunate to become educated over the years by dermatologists and the allergy professionals at a vet university as well as other savvy vets to be able to help me understand true allergies and how, why they occur and how to help treat them. I'm really sorry but there is no one magic medicine. It's just a bandaid here on in.

[JohnF]

Can you let him have a little 'vacation' with frienew or family? That way you can rule out environmental issues.

 

I'd be inclined to try RAW too and be more focusd about fleabite or mite allergic reaction

Edited February 17, 2017 by JohnF

[Guest stereosilence]

Update:

 

The vet said that he has a skin infection and possible an ear infection (his ears get really cruddy). She said the the scratching of his neck is a sign of obsessive behavior (scratching past the point of the itch until it is just tearing everything up) and that intolerance of Frontline spray is really common.

 

So, I got:

 

Trifexis (heartworm + flea treatment)

BNP + Dex Ophthalmic ointment (bloodshot, irritated eyes)

Otibiotic tribiotic (to put in his ears)

Simplicef / Cefpodoxime (antibiotic for his skin)

Amitriptyline HCL (anxiety med to help him chill out with the scratching)

Dexamethasone injection (steroid)

 

They also did an ear swab microscopic exam.

 

She said that Apoquel wouldn't be good for him with his skin condition. It kind of feels like we are throwing the kitchen sink at it (and $350 seems kind of steep). Hopefully this will get him all straightened out.

[gracegirl]

$350 for all that is not steep. I hope you can get it under control for him very soon!

Edited February 21, 2017 by gracegirl

[XTRAWLD]

Did they check for Scabies?

[greysmom]

FWIW, Trifexis, no matter what it says, isn't "edible." Even my dog that eats poop won't take a Trifexis tablet! So you need to pill your dog with it - don't worry about how big it is. You can wrap it in a piece of lunchmeat or soft cheese to help it slip down. Open your dog's mouth with one hand, and put the pill as far down his throat as you can with the other.

 

But it is really good at getting rid of fleas, so that's good. Hope all this helps! Keep us informed.