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I have a 3 year old cocker spaniel who has been suffering with severe skin allergies for the last year or so. We have been thru 4 vets, one a vet dermatologist. We've tried food allergy testing twice, had all kinds of blood work done, tried numerous antibiotics, prednisone, sprays, benedryl, zyrtec, the latest script was for atopica, which did absolutely nothing for her. Aside from the $ we have spent trying to find
a solution for her, I am at the end of my rope. She just is constantly itching, chewing, rubbing, I don't think she takes more than 3 steps before she stops and starts itching. Her bottom looks like a road map of skin and little hair. The shampoos, antibiotic, 3 of them, have done nothing. I finally started bathing her with an oatmeal based shampoo which works, but very temporary.
I have tried looking for a holistic vet, but have had a hard time finding someone in the Western New York area.
If anyone has any suggestions as to what else to try, I would so much appreciate it. It breaks my heart to see my dog so miserable
Have they not recommended immunotherapy (allergy shots)? I have a dog that has pretty bad allergies-- I've had the allergy tests done, she has special shampoo and conditioner, etc. while not an immediate cure all, I have notices she is getting better as we build her tolerance up.
I have a 3 year old cocker spaniel who has been suffering with severe skin allergies for the last year or so. We have been thru 4 vets, one a vet dermatologist. We've tried food allergy testing twice, had all kinds of blood work done, tried numerous antibiotics, prednisone, sprays, benedryl, zyrtec, the latest script was for atopica, which did absolutely nothing for her. Aside from the $ we have spent trying to find
a solution for her, I am at the end of my rope. She just is constantly itching, chewing, rubbing, I don't think she takes more than 3 steps before she stops and starts itching. Her bottom looks like a road map of skin and little hair. The shampoos, antibiotic, 3 of them, have done nothing. I finally started bathing her with an oatmeal based shampoo which works, but very temporary.
I have tried looking for a holistic vet, but have had a hard time finding someone in the Western New York area.
If anyone has any suggestions as to what else to try, I would so much appreciate it. It breaks my heart to see my dog so miserable
Go to the pet store and buy food that does not contain any corn or wheat. (There is a Duck and Rice version manufactured by Nutro, I believe). 90 percent of these kinds of problems are caused by corn and wheat. I used to work in a pet store and we saw this over and over. It is an especially bad problem with Labrador Retrievers, although any dog can be sensitive to these products.
Yes, thank you, we did the shots for 6 months and stopped because she seemed to be getting worse. My newest vet actually suggested trying that again if the atoptica didn't work. He said that we need to keep her on it as it may get worse before it gets better... I just need to find something to get her thru the "worse" period. Unfortunately, for her, prednisone doesn't seems to be much help.
Go to the pet store and buy food that does not contain any corn or wheat. (There is a Duck and Rice version manufactured by Nutro, I believe). 90 percent of these kinds of problems are caused by corn and wheat. I used to work in a pet store and we saw this over and over. It is an especially bad problem with Labrador Retrievers, although any dog can be sensitive to these products.
20yrsinBranson
We've been feeding the dog Holistic Select Chicken, wheat and corn free, has brown and white rice,
plus she was on a prescription diet dog food for 8 weeks with nothing else given to her to test for
food allergies. I almost wish it was a food allergy, it would be a whole lot simpler.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Was the prescription food chicken based also? Some dogs do have chicken allergies, you might want to try something like Wellness Simple Salmon & Potato to rule out a chicken issue.
You might also try putting some coconut oil on the spots that are raw, she will lick it off which is ok, but if you can prevent her from doing that for a few minutes it should help ease the itch a bit. Organic, extra virgin, un-refined is best.
Was the prescription food chicken based also? Some dogs do have chicken allergies, you might want to try something like Wellness Simple Salmon & Potato to rule out a chicken issue.
You might also try putting some coconut oil on the spots that are raw, she will lick it off which is ok, but if you can prevent her from doing that for a few minutes it should help ease the itch a bit. Organic, extra virgin, un-refined is best.
No,the prescription food wasn't chicken based, my vet actually had suggested to try another food
not chicken to see, which I did, we tried salmon, trout, etc, still itched...
I will try the coconut oil, how funny that you mentioned that, I was on line today looking at the benefits of coconut oil for skin allergies.. I use it myself and kept thinking if it was good for my skin and everything else, why wouldn't it be good for my dog... several of the articles said you give the animal a little, based on their weight, and you can apply it to the skin. Will try that tonight! Thank you!
No,the prescription food wasn't chicken based, my vet actually had suggested to try another food
not chicken to see, which I did, we tried salmon, trout, etc, still itched...
I will try the coconut oil, how funny that you mentioned that, I was on line today looking at the benefits of coconut oil for skin allergies.. I use it myself and kept thinking if it was good for my skin and everything else, why wouldn't it be good for my dog... several of the articles said you give the animal a little, based on their weight, and you can apply it to the skin. Will try that tonight! Thank you!
One thing I didn't read in any of your posts is trying a novel protein...one your dog hasn't ever had before. Like Kangaroo, Bison...there's more I just can't recall at the moment.
Coconut oil...yes, definitely worth a try. You're right, you can apply it directly to any irritated areas but do put a teaspoon or so in the food every day.
I have a French Bulldog, five years old, and he's been an itchy mess for three or more years. We've been thru everything you posted and it's extremely frustrating. As much as I hate Prednisone, this spring and summer he's been on a low dose 5 mg daily and it's the only thing that works. We have blood work done regularly and I hope once everything stops blooming we can start getting him off the Prednisone.
Good luck to you. I'll come back later with more suggestions about novel proteins.
have you tried COMPELTLY grain free, no rice, barley ect AND a ovel protein?
I would also look into just going prey model raw.
butt itching like that though is pretty common a contact dermatitis issue (food tends to be paws first) and around the bae of the tail is frequently a flea allergy.
even a dog compeltly up to date on flea control and ot a single flea on them can still be bitten by a flea (most flea protection only kills the flea when it bites, and doesn't actually repel or prevent the bite in the first place...)
so it might be worth trying k9 advantix or another REPELLANT flea control to see if that works ive got a flea allergy dog whos got o fleas living on her, but I was using 1 product and the bugs were still biting,one bite and shed have her butt raw in minutes! I now use k9 advantix because it also repels rather than just kills whenthe critters bite...ive seen a huge improvement since swutching to advantix and going raw...
unfrotunatly like skeeter bites its going to take a while to stop itching once you figure out what it is...
keep up the oatmeal baths and get a hot spot spray or make your own with a strong concentration of mint tea in a sqprit bottle, itll help relive the itching temporarily while retments have chance to take effect.
I would definatly cut out ALL grains, if not already id switch to a repellant flea control, id probably spray the yard and treat the house with a permethrin based flea control, and idstarta a combination of fish and coconut oil and brewers yeast and garlic regime (the brewers yeast and garlic will alos help repel.
how much does she weigh, garlic IS toxic to dogs in large amounts but In small does its fine.
It was my understanding it takes about 3 months to detox on a novel protein diet......
Chicken is a big offender, even sneaking into fish based foods..
Coconut oil- ease into it and also give a good quality fish oil (grizzly is good) fish oils are bad to go rancid and cause more harm than good so cut open the capsule and there should be no fishy odor and if you take it no fish burps.
I noticed one ingredient in your food that I avoid like the plague. Flaxseed. One of my dogs absolutely could not go near it and it is very hard to avoid in dog foods. But it sounds like you have ruled out the food.
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