Treating Allergies in Dogs

[WestieMomma]

I have a West Highland Terrier who like most Westies, has bad allergies. She gets very itchy eyes, ears and will sometimes chew. I took her to the vet last year and she ended up having a staph infection on her legs from too much chewing. I was trying Benadryl but it really wasn't helping enough. So the vet put her on an antibiotic for the staph infection and one pill a day of Predisone. He has told me whenever her allergies start to flare then just get a refill on her Predisone and start her back on it.

My question is..isn't Predisone bad for a dog to take long term?? She has never had any type of blood or skin allergy testing and I am starting to wonder if maybe she should be tested and start allergy shots or something but the vet has never mentioned that to me. I'm thinking about maybe going to another vet for another opinion. She is 5 years old and weighs 25 lbs which is on the high side despite the fact I walk her and feed her diet dog food which I cut down to 3/4 cup per the vet's advice. I know some of the weight gain is probably form the Predisone because I think last year she was around 22 lbs. We have also done the Omega-3 oil in her food but I can't tell if that is really helping her coat or allergies.

Should I have her allergy tested?? Are there any other alternate allergy medications out there that may not the side effects that the Predisone does?

[amyintn]

What's the dosage of Prednisone? I'm on a very low dosage, 5 mg, and I'm taking it longterm and I have no side effects, depending on which dr I'm seeing. One says my new found acne is a s/e and the one who prescribed it (my RE) says that I shouldn't have any s/e.

[jesvet]

I would definitely talk to someone about another opinion. Long term pred in dogs has a huge side effect profile. There are lots of other options- they can be a lot of work but better in the long run. See if there is a board certified veterinary dermatologist in your area- they specialize in allergic disease.

[BethIrish]

Have you thought about doing something with alternative medicine? There are vets out there that also do acupunture and chiropractic on pets. I know that both of those thing have helped human friends of mine - I would they'd help the doggies, too!!

[kanga1622]

Did you try anything other than the Benedryl to begin with? We started with that and then moved onto Chlortrimeton. The Chlor seems to be working much better for our pup. There is also a 3rd antihistamine that I believe starts with an "A." Our vet wanted to exhaust all 3 of those while also switching to a food specifically made for dogs with food sensitivities or allergies. We switched to Wellness Simple Food Solutions Duck version and then switch to Chlor and we really reduced the amount of itching and biting of his feet.

Maybe you could talk to your vet about something a little less "strong" for your westie. Our vet won't prescribe steroids or anything stronger than antihistamines unless she's exhausted everything else.

On a related note, what kind of symptoms did you notice when your pup had the staph infection? I'd love to know what to look out for since ours would chew his feet right off if he wasn't on medication and he often chews when the medication starts to wear off before his next dose is due.

[WestieMomma]

kanga1622
We have not tried any other meds other than the benadryl and Pred. Is the Chlor thing you are talking about an prescribed med or something you buy over the counter? Because a friend was telling me to try something that I think is the same thing you are talking about...she said I can get it at a herbal pharmacy and give the dog one pill twice a day.

I noticed she had the staph infection because her legs were so red and irrittated looking. The antibiotic cleared it up but of course I can prevent her from getting to that point if she is on her allergy medication.

I think I am going to look into seeing a vet dermatologist, we are in the Dallas area so I'm sure there is one here. thanks for all the help!

[kanga1622]

The Chlortrimeton that our pup is on is over the counter. It was right next to the Benedryl at the pharmacy. They are basically just different chemicals that have antihistamine properties. We actually use a generic version that comes OTC or we can purchase it through our vet if we happen to be at the office (it's in a different town).

Dosage can vary widely based upon the size of the dog. Our 9 lb. miniature poodle takes 1/4 of a 4 mg. pill every eight hours. That is a fairly low dosage (he could take up to 2/3 of a pill) but more than that upsets his stomach and he doesn't eat very well. We've learned to start on a lower dosage and then increase the dose (within the guidelines provided by the vet) to see if it is working and how it affects food consumption.

Thanks for the info on the staph infection warning signs. We'll keep an eye on our guy. We're hoping that keeping up with the allergy meds will keep Keegan from staining his paws. He's a black and white (looks like a miniature holstein - pics in sig) so it is kinda odd to see these champagne colored paws because of the chewing. Hopefully with his next haircut he'll go back to white paws and stay that way.

[kithara]

My cat had skin allergies for several years. Everytime I would take her to the vet, they would give her a steroid shot and explain how it could not be a long term solution, but they had no other suggestions. Her skin became so sensitive that you couldn't even touch her without her skin crawling. That's when I decided that I had to try something different and found a homeopathic vet. I was warned that the skin is the last organ to heal if there were other problems and was prepared to spend months working to find the best treatment, but I was very lucky. The first homeopathic remedy the vet gave me to give her worked almost immediately. While I don't know if you will experience the same fast results, I encourage you to look into this option. The results have been long term, over 9 months so far, and she is a much happier kitty.

[Sue]

What food does she eat? Have you tried changing her food?

[WestieMomma]

Sue

Right now she is eating Pro Plan weight management formula because she is up to 25 lbs..partly from the Predisone and partly because she has always been a little overweight. I walk her and have cut her food intake down to 3/4 cup at the suggestion of the vet. I got a reccomendation to start her on Wellness Fish and Potatoe or Natural Balance Duck and Potatoe..any experience with these? And then I am going to try a green bean diet too. So basically I'm battling the weight and her allergies.

DH is taking her to the vet this morning because it looks like she has a ringworm on her nose possibly (she had one before and it looked similar) and we wnat them to check her ears. DH is also supossed to ask the vet about taking her off the Pred and switching her to Chlortrimeton or something else.

[Sue]

My dogs were on Wellness for a while, it's a good food. When one of my dogs started having some skin issues, so we switched her to California Natural, which is supposed to be excellent for dogs with allergies. Rory, unfortunately, did not do very well on it so we switched her to Nature's Variety and within a week her skin was 100% better. So we switched all the dogs to it. I've also heard amazing things about Innova EVO, but haven't tried it myself.

It can be trial and error to see what works best. You want to look for something that has few ingredients and the least amount of grain - which is usually what causes any allergies. Some dogs don't react well to dog food chicken or beef, a duck, venison or fish food usually yields better results. Good luck! I hope puppy feels better :)

[mkredhead]

My dog Speck has horrific allergies. He could seriously be the bubble dog!

He receives a quarterly injection of Prednisone and goes on the daily doseage about twice a year - spring and fall. By breaking up the doseages, it helps the medicine maintain its effectiveness. In addition, it gives Speck's body a reprieve from the side effects of a daily medication.

Because Speck is allergic to beef and all by-products, he and Simon eat Nutro Max Small Chunks. This natural dog food contains lamb and chicken, but absolutely no byproducts. I am also careful to read all labels on treats, etc. and look for beef or beef byproducts. Right now, the boys receive Neuman's all natural treats and they love them.

He still has allergy outbreaks, but the severity is lessened. Hang in there!

[WestieMomma]

Thanks for the info and replies.

DH took Karsen to the vet this morning and the bad news is the spot on her nose that I thought was a ringworm is a small tumor that will need to be removed within two weeks. The vet started her on some antibiotics in preparation for the surgery. She had a fatty tumor removed form her stomach about two years ago and everything was fine with that so hopefully this will go okay. She also had the start of an ear infection so we got some medicine for that as well.

DH also talked to the vet about the Predisone and he said if she isn't taking it continuously for years the side effects are usually low. She is only taking it when her allergies flare on and off for about a year now but I think after this surgery is over I am still going to change her food and try the Chlor or Benadryl exclusively and see how that goes.

[pewee9196]

I have lurked in this tread because my welsh terrier has horrible allergies that don't respond to the normal treatments. We are really interested in changing dog foods. Where do you get these? (We live on an Army Base so we get our food through base) I have found them online but if I could just run out and grab some that would be great. Thanks

[Sue]

I have lurked in this tread because my welsh terrier has horrible allergies that don't respond to the normal treatments. We are really interested in changing dog foods. Where do you get these? (We live on an Army Base so we get our food through base) I have found them online but if I could just run out and grab some that would be great. Thanks

You can find the premium foods at feed stores or pet supply stores. If you know which one you are interested in, you can check out the websites and they'll list the stores that sell them in your area.

[kanga1622]

pewee9196 - We found out about this great pet store in our area through one of the local rescue groups. You might try to find a rescue group or shelter local to you that could let you know where you can locate some premium pet food. This store happens to be an hour away from us but we feel it is entirely worth it to drive that far to get food and treats every couple months.

The big chain stores don't generally carry the premium pet food lines so it does take a little searching.

WestieMomma - Wellness makes a great line of foods called "Simple Food Solutions." They are formulated specifically for food sensitivities and allergies. We use the Duck version and have had good results with having less tummy issues in our pup. http://www.omhpet.com/ You can locate retailers and view the ingredients on their homepage so you can see what they have before going to a store.

[JAJ]

sorry to hear about the tumor on Karsen's nose :-(

Our Lab has allergies and we must have had her on every med including predisone..nothing seemed to help long term. The vet then told us to not give her any food with beef or wheat flour. We switched her to a food called Natural Balance Duck and Potato and treats are strickly Wellness apple & yogurt. Luckily she has been doing great for over a yr now.

Hope you find what works for you.

[WestieMomma]

JAJ Is your lab on any other allergy meds now or did just changing the food clear up most of the allergy issues?

I am going to get some food next week and hopefully change her over after the surgery and she is feeling better. She will have her surgery on Fri Nov 4th.

Anyone know if I should mix her new food with the old food for a while or not?

[JAJ]

Nope she has been medication free (knock on wood) for quite some time now.
The change over to the food and treats really seemed to help.

When you change over I would do 1/2 old mixed with 1/2 new for a week.

I hope all goes well with surgery.

[WestieMomma]

JAJ Thanks for the info..that is great to hear about how much the food helped!

[kanga1622]

WestieMomma - When we switched foods we started with 1/4 new and 3/4 old for 2 days, 1/2 and 1/2 for 2 days, then 1/4 old and 3/4 new for 2 days. Of course, Kee was too smart for us and only ate the new food anyway! He also started eating more of the new food each day than he did of the old food. We guess he just felt better on the new food so he could eat a little more.

Good luck with the surgery. Hopefully everything goes well and you have a very happy Karsen running around the house in no time.

[WestieMomma]

Thanks for the info and well wishes kanga!:)

[ee_chick]

WestieMomma -- I know I'm late, but I wanted to let you know that we're another family that has had great success at treating/preventing allergy problem with diet. Our pups have been on Eukanuba Fish & Potato (prescription) for almost two years, and it has really helped. :) We're looking at switching brands (it's a hassle for us to get), but we'll definitely be sticking with an allergy friendly diet.

I hope your pup is feeling better. :)

[WestieMomma]

Thanks ee_chick.

I got the Wellness Fish and Sweet Potatoe food delivered today along with the Apple, Yogurt and Banana treats that Wellness makes. The treats are pretty big in size so I broke one in half and gave her a half and she seemed to like it. I also went ahead and mixed a little of the new food in with her old and she ate it right up so hopefully it will be an easy transition. I'll keep ya'll posted! I cannot wait to see how it helps her allergies.:)

[Rico'sAlice]

I would make the priority finding out what the allergens are and then avoiding them, rather than just treating symptoms. Diet is definitely the place to look, with corn and wheat being likely culprits.
I would definitely try to find a holistic vet! If you can't, the way to find allergies is to eliminate the most likely allergens and then rotate foods in until you find the problem.

I would try cutting the corn and wheat completely from the diet. (They are not nutritionally appropriate for dogs anyway) I would personally not feed any grains/starch at all, but rice or potatos are what's normally used b/c most dogs haven't had previous exposure. Limit yourself to one though, so you can tell what's going on.
You will need to keep a log of what is being fed and what the allergic reactions are.

Another issue can be all of the dyes, preservatives, flavorings, etc. in commercially prepared dog food. One option is to find a super-premium brand that just uses vitamin-E (as a preservative) and no other chemical stuff. Even better would be to prepare your own food at home. Many resources can easily be googled on home cooked dog food recipes.

Now, if it were me I would just immediately go to an all raw food diet with zero grains. I would start with chicken and see how that goes. Then I would rotate beef, lamb, etc. I think people normally use two-week increments when looking for allergies. Tons of information can be found on raw dog diets also called BARF (biologically appropriate raw food) on google and also in previous posts I have made in this forum-- so I won't go over everything here. But if you have any specific questions I am always very eager to answer them.

I would try to look at prednisone as a last resort sort of thing. A holistic vet would help you work at this from the angle of putting the body right, rather than just doctoring symptoms.

[keska]

Bumping this thread because our italian greyhound, Rollo, was diagnosed with allergies on Friday. The vet wasn't too helpful on what he might be allergic to, other than saying that it's spring and might be environmental. He gave him 5 days of prednisone, which I'm not really comfortable with but we're doing because we need to have Rollo fixed and we can't do that until we can be sure he won't be scratching.

I've been doing a lot of reading and I see that many IGs have food allergies. It appears grains, including corn, soy and wheat, are the most common allergens, so we are switching Rollo to Innovo EVO, which has no grains, to see if that helps. We were already in the process of moving him to Innovo anyway. If that doesn't help, we'll eliminate chicken. I've heard good things about Wellness Duck and Potato, which was already mentioned here, as well as Flint River Trout & Potato and various Timberwolf Organics formulas.

My concern is that Rollo seems most itchy when I pick him up from daycare, so I'm wondering if it maybe is a pollen thing, or possibly an allergic reaction to his sweaters or the laundry detergent they get washed in. Anyway, I thought I'd keep a little allergy journal here in case someone else is having this problem.

[Katy]

So those of you that say your dogs have allergies, is it a seasonal thing? My little guy's allergies seem to act up the same time mine do, and the same time the cat's eyes are tearing up non-stop. I notice that most of the time, if I give him his Benadryl, he'll stop scratching. A couple of times a year the Benadryl won't work and then he gets Chlor.

I tried switching his food up (luckily we have quite a few feed stores in the area) and it honestly never made a difference. I even used special shampoos and sprays by Eqyss Micro-Tek (http://www.eqyss.com/pet_products.asp) that have said to work wonders (http://www.eqyss.com/pet_testimonials1.asp) on dog's allergies. Again, it didn't make a difference which leads me to believe it really is a seasonal thing *sigh*

Let me tell you, thanks to all of our unseasonable rains, and our warm days, our entire house seems to now be dealing with allergies :rolleyes:

[ee_chick]

Bumping this because we've had a rough week with allergies around here.

Sydney is nearly four, and while she's always had allergies they are out of control right now. Last year we had such problems with her allergies that we had an actual allergy test done on her. We visit the vet on a regular basis, and she's normally managed with a special diet, daily benadryl and regular baths with an appropriate shampoo. She's getting allergy shots too. Flare ups are usually controlled with small doses of prednisone.

On Thursday she had a reaction to something - all sorts of hives and super-itchiness. We worked with the vet and managed that episode, but she had another in the middle of the night. We visited the vet yesterday, and she still had hives. Now we're on crazy doses of prednisone, some drugs to protect her stomach from the prednisone, benadryl and a daily application of an anti-itch conditioner.

Is there anything else I can do to make her more comfortable? The hives are finally gone, but she's a little itchy and all of those drugs have her feeling poorly. Poor baby. :(

[keska]

I don't have any advice. Rollo is still itchy, though the prednisone has helped his ears stop being red. I use bag balm on the tips of his ears and that cleared up the flakiness. I bought a spray at the store that I thought would be helpful but when I did some online research, I found out that tea tree oil may be toxic to dogs and is toxic to cats, so we can't use it.

ee_chick What kind of anti-itch conditioner are you using?

[jesvet]

ee_chick, it sounds like you guys are doing everything right. I'm so sorry, that really blows. Poor kiddo, I hope she feels better soon!

ETA: Any idea what might have caused the flare? Has she been bathed to get any surface allergens off her skin? (I'm assuming yes as you have a conditioner). Are you washing all her bedding and vacuuming with a HEPA filter? Those are the only things I can think of right now.

[ee_chick]

Thanks, ladies.

keska, the conditioner is called resiSOOTHE. It actually seems to have worked reasonably well today, and her fur is nice and soft, too. :) The vet gave us a topical spray for when she's chewing her paws or scratching a spot a lot - Gentocin Topical Spray.

Syd is allergic to a ton of stuff including pork, soybeans, rice, brewers yeast, flax and peas. I have a booklet that specifies a lot of safe treats for her specific allergy profile. It doesn't cover all of your potentials, but if you're interested let me know and I can give you some highlights or send you a copy.

jesvet, thanks for chiming in. I love my vet but am also a huge worrywart about the pup. It's nice to hear from an outside source that we seem to be covering all of our bases.

We can't figure out what the trigger was. We don't think it was her allergy shots - the vet says the timing is off, though she's contacting the serum manufacturer to be sure. We found out through a postcard today that the exterminator came by on Thursday WITHOUT prior notification (in violation of their contract) :mad:, but she didn't go outside for four hours after he left so I don't think it was a pesticide issue. I'm thinking that it might be seasonal. We had her tested last July after three or four months of off-and-on flare-ups, so the timing is consistent.

We did bathe her with Chlorhexiderm at the beginning of the flare. She'll get daily conditioner applications for a week. We have hardwoods in 80% of the house and we use a vacuum with a HEPA filter on all carpet. We wash her bedding/bed covers in hot water every other week. We also constantly run big BlueAir HEPA filters in the living room and in our bedroom, where she sleeps.

[SeptSapphire]

Hi everyone!

Question for anyone: The vet put the doggie on chlorpheniramine 2 mg a day to help with his seasonal allergies. Benadryl wasn't doing jack anymore, and I had ruled out food allergies.

The Rx isn't doing much. It looks like his ear isn't itching as bad, but he's still licking his paws something fierce.

Can I give him his normal Benadryl dose, too? Would that be too much? He's a 10 lb chihuahua with no other health problems.

My vet said there were really only 3 meds before allergy shots- benadryl, chlorpheniramine, and prednisone. We did the prednisone route last year, and while it worked, it made him horribly incontinent and the allergies came right back after his last dose.

Any other alternatives to try?

TIA!

[jesvet]

Ask about Temaril-P. It's a combination antihistamine with low dose prednisone, you may have better luck with it.

How did you rule out food allergies?

[SeptSapphire]

A complete elimination diet. It really helped his allergies, especially his ears. He's now doing really well on Wellness, Evangers, and Candidae (thanks to the recommends here!).

Thanks for the info! I'll ask my vet about it. :)

[keska]

Maybe the dose is too low? Rollo is 10 lbs (italian greyhound) and he takes 4mg of chlorpheniramine 3x/day. It mostly works for him, though we also keep him on the Hill's Science hypo-allergenic z/d food.

As for other antihistamines, we also tried 10mg of Hydroxyzine (Atarax) 3x/day. It worked too but made him sleepy.

I know there is at least one other, stronger non-steroid medication the vet said we could try if none of these others worked. It's called cyclosporine.

Are you seeing a regular vet or a dermatologist?