Jen21

Woops just realised that the drug of choice for the skin vet was Cyclosporine, the Cortivance was another option, but with not as good a successful rate apparently, so he just listed it as a possible option for the future.

Yep the whole experience has been rather odd I must say..... But no he wasn't on drugs at the time of testing and hadn't been for a while, and the skin Vet didn't say "that's it for you", just that my dog should go on Cortivance, which is expensive and for life, and I didn't want to go that way for an 18 month old dog, who otherwise is perfectly happy and healthy. I suggested the elimination diet and he was all for it, mainly I think because I made it clear that I didn't want to medicate unless we knew it was going to help, and I was quite upset to put him through the allergy testing for nothing (since he's little it took him well over 24 hours to recover from being put to sleep). Wow it is confusing then? I've gone back to my original Vet now, and he's happy to try some other things if the diet doesn't help, so I'll give it a few more weeks then see if he'll do some of the blood tests. I'll also try to get in to see the naturopath too. Thanks for all the help ;)

Yep that's how I did it - build up the time I left my pup on his own, and always left him with bones, toys and fun things to keep him occupied while I was gone. Make sure you rotate the toys you leave with him each day, so that he doesn't get bored with them.

My Maltese X pup (who is now 18 months, I got him when he was 10 weeks), sleeps in the laundry on a dog bed, and I have never done the crate thing, so you don't have to. For the first couple of weeks he would let me know when he needed to go out to toilet during the night, but he has slept through for 7-8 hours a night ever since. Make sure you take yours out to wee before you put her to bed and as soon as she gets up, and she'll get there in no time. Mine always has access to a water bowl in the laundry with him, and I never saw that as a problem. I think the key was setting up "his room" (or part of the room in your case) up permanently so he knows the purpose of that place, and goes in and out as he likes during the day for a drink to grab a toy, etc. In some ways the laundry is like a big crate for him I guess. Your pup is gorgeous

No it was definitely the Intradermal Test - where they put him to sleep, shaved his side, put all the little blue dots on him and then injected him with a series of things. The Vet took me in while he was still asleep and showed me that the only thing he had responded to was the histamine (which they are meant to react too), no other bumps or reactions. Apparently about 70% of dogs show their allergies this way, so I was in the unlucky lot and $500 poorer. Why wouldn't they be valid? The "Skin" vet only comes out my side of town occassionally, and we waited over a month to see him (after our normal Vet had tried lots of different option to no avail), so he pushed me to do it at our appointment, and I figured it was worth a go. I tried that but all they had was a Case History, which was a list of the things done beforehand and that the intradermal test was negative to all allergens. Not sure how to find a new Derm, as he was meant to be the best??? I don't think any of the vets we've seen have looked at thyroid though? Just tried different drugs, shampoos, food, etc. The drugs they wanted to put him on for life was Cortivance... Thanks for the link Erny - I'm in Sth East Melb too, so will call and make an appt tomorrow.

I'd be taking him to the Vet before it gets infected!

Does anyone know where to find exactly out what is tested for in the Intradermal Test? My dog was tested about 4 months ago and was negative to all allergens, but I was never given details of exactly what against? After such a unhelpful response, the "skin specialist" Vet was determined to put him on drugs for life But we're on an elimination diet instead He only eats Roo, potato, pumpkin & carrot these days (including bones), and loves his new diet, and it appears to have lessened the scratching somewhat... Erny can you pass on details of the Naturopath you saw or how to find a good one?

Personally I tried every herbal and medical treatment available, but having a dog with a anxious tummy meant that he always ended up sick from one end or the other. The best advice I got from his trainer was to perservere with the "pleasant trips" training, and my dog has gone from one that ran away from the car and threw up 5 minutes into a journey to one that jumps into the backseat, and hasn't even salivated in our car trips in months. These days he's in the car for anything from a 5-30 minute journey at least 4 times a week, most of the time to an offlead park or somewhere fun, and he now associates the car with good not bad (which was how it was at the start when you're only taking them to the vet, etc). It took a few months and we did lots of jumping in and out of the car only, eating treats in the back, and short journeys along the way, but it's much easier to know he wont have to take any kind of medication and is generally pretty happy to travel now. We recently did a 3 hour Christmas journey and with a couple of planned stops along the way for a walk and toilet stop, he travelled without any issues, which I never would have thought could happen 12 months ago.

Thanks for all the ideas We have the clam shell pool, and a pergola and plenty of shade, but will definitely try the wet sand in the sand pit, and ice blocks in the water :D

I was going to start a thread about this - glad to hear my dog isn't the only one :D We've just started going down the beach too, and Toby has been biting waves, and drinking a bit of water with his ball and as he walks in the shallows. He won't drink the normal water I try to give him instead, even though it's from the same container he happily drinks from at the park Our first trip we got straight back in the car, and he threw up a heap of water and his breakfast after about 15 minutes, the 2nd time we went for a walk afterwards and he had the hot water firing out of his butt, and then he seemed fine. He was sleepy that night, but that could have been more from the exciting day with other dogs, people everywhere, and the beach.

Really :D That is really bizarre as I was diagnosed with the same condition myself only 2 months ago, and have been having physio, strapping it up to walk Toby, and am seeing a knee specialist myself next week to see I might need surgery!!!! It's even the same right knee! I know they say that dogs and their owners look like each other, but have the same medical conditions?? Sounds like I'll need to take him to either a Vet or Chiropractor - bugger Anyone know any good Dog Chiros in Melbourne?

I have a very difficult eater, who also has a sensitive tummy which has reacted badly (ie: runny poo and stomach upsets) to many of the high end or popular brand canned varieties - like Advantage and Nature's Gift, but I have just found Ecopet at our local pet store and he LOVES it. It's all natural, with a great vibrant scent that had my pup jumping up on me wanting to be fed while I was preparing it, rather than having to be coaxed to his dinner bowl. It wasn't overly expensive either, and keeps well in the fridge. In terms of canned stuff, the only ones my dog can tolerate are Hill's (but being not so tasty, he won't eat it unless he's really hungry), and I've had some limited success with some types of My Dog and Coles Complete Balance. I tend to mix a bit of Hill's in with any of the other canned stuff to try to keep his poo solid. Having a dog with a dodgy tummy is not fun at all - good luck

Hi all, Haven't been here for a while, but hoping to get some advice about my gorgeous 11 month old Maltese x and a foot/leg issue I take Toby walking every day - to an offlead park for a good run at least 3 times a week, and lead walking every day as well, and he absolutely loves our walks more than anything in the world (he literally jumps up into my arms in excitement when I say the word "walk" or "park" ;) ) Basically over the last week or so, I have noticed that when he is walking at a normal speed he seems to be favouring one of his back legs over the other quite regularly - sort of hopping on the "good" leg every few minutes rather than using his other. It's not consistent, so he walks normally a lot of the time, but this happens enough that I have started to wonder if there's something wrong with his foot/leg and I should get it checked out. He runs a lot at the park, and doesn't seem to have any issues when at the faster speed, and I have examined the offending foot and leg, applying pressure to see if he has any "sore" parts, but haven't managed to find anything, so just not sure if I'm over-reacting and it's just a little odd thing he does, or whether it might be something else. Any advice welcome

I have PIA

That's great.