zayda_asher

From what I can see, that last photo looks typical of staph pustules that have erupted and burst, with the round patches missing where the legions were. I'd definitely want to look into that and the possibility of allergies...

Well given his age it certainly sounds like he is following a relatively "normal" pattern of symptom development for allergies - if that's what it is of course. I totally agree with you re: trying to follow a KISS approach and monitor what you intro, so you know what is actually working - I try to do the same myself... its not always easy though is it? Another thing to consider: My guys get regular antihistamines because we KNOW they have allergies, and Zayda will get an extra dose when we do have a hive outbreak. It really helps with the itching and discomfort they cause and helps them to settle. Some people find Pred works with the hives, but in our case this was not at all true and the antihistamines are much more effective. Of course in the long run knowing what she is allergic to and keeping her allergy load as low as possible and using immunotherapy is the most effective in keeping her from having hives in the first place. We haven't had a hive outbreak since Nov last year when we retested her, worked out what her new allergies were and started her new immunotherapy etc.

How old is Mandela now? Thought I'd mention too that at least a couple of the things in that drop blend are used for allergies / itching too (like the sulphur for e.g.). ETA: One of the few homeopathic remedies I've had luck here with is Urticaria Urens, which is the remedy specifically for hives... you may want to try it.

Dogs can be sensitive / allergic to ABs and steroids, just like people can... so sometimes you have to try and see what happens... certainly in this day and age there is a lot of different ABs and stuff, so if one doesn't work, others may be fine. I my self am allergic to Erythromycin and have been advised to avoid the family of ABs to which it belongs, but do fine with others like penicillin... so make sure you cover any adverse reactions and what they were with all vets (GPs and Specialists). Once you have good vets to work with, you can all work together to monitor and work out these things. Sometimes its not an allergy, but merely that they are sensitive and need a slightly different dosage too. Yeah, its always good to show the Dr the full range of symptoms that they are experiencing.. now would be a good time to go. But take photos etc. and keep a diary of any reactions so that you have that info to take along too... it all helps. Edit: name of AB I'm allergic to - stuffed up

Sorry I can't recommend, as I'm on the other side of Oz... In my experience first consult is a examination and "what's the deal, what plan of action is best" scenario, from that you would decide what testing etc. would be appropriate. So its not a dive straight in... obviously derms deal with a whole bunch besides allergies too, so sometimes they go "oh no, more likely to be this... lets do X first"... Once you know what is going on and have it in control, you can look at alternatives to drug therapy... it doesn't have to be "cortisone and ABs for life", there is lots of stuff you can do as well... Those drugs do play their role when you have chronic flares, but its definitely good to work out what alternatives you have so they aren't on them long term, esp as a young dog. cortisone and ABs for me are the "big guns" and we save them for those times when they are really needed, not to control "everyday itching" which there is so much else you can do for (often, some dogs are not responsive to other things of course), but they are definitely good to have in the arsenal when you do have chronic flares... True allergies are heritable (as opposed to the multitude of adverse reactions and intolerances you can have that aren't allergic, but express similar symptoms - these may not be genetic) and you will see them run in families (although not all will have them), so that could be another little hint for you there. They do tend to develop as they age, and the symptom pattern worsens as they develop them, so it sounds like Mandela has followed the more "normal" pattern than his sibling, if it is allergies. Of course you get chronic cases that manifest early as well.

Also: intradermal panel will test for common allergens in your area... it often includes Malassezia organisms (one group of yeasts), but they don't do staph (its just not common and even has some controversy attached to it over if the staph is always a buy product or can be a sensitivity in its own right). I've got two dogs with chronic allergies, have done intradermal testing 3 times (one dog needed retesting) and 2 lots of elimination diets (same dog twice, she developed more food reactions as well as atopic) and have almost 8 yrs of researching allergies under my belt now, so if you want to discuss it more, do feel free to PM me. I'm certainly not an expert, and I'd definitely want to see a derm with your boy, but I've learned a lot and it may help

Yes, if you are doing enough to keep them relatively under control and they are not becoming chronic... with all you are doing I would suspect that may well be the case. For example: Asher just had a few break out (maybe 4-5 pustules) so I upped his regular dose of Pau D'arco (a herbal antimicrobial) and they have cleared and subsided... I'll keep him on this dose for a while as we are in a time that is the right conditions for him to have staph overgrowth and hopefully when I lower the dose he will be ok... so if you can get in and keep things at a relatively low level, then yes, what you describe may well be the case - you're just seeing a mild instead of chronic infection because of the work you are putting in. Yes, and humans too... part of the natural flora Which according to our derm and most derm research I've read is not that common. We actually suspected this may be the case with Asher, but it wasn't: he has a chronic response to his atopy with staph as a secondary infection. Yes, this is MUCH more common... secondary skin infection from allergies can quite often be staph (other wise yeast, or rod shaped bacteria or a combo of them). Hence, if he's getting hives and itching a lot he could be getting secondary infection (staph) and you need to find the cause, and I would highly suspect allergies. Much more likely that he is having an allergic response, getting hives, itching and getting secondary skin infection and you are managing to keep it "in check", but not get rid of the overgrowth, so it comes back easily (common prob with staph and why you need the long course of ABs), which then cascades into the other symptoms (and some of them may also be from other allergic responses). If this were me, my first port of call would be a derm and intradermal testing and possibly food elimination. That sounds much more normal for hives... I would suspect you have both: hives and staph. Edit: clarity again!

Yep, same thing... Also another thought: some dogs experiencing Adverse Food Reactions (AFR) will stop eating because they learn to associate the chronic symptoms they experience with eating meals... I've spoken to a few people with AFR who have experienced this, although my AFR dog loves the things she's not meant to have So I really think talking to a dermatologist could be a really good move: even if it is not allergies he's having a lot of skin and related issues and dermatology would be a good area to look into.

That really surprises me Erny, I've been reading your threads (on and off when I have time) and assumed this must have been done, as quite a few of his symptoms really match some of the allergy dogs I've seen and lived with and discussed with our dermatologist... just as with anything, not all dogs are "text book" in their reactions. A good example is the hives you mention: you mention a pattern where they seem to turn into pustules, which is not at all normal for hives, but is very normal for a dog having chronic staph infection. One of my dogs is prone to chronic staph with his allergies and the one time he did get hives it turned into the WORST staph infection he has ever had. My other dog is prone to hives and they come up and are very itchy, painful etc. but they subside after a few days and never break out into anything else - which is the much more typical pattern. So I'm wondering if your boy may be getting hives, but also staph (or if staph has been misdiagnosed even) and I wonder if they have tested for staph and treated accordingly? If it is staph, then this definitely may produce the picky food eating etc. that you are seeing as they often get the GI issues etc. with it and feel too sick to eat etc... if my boy's staph was left untreated we would see very similar things I think when it reached a chronic point (and did with that one I mentioned above that came from the hive episode). So if you haven't I would most definitely ask them to look for staph outbreak and treat it aggressively (needs a long course of ABs to clear rampant staph - 31days normally suggested) and I'd also be testing for allergies... Good luck! Edit: clarity

Wait until you get to 18yrs - you'll be ready to stick a fork in your eye whenever the topic comes up! :D I'm vegetarian, my dogs are not... they eat a raw diet. As other's have said: if you can't cope don't get a meat eating pet! I get vego client's that shriek when I suggest cooked liver as a good treat: I tell them "Im vego, and I do it, so you can get over it and do it too!!"

Its amazing isn't it? Drugs that we would only give ourselves as needed we give to our dogs on a regular basis, with out need!

Totally! All reactions to any medication should be reported!!

Cool... thanks for then info... I'll look into it a bit more

Do they include allergic dogs in that category (i.e. "immune issues") Stormie and do you have any links or other info on it? Ta!

Is this the same dog that has allergies? If so he should definitely not be vaccinated... You want to get a hold of Frick & Brook's study on Viral vaccines and the effects on atopy and also research some of the stuff Dr Jean Dodds has done in this area...

I hope people are reporting these adverse reactions to their vets and the product companies? Its the only way they get the information to know that such reactions happen... things don't change if we don't work as the agents of that change!

I have two dogs with allergic skin disease... my boy is very sensitive to chemicals and we've found he has a severe contact allergy to Propylene Glycol, which is used in a whole variety of products. Revolution contains PG and was one of the products that we used, which lead to our discovery... Same reaction: scratching, crying, jumping etc. It burns / hurts his skin...

Oh, I just found them in the link up there! lol Shoulda looked first!! Cool. And crocodile too! neat!

Oooh, is there somewhere on line you can get the deer (venison) ears from??? They would be BRILLIANT allergy safe treats here for us!

If it's red staining on the outside (you may be able to scrape and see if you can get it to move - sometimes it wont though). It's probably where your dog has yeast overgrowth on the feet (often caused by damp between toes): it will "grow out" on the nail if they are no longer having yeast issues, so you can see it on the middle of the nail, as opposed to base. My guys get it with their allergies. Lamisil works well. Look in between the toes (top and bottom) for redness too.

Crap Yep, we've done moth eaten here too... Hope it clears up quick for you this time. It's interesting that the boys' hives got to staph infection, must be something to do with the difference in predisposition to get secondary staph or yeast perhaps... Asher didn't really get itchy with his hive bout either, but itchy and sore with the staph after. Thankfully he's not predisposed to hives!

Thanks! :D Great to hear Mr B is doing well on his injections!! Woohoo! How's the hot spots? Good luck with your revisit and also the no smoking!!!

Glad to hear he's doing better!!! Fingers crossed he's ok in the long term... Do the hives turn into staph infection (is that what the pustules are?) - the one episode of hives Asher had turned into the worst staph infection he's ever had!! Good luck with the new regime.

Oh, and just an additional rather than another edit: the majority of the symptoms we are having now are food related, which neither the atopica or cortisone do much for... Although she was having dermotic topically for the ear that flared with the goat reaction. Her atopy has actually been excellent!

She actually does EXTREMELY well with out it... what is causing issues at the moment is the food trials and working out what she is allergic to... we normally NEVER have issues of this nature any more... and what we do normally get now is hives, which the cortisone has been totally ineffective for, which apparently is not uncommon (we trialled their use twice and I keep oral cortisone on hand for her bee / wasp allergies). I'm not totally against steroids and when they are bad I do use them, I use topical cream, dermotic, spray (Cortavance)... Once we have finished the food trials and are not feeding her what she is allergic to, we will be in a much better position as she wont be getting excess allergens to push her over her threshold... We've actually had far more success as far as the hives go with doubling her antihistamine dosage. If we do have to use more drug therapy our next line of defense will most likely be atopica, as it's the atopic allergies that are harder to control and cause the hives, which is the big issue we will probably deal with and for which the cortisone is ineffective (in our case, with the hives. Not saying it is for everyone or atopy in general). But, yes, if it became necessary to use cortisone more regularly and it was our best choice I would. She's had a lot of "peace" and a lot of good times through out the years... 95% of the time you'd have no idea she is an allergic dog. I'm glad you added you edit in that you didn't want to sound judgmental, because I was going to come on and rip shreds because it certainly sounded like you we saying she's been left to suffer, which she most certainly has not at any time what so ever. She's in great condition, yes I had a tantrum at her condition when discovering new food allergies, which I do think I'm allowed to have a foot stamp over because it's really not fair that she's become allergic to more food sources, but it's easy to deal with in the long run. We have a really good regime of treatment, which our dermatologist is hugely impressed with at it's success Edit: for clarity