Vaccine Therapy For Allergies

[Alana_Bax]

My 20 month old boxer has suffered allergies since he was fairly young and after trying many things to reduce his discomfort I bit the bullet last week and had him allergy tested. We had determined that we were fairly certain it was not a food allergy (after putting him on numerous restrictive diets) and after visiting 3 different vets I took him to a specialist refferal clinic and spent the $800 to have him skin tested. They test for allergies to over 70 different things and his tests came back that he is allergic to dust mites, yellow pine (which we have in our area) and also yeast. The yeast allergy is problematic because he has a yeast infection in his ears and between his toes from all his licking and scratching so he is now on medication to clear that up because its a vicious circle otherwise. In two weeks we go back and start him on a vaccine program - he will have to be given a needle every 3 weeks (which I can do) possibly for the rest of his life. This will cost about $140 every six months which to me is fine if it works.

Anyway, what I want to know is whether anyone on here has any experience going down this path to treat allergies?? It is pretty expensive but definately worth it if it works. The vet tells me that 75% of dogs are treated effectively and success is measured by at least a 60-80% improval in symptoms. I guess they aren't the best odds but here's hoping! Any stories would be great to hear. Also, if anyone has used a vaccine treatment before, did you go for the rush therapy? (This is when they administer the first 2 months vaccines in one day supervised by the vet - it is meant to get results more quickly but is more $$$ and I'm a bit concerned about subjecting my boy to that!)

Sorry post is so long!

[Ptolomy]

I am not sure which state you are in (I am in WA and we are being treated by the Dermatology clinic at Murdoch Hospital) - I am now 10 months into the desensitization program.

My dog initially had food allergies and then at 12 months of age (almost to the day) started chewing her feet and scratching madly. To cut a long sotry short she went through the same allergy testing as your dog had by the sounds of it - where they rate each thing they are tested for on a scale of 1-4. She lit up like a Xmas tree and registered 4 for a truck load of things including grasses, pollens, black ants, cockroaches, dust mites, fleas....... The plan is to start on low strength immunotherapy - injecting the dog with what they are allergic to often and gradually increase the strength and dose of the injection and increase the time span between injections.

Unfortunately my dog never does anything by the book and by the time we hit vial three of the immunotherpy mixture and started trying to increase the dose she was having severe reactions to each injection - so we have now settled on a 0.1ml injection every 3rd day and this is working well. I have just ordered my third lot of vaccine and each time it costs me $250. The dogs do get used to you injecting them and my little girl lines up when she sees me getting eveything ready waiting for her injection and then the treat that follows.

The $6 000 000 question is "is it working"?......well I also went and saw a homeopath who gave me some drops and I think this has helped her get back on track but I can't tell you would the immunotherapy have worked as well without the homeopath intervention. I think not. My dogs coat is magnificent - her red eyes have gone. She still chews her feet, but all the sores between her pads have gone, she hasn't had an ear infection for months, her bottom is no longer red raw and she is doing really well. I must also say that she is on anti-histamine every day, gets bathed supposedly twice a week - but this is now out to probably once a fortnight and she is on 3000mg of fish oil. Here I also have to warn you - since my girl only weighs 14kg and was taking this amount of over the counter fish oil that you buy from a chemist and I did a hair analysis on her which showed the highest levels of mercury they have ever seen in a dog. She also has arsenic in her system as well. As a result Murdoch is now changing their protocol and will specify which brand of fish oil you need to buy as not all are tested for mercury and arsenic. As a result of the hair analysis she is also on a truck load of natural therapy in an attempt to rid her system of boron, copper, aluminium, mercury and arsenic which all showed up.

Good luck.

[daccies]

Not related to dogs I know, but my daughter went through this and it turned out she was allergic to dust mites. We went through the injection scenario for about a year (think it was meant to be 3 years) but to be honest not a lot of difference, so we eventually stopped going. May have worked after 3 years or so, but that is a long time to traipse along to a clinic every week for injections. Perhaps going along with the homeopathic route as well might work. Good luck.

[peigirl]

I had my boy tested at Murdoch Derms here in Perth. He tested strong positives (scores 3 or 4) to 20 different substances. There basically isn't one substance he didnt react to on some level.

His 1st dose on the first vial made him sick for a few days. The 2nd dose on the first vial made him even sicker for close to a week and I stopped. Restarted a week later on the first dose and he was sick all over again.

It was far too much for his system to handle. Derms offered to make me an even more diluted mix but I declined. I can manage his atopic dermatitis through daily antihistamines. Long term the cost of the immunotherapy is probably on par with the antihistamines so I'm happy to just stick with that.

[Alana_Bax]

Well it sounds as if people have not had a great deal of success with this treatment. I actually did a search of DOL last night and found others who have had ok results with this treatment. I guess I am lucky that Baxter was only allergic to 3 things, his allergies to yellow pine and dust mites were a 2 and his yeast allergy was a 4. So the yeast was the worst and luckily this can be managed with a course of medication (which he is now on). As for other remedies he is not on anything. The vet said to help with the dust mites he should sleep on one of those raised beds but considering he sleeps with us and has since he was 8 weeks old this is going to be a hard habit to break! I have been suggested to try fish oil as well so I might speak to the vet about that and give it a go. Anymore stories much appreciated... by the way we are in VIC.

[Ptolomy]

Not sure if your dermatologist told you but the dogs bedding should be washed regularly in hot water and Eucalyptus Oil which kills dust mites. You can also get something from the supermarket in the detergent section that kills dust mites - but it is more expensive and the Eucalyptus Oil works just as well and smells Ok.

Also did they discuss regular bathing for the dog as this has also helped my girl. I am using Malseb on her feet and Pyoderm S on the rest of her.

[Ptolomy]

I also forgot to mention that we are going back again in January to have repeat allergy testing done again - so it will be interesting to see how this lot of testing compares with the last lot.

[peigirl]

Ptolomy I would be really interested to hear the results of your follow up testing. Please let us know when you have it done.

[Jed]

I would also try giving him Vit C and Aloe Vera juice both of which are immune system boosters. I have found that linolinic acid, which is found in Poly Vite, a vitamin supplement put out by Rudducks, and available in pet shops, very useful. It can't hurt, and I have had good results.

Also maybe try Robert McDowall, who has had some success with natural remedies.

Is the dog on a natural diet - ie, raw food, no colourings, no preservatives?