Allergies ?

[persephone]

OK..Bear with me..new at this poll thing!

I AM interested in the prevalence of allergies...

For many years in the city, I lived with an everpresent allergic dog...Poor boy was allergic to grasses, pollens, food colourings..and lived on anti histamines/steroids for all his life.

In the years I have been back in the bush..NONE of our dogs seems to be allergic to anything.Mind you, they don't get the highly coloured foods/treats which were so popular 20 years ago...but still have vacc's, flea treatments, commercial food/treats...and exposure to lots of different chemicals etc...never a sign....

I am wondering now, how is it that the dog population seems, like people, to be becoming more sensitive to what is around us?

So..just thought we could perhaps put some info together...for interest's sake.

Thanks

Edited January 14, 2008 by persephone

[jaegertheweim]

My boy gets a mild case of hives on his back sometimes. At first I thought it was food related but the vet says it's seasonal (grass, pollens, etc). I don't treat it since it's not serious (they go away by themselves fairly quickly)

You can see the bumps on his back here:

Edited January 14, 2008 by jaegertheweim

[haven]

Ok I had to reply for both my dogs but could only answer the poll once so I'll explain.

Nova (Rotti) rarely gets allergies. Usually it's only when she does something stupid like repeatedly rubbing her face on her outdoor bed (hessian) or when she gets bitten or stung by something. She gets all drooly and swollen and shakes her head a lot. The first time this happened I rushed her to the Vet and they gave her a shot of something (I can't recall what). Now I just give her a Phenergan tablet when I notice the onset of symptoms and she's fine after about 5-10 minutes.

Loki has constant allergies which the Vet diagnosed as atopy. He hasn't always had it, it started about 2 years ago after a hydrobath at a dog wash but has been constant ever since. He gets supplements, a medicated wash and a Phenergan tablet when it is particularly bad. Sometimes I'll wipe his skin down (he gets it on his paws, legs and belly) with colloidal silver which I keep in the fridge. I believe for him a large part of it is stress related, he suffers a lot with anxiety and has always had acral lick granulomas on his legs . Changing his food and things like his bedding and what I use to wash it doesn't seem to make a difference.

[First Time Puppy Owner]

I have not taken Benson to an immunologist as this is certainly seasonal - never had a problem prior to Mid November. I believe it is grass/pollen, no changes was made to diet or environment otherwise.

I am still trying to work on different natural methods to alleviate the itching, and I am up to my last one now - however if this does not work he will be given anthistamines probably every summer for the rest of his life.

[cazxxz]

I haven't filled out the poll because my dog doesn't really have as many skin issues as he used to. The biggest improvement was when I stopped buying lamb bones from the supermarket - I'm not sure if it was the meat itself, or how it was treated, but I am suspicious because they lasted a lot longer than bones from the butcher. Bones from butchers get stinky much faster

A couple of weeks after the last time Jake got all his shots, he had really flaky/dry skin and shed heaps.

[Loraine]

Zedley went through a period of constant itching until he bled After trips to the vet and steroids and other meds I contacted the holistic vets in Sydney. He was on their herbal remedies for many months, and on an elimination diet. He got a really bad tummy upset and had to go onto a bland diet for a while - at this time he had a shot of Buscopan from his vet and has not itched since - we have no idea what had gone on, but I have my fingers crossed that it does not come back.

[stormie]

Zedley went through a period of constant itching until he bled After trips to the vet and steroids and other meds I contacted the holistic vets in Sydney. He was on their herbal remedies for many months, and on an elimination diet. He got a really bad tummy upset and had to go onto a bland diet for a while - at this time he had a shot of Buscopan from his vet and has not itched since - we have no idea what had gone on, but I have my fingers crossed that it does not come back.

interesting. I was just reading up on food allergies on the Advance site, and it said that when some people put their dogs on the homemade diet of a novel protein/carb source, when they challenged the dog with the previous diet, the itching never returned! I wonder if thats what happened to you!!

My puppy has a terrible itching problem. Has itched since the day he came home at 10wks old. Not entirely sure what he's allergic to, but just recently it seems to be pointing at food allergies.

I also think he may be allergic to fleas... and well, just life in general!

[sas]

We're itchy as hell here too.

No idea of the cause.

We get red feet, legs, belly, balls.

Now we have patches of scabs on his body,

fun fun fun

All started when Summer started so one would think it's an inhallant or contact.

Edited January 14, 2008 by sas

[zayda_asher]

Ok I had to reply for both my dogs but could only answer the poll once so I'll explain.

Here's the lists for my guys:

Zayda

Food:

Beef

Lamb

Corn

Tuna

Sardines

Alfalfa

and an intolerance for eggs

Atopic:

Alternaria mould

Insect:

Wasps

Bees

(Possible Anaphylaxis developing)

Asher

Atopic:

Dandelion

Melaleuca

Fleas

cocksfoot grass

Johnson grass

Yellow dock weed

Deer Flys / March flies

Dust mites

Fodder mites

Contact:

Propylene Glycol (used in shampoos, ear cleaners, spot ons, vaccinations, semi-moist foods)

Sensitivities:

Many chemicals and preservatives

I use a combination of things: antihistmines, homeopathic, herbal, immunotherapy, bathing, probiotics etc. etc. All done with our Dermatologist (I research the complimentary stuff and then we look at what has worked etc. together).

Zayda reacted to her immunotherapy, but we swapped to oral trial and she is doing really well now, which is just as well because it makes a huge difference for her.

Asher was on an oral trial and reacted severely to his immunotherapy so we are now working on maintaining him with out it. So far ok.

People also fail to recognise the hereditary nature of Allergies. I'm amazed at the number of people who breed from dogs with allergies without any understanding of what they are passing on in the gene pool...

Edited January 15, 2008 by zayda_asher

[persephone]

thanks guys!

Wow..there are some tricky ones, and an awful lot of hard-to-avoid allergens

Hats off to you all for working so hard at locating the source, then treating the dogs....

It's good to see folks trying the 'natural' therapies, too

[persephone]

Oh, and...

People also fail to recognise the hereditary nature of Allergies. I'm amazed at the number of people who breed from dogs with allergies without any understanding of what they are passing on in the gene pool...

*nods*

[zayda_asher]

In my house cortisone is for bee/wasp stings - that's a possible life and death situation and needs quick action... It certainly does take work and effort to work out what works for your dog without relying on steriods, but it can be done...

Zayda's had steriods a couple of times for stings and once to get some hives down (although it didn't work). Asher has never had them...

As you can see they are both in good condition:

If you do a search on the health forum with my user name and "allergies" you should find a fair few posts detailing stuff I use with my guys (heaps of things! lol)... Asher was 4 in October and Zayda is 6 on Thursday...

Edited January 15, 2008 by zayda_asher

[Janba]

I have one dog with bad allergies and the other two are fine except the odd thing like Wandering Jew. Moss has food intolerances, ivermectin allergy (not MDS), grass allergies etc. The allergies started after his 16 week C5 vaccination when his immune system started attcking his own skin.

He gets washed in malaseb when he is itchy, has vet prescribed antihistimes (which I buy by the bottle of 100) which I give him if he gets too itchy and is fed a special diet of 1/2 of a kibble for sensitive dogs and 1/2 natural diet of foods he tolerates. Since putting him on the special kibble he has not needed the anithistimes any where near as often.

You should add a choice for anti allergy food or special diet.

Edited January 15, 2008 by Janba

[First Time Puppy Owner]

He gets washed in malaseb when he is itchy, has vet prescribed antihistimes (which I buy by the bottle of 100) which I give him if he gets too itchy and is fed a special diet of 1/2 of a kibble for sensitive dogs and 1/2 natural diet of foods he tolerates. Since putting him on the special kibble he has not needed the anithistimes any where near as often.

You should add a choice for anti allergy food or special diet.

Hi - may I be so rude as to ask what Kibble his is on? I am changing Benson over shortly to what I believe to be good for dogs with allergies EP Holisitic Duck Formula, but would love to here what other's are on!

[zayda_asher]

Zayda's had steriods a couple of times for stings and once to get some hives down (although it didn't work). Asher has never had them...

Actually I should just make it clear that I was talking high dose steriods: injection or pill. They have both had some topical steroids in preps like Dermotic for ear infection, but that is still not very common use in this house hold (although before Zayda's allergies were controled we did have to use the dermotic a bit on her, not now that we have a good plan though)...

And I think I might actually go back and have a look at some older posts, probably give a good overview of things we have tried that didn't work as well, or what we used to use, but don't have to any more...

EFS: should proof read before i post!

Edited January 15, 2008 by zayda_asher

[zayda_asher]

Hi - may I be so rude as to ask what Kibble his is on? I am changing Benson over shortly to what I believe to be good for dogs with allergies EP Holisitic Duck Formula, but would love to here what other's are on!

It really depends on what your dogs have allergies / intolerances to... MY guys are on home prepared raw as a) Zayda can't eat most kibbles because there are ingredients she is allergic to (and I dont like the way they change fomulas without warning) and b) Asher is allergic to fodder mites which inhabit dried / stored foods...

If you don't know what the dog is actually allergic to you need to talk to a Derm about testing, including elimination diet.

[Janba]

[Hi - may I be so rude as to ask what Kibble his is on? I am changing Benson over shortly to what I believe to be good for dogs with allergies EP Holisitic Duck Formula, but would love to here what other's are on!

He's on Supercoat specialcare sensitive which you have to get from the pet food places not supermarkets . I know a lot of people don't like supercoat but this one works well for Moss. I originally tried it as my pet food supplier had a bag on special. The Hills science diet one was no where near as good. It works for him but may not for every dog.

Since feeding it he has only needed antihistimes on the rare occasion and he no longer gets the infected skin pustules he used to get that required antibiotic treatment.

[Mizzi]

I haven't voted in the poll as none of my dogs now have allergies. However, my BC, Miranda, had an allergy to preservatives.

She had a lot of health problems in the six years we had her, and eventually we lost her to lymphoma.

When she was about two years old, she had an acute attack of pancreatitis.

Finally we narrowed the cause down to an allergy to preservatives in the dry food we were giving her.

We only ever added a little dry food to her 'natural' diet, but apparently that was enough.

We changed to a preservative free dry food (Coprice) and we had no more problems.

[stormie]

Just out of interest, has anyone tried Royal Canin's sensitive skin formula? They say its been developed for atopic dogs, and its got lots of added extra's to help with the symtpoms, like fish oils, aloe vera, tumerik....

Be interested to know if anyone has actually tried it and had any success with it

[zayda_asher]

Just out of interest, has anyone tried Royal Canin's sensitive skin formula? They say its been developed for atopic dogs, and its got lots of added extra's to help with the symtpoms, like fish oils, aloe vera, tumerik....

Be interested to know if anyone has actually tried it and had any success with it

I have my dogs on a homemade diet, no kibble which works well for us... I had a look on the net, but couldn't find a complete list of ingredients for that product... it would depend on the dog and if there is anything in it that they are allergic to... Most RC products have corn, so they are out for us...