Grass Allergy?

[jr_inoz]

my puppy chews her feet and other bits of herself, and scratches quite a bit. She doesnt have fleas or other insect bites or anything.

SOmeone suggested she may be allergic to my lawn (Kykuya i think - she is a sheltie puppy and apparently it is not unusual?)

Is there anything i can get for her? (An allergy cream or spray) Or should i rip up my lawn and plant a different species (santa ana cooch has been suggested)

Really dont want to rip up the lawn if i can avoid it.

[puggy_puggy]

Could it be a food allergy rather then a grass allergy? What are you feeding her? Alot of dogs are allergic to dry food. Maybe changing her diet to BARF or RAW diet would be the trick.

How old is she?

Try giving her a claratyne tablet (the human antihistamine)

[persephone]

best of all- have her allergy tested-then you will know EXACTLY what the problem is , and can then work out strategies.

It could well be something in her food.

Food colourings/preservatives/cereals..

Or something on the carpet/bedding

deodorants/cleaners/disinfectants....

[sas]

You can't really do anything until you know what the allergy is, it's not neccessary a contact allergy because it appears on the feet.

There are several blood tests you can have done at your Vet, there is a cheaper one that tests for a smaller number of allergens that is about $250.00 and then there is the new fancy American one that tests for heaps and apprantely has less false positive than the cheaper one and that one is about $500.00.

Once you have the results you can get the de-sentising injections, they don't work for all dogs, but worth a try but you can also start to try and get rid of some of those allergens from your house, pollens etc you can't control because it's not just what is in your yard, it's also about what flies in with the wind.

Then there is the actual intra-dermal skin testing but I believe the dogs have to be about 12 months old to have that done.

My reccomendation is get tested as soon as praticable with a puppy so you can get on the problem instead of waiting for ages trying 100 different types of things like many of us did.

As for ripping up grass, if that is something you decide to do there is a product that you can get that looks like grass....much better than the cheap artifical grass you get from Bunnings and it's good for dogs allergies etc. Great Dane Girl does distribution for it.

Edited June 15, 2008 by sas

[Dogsfevr]

Given the grass iw ould say its a big factor & most certainly in the end can be the cheapest alternative to replace.

There are many grasses out there that are suitable

[stormie]

Orbit seems to have a problem with Kikeyu grass. Unfortunately though, the majority of the problem is the pollen, rather than the actual grass itself, so ripping it out is not likely to have any affect if thats what the problem is, as its still going to be carried in on the wind from somewhere else.

Our dermatologist had us rule out scabies mites, fleas and food allergies first. Sas is right with the skin tests - usually from about 11months old they will do it.

The newest blood test is called the Heska Allercept test and its far more accurate than the existing ones - its pretty much on par with the intra dermal tests. Problem is, these tests don't actually diagnose Atopy (allergies), as the dogs serum can still react to the things being tested for, however it doesn't necessarily mean that's whats making the dog itchy. For example I could test my non itchy golden retriever and have a whole panel come back as 'positive', however she just doesn't have an itchy reaction, if that makes sense.

So the idea is to rule out as much as you can at first. Try keeping her inside only for 3 weeks, and then outside only for 3 weeks. This will give you an idea if its dust mites or not. You'll need to do a food trial to rule out food allergies and you'll probably need to do a period of time on drugs to rule out yeast and fungal infections.

It's a long process, but the earlier you start, the sooner you'll get an answer!

[jr_inoz]

best of all- have her allergy tested-then you will know EXACTLY what the problem is , and can then work out strategies.

It could well be something in her food.

Food colourings/preservatives/cereals..

Or something on the carpet/bedding

deodorants/cleaners/disinfectants....

3 months old - can she be tested this young?

[~Anne~]

There are also dermatologists who can use desensitisation therapy to assist. Speak to your vet and determine the exact cause of the issue and then explore your options.

[persephone]

If she has an allergy- I would think she can have the tests.... ask your vet-or get a referral to a specialist.

Have you asked her breeder if anyone else in her 'family' have a similar problem? That may be of use to you...

Food colourings can be a trigger-I had a dog who was allergic to them-and grass.

[jr_inoz]

If she has an allergy- I would think she can have the tests.... ask your vet-or get a referral to a specialist.

Have you asked her breeder if anyone else in her 'family' have a similar problem? That may be of use to you...

Food colourings can be a trigger-I had a dog who was allergic to them-and grass.

Neither of her parents have a known grass allergy (but the breeder has different grass at his place). SACA park is full of kykuya and a couple of his dogs have a sensitivity to it (aunt and uncle to the puppy i think..)

thanks everyone - off to the vet we go...

[White Shepherd mom]

Have you checked your lawn for weeds, like Wandering Dew (or Wandering Jew). I know that can cause allergies.

Casper gets the itchies at certain times of the year. I give him half an anti-histamine a day for a couple of weeks and that seems to help.

[Lowchenlove]

Chloe is allergic but it tends to be the grass seed rather than the grass itself, I keep the lawn mowed - sometimes do it 3 times per week in the Summer - god I must love my dogs.

[tracey83]

Saxon has a tendency to be irritated by our grass as well, especially when its been raining alot. We try to keep it as short as possible and this seems to help a fair bit. We also have some stuff (I can remember what it is called! Sorry!) that the vet gave us to put on his feet to stop him from licking and chewing them. It doesn't hurt him to have it on, but tastes horrible (or so we are told!)

[Muttaburra]

To my way of thinking there is a certain deductive logic that can be applied in these cases.

Contact allergies are the least most common allergies, even though very severe sometimes, they are the easiest to eliminate as a factor.

Wandering Dew

Plumbago (blue star flower hedges)

Kikuyu

Paspallium

etc.

If it was me I would be removing the Kikuyu, apart from allergenic problems it is a rough grass that can irritate skin for those reasons.

Avoid Plumbago hedges, I can tell you this can be extremely allergenic, it is in my dog, and the reaction is severe and very fast.

If the dog still shows symptoms after the obvious things have been removed, then look to further investigations. It would be pointless to change the diet if the dog is coming into contact with high-allergenic plants.