Dog Allergies - Gsd Help!

[sas]

I know people say BARF is not expensive, but it was when I tried it! And he needed a HUGE amount to keep weight on, I find it easier to keep him a good weight on a combination of dry and chicken frames. We tried the low allergen foods - Z/D for the trial, Eagle Pack fish or Pro Plan fish for every day, didn't make a difference.

Dr Billinghurst is too expensive to feed my Dane that gets fed 1.5kg's twice a day so we make our own.

With my boys allergies we had the allergy blood test done and then the desentising injections made up. He's doing a hell of a lot better and is down from 3 cortisone tablets a day to 1 every 2-3rd day.

Changed to a raw diet that I control what goes in, for treats he can only have Pigs ears and Smackos Beef Strips as those are the only ones that are suitable with his allergies.

Vit E Capsuals and Zinc Tablets daily.

The true test is when Summer comes.

We did try Roberts herbal mixtures for about 6 months without success

He still has a thin coat and his growth has been stunted. He stands at 33" whereas he should be around 36" in comparison to his litter mates and his lines. His maturity overall is also a lot slower and this seems to have arrisen from the use of Cortisone, however at the time we had no other option.

Edited July 31, 2008 by sas

[Kavik]

Hi sas

I was also wondering if some temperament changes had come about due to the cortisone. Hadn't thought about growth (Diesel is also small)

[stormie]

I'd go to a dermatologist as soon as you can. The sooner you can get to allergy testing - the better.

You need to withhold cortisone for a period of time (depending on what dose you're on) before you can test, too.

Might just be the time of year, but since switching Orbit to raw, we're down from 0.5mg/kg every second day and sometimes every day, to less than 0.25mg/kg every 3-4 days. On this dose we only have to withhold oral cortisone, antihistamines and topical cortisone for 2 weeks before we can do the new blood test for allergy screening, which we are really aiming for. Sounds so much easier than it is

Most grass allergies which seem to be contact issues, are generally still related to the pollens. So whilst keeping the dog off the grass might help, the pollens that are just floating around on the wind are still going to be absorbed through the skin as well as inhaled. So often removing plants rarely helps because the same plant is letting off pollens just down the street.

[sas]

Hi sas

I was also wondering if some temperament changes had come about due to the cortisone. Hadn't thought about growth (Diesel is also small)

We did actually go through a bit of a rough time which is a hell of a lot better now, it's hard to know if Cortisone is attributed to it.

[bozdog]

I know people say BARF is not expensive, but it was when I tried it! And he needed a HUGE amount to keep weight on, I find it easier to keep him a good weight on a combination of dry and chicken frames. We tried the low allergen foods - Z/D for the trial, Eagle Pack fish or Pro Plan fish for every day, didn't make a difference.

Have you tried Canine Country BARF it is a true BARF product where a dog like yours may improve as the CC BARF is based on a number of raw food diets.CC BARF they have Low Allergy BARF mixes where you would be able to avoid chicken and Beef .I would recommend thier Lamb Barf as it is made with lamb bone and has lamb offal very important for dogs with allergies.If you tried Billinghursts BARF which is actually made by Bigdog petfoods not Dr Billinghurst you would have been feeding chicken (60%) and chicken is a high allergen and would inflame your dogs skin condition not help it and of course the fact that they use Beef(another high allergen) offal is totally contradictory to the principles of feeding BARF.That is why I now use Canine Country Barf as it is a true barf product .Maybe a grain free dry food would be ok to add if you cannot afford CC Barf but it is cheaper as its packaging is simple you pay for the ingredients.

I see you feed chicken not a good idea with any dog with allergies of any kind .Add Salmon oil that will also help.

I have a dog with allergies so I know what you are going through but my girl is doing much better on Canine Country BARF I can say.

[Kavik]

I was making my own, not buying any premade. Chicken just happens to be the easiest and cheapest thing to find. Having tried many different foods, honestly have not seen a difference in feeding fish/low allergen diets as compared to chicken.

He is getting fish oil and evening primrose oil.

[bozdog]

I was making my own, not buying any premade. Chicken just happens to be the easiest and cheapest thing to find. Having tried many different foods, honestly have not seen a difference in feeding fish/low allergen diets as compared to chicken.

He is getting fish oil and evening primrose oil

I know it is very hard when dogs have allergies having one myself.they seem allergic to so many things.

If you can try lamb it is what my naturopath recommended and a lot of the vets do now as well interestingly enough.what if you try no chicken in any products a lot of dogs are allergic to it I know my dog goes crazy if she eats chicken and see if the Canine Country Lamb helps it is less expensive than making it yourself and you only need it as a supplement really to lamb bone or maybe a non grain dry food.

Fish oil and epo do help but I know it is a struggle getting it under control and expensive if you have to keep going to the vets.

[Sheridan]

My wheaten used to play with a male GSD who had dreadful allergies. From what I understood, he was allergic to everything.

[juice]

my wei has developed a skin problem too. :rolleyes:

vet has given him cortisone, and malaseb. his front legs are really pink and scabby, and he feels really warm. and yeasty smell.

neither seems to be working, she has done a scrape ,and no mites.

i think it could be food. up until a few months ago i fed them all supercoat, then got a donation for the rescue's from purina one, so have been feeding him beneful.

if i change back, how long will it take to show up?

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Allergies are so common and so hard to fix, have been through a few here.

I would recommend trying the All Natural Vet at Russell Lea, they are excellent vets and look at natural therapies.

With one dog I had (as a foster) with terrible ears and skin, I tried a few foods such as Hills etc and didn't go all that well. I then tried the food on www.pricelesspets.com.au, it's dried and specially forumulated for dogs with skin/ear probs. It worked for Cindy! Within 2 months, my vet said her ears were hugely improved (they would never be 100%) and her skin had cleared up. My vet couldn't believe the improvement. I was bathing her weekly but it had to be the food.

[stormie]

Dogmad I've heard of this food before, but can't for the life of me find any information regarding the ingredients. Their website only has a guaranteed analysis, do you know of anywhere that has a list of what exactly is in it?

[Alison]

my wei has developed a skin problem too. :D

vet has given him cortisone, and malaseb. his front legs are really pink and scabby, and he feels really warm. and yeasty smell.

neither seems to be working, she has done a scrape ,and no mites.

i think it could be food. up until a few months ago i fed them all supercoat, then got a donation for the rescue's from purina one, so have been feeding him beneful.

if i change back, how long will it take to show up?

Juice it sounds like your dog has a skin infection. Did the vet do a skin swab? Have a look at this site, i dont use these people but see a different homeopath for my dogs but they have alot of information on here which may give you some ideas... Holistic Animal Medicines

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Haven't got a bag at the mo, from memory it certainly is preservative and additive free, I think it was perhaps lamb, rice and veggies?

If you ring them they will tell you - they rung pricelesspets out of a vet and they are helpful.

Food is crucial usually, I was feeding a new commercial brand on the market to two of my dogs for a few months and they both got ear infections. Got them treated and stopped feeding the food and nothing since. It was nothing contagious either.

[sas]

Scabby would probably indicate a secondary skin infection so pooch might need some anti-biotics. When you have a dog with allergies the killer is always the secondary skin infections, not like the allergy itself is enough to deal with LOL

[GenPareto]

My GSD has the same skin problem about a year ago too since she was 15 weeks. It lasted for about 4 months and she is ok now.

During the 4 months we have tried the following:

1. Antibiotic from Vet - Works instantly but eczema comes back after antibiotic runs out.

2. Vet later advised us to try a list of antihistame one by one for a couple of days, and then stick to one that works for as long as the eczema remains - this strategy appeared to have work because after awhile the eczema disappears with one anti-histame. Unfortunately I forgot the name for that, but if u ask the vet (mine is castle hill veterinary ) there should be a list available.

3. Put Sardine into the diet, raw or canned. This advice comes from my violin teacher who have a collie with similar skin problem, and was advised by a dog dermatologist.

I have no way of saying whether 2 or 3 works independently, or jointly, or just one of them works. But the end result is my GSD doesn't have rashes anymore.

Hope this help.

[lea]

Royal cannin GSD is a fantastic dry food for GSD, with bad skin problems.

we feed it in the boarding kennels and found a lot of our customers switched to it

with fantastic results.

[GenPareto]

Royal cannin GSD is a fantastic dry food for GSD, with bad skin problems.

we feed it in the boarding kennels and found a lot of our customers switched to it

with fantastic results.

Yeah that's the food I have been feeding my GSD too. She seems to do quite well.

[Kayne's Mum]

Sadly there are some lines around that have skin problems :p A product that may help your dog is Atopica from your vet, given that you also have ear issues along with skin & lacking of coat this drug may help restore things for you.

Atopica - talk about pricey I had my old boy on it. It goes by weight so for my gsd, it was costing me $200.00 per week.

Kayne is now on Z/D because he has been sick - vomitting, colic. That is very pricey. Comes to around $400 for a month of kibble and tin.

Vet said No beef and NO chicken unless it was organic.