Update On Gsd Allergies - Desensitizing Vaccine

[firedrop]

A big thank you :p to everyone who replied to my original posting. Things have certainly progressed. My GSD in 10 months now and went to the Dog Dermatologist to get allergy tested early this week. After testing for over 80 allergens he had strong reactions to pollens :p . He is currently on antibiotics, anti-histamines, cortisone cream (to elivate itching in the test site - about a large postcard size) and he is going to start allergy de-sensitizing vaccine next week which I have to learn to inject myself.

I am looking into natural therapies and will be making an appt. with a natural therapies vet soon. Need to wash my little man once a week and then moisturise to ensure skin does not dry out and must use a medicated shampoo.

Has anyone had experience with de-sensitizing vaccine??? Would love to hear any experiences.

It is definetly trying and difficult at times dealing with a dog with allergies but with my little man I wouldn't haven't any other way - love him too much

:panting: Bruodin

Our perfect companions never have fewer than 4 feet!

[Kavik]

Good luck and tell us how you go :p

[firedrop]

I will do, thanks! :p

[stormie]

Thats great news!! :p I'm on the way to testing with Orbit soon so we'll be doing the desensitising injections soon also!

Are under the guidance of Beth?

I know there is someone on here who has had fantastic results with them, but I can't for the life of me remember who it was :p

Edited September 5, 2008 by stormie

[firedrop]

Stormie -

I am very glad to hear that someone else had fantastic results with de-sensitizing vaccines.

No I am not under Beth, but under Linda at the Uni of Syd.

My usual vet is receiving the vaccines from the dermatologist on Monday and I am learning how to inject them on Monday night.

Any ideas what your dog is allergic to yet? I will keep you informed how Monday goes.

Bruodin

[stormie]

Stormie -

I am very glad to hear that someone else had fantastic results with de-sensitizing vaccines.

No I am not under Beth, but under Linda at the Uni of Syd.

My usual vet is receiving the vaccines from the dermatologist on Monday and I am learning how to inject them on Monday night.

Any ideas what your dog is allergic to yet? I will keep you informed how Monday goes.

Bruodin

Looks like pollens for us too. We've done the food trials, parasite eliminations, medicated washes, antibiotics etc. We're going to do the latest blood test rather than the skin test (I can get it cost price and results are on par with skin testing with this test) but we still need to without cortisone for a couple of weeks before we can test, so we're just working towards that at the moment. Not easy, but we'll get there! We've got our dose down quite low, which is good because it means the withholding period is much shorter, but its not easy going without for two weeks! But I'm confident we'll get there...

Edited September 5, 2008 by stormie

[Shoelace]

Bruodin

I've had a dog on the desentisting injections for just over 2 years. He is also allergic to wattle, casurina and eucalypt pollen as well as various grasses, dust, mould, and wheat amongst a variety of other things.

The injections are not a cure, but a management tool for him. He is still a 12 hour by 12 hours proposition. He can still have minor breakouts that come on very quickly and they are controlled with Pyohex Ointment and Neocourt.

We have found that the need for him to be on Macrolone and antibiotics has reduced significently since starting him on the injections. He has only required 2 short bursts of Macrolone this year and they were for 2 days at a time.

Stormie - we actually had the blood tests done on him initially and they showed nothing. It was not until the "scratch" tests were done that he reacted and we found out what he was allergic to.

We used Listerine (the plain one, not the mint one) on his skin when he had to be off cortisone and everything for 6 weeks prior to having the tests done. You may want to try that.

The main thing with the injections is to give the area a good rub afterwards to spread the serum so that you do not get localised reactions which can cause small hard lumps.

Good luck to both of you with your dogs.

[stormie]

Stormie - we actually had the blood tests done on him initially and they showed nothing. It was not until the "scratch" tests were done that he reacted and we found out what he was allergic to.

Do you know which test you had done? The one we are doing is relatively new to australia and costs about $400. The sydney dermatologists were at the launch and agreed it was definately the cream of the crop of blood tests.

[Staff'n'Toller]

Sometimes you may find that you need to do several years of allergy vaccines to have a good effect and may need to make slight changes to vaccines over time with other medical treatment in between if it gets very bad but it is worth persevering in a dog so young.

Ptolomy on this board has a Toller that has been having very good results with both conventional and alternative therapies.

Mel.

[peigirl]

Good luck with the desentisting. Unfortunately it made my boy too ill even on tiny doses and I had to stop his treatment before I even really started. He has claratyne everyday to manage his allergies. Here's a link (post 16) to everything he reacts to.

[sas]

My boy has the injections.

We had the $200 blood test, it orginaly came back as being allergic to nothing so the Vets sent it to a different lab and then it came back with allergens which we are now treating.

Itching is under control but pooch still has red feet and legs....as long as he's not ripping his nippled open I'm happy!

[firedrop]

Do you know which test you had done? The one we are doing is relatively new to australia and costs about $400. The sydney dermatologists were at the launch and agreed it was definately the cream of the crop of blood tests.

Stormie,

I am sure that it was intradermal skin testing. I am not sure of the name of the actual test. It was a scratch test and they shave a large postcared size area on the side of the dog and they do just under 80 different allergens. My pup is only 10 months old and had a good reaction. Sometimes when they are so young they don't have a good result and it has to be re-peated when they are older. I wasn't actually offered any blood test

I am now on a search to find a kibble that compliments his allergies as he has no food allergies and a weak allergy to wheat - I am thinking of using Eagle Pack or veterinary formula science diet. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Bruodin

P.S. De-sensitizing vaccines won't be in until Wednesday - first injection up date has to wait until then.

[firedrop]

Good luck with the desentisting. Unfortunately it made my boy too ill even on tiny doses and I had to stop his treatment before I even really started. He has claratyne everyday to manage his allergies. Here's a link (post 16) to everything he reacts to.

Peigirl,

I thought my little man was bad, when I looked at his allergy sheet as I had some 2+'s and 3's but yours I had to look twice at. I can only imagine what you have been through with your dog ! How does your dog's skin look now My GSD has alot of hair missing from his back legs and around his ribs.

Bruodin

[Ptolomy]

WE are currently 19 months into the injection program. Unfortunately, Beans couldn't handle the increased dose of injection - so we have settled on a jab every 3rd day - so she is still getting 1ml every month - just not in one hit.

Has it made a difference - hmm I think so. We are due to go back the end of September when they will look at repeat allergy testing - and that will be interesting to compare results.

As for the injections. I give Beans a treat after each one and after the first few she started linning up when she saw me get the vials out of the fridge

Good luck!

[Shoelace]

Stormie - the blood test was whatever the standard test was over 2 years ago. It came back negative which we knew couldn't be right. Hence, we got the "scratch" test done on him. If there is a new type of blood test that can pick up all the different sensitivities dogs like these guys have, then that's excellent. Much better than shaving their sides and sticking 70 odd needles in to them.

My boy couldn't handle the monthly 1ml injection either. He gets fortnightly injections of 70 units. That works best for him.

Broudin - I've found that the best dry kibble for my boy (with his wheat allergy) is a mixture of half EaglePack Salmon, Sardine and Anchovy and half EaglePack Power. He looses weight if he is just fed the EP fishy one. We have found he can eat this mixture quite comfortably. We've tried BARF feeding with him, but he hates it. He likes his kibble. He's also not allowed to have chicken frames any more after getting a severely impacted bowel, so that limits his range of food further. The other food we found he was OK with was the Nutro Lamb and Rice as it also had no wheat in it. However, I think the manufacturer has closed down as its not available any more.

When his feet get really red and bad, I put socks on him at night to stop him licking them. He looks such a dag walking around with white sports socks on - but they work. He gets Bitter Apple spray on them of a day.

[stormie]

Shoelace - I have a question, how on earth did you manage to go the 6weeks without cortisone/antihistamines etc in the lead up to the test? At the moment we are on a roll and have just made it a week, and thankfully with his prior maintenance dose we only have to go two weeks, but there's no way we could have made it 6 weeks without him literally tearing himself apart!!

[Shoelace]

Stormie - we used Listerine mouth wash (the plain one, not the mint one) and Lanacane Powder.

Listerine is an antiseptic and it also has mild anesthetic qualities. We would pour it on to cotton wool and wipe the skin inside his legs, under his arm pits, under his throat, behind his ears and his feet with it. When it dried, we would put Lanacane Powder on those areas.

The Lanacane Powder contains menthol and therefore it cools and drys the skin. It actually relieves some of the itching.

At night we'd put socks on him.

We also picked a time of the year when there wasn't much flowering - May.

It was a long 6 weeks, but we got him through it.

[stormie]

Thanks!! Will give that a try!! Itching dogs are the worst. In Orbits worst moments, we would be up almost every hour in the night, just with constant scratching. Poor little guy would be crying as he itched. Thankfully things are much better at the moment, only needing cortisone every 7 days or so, and a low dose at that. I am washing him every evening though, to get the pollens off, and using Alpha Kerry Oil to keep his skin from getting too dry.

The aim is to send blood/serum off next friday!!!! YAY!!!

[firedrop]

Hi everyone,

Gave Odin his first vaccination by myself on Saturday (my vet did the first one) after a little yelp all went well . Bit worried when I have to do the 100 unit injections . Skin on both his sides are growing back nicely and like Stormie I am also using Alpha Keri Oil to keep his skin from drying out - I use it especially after washing him. Use alot of Vitamin E cream as well along with his antibiotics, antihistamines, and cortisone cream. Hopefully we get to Obedience tomorrow night - at least his hair is starting to grow back was a bit worried that people might think he had mange or some disease.

So..... at the moment things are going nicely - have changed his food from Euk to Royal Canine (GSD Formula) and hair is growing *yay* and we haven't had to go to a vet for (apart from learning how to inject) about 2 months (that has got to be a first!). Sometimes I think when you have a dog with allergies you end up turning into your own vet. I don't know about anyone else but Odin now has his own medical box which would rival any first aid kit.

Stormie - sorry to hear about how bad Orbit gets. I know how distressing it can be especially if he is crying at the same time as scratching. Like Shoelace I have also used socks especially when he was doing more damage to himself - making sure circulation was still getting to the feet but disarming vicious claws.

Shoelace - Was your dog's wheat allergy severe?? Odin's is very weak (#1 I think).

Bruodin