stormie Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Definately agree re getting out into the public. Though I'm sure there will still be plenty of breeders who will turn a blind eye He started to get a little itchier lately, but he got into some kibble a few days ago too, so I was hoping it was just because of that. Thankfully no itching yet with the hives, but he often comes up with them first, and the itching can follow a day later. Given him some antihistamines today, so hopefully it won't come to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zayda_asher Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Definately agree re getting out into the public. Though I'm sure there will still be plenty of breeders who will turn a blind eye Yep... but at least we can discuss it at every opportunity! I don't let the people around me forget! lol He started to get a little itchier lately, but he got into some kibble a few days ago too, so I was hoping it was just because of that. Thankfully no itching yet with the hives, but he often comes up with them first, and the itching can follow a day later. Given him some antihistamines today, so hopefully it won't come to that. Oh dear! Hope he is doing better today!! Zayda found a bloody platter of party food that had been dumped in the middle of the dog park yesterday ;) Fortunately I think she only got a bit of cheese, which she is fine with and maybe some egg (which she is not)... so we are resting for a couple of weeks before we try the next trial, which is tofu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormie Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Hives are still up... Whenever Orbit gets hives, they always end up turning into a sea of pustules. It's so frustrating Got him on AB's now and getting antihistamines to help. Thankfully not overly itchy. Will see if I can get a photo of him tonight or tomorrow (or when he's ready to get out of his jammies!). New regime involves diluting an amount of each vial with saline, and starting the regime all over again with the diluted form. Once we've gone through that, we will start the whole regime all over again with the full strength stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
First Time Puppy Owner Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Oh man - I am so sorry to hear you guys are both having such trouble with your woofa's Benson is doing really well on the injections I think - he did develop some hot spots but I really feel they were unrelated - tonight we are up to 0.4mls of the third vial and then 0.8 on Thursday. Then we are seeing the derm next Tuesday the 14th for our recheck. Just have to quit the stupid freakin ciggies, but I am determined to start my plan of attack this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormie Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Thanks, FTPO. His skin is looking much better today, so we will probably start the diluted regime tomorrow. As much as the reaction sucked, I guess atleast we know we are injecting him with the right allergens. Good luck with the recheck and ciggie quit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
First Time Puppy Owner Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Thanks, FTPO. His skin is looking much better today, so we will probably start the diluted regime tomorrow. As much as the reaction sucked, I guess atleast we know we are injecting him with the right allergens. Good luck with the recheck and ciggie quit! Yeah that's it - but still disappointing and frustrating I'm sure Everything crossed the diluted solutions work better! Thank you - I just wished I had never started in the first place Will let you guys know what the derm thinks following our recheck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 (edited) Zayda, I know you don't like Cortisone but at nearly 8 years old your dog has been through hell with allergies, would you not consider giving her some peace for her remaining years? Do you feel more comfortable with Atopica? Edited: I really don't want the above to sound judgemental, just asking the question and your thoughts about it. Edited July 7, 2009 by sas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Oh man - I am so sorry to hear you guys are both having such trouble with your woofa's Benson is doing really well on the injections I think - he did develop some hot spots but I really feel they were unrelated - tonight we are up to 0.4mls of the third vial and then 0.8 on Thursday. Then we are seeing the derm next Tuesday the 14th for our recheck. Just have to quit the stupid freakin ciggies, but I am determined to start my plan of attack this weekend. I gave up ciggies as Dante apprantly was allergic to Cigarette Smoke, didn't make a difference to him which sucky. You should give up for you though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
First Time Puppy Owner Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I gave up ciggies as Dante apprantly was allergic to Cigarette Smoke, didn't make a difference to him which sucky.You should give up for you though I have to - but f*&^ me it's hard after smoking solidly for 14 yrs Congrats on quitting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I gave up ciggies as Dante apprantly was allergic to Cigarette Smoke, didn't make a difference to him which sucky.You should give up for you though I have to - but f*&^ me it's hard after smoking solidly for 14 yrs Congrats on quitting Just quickly going OT... I did it on Champix and I had been smoking for 15 years and was one of those people who other people never think could give up. I have a DOL friend who gave up on Zyban. I don't think it could have been easier than it was on Champix. Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zayda_asher Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 (edited) Zayda,I know you don't like Cortisone but at nearly 8 years old your dog has been through hell with allergies, would you not consider giving her some peace for her remaining years? Do you feel more comfortable with Atopica? Edited: I really don't want the above to sound judgemental, just asking the question and your thoughts about it. She actually does EXTREMELY well with out it... what is causing issues at the moment is the food trials and working out what she is allergic to... we normally NEVER have issues of this nature any more... and what we do normally get now is hives, which the cortisone has been totally ineffective for, which apparently is not uncommon (we trialled their use twice and I keep oral cortisone on hand for her bee / wasp allergies). I'm not totally against steroids and when they are bad I do use them, I use topical cream, dermotic, spray (Cortavance)... Once we have finished the food trials and are not feeding her what she is allergic to, we will be in a much better position as she wont be getting excess allergens to push her over her threshold... We've actually had far more success as far as the hives go with doubling her antihistamine dosage. If we do have to use more drug therapy our next line of defense will most likely be atopica, as it's the atopic allergies that are harder to control and cause the hives, which is the big issue we will probably deal with and for which the cortisone is ineffective (in our case, with the hives. Not saying it is for everyone or atopy in general). But, yes, if it became necessary to use cortisone more regularly and it was our best choice I would. She's had a lot of "peace" and a lot of good times through out the years... 95% of the time you'd have no idea she is an allergic dog. I'm glad you added you edit in that you didn't want to sound judgmental, because I was going to come on and rip shreds because it certainly sounded like you we saying she's been left to suffer, which she most certainly has not at any time what so ever. She's in great condition, yes I had a tantrum at her condition when discovering new food allergies, which I do think I'm allowed to have a foot stamp over because it's really not fair that she's become allergic to more food sources, but it's easy to deal with in the long run. We have a really good regime of treatment, which our dermatologist is hugely impressed with at it's success Edit: for clarity Edited July 7, 2009 by zayda_asher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zayda_asher Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Oh, and just an additional rather than another edit: the majority of the symptoms we are having now are food related, which neither the atopica or cortisone do much for... Although she was having dermotic topically for the ear that flared with the goat reaction. Her atopy has actually been excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zayda_asher Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Hives are still up... Whenever Orbit gets hives, they always end up turning into a sea of pustules. It's so frustrating Got him on AB's now and getting antihistamines to help. Thankfully not overly itchy. Will see if I can get a photo of him tonight or tomorrow (or when he's ready to get out of his jammies!).New regime involves diluting an amount of each vial with saline, and starting the regime all over again with the diluted form. Once we've gone through that, we will start the whole regime all over again with the full strength stuff. Glad to hear he's doing better!!! Fingers crossed he's ok in the long term... Do the hives turn into staph infection (is that what the pustules are?) - the one episode of hives Asher had turned into the worst staph infection he's ever had!! Good luck with the new regime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zayda_asher Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Oh man - I am so sorry to hear you guys are both having such trouble with your woofa's Benson is doing really well on the injections I think - he did develop some hot spots but I really feel they were unrelated - tonight we are up to 0.4mls of the third vial and then 0.8 on Thursday. Then we are seeing the derm next Tuesday the 14th for our recheck. Just have to quit the stupid freakin ciggies, but I am determined to start my plan of attack this weekend. Thanks! :D Great to hear Mr B is doing well on his injections!! Woohoo! How's the hot spots? Good luck with your revisit and also the no smoking!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormie Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Hives are still up... Whenever Orbit gets hives, they always end up turning into a sea of pustules. It's so frustrating Got him on AB's now and getting antihistamines to help. Thankfully not overly itchy. Will see if I can get a photo of him tonight or tomorrow (or when he's ready to get out of his jammies!).New regime involves diluting an amount of each vial with saline, and starting the regime all over again with the diluted form. Once we've gone through that, we will start the whole regime all over again with the full strength stuff. Glad to hear he's doing better!!! Fingers crossed he's ok in the long term... Do the hives turn into staph infection (is that what the pustules are?) - the one episode of hives Asher had turned into the worst staph infection he's ever had!! Good luck with the new regime. Yep - turns into major staph infection Sucks because whenever he gets a staphy area, his hair falls out from the raised pustule area, so you can imagine at the moment, he's looking quite moth eaten. Least I got to it early this time and starting AB's pretty much as soon as the hives broke out, but he's still looking quite bumpy, though thankfully not as bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zayda_asher Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Yep - turns into major staph infection Sucks because whenever he gets a staphy area, his hair falls out from the raised pustule area, so you can imagine at the moment, he's looking quite moth eaten. Least I got to it early this time and starting AB's pretty much as soon as the hives broke out, but he's still looking quite bumpy, though thankfully not as bad. Crap Yep, we've done moth eaten here too... Hope it clears up quick for you this time. It's interesting that the boys' hives got to staph infection, must be something to do with the difference in predisposition to get secondary staph or yeast perhaps... Asher didn't really get itchy with his hive bout either, but itchy and sore with the staph after. Thankfully he's not predisposed to hives! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormie Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Yep - turns into major staph infection Sucks because whenever he gets a staphy area, his hair falls out from the raised pustule area, so you can imagine at the moment, he's looking quite moth eaten. Least I got to it early this time and starting AB's pretty much as soon as the hives broke out, but he's still looking quite bumpy, though thankfully not as bad. Crap Yep, we've done moth eaten here too... Hope it clears up quick for you this time. It's interesting that the boys' hives got to staph infection, must be something to do with the difference in predisposition to get secondary staph or yeast perhaps... Asher didn't really get itchy with his hive bout either, but itchy and sore with the staph after. Thankfully he's not predisposed to hives! Yeah I'd say its just the fact that the skin gets so inflamed and irritated from the hives, just leaving it open for staph to run wild. We don't get hives all that often here thankfully - the only time I've seen him with them was when he was eating fish but they weren't as bad as they were this time. He only seems to get them on his neck and down his back too and occasionally down his thighs - has never affected his face or belly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 (edited) Zayda,I know you don't like Cortisone but at nearly 8 years old your dog has been through hell with allergies, would you not consider giving her some peace for her remaining years? Do you feel more comfortable with Atopica? Edited: I really don't want the above to sound judgemental, just asking the question and your thoughts about it. She actually does EXTREMELY well with out it... what is causing issues at the moment is the food trials and working out what she is allergic to... we normally NEVER have issues of this nature any more... and what we do normally get now is hives, which the cortisone has been totally ineffective for, which apparently is not uncommon (we trialled their use twice and I keep oral cortisone on hand for her bee / wasp allergies). I'm not totally against steroids and when they are bad I do use them, I use topical cream, dermotic, spray (Cortavance)... Once we have finished the food trials and are not feeding her what she is allergic to, we will be in a much better position as she wont be getting excess allergens to push her over her threshold... We've actually had far more success as far as the hives go with doubling her antihistamine dosage. If we do have to use more drug therapy our next line of defense will most likely be atopica, as it's the atopic allergies that are harder to control and cause the hives, which is the big issue we will probably deal with and for which the cortisone is ineffective (in our case, with the hives. Not saying it is for everyone or atopy in general). But, yes, if it became necessary to use cortisone more regularly and it was our best choice I would. She's had a lot of "peace" and a lot of good times through out the years... 95% of the time you'd have no idea she is an allergic dog. I'm glad you added you edit in that you didn't want to sound judgmental, because I was going to come on and rip shreds because it certainly sounded like you we saying she's been left to suffer, which she most certainly has not at any time what so ever. She's in great condition, yes I had a tantrum at her condition when discovering new food allergies, which I do think I'm allowed to have a foot stamp over because it's really not fair that she's become allergic to more food sources, but it's easy to deal with in the long run. We have a really good regime of treatment, which our dermatologist is hugely impressed with at it's success Edit: for clarity Rip shreads? You're allowed to do whatever you want, I didn't question what you are allowed to do or not do Simply asked the question in a pretty Black and White fashion, my question was based on your venting post that made it sound like she's had a very long term problem and she's 8 now, so a fairly reasonable question if you ask me but decided to add clarification because people can get a bit sensitive with these kinds of things. I've had an allergic dog since he was 4 months old, I understand the frustration, don't have anything against your treatment plan at all...whatever works for the dog and gives the dog "peace". I'm glad your Derm is happy with how she is going. Pls remember your posting on a public forum and this thread is 11 pages in and people won't have always read all the pages so asking straight forward questions is a way to catch up. How you decide to respond to those questions is a whole different story Edited July 7, 2009 by sas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
First Time Puppy Owner Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Thanks! Great to hear Mr B is doing well on his injections!! Woohoo! How's the hot spots? Good luck with your revisit and also the no smoking!!! I managed to get the hot spots under control using diluted pyohex and Cortavance. Didn't need to put him on antibiotics so thats a plus Sas - I am going on Champix but really need to work on the mind too so I am gearing up with the 'quit' material - reading and making a plan or attack as I tried Champix alone and gave up after 5 days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormie Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Some piccies of Porpee... this is his neck on the second day of hives - was the same all down his back. This is his back today - can see how he's all moth eaten from where the hives turned to staph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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