Allergy Questions

[Crysti_Lei]

my Saint girl has been itchy since forever. i could have sworn it was a grass allergy as anicdotal evidance fully supported it. but the allergy blood test came back, diagnosing an allergy to Dust Mites and Ants.

OK, firstly i will kill the ants in the back yard, does anyone know the name of the chemical that just a few drops will kill the whole nest?

the Dust mites will be a bit harder, as one cannot get rid of them completely, as my reasearch has suggested so far, and i have ducted heating/cooling, which seems to be a major factor as well. so i want to look into the shots that are available to form an immunity to this particular allergen. Fistly, has anyone had experiance with this? and i have been given the name of an imone specialist vet in Perth in the past (i think) but that post is long gone now, does any Perthians know of one?

Also, from my post in General, sas said this:

I fyou had the blood alergen test you may find that you dog is allergic perse' to dust mites but doesn't neccessarily react to them....that's the bumma about the blood tests.

so i am concidering an elimination diet to make sure its not a food allergy that is causing the reaction. i havern't don't this yet as she is a Saint and only two years old and the diet required does not seem balanced enough for a growing giant breed. but now her growing has slowed i might give it a go.

My vet suggested the diet to be part meat, part carb (i cannot remember the actual ratio off hand) how is this Ca:P balanced? if it isn't, would it be advisable for a 2yo giant breed (she turns 2 next month) and how long can she be on this diet?

and while i am at it: how does an allergy to ants work? the test was for inhaled allergens right? so not ant bites? if so then it would have recorded an allergy to bees aswell (definantly allergic to bees), correct? so she is inhaling ants and reacting to them?

sorry for the jumble of ideas/questions, i am fuzzled at it all and the baby is winging as i type. but this is basically the gist of what isswimming in my head ATM.

thanks

this is my itchy bitch

[sas]

We've had the desentising injections, we did them about 9 months without any change. There is a lady on DOL who used them on her GSD with success.

It's really one of those things that you don't know will work until you try it.

You'd definately want to go ahead and do the food trial. I also have a giant breed and you are safe to start messing with foods from around 10 months of age when the dog comes out of the critical growth period. Your dog is 2 so it's growth plates should be closed by now as well. I don't think you would refer to your dog as a growing dog, it should be done now and just have filling out to do?

I believe the allergy to ants would be in form of a bite, although you may like to check with your Vet.

The blood allergy tests aren't concidered that great, not many professionals have that much faith in them, if your dog isn't on Cortisone you may be better off heading to the specalist and having the Intra Dermal testing done.

After 2 years of hell with our boy being an allergic dog, Cortisone for 2 years, loads of lotions and potions and medications we stumbled upon these guys: http://www.healwithease.com we ended up doing their $250.00 Consultation package where you have an online consultation with them, and they send you all the homeopathic tonics and provide all the support you need. We're pleased to say Dante comes off his Cortisone next week after being weaned down and is itch free.

There are loads of itchy dogs on DOL and one persons cure or one thing that assists may not assist your dog, it's a case of trial and error that is for sure.

Edited April 22, 2009 by sas

[firedrop]

I am probably the lady sas is talking about I have a very allergic GSD which took a long time to get diagnosed. It is a very stressful situation for both you and your dog when you are dealing with allergies and trying to find out what is wrong. I did not have the allergy blood test I had the Intradermal Testing through a specialist who deals specifically in dog dermatology. I agree with sas that it is definetly a case of trial and error and what might work for someone else might not work necessarily on your dog.

I am on desensitizing vaccines (it is actually needle night tonight for my GSD) I was warned before I started the vaccines that they don't work all the time and some dogs have more success than others. I was lucky and it has worked quite well and my GSD has fur again! Trust me if you saw his pics before the vaccines started you would be amazed of the difference

Crysti_Lei have you gone to see a vet that deals specifically with dog dermatology? If not, might be a good idea to ask your vet to refer one to you. I credit all of Odin's progress to my lovely dermatologist, she has been absolutely wonderful and is happy to consult over the phone or email when I have any flare ups. I also did an elimination diet with Odin but we had to use a specific veterinary brand kibble as I had the same problem that you had as a GSD is a large breed dog the dermatologist wanted to make sure we did not affect the growing process in any way.

But even with the de-sentizing vaccines you will still get symptoms - Odin will always have red pads and he gets ear infections still quite frequently (every 2 months or so). I think it is all about maintainance - knowing what sets your dogs allergies off, and treating them symptomatically. I have an awesome first aid kit now Any questions I can help you with Crysti_Lei I am happy to answer if I can.

sas Glad to hear that both you and Dante have had success and have weaned him off Cortisone. Maybe we need to start a thread entitled dealing with allergies.

FD

[k9katz]

I am probably the lady sas is talking about

Or maybe it was me:) If you look back at my previous posts you will read all about Trinta's allergies and how well she is doing on the injections. As others have said, not all dogs will respond so well but its certainly worth the try if it gives your dog even 50% relief. I believe you need to foolow the course exactly for the best results. Which blood test did you have done as the one we did (SPOT) gives you food allergies also.

[firedrop]

I am probably the lady sas is talking about

Or maybe it was me:) If you look back at my previous posts you will read all about Trinta's allergies and how well she is doing on the injections. As others have said, not all dogs will respond so well but its certainly worth the try if it gives your dog even 50% relief. I believe you need to foolow the course exactly for the best results. Which blood test did you have done as the one we did (SPOT) gives you food allergies also.

LOL I think we definetly need a thread on allergies now K9katz glad to hear that you have had success with the injections as well Just gave my boy his injection and while normally he doesn't even make a sound tonight he was not at all pleased . How allergic was your GSD?

FD

[Crysti_Lei]

I am probably the lady sas is talking about

Or maybe it was me:) If you look back at my previous posts you will read all about Trinta's allergies and how well she is doing on the injections. As others have said, not all dogs will respond so well but its certainly worth the try if it gives your dog even 50% relief. I believe you need to foolow the course exactly for the best results. Which blood test did you have done as the one we did (SPOT) gives you food allergies also.

the test she had done just did inhaled allergens. my vet siad 'they' prefer skin test for other things. how acurate is the blood test for food allergies?? i would rather the blood test as my saint is just that kind of dog that needs 2.5kgs of food a day to keep her weight on, so the elimination diet is a bit scarey, espesially since it don't have a freezer! LOL

Thanks every one, i have to talk it all over with the OH, but i will try to go the way of the injections.

[zayda_asher]

Blood tests should NOT be used for food allergies, not reliable at all. Elimination diet is the only way to test for adverse food reactions.

Bloods only pick up certain responses, if used it should be done in conjunction with intradermal testing.

As everyone else has said, get to the Dermatologists. Mandy and Sharon down at Murdoch are wonderful, very helpful, caring and knowledgeable. Nice thing about seeing Derms is that they are in the know and can tell you if it looks like you need to even do elimination diet. Asher we never did elimination with, as his symptoms and intradermal test results strongly suggested that her was totally atopic / contact and not food related. Where as Zayda we are now doing her second elimination diet with to see if she has developed any new adverse food reactions.

We've had great success with one dog here with the immunotherapy, our other dog became sensitised to them and we had to stop, fortunately he does well without them. Zayda, for whom they have worked, is terrible without them.

Lots of info in this thread here: http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...ayda+asher+here

ETA: Insects can be reaction to bite, contact or inhaled particles. Bees are not tested for, excepting through a specific test and aren't normally tested for unless really needed to.

Edited April 23, 2009 by zayda_asher

[tomas]

No one has suggested a yeast infection,just been discussing that on another thread.

Just a thought. Try the link on this site,also look through the site as it has loads of useful information when dealing with an itchy dog.

http://secure.nzymes.com/pc/symptomChkrRes...ndition_id=1951

Tomas.