Another Allergy Thread

[huski]

Sorry to bombard everyone with yet another allergy thread But I'm not sure where to go from here.

Cherry has always, for as long as I can remember (she's ten years old) had allergy problems. She's one of those dogs that seem to be allergic to almost anything, a flea bite can set off major itchiness all over her body, she's generally always worse in summer, red meat seems to set her off etc.

I had her on Royal Canin and she was doing ok for around 18 months and then in December she had a 'break out' and has been itchy to some degree since. I changed all the dogs over to a raw diet around November and I thought it might have been the red meat (her dried food is chicken based, red meat was the only thing I introduced that she didn't already eat regularly) that caused her to get itchy again. So I put her back on to RC for a couple of months and there was no change. I took her to the vet and she had a cortisone injection at the start of the year and this seems to the be the only thing that's helped her. I have recently in the last few weeks put her on to Artemis for senior small breeds and while she's eating it with gusto (she's always been a picky eater) she's still itchy and last night she chewed herself almost raw, she's chewed some of the fur off the inside of her front legs

I don't know if it's food related as there seems to be no main cause, RC was chicken based and so is her new Artemis food. She has eaten chicken based food for several years now and never had as bad a problem like she does now for about 2 years. Should I put her on a diet of chicken and rice to see if she's still itchy? Is there anything other than food (i.e. a grass allergy) that she could be reacting too? She doesn't go outside much at all and only part of our yard has grass, the rest is timber decking or brick. I feel so upset seeing her like this and I will try anything before putting her on cortisone regularly. She seems to spend all her time biting her skin and scratching herself, even after I bath her or put some soothing lotion on her like calomine. What else can I try to help her?

Edited May 18, 2009 by huski

[laffi]

If you want to test if it's food allergy, try something she has never had before: like roo for example. I think roo and sweet potatoes are often used in elimination diets. I would go with the elimination diet for at least 1-2 months.

[huski]

If you want to test if it's food allergy, try something she has never had before: like roo for example. I think roo and sweet potatoes are often used in elimination diets. I would go with the elimination diet for at least 1-2 months.

Thanks Laffi. That's a great idea. I can get roo based BARF patties, would something like that be ok to feed?

Edited May 18, 2009 by huski

[laffi]

If you want to test if it's food allergy, try something she has never had before: like roo for example. I think roo and sweet potatoes are often used in elimination diets. I would go with the elimination diet for at least 1-2 months.

Thanks Laffi. That's a great idea. I can get roo based BARF patties, would something like that be ok to feed?

usually during the first 2 months of elimination diets you want to have as little ingredients as possible;

if you can get roo tails I would just stick to them plus some blended sweet potatoes

turkey would also be good has she had it before? you can buy turkey wings in Woolies these days and they would be great for the elimination diet as well

Edited May 18, 2009 by laffi

[huski]

usually during the first 2 months of elimination diets you want to have as little ingredients as possible;

if you can get roo tails I would just stick to them plus some blended sweet potatoes

Cherry struggles to eat chicken wings so I think roo tail might be a bit too much for her? I can do blended sweet potato and roo meat though

Should the sweet potato and meat be raw?

ETA: Micha and Daisy eat turkey wings and necks regularly but they would be way too big for Cherry, I can try and get turkey mince though!

Edited May 18, 2009 by huski

[laffi]

usually during the first 2 months of elimination diets you want to have as little ingredients as possible;

if you can get roo tails I would just stick to them plus some blended sweet potatoes

Cherry struggles to eat chicken wings so I think roo tail might be a bit too much for her? i can do blended sweet potato and roo meat though

Should the sweet potato and meat be raw?

yes both should be raw

hmm if she struggles to eat chicken wings she will have hard time with the roo tail I think

if you can get just roo meat it's fine though

ETA: my cat eats chicken wings but only eats the meat of the turkey wings ; she does eat turkey necks tough

Anyway pick one meat: like roo or turkey and stick to it for the next two months.

Edited May 18, 2009 by laffi

[huski]

Cherry would try to eat the turkey wings and she would probably try eating the roo tail but because she struggles with bigger bones she will end up guarding it and she'll probably hide it somewhere like my bedroom

Thanks Laffi I will try her on some roo meat and sweet potato, I don't think she's eaten either before.

[stormie]

Yep Huski I'd go with the roo meat and sweet potato. We were told to do the elimination diet for a minimum of 12weeks.

Unfortunately with allergies, they tend to get worse as the dogs get older, so things can be going ok, but then their bodies find something else to be allergic to.

And they can be pretty much allergic to anything. Chicken is a big no no for Orbit, if he eats it, he's a real mess in about 12hours. There are quite a few foods he can't eat, both meats and grains. He is also allergic to dust mites, cat dander, lots of different grass pollens, plant pollens etc.

Have you tried any antihistamines?

[laffi]

Thanks Laffi I will try her on some roo meat and sweet potato, I don't think she's eaten either before.

Good luck!

[huski]

Yep Huski I'd go with the roo meat and sweet potato. We were told to do the elimination diet for a minimum of 12weeks.

Unfortunately with allergies, they tend to get worse as the dogs get older, so things can be going ok, but then their bodies find something else to be allergic to.

And they can be pretty much allergic to anything. Chicken is a big no no for Orbit, if he eats it, he's a real mess in about 12hours. There are quite a few foods he can't eat, both meats and grains. He is also allergic to dust mites, cat dander, lots of different grass pollens, plant pollens etc.

Have you tried any antihistamines?

Thanks Stormie, the vet gave us some tablets after her cortisone injection and I think they were antihistamines. They didn't make any difference, once the cortisone wore off she was back to constant itchiness.

I am house sitting for my cousin until thursday night but I will pass all this info over to mum and will see if she can start Cherry on the roo meat and sweet potato today.

[huski]

Ok - I just spoke to mum who wants to take her to the vet because the allergies have gotten worse since last night and she's chewed a heap of her fur off She's growling when mum tries to pick her up and I think it's because she so uncomfortable If she gets a cortisone injection now, can we still put her on the elimation diet? Will having a shot of cortisone mess up the elimation diet or will it be ok?

[laffi]

Thanks Stormie, the vet gave us some tablets after her cortisone injection and I think they were antihistamines. They didn't make any difference, once the cortisone wore off she was back to constant itchiness.

I am house sitting for my cousin until thursday night but I will pass all this info over to mum and will see if she can start Cherry on the roo meat and sweet potato today.

Cortisone gives very temporary relief. It's not going to interfere with the elimination diet.

[huski]

Thanks Laffi. I feel so upset seeing her like this as she's not a happy little dog at all. I'll tell mum she can take her to the vet today and at least the cortisone shot will give her some temporary relief, fingers crossed we see a positive change with the elimination diet.

It is so frustrating as she was doing so well on chicken based kibble for quite some time and now she's had a total turn around.

Cherry may be ten years old but she still looks and acts like a puppy! Mum actually bought her in the car to pick me up from work a couple of months ago when I was working at our local Westfield, and she was holding Cherry in her arms outside the shop doors waiting for me. About ten people asked mum how old her puppy was and a few asked her if she had just bought Cherry from the petstore Apart from her allergies and dodgy back legs she is actually a pretty healthy dog

Edited May 18, 2009 by huski

[sas]

Thanks Stormie, the vet gave us some tablets after her cortisone injection and I think they were antihistamines. They didn't make any difference, once the cortisone wore off she was back to constant itchiness.

I am house sitting for my cousin until thursday night but I will pass all this info over to mum and will see if she can start Cherry on the roo meat and sweet potato today.

Cortisone gives very temporary relief. It's not going to interfere with the elimination diet.

If the Cortisone is preventing her from itching then the elimination diet is going to be effected because the itching is a sign of what is and isn't working?

?

Edited May 18, 2009 by sas

[laffi]

Thanks Stormie, the vet gave us some tablets after her cortisone injection and I think they were antihistamines. They didn't make any difference, once the cortisone wore off she was back to constant itchiness.

I am house sitting for my cousin until thursday night but I will pass all this info over to mum and will see if she can start Cherry on the roo meat and sweet potato today.

Cortisone gives very temporary relief. It's not going to interfere with the elimination diet.

If the Cortisone is preventing her from itching then the elimination diet is going to be effected because the itching is a sign of what is and isn't working?

?

That's true, that's why you do the elimination diet for at least 2 months, ideally 3 or more.

[Dave73]

Hi there,

My rr has been through the 6 weeks of eating roo and potato to eliminate food allergies and he is allergic to dust mites , with the cortizone our dermatologist said it hangs around for up two 8 weeks so we were right as his last one was 3 months before, with the roo she said no mince just roo pieces as its more pure than the mince ,try pet barn..

With the antihistamines try different brands telfast 180mg helps our boy , zyrtec etc

Good Luck

[stormie]

Huski if it's not too late, ask your vet for oral cortisone!!! It only lasts about 24 hours and you can wean her off it yourself as you need. You can also taper the dose down to the lowest dose she is comfortable on, and still do the elimination diet and notice results.

Oral cortisone is much better/safer for them than the injections, too.

[huski]

Thanks Stormie, unfortunately the appointment was at 3pm they gave her a cortisone shot.

Mum told the vet we are going to do an elimination diet and she said 'with kangaroo meat' and he said 'I'd put in some sweet potato"

[stormie]

Huski is it the shot that lasts about a month? How much relief does Cherry get from the injection? Does it completely stop the itching?

Theoretically, cortisone doesn't help food allergies so well. It gives relief, but not as much relief as it seems to give for environmental allergies. This isn't to say that if the shot works, it's not food allergies, but you can sometimes get a bit of an idea.

If you're starting the diet now, I'd definately go for atleast 12weeks. That way it gives you about 8 weeks after the cortisone has worn off to determine whether there's any change. No use looking for changes in the first month while the cortisone is still active.

Try to keep everything else the same as best you can while doing the diet too. Another thing to keep in mind, is with winter coming in, we're heading into the pollen off season, so its possible that any improvement could also be related to that too. But these are things you can test after the diet when you challenge her with some of her old foods.

Goodluck!!

[huski]

Thanks for the advice Stormie - it's much appreciated

It depends how bad her itchiness is, the last shot only lasted about two weeks max before she was back to itching and biting herself. I can't quite remember if all of her itching changed completely the last time she had a shot so I will watch her like a hawk this time and see how long she goes without itching.