Itchy Dogs Poll

[persephone]

I am reading with interest all the allergy related posts.

many years ago, when living in the city, my boy , mitchell was allergic to grass/pollen/food colourings...

Life was a continual supply of prednil..avoiding stuff, and visits to a holistic vet for vit.C injections.

I now what it can be like .

Now however, with multiple dogs... we have absolutely no allergies, and things are so much more pleasant

Just providing a spot where we can share our itches

play nice

Edited July 17, 2009 by persephone

[Kavik]

At the moment using mainstream approach to Diesel's allergies but not finding much relief OH reluctant to go down homeopathic route. Not sure what to do, it is costing a fortune and OH very grumpy about spending more on him, especially as Diesel does not want to compete either.

[hopenfox]

Hope is allergic to grass/pollen and processed food. I stick to short mown grass during Spring & Summer whenever possible, and if she goes into the longer problem areas, I then encourage her to have a swim in the dam asap to wash any allergens out. I also now only feed Prey Model Raw...

Several years ago I discovered through an elimination diet that Fox was allergic to raw chicken. With that removed from his diet, he is back to normal.

[Bullmastiff Addict]

i have started nitro on a homeopathic treatment from heal with ease, so far so good, were still having the itchyissues at times, but we have also targeted deep into his immune system as he had skin infection also.

i have been directed to not use any shampoo's on him at all, we are using sunlight soap as its a 10% pure and natural product and is soft on his skin.

Edited July 17, 2009 by greatdanegirl

[pebbles]

I've, touch wood, never had a dog with an allergy but a friend's Border Terrier had a bad case of the itches. Vet tried all sorts of things, nothing worked for any length of time then someone recommended Missing Link and her dog was practically itch free for most of the year. It would flare up a bit during summer so a short course of cortizone was used. I'm not sure if Missing Link is still available.

[Lab_Rat]

Heh...heh...Persephone! I was thinking about something along the same lines after reading & participating in a few threads yesterday!

Seems theres a few allergic dogs out there!

Does anyone know of a allergy test that is purely for foodstuffs? My girl has had the Greer Canine Allergen Test but this only includes plant materials.

My vet has concluded through other blood tests that Zola is either allergic to or intolerant to certain animal proteins. We have narrowed it down to her being able to deal with Lamb and occasionally chicken, but I would dearly love to have something in black & white regarding foods.

I thinks shes had too much chicken in the last week to ten days or something foreign at the kennels she was at for an overnighter. Shes been licking her paws incessantly, and her ears are inflamed as well poor girl! She got a polaramine with brekky this morning, which has helped.

On the positive side - NOTHING seems to irritate the kelpie!

Rat

[huski]

I voted for Cherry who does have allergy problems, with food and fleas (she has terrible reactions to flea bites). However, my other two dogs have never had allergy problems (thank god!).

[becks]

There is a test available in the UK at least, a friend had her Boxer tested and amoung the hundreds of things he is allergic to included carrots and chicken. It was a very broad test including tobacco smoke and cockroaches as some of his other allergies!

[cowanbree]

I have one bad allergy boy who ranges from looking ok to looking like a cruelty case. His immune system is absolutely shot from years of pred and antibiotics for all the skin infections. Last year I consulted a homeopath and he is the best he has been for ages. Still has an outbreak when he is dropping coat but the rest of the time he is almost normal.

I also have another lad who has always been an itchy puppy. It is normally not too bad but every time I bath him he literally rips his coat out scratching for the next mth. I have tried him with all sorts of shampoos including the sunlight soap (which did terrible things to his coat) and haven’t had any success yet but am going to try white vinegar next time. He is a show boy so he has to be bathed but the bald spots in his coat aren’t great and obviously it is quite uncomfortable for him.

[jr_inoz]

my girl can get very itchy. I haven't had the testing done yet - as we decided to try eliminating a few things first. She has a definite reaction to Kikuyu grass. She is much better when i can keep her off it. Had my own lawn replaced at home because of it - and this has made a huge difference. Can't avoid it altogether though - it is at obedience training and at shows on the weekend. Fish oil in her diet is helping as well.