Increase In Allergens

[stormie]

Lillim I feel for you, you must have spent a fortune and it seems that you have seen little results.

I am just wondering for myself ( and maybe others) if one cannot afford immunotherapy or if it does not work for your dog what its the next best thing to try? I for one dont want to spend $1000's of dollars and then we dont get any sort of improvement, I know this can be the case and if I had loads of money I would not be hesitating but I am not well off at all.

We did it and it didn't work, we live on Cortisone as many of his allergens are things we can not control.

That would be an option for us but my dog is not tolerant of cortisone he gets incontinent and very depressed. I heard there is something called cyclosporin that some people are using, wonder how successful it is.

Cyclosporin is great, but damn expensive!! There are a few minor side effects, such as a bit of inflammation of the gums, but that goes away as soon as you stop using it.

In the 'lucky' cases, you can wean them down to just giving it twice a week which makes it more cost effective, but if you're unlucky like me, you need to give it every day.

I get it in liquid form from a compounding pharmacy and it costs me $550 for 100ml - which is cost price.

But, once you're on it, the itching, allergies etc stop, so you aren't spending a fortune on antihistamines, supplements, antibiotics etc etc. So it's a matter of weighing that all up.

With the Immunotherapy, they say the success rate is about 70-80%, however the word success doesn't mean cure. So in 70-80% of cases you see a reduction of symptoms, but this can vary from getting off medication, to reducing medication. I think only something like 20% have a 'complete cure'

[Monah]

Yes I see what you mean Stormie re success rate I agree, a cure would be very unlikely.

Sometimes you can go off vacc after a couple of years, but I was told that a real 'cure' would be highly unlikely. I'm so happy with management of the problem that I haven't really thought about a cure.

[raffikki]

RUSH treatment - would you mind explaining what you mean?

Here's the handout on RUSH Therapy from our derm

[Dagmar]

I took Misha back to the dermatologist to get another intradermal test done to see if the allergy vaccine she has been on for 1.5 years had had any effect, as I had not seen any improvement.

I read it as if the desensibilisation is not working for your dog, if you did not see improvement.

Not sure, why spending more money in a treatment that does not work.

Have you considered going another path? Detoxing, balancing the immune system, acupressure, etc? It works for my dogs and many of my client's.

[Monah]

The vaccs may not work first off which is why you should have a check up at about 6 months to see if it needs changing. so if it has not worked and also has not been changed, it is definately worth seeing if a change helps. Of course other treatments can never be discounted either

[sas]

Best wishesxxxxxxx PS I'm pretty sure I was told there was a pretty high success rate, around 70 to 80%, definately not only 20%

Did you have something that states it's 70-80%?

Because 3 different Vets told me 20% approx were successful, may have increased over the years but I don't think it would have jumped that high.

Edited May 28, 2010 by sas

[Mas1981]

Best wishesxxxxxxx PS I'm pretty sure I was told there was a pretty high success rate, around 70 to 80%, definately not only 20%

Did you have something that states it's 70-80%?

Because 3 different Vets told me 20% approx were successful, may have increased over the years but I don't think it would have jumped that high.

Our info sheet from the vet states that it has a 65-70% chance of reducing symptoms...

[raffikki]

Hi sas

On the information paperwork from our derm, it says

It is important to remember that the vaccine is successful in approximately 70% of dogs and cats and takes approximately six months to take effect

ETA

Edited May 28, 2010 by raffikki

[lillim]

RUSH treatment - would you mind explaining what you mean? :rolleyes:

Here's the handout on RUSH Therapy from our derm ;)

Thanks, did you do the rush treatment yourself, or is there anyone who has done it?

[lillim]

I read it as if the desensibilisation is not working for your dog, if you did not see improvement.

Not sure, why spending more money in a treatment that does not work.

Have you considered going another path? Detoxing, balancing the immune system, acupressure, etc? It works for my dogs and many of my client's.

I have considered going the alternative medicine path, but I'm a bit sceptical about some of the things I've read. That being said I havn't discounted it yet.

[Erny]

I have considered going the alternative medicine path, but I'm a bit sceptical about some of the things I've read. That being said I havn't discounted it yet.

I chose to follow the "alternative" track, rather than run with antibiotics, cortisone etc. I know that there is argument that will counter my thoughts, but I took the option of "alternative" first, leaving the conventional option open to me should I require it. I don't have a crystal ball to know whether my choice is right or wrong. All I have is my dog to look at and gauge from how he has been and how he is now.

My boy's issues seem to relate more to digestive issues and build up of toxins from within due to his digestive system not functioning at its optimum. The symptoms by all accounts have been the same and/or similar to any other allergy symptoms. Hives; interdigital cysts; oily/flakey skin; ear issues; gunky eyes. We also have symptoms of loose stools and of refusing certain foods.

I've worked with him holistically for 18 months. We have periods of success (maybe 4 - 7 months at a time) and then set-backs. I'm now under the guidance of a Canine Naturopath. Even at her own admission, my boy has been a tough job and has taken a long time to respond by comparison to any of the other dogs she has worked with over the years.

I've been working under this Naturopath's guidance since last December. We've worked through the hives (he had literally several hundred hives covering the greater portion of his body, when he broke out last November). We've worked through the inter-digital cysts. His coat condition is much improved. He had a small outbreak of hives about a week ago - there were only about 4 or 5 hives and his own body dealt with them without interferance or assistance from me, and they were pretty much disappeared inside two or three days. Nothing by comparison to his previous 2 outbreaks. We've worked through his ears issue and I still tend to treat that once a week (it's only been a recent thing). His coat is good - I know it is capable of being even better. We're working on his now loose stool symptom. I hold my breath when I reluctantly tell you (for fear of jinx) that this seems to be improving as well - albeit slowly and more slowly than one might expect, but that's been the way of it for my boy.

It's not over for us and until my boy begins to eat normally, I know things still are not as they could or should be. And I also know that until he hasn't had an outbreak of allergy symptoms for a year, then I won't even remotely begin to think there's a possibility we're through and past that.

For us it has been a lot of work, but my boy's issue has made it more complex than perhaps others would find for their own dogs. But we're working on the inside of my dog as well as dealing with the outside symptoms. My kitchen bench is dotted with his 'treatment' supplies. Vitamins; Aloe Vera Gel; Calendula Tea; Colloidal Silver; tablets; ear drops; other powders; cotton wool balls. Don't necessarily use them all at once - it depends on what is happening with him at the time.

But looking at him, he's improved, he looks well (albeit lean - but more solid than he was .... time for development may be a contributing factor for that). And I'm happy to know that I've done and am doing it without having to address chemical drugs at this point.

I won't tell you that it's easy. But I also wouldn't necessarily suggest that anyone else would find it as difficult as I have either.

IMO and as far as my experience has taken me so far, natural methods are worth trying.

Edited May 28, 2010 by Erny

[sas]

Best wishesxxxxxxx PS I'm pretty sure I was told there was a pretty high success rate, around 70 to 80%, definately not only 20% :rolleyes:

Did you have something that states it's 70-80%?

Because 3 different Vets told me 20% approx were successful, may have increased over the years but I don't think it would have jumped that high.

Our info sheet from the vet states that it has a 65-70% chance of reducing symptoms...

We're using different terminology ;)

I wasn't referring to simply reducing symptoms as that could be as little as scratches be a wee bit less each day.

[sas]

Hi sas :rolleyes:

On the information paperwork from our derm, it says

It is important to remember that the vaccine is successful in approximately 70% of dogs and cats and takes approximately six months to take effect

ETA

They need to correct their terminology because they make it sound as though 70% of dogs will be fixed and that is misleading.

[Mas1981]

Hi sas :D

On the information paperwork from our derm, it says

It is important to remember that the vaccine is successful in approximately 70% of dogs and cats and takes approximately six months to take effect

ETA

They need to correct their terminology because they make it sound as though 70% of dogs will be fixed and that is misleading.

Yeah it could be misleading. Its so hard to know what the right thing to do is, our vet told us that he has been in practice for 24 years and seen loads of dogs with allergies, he recons the natural route works for loads of other conditions but for allergies he has seen little success treating the dog with just natural methods.

[raffikki]

Thanks, did you do the rush treatment yourself, or is there anyone who has done it?

Both my guys had the RUSH therapy, Rhino back in December & Electra just last week.

I'm not sure what you mean, did I do it myself? They both went into the Derm clinic/Uni for a day to get it done.

They now have an injection every 3 weeks, which I give myself. :D

Edited for grammar

Edited May 29, 2010 by raffikki

[raffikki]

They need to correct their terminology because they make it sound as though 70% of dogs will be fixed and that is misleading.

It is misleading, I guess, I will discuss it with our derm when we go in for a revisit.

[Monah]

My derm never said the dog would be fixed/cured but that in most cases management works really well and if you are LUCKY the dog may be able to come off vacc after a couple of years or so. I never expected a 'cure'. My dog was in bad shape, so I am very happy with our results of no symptoms at all :D

[sas]

My derm never said the dog would be fixed/cured but that in most cases management works really well and if you are LUCKY the dog may be able to come off vacc after a couple of years or so. I never expected a 'cure'. My dog was in bad shape, so I am very happy with our results of no symptoms at all :D

That's fine however it's how people are communicated with....given false hope that 70% of dogs will have success....the word success is the problem as to a Derm that may mean just a wee bit less itching, to an owner that may mean a cure.

[zayda_asher]

That's fine however it's how people are communicated with....given false hope that 70% of dogs will have success....the word success is the problem as to a Derm that may mean just a wee bit less itching, to an owner that may mean a cure.

I think this is a really good example about how a piece of information taken out of context can be easily misconstrued. I've worked with this particular Derm practice for ≈ 8 years and never once have been given false hope about a "cure". They are always very clear about treatments, how they work and what to expect from them. They have always stated that "success" with immunotherapy is a reduction of symptoms, and they quote the standard accepted rate in the research literature of ≈70% who see this success.

Edited May 29, 2010 by zayda_asher

[Mas1981]

For those of you that have done the immunotherapy, what percent would you say your dog has had in reduction of symptoms?