Guest Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 hey gang, unfortunately Ike has been diagnosed with Atopic Dermatitis.. is anyone else's dogs dealing with this skin condition, and if so how are you combating it?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ams Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Sirius has atopic dermatitis. He is on macralone every second day when it is really bad, just some cortisone cream on his ears if he is scratching the crap out of them and has malaseb baths weekly or fortnightly depending on how he is going. He has a no grain diet and is fed either Canidae or Black Hawk depending on what I have available. Additives to his food include greek yoghurt, sardines, eggs, fish oil and chicken frames. In summer when it is really bad I do use the calendula tea to spray on him to ease the itchies as well. It is being 'managed' but when he is really bad he is down right miserable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westiemum Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 There is a Pfizer drug trial for itchy dogs with atopic dermatitis going on at the moment. Either your vet or a specialist vet practice/vet dermatologist should know about it. The selection criteria are quite tight (not all itchy dogs qualify for the trial) and you need to be very disciplined in terms of medication compliance and follow-up visits but I think its very worthwhile. The trial has worked well for my very itchy westie. Hope that helps and good luck. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Thanks heaps peeps I'm going back to the vet tomorrow with him so I'll bring up those points, I was told to go see a dermatologist but I can't afford to go so hopefully the vet will consider other ways to manage it :) fingers crossed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason_Gibbs Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 (edited) Dermatologist seem expensive but if you add up all the vets visits compared to the visits to the derm it's not actually expensive. Allergies are incredibly complex and vets do not avethe experience or knowledge dermatologists have. How did your vet diagnose your dog? You cannot diagnose atopic dermatitis without performing food trials to rule out food allergies and skin prick tests as well as blood tests. Stabbing in the dark with allergies and trying this and trying that does not work. Try and get a loan and see a derm, I was in the same position and couldn't afford it at the time and thank dog I did because my boy has severe allergies, food and atopic dermatitis.. Edited April 3, 2012 by Mason_Gibbs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason_Gibbs Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Oh and how we are treating it, desensitization injections I administer every 21 days, antihistamines, weekly bathes and ear cleaning, pred when he is very itchy. I dd food trials and know what my boy cannot have, he basically gets roo lamb or goat with vets all natural mix to eat. I use cheese or polony as training treats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Ahh I see, well I've already started saving that's for sure! My fet has taken skin samples but hasn't done a blood test yet, we have changed ikes diet about a month ago to a very plain one to see if it was triggered by the food he was eating but nothing has changed, in staying that he hasn't gotten worse but just stayed the same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Wow there are a lot of things to consider well I'll be shooting a tonne of questions at my vet this arvo and hopefully he will Give me some advice on how to manage this untill we are able to see the specialist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lavendergirl Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Oh and how we are treating it, desensitization injections I administer every 21 days, antihistamines, weekly bathes and ear cleaning, pred when he is very itchy. I dd food trials and know what my boy cannot have, he basically gets roo lamb or goat with vets all natural mix to eat. I use cheese or polony as training treats. What antihistamines do you use and do you find them effective? My vet told me that they really didn't work in dogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 umm i cant really remember what the medication that the vet put ike on, all i know is that is was working or the time he was on it, i think it had a quatazone in it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason_Gibbs Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Oh and how we are treating it, desensitization injections I administer every 21 days, antihistamines, weekly bathes and ear cleaning, pred when he is very itchy. I dd food trials and know what my boy cannot have, he basically gets roo lamb or goat with vets all natural mix to eat. I use cheese or polony as training treats. What antihistamines do you use and do you find them effective? My vet told me that they really didn't work in dogs Lots of vets like to think they know about allergies but the dermatologists are really specialists. The lady we sees goes to all the conferences in USA where all the latest research is presented. We use Zyrtec ( I get the generis it's cheaper) and my 32kg dog takes 4 a day. I believe antihistamines do work but you have to find the one that works for your dog. We tried another one ( can't remember the name but it was an older one) and it did nothing. The blood tests for allergies are usually sent to USA and are used in conjunction with the skin prick tests. Food emilination has to be done properly 6 weeks a novel protein and a carb like pumpkin or sweet potato NOTHING ELSE AT ALL!! Then add one thing back in at a time for a week and see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Well I'll be taking everything you've all suggested and tried to my vet and see what his thoughts are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparkyTansy Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 agree with everything that Mason_Gibbs has said. IMO vets are very quick to diagnose skin issues but don't know what the actual issue is. They treat the symptoms and not the cause and a lot of them don't refer to a derm so your vet at least acknowledges that you should go see one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Agreed I've already started saving, I think we worked out its going to be cheaper for us to drive up to Sydney to see her rather than her comin to canberra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason_Gibbs Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Pitt there isnt one closer to you our dermatologist saved my dogs life he was so bad and so uncomfortable i considered putting him to sleep before i got help from the derm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 wow really!! well i dont want it to ever come to that so it's off to the derms for ike, hopefully middle of the month depending on if we can get in to see her :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fbaudry Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Hey Foxyboy I hope you won't mind me jumping in your thread; Just wondering if one needs a referral to see a dermatologist, and if I could get the details of the one you'll be seeing in Sydney? Penny has been very itchy for a few months now, and fleas are pretty much ruled out. Our vet started her on Pred last week (itching stopped after a couple of days), which she is going to be on for 2 weeks combined with Capstar (just to rule out completely the flea part). The vet pretty much has made up his mind it was a food allergy and she is now on Hills Z/D much to my disgust. Prior to that she was on a diet of 50% dry (Advance puppy) 50% raw (VAN / sardines / eggs / yogurt / chicken / turkey / lamb / beef / roo either mince or bones). There doesn't seem to be any history of allergy in her lines either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 well im not sure if you need a referral, but the two that ive found closest to me (sydney)is the Animal Referal Hospital in near homebush and then the other is University of Sydney, Camden clinic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason_Gibbs Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Hills ZD made my boy have such an upset stomach he cant handle kibble. Vets are quick to jump to conclusions regarding food allergies but its really hard to say its food only if they havent been tested for atopic dermatitis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fbaudry Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Hills ZD made my boy have such an upset stomach he cant handle kibble. Vets are quick to jump to conclusions regarding food allergies but its really hard to say its food only if they havent been tested for atopic dermatitis Poor him! So far my girl is ok on it (even though I hate myself for feeding her this processed crap), and she never had stomach upsets on her previous diet (when I thought dogs with allergies tended to have upset tummies etc as well as itchiness) Sorry if that sounds like a dumb question, but can a regular vet test for atopic dermatitis, or is that something only a dermatologist can do? I know what you mean re vets jumping to conclusions. I almost had the impression mine was going through an often repeated speech, ending up with the compulsory low allergen food Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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