Really Bad Allergy

[aussielover]

Where about do you live? Perhaps people could recommend a good vet for you?

Are the welts itchy for him? Are they red? do they feel hard or "squishy"?

Welts suggest to me an acute allergic reaction or possibly an immune mediated reaction although it is hard to say without seeing them.

A biopsy of the welts would potentially be more helpful than swabs (which can really only tell if there is secondary infection).

I've seen a few dogs with "hives" from food allergy. An actual food trial would involve feeding a novel protein (ie one that he has not had exposure to before; typically roo meat is something which most dogs haven't had much of but you can also use fish, goat, rabbit, horse, venison etc as long as they haven't had much of it before).

Chicken and rice are not good choices as most dog foods are full or chicken byproducts etc (the same goes for beef).

The reason a novel protein is used is because the dog's immune system would not have had the exposure and thus time, to develop a reaction to it.

You also feed a carb like potato or pumpkin. This diet must be carried out for 6 weeks with no treats and no deviations from the diet. If during this time, there are no further reactions, then food allergy may be likely. The real test comes however, when you reintroduce his normal food. You should see a reaction within a few days if he is allergic to his food.

Other possibilities include insect bites, shampoos, grasses etc but these would need to be identified with intradermal skin testing.

A biopsy can be helpful to divide the cause into broad catergories like allergies, immune mediated or cancers etc but can't necessarily pinpoint the exact type of allergy (if it is one)

Edited August 10, 2012 by aussielover

[TheCheekyMonster]

I have been to a few regular vets, they all prescribe the same broad spectrum anti biotic, they do skin swabs and nothing comes up, he has no fleas, I check him regularly and he is fled regularly and its winter, there is never any infection its just an abundance of welts all over his body, not under his tummy or head/face just back sides and sometimes on his thighs

A vet did recommend a diet of chicken and rice, we did do that and there was no change.... that tea is the ONLY thing we have tried that has worked over night...... but I will not see a vet again about this issue because they have all provided no help and show clear signs of not knowing themselves what to do, they un and aaa and take swaps again then charge me $75 for it.....and they just asked for a vet reference to get a medical history,

Its so hard to find a helpful vet sometimes who doesnt just want to milk you.

Have you been to the natural vet in Russell Lea? All Natural Vet Care, I think they are called. I've not been there but heard good things about them for treatment of illnesses that no traditional vets could help with.

No I havent actually, I usually just go to Drummoyne or Croydon... the man at Croydon is pretty good but he did the same thing as Drummoyne only he added the food allergy trial