Skin Allergy

[Pockets]

My Brother has a LSC GSD who has suffered from skin allergies for many years, constant red itchy belly, red itchy paws....everything has been tried, antibiotics, topical treatments, cortison etc and nothing has so far worked.

I have been looking up alternatives and saw the "Vets All Natural 6-8 week skin allergy program, has anyone had success with this? To me it seems quite simple and valid points that I agree with, too much processed foods etc

Any advice would be great :)

[Erny]

Have you investigated possible causes of the symptoms rather than only treatments for the symptoms? If so, would you please let us know what has been investigated.

In the meantime, you do need to treat the symptoms not only to ease/soothe the irritation but also to work against the irritations developing secondary skin infections. Have you tried bathing with Calendula Tea?

[Pockets]

Yes the vets (specialist vets) have investigated the cause to no avail, have done a diet analysis and my brother has done the "diet exclusion" test.

My brother can only be directed by what the vet says, no expense has been spared as the specialist vet is over an hour away on the other side of town.

He is on treatment at the moment, but I just thought I would seek other options.

I agree 100% the cause needs to be addressed not just the symptoms and this is why I like the sound of Vets All Natural as he goes by the same principle

[persephone]

if this has been happening for years - has testing been done to find the cause/s?

It does make things marginally easier to manage if a cause can be found ... a good preservative free, colour free, diet is great - but NOT if the dog is allergic to a certain protein in meat , or the grains used ....

believe me , I can sympathise ..having lived with the problems with my Mitchell. He was allergic to food colourings, plus several grasses. It made life very tricky! he ended up living on Prednil (anti histamine + predisolone) for most of his adult life. ..he died when he was into his teens with no other illness.

He also had Vit C per injection occasionally if the itch got too bad, ester C powder in his food (fresh meat plus cooked vegie peel etc ) ....

[Pockets]

As far as I can see on the vets all natural site, he believes that an over processed and inadequate diet causes the immune system to over react to external stimuli such as contact allegens etc.....his research sounds quite good

[Christina]

Maybe its not the diet. Maybe they are looking in the wrong place.

May be in the dogs environment.

Flea treatments. Chemical used in the home. The carpet or carpet cleaner/freshener. Grass. Particular plant. Shampoo used. Fly spray. Perfume. Air freshener. Weed killer. Fertiliser. Any kind of garden spray/insecticide. Washing powder.

Way to do it is to keep a daily diary & observe where dog goes or whats happening & when he scratches/breaks out to see if anything triggers it or any pattern or rhyme & reason seems to rear its head.

May take months of observation. Cheap but time consuming & often the only way to find the cause.

[Pockets]

The vet has not just focused on diet, but it was something they ruled out as in "he is not allergic to any particular food"

[Erny]

Yes the vets (specialist vets) have investigated the cause to no avail, have done a diet analysis and my brother has done the "diet exclusion" test.

My brother can only be directed by what the vet says, no expense has been spared as the specialist vet is over an hour away on the other side of town.

He is on treatment at the moment, but I just thought I would seek other options.

I agree 100% the cause needs to be addressed not just the symptoms and this is why I like the sound of Vets All Natural as he goes by the same principle

Speak to Dr Bruce Syme and also look into getting a hair-DNA Analysis test done. Dr Bruce may be able to assist you with this anyway. I have found the hair-DNA Analysis very helpful in guiding you to what foods the dog's body needs to avoid, as well as indicating what assistance in terms of herbal supplements the dog's system needs to bolster it and help it deal with general allergens that are ever present around us and which, under normal healthy balanced circumstances, should not present a major problem. Depending on what the analysis presents, there are also matters of liver or kidney overload - don't be scared by that .... what I mean is that your brother's dog's liver and/or kidney could be saying (for example and metaphorically speaking) "we've been working hard to rid the body of the toxins the body is reacting to, but we can't manage it all" (and so the body works to rid these built up toxins via the skin). If the analysis indicates this sort of thing, supplements to target and improve kidney and liver function via cleansing and detoxification might also be provided.

My point of this is that (just hypothesising) yes, diet could and often does play a part, but sometimes simply switching the meat protein source doesn't always do the trick because of the complications prior diet has left the body in a state of and in this sort of event, a bit of help to make the passage of return to the system's optimum function makes all the difference.

This is probably where I would begin, rather than trying to hip-hop from one diet style to another. I've tried that too and it is not only costly in the $$$ sense, it is slow, stressful and frustrating in the meanwhile.

If it is not the diet (would be interested to know what tests the Vet ran to determine this), the hair-DNA analysis may still point you in the right direction.

Edited April 8, 2014 by Erny

[Erny]

As far as I can see on the vets all natural site, he believes that an over processed and inadequate diet causes the immune system to over react to external stimuli such as contact allegens etc.....his research sounds quite good

Yes ..... I agree with this.

[Erny]

Also, have bloods been run for a thorough thyroid balance check? Wouldn't trust the Aussie test. Not thorough enough to pick it up early enough, IMO. I use Dr Jean Dodds (USA) for these.

ETA: Mind you, the hair-DNA analysis can also detect thyroid imbalances. Not sure I would trust the prescribed herbal supplements enough (only through lack of personal experience) to re-balance the thyroid sufficiently, although my confidence is building. My own dog was diagnosed hypothyroidic at 15mo (via USA). He was medicated for it (in his instance, 600mcg thyroxine daily). Each and every year I've had bloods checked to monitor levels and each and every year, it has come back as fine on the medication level stated. Almost 2 years ago, I began my dog on supplements prescribed via hair-DNA analysis (as well as supplements via Augustine Approved) and approximately 1 year ago, ran the usual annual thyroid blood check (via USA). It came back as requiring the thyroxine medication to be reduced by 1/3rd (i.e. down to 400mcg daily). This was double checked by a further test a month or two later, and came back as 400mcg being the correct dosage, and so we've continued on this. I don't know if the continuation of supplements will have made any difference since then, but a test re-run is scheduled in the next couple of weeks. It will be interesting to find out.

Edited April 8, 2014 by Erny

[benshiva]

You have to fix allergies from the inside out. All the topical treatments in the world won't fix it if the diet is the thing causing the problems and I'm hazarding a guess after years of this, it is

[cavNrott]

Pockets, there is a Melbourne Veterinary Specialist Centre in Essendon. You'll find they have a specialist Dermatologist there.

I note you're in Werribee. Are there no Dermatoligist vets at the Werribee teaching hospital?

[Florise]

You have to fix allergies from the inside out. All the topical treatments in the world won't fix it if the diet is the thing causing the problems and I'm hazarding a guess after years of this, it is

Agree with this. Also agree a dermatology assessment is needed. You will need a referral from your vet to see them, not sure about Werribee but I know they are at Essendon and Blackburn http://www.melbvet.com.au/html/s01_home/home.asp

[JulesP]

Yes the vets (specialist vets) have investigated the cause to no avail, have done a diet analysis and my brother has done the "diet exclusion" test.

Pockets has said that the dog has been to a specialist vet.

[aussielover]

May as well give it a try. If he's not specifically food allergic it's unlikely to make him worse.

Although just switching him to a raw diet may also be an option if it's processed foods you are concerned about.

I assume he's had blood tests and skin tests etc?

[cavNrott]

Pockets has said that the dog has been to a specialist vet.

I'm quite aware of that. Pockets said the vet she consulted was an hour away on the other side of town. I was simply bringing to her attention that a specialist was available in Essendon which is much closer to her in case she needs further consultation with a specialist Dermatologist.

[JulesP]

Pockets has said that the dog has been to a specialist vet.

I'm quite aware of that. Pockets said the vet she consulted was an hour away on the other side of town. I was simply bringing to her attention that a specialist was available in Essendon which is much closer to her in case she needs further consultation with a specialist Dermatologist.

It is the brothers dog and he might not live in Werribee.

[cavNrott]

Pockets has said that the dog has been to a specialist vet.

I'm quite aware of that. Pockets said the vet she consulted was an hour away on the other side of town. I was simply bringing to her attention that a specialist was available in Essendon which is much closer to her in case she needs further consultation with a specialist Dermatologist.

It is the brothers dog and he might not live in Werribee.

You have a point there, we don't know where the brother lives.

Melb. Vet Specialist have practices on both sides of town, maybe that will be helpful.

[Erny]

Many times, a visit to a dermatology vet ends up with cortisone treatment though, from what I hear and know of.

Personally, I think a hair-DNA test and a blood run to check thyroid (via USA) are the first two best places to start as the results of these can potentially lead to treatments which do not go to cortisone, antibiotics and the like and may prove a dermatology unnecessary.

The handy thing with the hair-DNA test is that you don't need to take the dog - the hair sample may be posted in, so there is little to no inconvenience involved.

Edited April 9, 2014 by Erny

[Pockets]

Sorry I haven't had net access until now.

Yes he is consulting with a specialist vet, but so far I personally have seen no changes, and the dog still continued to suffer from irritations to his skin and also ear infections etc.

He is only on dry food, went from Royal Canin GSD to I think now ProPLan, I am not a huge fan of ProPLan as I found in my dogs is caused dandruff, dry and flakey skin.

My reasoning for thinking its not so much a food allergy, but that the dog may not be getting adequate nutrition needed from the dry food alone. So the research showing that inadequate nutrition can cause the immune system to over react etc, sounds plausible and an avenue I would certainly persue if it were my dog.

The vet he sees is a specialist vet in dermatology, so all the appropriate tests have been run etc, but as someone else mentioned, it seems that in most cases only the symptoms are treated and not the actual cause.

Just because it's not a food allergy does not mean the issue is not diet related.