Does Your Dog Have Atopy?

[zayda_asher]

Oh no! We're a sorry bunch arent we

Yes :p

I couldnt live without seeing Asher again

Thought you might feel that way ;) :D

Dan

[Staff'n'Toller]

Hey HM, I thought I'd bring your questions over here and not clog up the Eagle Pack thread- 'cause it is good food! :D

Homer will not eat anything else for the next 6 weeks or so till the time the dermatologist gives the okay to go back to his normal diet. Sadly, neither him nor we think that it is a food allergy as food allergy is relatively uncommon in dogs. Sadly because it is so easy to eliminate unlike a lifelong chronic allergy like atopy. Do you know what your dog is allergic to? In Homer's case, it is still hard to tell as he has responded negative to an allergy test probably due to his young age (7 months). he is also on ongoing medication to prevent the allergy from exploding.

Yeah it is just the first thing they tend to do, would have been good if it was a food allergy- much easier to fix eh? I know that Gypsy is quite allergic to raw meats, normal science diet, Euk fish and potato didn't help one iota, and any of the supermarket dry foods. I have seen probably a 75% reduction in general redness, pruritis and general itchies with the z/d. I also have stopped vaccinating her as she used to get hotspots on her head and neck every summer (vaccination time) and changed from Proheart injection to monthly heartworm treatment. I've read that vaccinating dogs who are having a flare up can actually make their symptoms worse.

It's just for a bit of taste as I feel awefully sorry that my boy who was raised on a BARF diet (well more than half of his daily intake was BARF) cannot eat anything other than kibble now. I'm a stay at home mum (canine and feline- I don't have kids yet hehe) at the moment so can afford to do these little extras for him.

Yeah my Staffy would love to eat BARF but it really does her no good, sounds as though if it's not food he may not be on the kibble forever. to you for going the whole hog with the allergy testing, I see lots of dogs who's owners are happy for them to remain on cortisone or deny that their dog is in real discomfort with their allergies.

Staffordsrule thank you for the excellent description of the ZD.

No problems :p I am actually upset with Vet's who don't explain the food fully to clients because it is amazing how much research Hills has put into this food, I can't stand it when they give you the bag and just say "here feed this for now" it's really a very interesting food and if your dog does have a food allergy it is a sure fire way to find out.

I had started feeling that we are the only ones who had to go through this heartache.

Nope you are certainly not alone...as you have found out from this thread I was actually going to say PM Zayda_Asher who has extensive experience with allergies and I'm sure Dan knows way more than me!

I haven't done any testing on Gypsy as she is nearly 7, has OCD in her elbows and has had surgery on a patella, I just don't want to put her through any more stuff if it's not completely necessary. She has quite a lot of relief from the food and only needs the occasional cortisone shot. I'm also fairly sure she is allergic to most grasses and pollens. (curse of having no hair on feet or belly) As she is an older dog I feel that symptomatic medication is ok. If I *did* go down that road, and desensitising injections were available, for her condition then I'd go for it.

Cheers,

Mel.

[WhiteLight]

[

Thanks for the tip LB - do you think I could fool the dust mites and get away with just eucupatalus oil? I couldnt live without seeing Asher again :D

Jen

I believe that would work as well why not put a tiny bit of organic apple cider vinegar in it as well as some natural vanilla essence and use it as an air freshner as well.

Pathetic my poor dog is locked in the house 24/7 because of the grass being as high as a Rottie's eye and he starts sneezing as soon as the door is opened.

The poor thing loves walks so he is always staring out of the window.

[zayda_asher]

I was actually going to say PM Zayda_Asher who has extensive experience with allergies and I'm sure Dan knows way more than me! :D

Gee, Thanks Mel... I am Blushing

Dan

[zayda_asher]

The poor thing loves walks so he is always staring out of the window.

Poor little mite

LB - two things: Have you tried him on Antihistamines? My dogs have had a lot of help from this!!

Also has anyone talked to you about the idea of doing an immunotherapy treatment for him? Asher is allergic to a lot of grasses / weeds as you can see from his list, when I was talking to our Derm. She said that the beauty of grass / weed pollens is that a lot of them are cross reactive, so you make their formula for the ones they react to the most to and it will help the immune system to respond appropriately to the others via the cross reactive properities.

Dan

[zayda_asher]

I also have stopped vaccinating her as she used to get hotspots on her head and neck every summer (vaccination time) and changed from Proheart injection to monthly heartworm treatment. I've read that vaccinating dogs who are having a flare up can actually make their symptoms worse.

Yep, Vaccination can make their allergies worse... bit of a chicken and egg thing as to which came first it seems I'm just researching this now, so any references you have on this that I could pass on to my vets would be great.

Mel, what monthly heartworm have you put her on? I've just moved mine over to the proheart tabs because its the only thing I can find that is not flavoured!!!! The only other unflavoured stuff I can find is the daily ones and I don't like the idea of them.

I believe that would work as well why not put a tiny bit of organic apple cider vinegar in it as well as some natural vanilla essence and use it as an air freshner as well.

I think I will have to try that too! Sounds good. Also another friend told me that lemon essential oil is one of the best things for cleaning everything, just a few drops in warm water.

Dan

Edited January 11, 2006 by zayda_asher

[Kirra_Bomber_Zeus]

I believe that would work as well why not put a tiny bit of organic apple cider vinegar in it as well as some natural vanilla essence and use it as an air freshner as well.

Thanks LB

Edited January 11, 2006 by Jenny Wareham

[Rappie]

I've just moved mine over to the proheart tabs because its the only thing I can find that is not flavoured!!!!

You can also get Heartgard in an unflavoured tablet form, however you'd probably need to ask your vet to order them in for you. We get them for a client of ours with a beef allergic dog.

[zayda_asher]

You can also get Heartgard in an unflavoured tablet form, however you'd probably need to ask your vet to order them in for you. We get them for a client of ours with a beef allergic dog.

Thanks Rappie

Dan

[Homer's mummy]

Thanks Guys,

You have been enormous help and support for Homer and have taken a big load off my heart. My OH and me had almost started to believe that we have failed our little boy!

I wanted to thank you all and let you know that you all (of course Dan takes the cake) seem to know a lot more about atopy and allergies than the hoity toity dermatologist. Hope he's not on this forum or I'll be dead!

As Dan said there are good ones and bad ones and although I am trying not to be too judgemental, it is true though that they haven't been able to provide much more help than frequent doses of cortisone. Dan, are you in Melbourne? If yes, I might be interested in organising a referral to your dermatologist.

Thanks again to all you good people and kisses to your pooches. Hope they all feel more comfortable.

Risha

[zayda_asher]

Thank you for your kind words Risha :D

Unfortunately I am alllll the way over the other side of Aus Or I would recommend mine to you in a flash! I'm not sure how many Derms there are in Melbourne, normally they practice attached to the university hospitals... It is worth going back to your GP Vet and asking them if there are any others you could see as you are not happy with them...

I hear many stories like yours and realise how blessed we are with our GP and our Derm!

Dan

[Staff'n'Toller]

Yep, Vaccination can make their allergies worse... bit of a chicken and egg thing as to which came first it seems  I'm just researching this now, so any references you have on this that I could pass on to my vets would be great.

Hmm I actually can't remember where I read that but will try to find it for you, apart from Jean Dodds' work I don't know much that is scientifically documented, and mostly I've just read heresay written by Vets on the net...but a good start would be The Whole Dog Journal. I will go back and search through the archives that might have been where I read it...do you have a subscription? It is really good. Since I have not vaccinated her -2 summers- she has had no hotspots over the summer....interesting.

Mel, what monthly heartworm have you put her on? I've just moved mine over to the proheart tabs because its the only thing I can find that is not flavoured!!!! The only other unflavoured stuff I can find is the daily ones and I don't like the idea of them.

I am giving her Heartgard - but the meaty ones...doesn't seem to do her any harm but I watch closely. The Heartgard tabs are fairly easy to get..we keep one of each size in stock for those very few dogs who won't eat the cubes.

Mel.

Edited January 11, 2006 by StaffordsRule

[Do No Harm]

Vaccination with modified live viruses makes allergies worse. This was confirmed with me by Jean Dodds who then sent me a copy of the March 1983 report "Immunoglobulin E antibodies to pollens augmented in dogs by virus vaccines". The report is authored by Oscar L Frick, MD, PhD, and Dale L Brooks, DVM, PhD and appears on p440 of Am J vet Res, Vol 44 No 3. The connection between vaccines and allergies has been known for decades and is more prevalent with vaccines that mimic viral infections - such as when using modified live virus vaccines, eg the canine vaccines for distemper, parvo and hepatitis.