Allergies

[Jia Nugget]

Hi all,

We have a STB pup (15wks) and she experiencing some major itching... We are very up to speed on general care (frontline fortnightly, have pest controlled the house and yard and removed any obvious plants etc) The vet suggested the standard anti fungal shampoo and it seemed to help slightly but not enough.. She also gave us phenergan which did help but would like to know if by using this, we are just delaying her immune system from sorting out the allergy by itself?

I have also purchased some pinetarsel and another itch preventing product.....?????

We are booking to see a doggy dermatoligest but they only come every 6 months in our area???

Please help.... I know SBT are renowned for their skin problems and am very familiar with the breed but am not sure whether we should ride it out till she is 6mths or so and see if her immune system kicks in or should we be trying everything within our power now to prevent it from re-occuring?

If the phernergan is OK on her body and will not delay her immune system we will stick with that untill she is around 6 months or so but if not please let me know what you all think...

Cheers..... Jia Nugget

[jacobite]

First off.... excuse my ignorance but what is an SBT ?

More helpfully..... We have a Scottish Deerhound pup, he is now 9 months old, suffered dreadfully from allergy, scratched ALL the time, took most of the hair off himself.

We found he is allergic to beef, lamb dried food.... indeed anything with preservative in it.

Try cutting that out for a start, may take a week or so to take effect, also the smallest amount of what he is allergic to will get him back scratching for 3 days or so......NOT kidding.

We were put onto some-one who takes a hair from the dog and examines it very scientifically ( no mumbo-jumbo ) and will tell you what your dog is allergic to....

I did not beleive it either but did it because

a) it kept my Wife quiet ( If she reads this I am a dead Man.... )

b) we were desperate, and it was worth a try......

Long story-short... what she said worked well for us... Boy is MUCH better.

If you are interested, reply and we will post... we have NO financial interest.....

But, truly it worked for us.

Dave Moffitt

[t-time]

SBT - Staffordshire Bull Terrier

Jia Nugget - have you considered that it might be the Frontline that your dog is allergic to? :D

[arby]

its allergy season for dogs (and humans alike). Chances are your pup is allergic to grass/pollen. Is it a big red sorta rash on the stomach and such???

i probably wouldnt use phenergan because its an older style antihistamine and can have some side effects...like sleepiness...i'd try like a telfast or clarytine.

if the rash is really bad then definately try the antihistamines.

As for the immune system antihistamine doesnt really affect it. It just helps reduce the allergic reaction. Chances are if your dog does suffer from hayfever they'll have it for a very long time. Its one of those stupid allergies that doesnt really go away but it will get a better over time.

Tazzy our lab X ( i got a feeling the X bit is a staffy) had the same problem few years back. The rash was pretty bad and we did give him some meds for it. He had no reactions to it. He's nearly 9 years old now and every year in spring he does get the rash and itching back but its not as bad these days.

I'd use a natural shampoo or one that doesnt dry out your pups skin too much because dry skin makes the allergic reaction even worse.

Edited October 11, 2006 by arby

[Nekhbet]

An allergy is an immune reaction to an allergen. The body becomes hypersensitive to some 'allergens' in the environment and causes an immune response - production of more antibodies, memory cells, and stimulation of the body to produce histamine. Histamine is a chemical that causes swelling, vasodilation etc.

So your issue is that the immune system HAS kicked in and is overworking.

When you give an antihistamine you are not supressing the immune system but counteracting the Histamine floating around causing inflammation and itchy skin. You will not damage her immune system at all.

Check her food. Very common source of allergens - food coloring, flavours, grains, protein sources, additives etc. Also, the chemicals you are putting on her. Something in the home, the carpet, couch.

[dasha]

I have Border Collie that scratched incessantly from about that age too. He couldn't even run and play with the other dogs with out trying to scatch as well.

He is now 10 years old and has never had a scratch free day.

I have learnt though over the years of treating his allergies that it is very food related but he also has environmental allergies.

I use revolution on him as I have found for some reason it helps, I wash him in Fido's Oatmeal and Baking Soda shampoo, I try to feed him ADVACE Energy. EUKANUBA made his scratching worse which we suspect is the highly concentrated protein. A lot of other foods also aggravated his allergies. He does OK on Bonnie working dog too.

Nothing has STOPPED him scratching but these methods have certainly relieved some of the itch. At times his itching will flare up and so he gets Phenergan to help him and maybe a trip to vet for a short acting dose of Cortisone and then the bathing (in coolish water) more frequently etc until he settles.

I found most of the shampoos made for itchy dogs made him worse but the one I suggested has been great for my dog.

Hopefully your pups allergies are a transient thing as a dog with lifetime allergies as a nightmare and I certainly wouldn't want to go through it again

[Kavik]

Diesel has allergies too - the scratching is driving me mad!

I talked to the vet and they didn't think antihistimines were worth trying

I am about to start an elimination diet today to see if it is food related.

Good luck, itchy dogs are frustrating!

[Frangipani]

Nothing useful to add to the advice - though I have an itchy dog as well at the moment, which is why I looked in - just wanted to say I love the photo on your first post. It's gorgeous!

[Lost Male Staffy]

My female SBT when younger use to have an itchy back side all the time. Her hair started slowly getting finer and would look like she was going bald but still had some hair there. I got a creme from the vet but it never worked. I found using bepanthen or baby powder worked for my girl on itchy or irritated areas. Good luck

Edited: She is now over 3 and has no problems with her skin, except sometimes from her collar (which she only has on when walking) under her neck it becomes red, I put the bepanthen on and it goes away few days after.

Edited October 16, 2006 by Lost Male Staffy

[Cordelia]

Being an SBT, it may be advisable to have a skin scraping done to ensure she doesn't have mange.

Frontline is notorious for a multitude of reactions (my Lab gets a very sore local reaction to it) and is also much less effective on fleas than Advantage or Revolution.

Pop her on a very bland diet of chicken and rice (or tuna and rice) and see if her skin improves.

[ILuvAmstaffs]

Diesel was scratching like mad when we got him. He was so itchy, he would even cry while he was scratching & he had small sores on his tummy with a rash & was starting to lose some hair.

I took him to the vet & he said to add a capful of Apple Cider Vinegar to his water, wash the rash with malaseb every night (and use aloveen on the rest of his body) & add to omega 3 oil to his food & if not improvement to take him back for the "exclusion diet". We didn't need to got back,as the scratching eased within days & 2 weeks later, he rarely scratches & has a lovely coat.

[Rappie]

I talked to the vet and they didn't think antihistimines were worth trying

That's an interesting thing for them to say...

I see a lot of itchy dogs and I do my best to avoid steroids in treating them (unless it appears to be true atopic allergies where all other measures have failed and the owners don't, for whatever reason, want to see a dermatologist).

Antihistamines can work well, especially in conjunction with all the other symptomatic treatments (Aloveen / oatmeal washes and conditioners, Malaseb, omega oils, dietary trials to rule out food allergies etc). The problem with them is that their effects are not as profoud in dogs as in human, which means that sometimes only a reduction in itch will be seen rather than making it disappear - but I feel that even a partial response is better than nothing. Using antihistamines is a bit of trial and error in that you may need to try several before you find one that works. Most of the over the counter ones from a pharmacy are quite safe to use, even long term, however the doses needed can be higher than in people. The older generations of antihistamines often work best and side effect likes sedation are less noticeable than in people.

PM me if you like.

[sheltiesrule]

My sheltie Kasper is 11 months and has just started to itch in the last few weeks...he has bitten of some fur on his legs. I'm wondering how you administer the antihistamines and which one owrks the best

[TiffanyAmber]

I have a friend who breeds SBT and I explained to her how I was having trouble trying to control Millie (TT) and Tiffany (Chi) itchies.

She said to me to add Sunflower Oil to the diet.

Now I know it might not work on some dogs but I can say in the last 6 months of trying it, it really does work.

I dont use much, probably a tablespoon in their mix. I have five dogs, so a tablespoon between five is not much. And maybe twice, three times a week. I am a BARF feeder and the other days of the week they are having RMBs.

So now my routine is bath with Quit-Itch and add Sunflower Oil to the diet.

[Kavik]

Thanks Rappie

My vets seem to use pred as first port of call . . .

If the elimination diet doesn't work (and it may not as they suspect contact allergy, we are doing food trial just to rule out food) I would prefer to try something else rather than the specialist. It is getting to the point though that it is either have him itch or go to specialist . . .

We wash in Aloveen and before the elimination diet added fish oil to his diet.

[sheltiesrule]

Hi

Is someone going to help me with dosage of antihistamine?

[Weimlover]

I took Bailey to the vet yesterday due to a skin infection. He's on antibiotics & a cream to sooth the itching. He was on an antihistamine (a human one) for about 6 months at one stage which stoped the allergies & I'm about to start him on them again. Also I'm ordering him a rash suit which won't impress him one bit but hopefully that will help a bit

Edited October 17, 2006 by Weimlover

[tentalover]

Thanks Rappie

My vets seem to use pred as first port of call . . .

If the elimination diet doesn't work (and it may not as they suspect contact allergy, we are doing food trial just to rule out food) I would prefer to try something else rather than the specialist. It is getting to the point though that it is either have him itch or go to specialist . . .

We wash in Aloveen and before the elimination diet added fish oil to his diet.

Before you get too catch up in the whole elimination diet thing. The least expensive way to determine if a contact allergy exists is simply put a singlet or t-shirt on your dog when they go outside. If over a few day the rash subsides on the belly and chest then a contact allergy is more likely.

This is how I determined my furry kids had a contact allergy and when I explained what I had done the vet was very impressed with the idea.

I'm still trying to find the right solution for my guys as everything mentioned so far I've tried and each has helped to a certain degree but I'm getting really desperate now.

I'm on the search for a good homeopath that understands dogs to try some natural remedies, any recommendations out there?

Edited October 17, 2006 by tentalover

[larry]

have you tried increasing the amount of omega 3 oils in your dog's diet ?

eg oily fish, fish oil, omega magic plus, megaderm, etc

this is a natural way to help your dog to repair it's skin.....

[jacobite]

First off.... excuse my ignorance but what is an SBT ?

More helpfully..... We have a Scottish Deerhound pup, he is now 9 months old, suffered dreadfully from allergy, scratched ALL the time, took most of the hair off himself.

We found he is allergic to beef, lamb dried food.... indeed anything with preservative in it.

Try cutting that out for a start, may take a week or so to take effect, also the smallest amount of what he is allergic to will get him back scratching for 3 days or so......NOT kidding.

We were put onto some-one who takes a hair from the dog and examines it very scientifically ( no mumbo-jumbo ) and will tell you what your dog is allergic to....

I did not beleive it either but did it because

a) it kept my Wife quiet ( If she reads this I am a dead Man.... )

b) we were desperate, and it was worth a try......

Long story-short... what she said worked well for us... Boy is MUCH better.

If you are interested, reply and we will post... we have NO financial interest.....

But, truly it worked for us.

Dave Moffitt

No-one is interested in what I said here.!!!!!!!!

WELL.... you want your dogs to keep their allergies, that is up to you.......

BTW, one of the things our Boy is allergic to is Omega-3 oils....

We cut it out and he is MUCH better.

Can't emphasise enough.... we got a very scientific report from these people.. we did what they reccomended and it improved our boy a LOT.

If any-one IS interested, please PM me, not interested in banging my head against a brick wall here in public.

:p :D :D

Dave Moffitt