Any suggestions about allergies?

Brandilyne

Good Morning!

I've been reading the Dog Forums for quite a while now and decided to jump in this morning. I see a few people have offered up some info about various allergies, but I wanted to ask some specific questions about Aiken (my 2 1/2 year old doberman/black lab mix).

To give a bit of backstory:

About a year or so ago, I noticed increased paw licking and biting, rear end licking and scooting (have had glands expressed several times), scratching or rubbing his face against the floor/bed/couch and more frequent ear infections. Obviously I've had him at the vet a thousand times since then, treated for ear infections, blocked glands etc. He's been on every antihistimine available. In doing more research, I decided it was time to admit it was likely a food allergy.

I started him on a duck and potato formula from Pinnacle, which he loved, but the itching only got worse. In time, his coat was greasy and at the same time, he had terrible flakey dandruff. The smell was not pleasant either. Luckily a trip to a new vet cleared up the culprit, a nasty staph infection likely caused by the excessive chewing and licking of his paws and legs. I made the switch at this time to a Salmon and vegetable formula food by Frommes, which my vet approved. After another 6 weeks, the symptoms are much better but not completely gone. I have now moved on to Wellness Venison and Brown Rice formula, as it truly contains nothing but one simple protein and one simple carbohydrate. I am extremely militant about making sure he gets no other food (luckily, he's not a counter jumper too, since he's 6 ft tall on his back legs ) other than his dry kibble and an occasional can of the same formula. Per the vet, I have been supplementing him with treats such as all natural Sweet Potato Rawhide (he loves it!), apples and banana chips.

He has been on the Venison formula for about 3 weeks now and the itching seems to be worse this week. I fear that his coat seems a little greasy and his dandruff is back in full force. I plan on making an appointment with the vet this week if it doesn't improve (I suspect another staph infection may be flaring up), but was hoping someone could offer another suggestion as far as the food allergies go.

I know the next step is probably the serum testing, which I just can't afford to do, especially around the holidays. If I don't see an improvement by the first of the year, I guess I'll have to consider going that route.

Any ideas? I hate seeing him so miserable and itchy

blackgavotte

This is probably a silly question, but has he had a skin scraping done to check for mites, and has a skin punch biopsy been done? Might you consider looking for a second opinion, since it sounds like you have been diligent about the vet visits, but some vets are better at skin problems than others? Just a few thoughts as I read about your itchy guy.

Brandilyne

Thank you so much for your input! Yes, we've had the skin scraping done, but never the skin punch biopsy. In fact, I've not heard of that before! Off to research...

I just switched to a new vet, my best friend takes her menagerie of 9 cats and 2 dogs to him and I've been very pleased so far. He told me it may be a long term committment as far as uncovering all the allergies, which I totally understand. I just feel like he should be showing some signs of improvement with the food and it's not really there yet. This vet has a lot of experience with food allergies, which is why I chose him out of the three vets in their practice. I guess I need to exercise patience, something I've never been very good at, heh.

Thank you to everyone and anyone who might have had a similiar situation and can suggest any other ideas I might not have tried!

Lisa M

I found out long ago that my dog was allergic to soy. Many dog foods use soymeal in them and I only feed my dog soy free dog foods. I recently moved in with my fiancee and his dog (a westie) now eats the same food as my dog to make things easier. The westie has a long history of skin rashes that the vet always gave antibiotics for and they kept coming back. Since being on the soy free dog food, she has not had a reoccurance of the skin rash. My fiancee is amazed that after all the vet visits and treatments they gave him, they never suggested a food allergy or a switch in foods.

Just a suggestion.

anaelmer

We have been fighting a constant infection in my Saintys feet for two years now. We have spent thousands of dollars on this problem. We have gotten her a allergy test, and found that she is allergic to dust mites,rag weed and many other environmental allergy's. She is now on allergy shots they have very small amounts of the things she is allergic to get her use to them. I find that the work but are not 100% so sometimes we give her an antihistamine. If I forget to give her a shot I know it she starts itching all over.

I have been to lots of vets, I think you should find a dermatologist and take your dog there. I went to my University veterinary clinic. It was actually less expensive then my regular vet and They know a lot more then most vets.

The vet there told me that food allergies are very rare. He told me to put my dog on one of their foods or Natural Balance Potato and duck for one month and the add in foods. He said you would know with in 48 hours if it was a food allergy. ( remember that your heartgaurd has beef in it if its the chewy kind)

Hope this helps, after three years of all of this I feel like an expert

Anaelmer

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mokocody

Be careful with the venison. I had a lab that was very allergic and I started making him fresh turkey and rice based on my vet's recommendation. His symtoms worsened and I subsequently found out he was allergic to the turkey which is highly unusual.

Brandilyne

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions! Yes, I've been a bit busy and haven't gotten back to the forums for awhile, heh.

After two rounds of antibiotics for staph and quite a few months on special allergy foods, Aiken is still itching. *sigh* I've given up with the food, because at that price I needed to see some improvement. He's on a salmon and rice mix at this point, which is slightly less expensive. I'm beginning to think it may be environmental allergies as anaelmer mentioned, so I'm going to save up for the allergy testing instead. Thanks again!

Jessica&Crew

IMO you are switching food before giving it a chance.

When you switch diets, the body will go through a "detox" period long before the effects of the new type begins to take effect.

Its a common mistake people make - wishing to see immediate results for the better of the animal - but not being patient while a change takes place.

I know you're trying your best, but the timeframes you mentioned absolutely stuck out to me.

Brandilyne

Jessica,

Thanks for the input. I did check with my vet and he said if I haven't seen any improvement in over 4 months on the allergy formula foods it may not be the cause. Yes, I switched types of food in between but all were allergy formulas that were approved by the vet with ingredients least likely to cause problems. I feel like 4 months + should have at least shown some improvement, so I felt that was very patient for me, heh. Plus, I just can't afford $45 for a 23lb bag of food anymore, unless I start eating it too I may try the experiment again in 6 months, but right now I'm saving up for the serum testing.

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