Lab/Chow has severe allergy... help?!

kkspartie24 · 06-14-2008, 05:21 PM

Hey everybody! I'm hoping to get some answers to this on-going problem...

I have a 3-year-old Lab/Chow mix named Kozmo. A little over a year and a half ago, he started to lose the fur around his eyes and nose. When we took him to our vet, he suggested that we put Kozmo on a diet of lamb and rice dog food. We did, and that corrected the problem fairly quickly. However, a few months later Kozmo started losing the fur around his genitals, and it's progressed to his stomach and now his chest. Basically, his whole underbelly is bare. We took him to our vet and the vet suggested we switch his diet, again, this time to fish and potato. He also suggested we see a specialized animal dermatologist, but we are not financially capable of affording such a vet (my grandmother took her dog to him for his severe allergy problems, and the bill ran upwards of $1500+) So, we started Kozmo on Wellness Sweet Potato & Fish. This didn't solve the problem at all. We then took him to another vet for a second opinion, considering our first vet didn't even attempt to prescribe anything to at least comfort Kozmo. The second vet suggested we switch his diet AGAIN, this time to Science Diet d/d. He was also put on some antibiotics, steriods, and a regimen of ear washing and medicated bathing. Kozmo is no longer on the steriods or antibiotics since the few day/1-2 week supply ran out (this was a few months ago), but there still hasn't been any sort of improvement. He's starting to lose the fur around his ears and eyes and mouth again. We have him on Frontline flea preventative to rule out the possibility of a flea allergy, and we've now switched foods again, this time to Sensible Choice Lamb & Rice from a suggestion from another dog owner who has a Chow mix with allergies. We still bathe him regularly with the vet-recommended shampoo, but there just hasn't been any improvement.

He does NOT suffer from mange, a thyroid condition, or a fungal condition on the skin.

Does anybody have any idea what the problem could possibly be? We've been doing everything we can, we hate to see him be so miserable. Our last resort is to go see the animal dermatologist, considering we have very very little money to afford him, so we're doing our best to figure out what the problem is. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

3dogsplus · 06-15-2008, 11:17 AM

First question would be how do you know that he does not suffer from mange, thyroid, or fungal disease? Have these tests been done recently? If not, he still needs to be checked out. I adopted a chow mix stray that had demodectic mange around her eyes. It cleared up on it's own when she got into a healthy environment but I also know that it can flare up anytime she gets stressed.

Does Kozmo itch? Most allergies cause itching of some sort. If there is no itching, it may be an endocrine problem. At the same time, so dogs with endocrine problems get secondary infections and itch and some dogs with allergies don't seem to be bothered to itch!!

It sounds like your vet has done the basic therapeutic trials with food and medication and that it may be time to see the dermatologist. It may be expensive but on the other hand, if you add up the bills from what you have done already with limited to no success (and what sounds like possible worsening), it may surprise you as to what you have already spent!!