Holy Allergies, Batman

Squeeker · 08-21-2009, 07:26 PM

*sigh* it's been a crazy month for us here!

First, Libby came down with a rediculous case of gastric distress. Vomiting blood, liquid sqirts, lethargy, no appetite. $800 at the e-vet later, and she's back to her normal self. We'll never know what caused it, but we assume she drank some stagnant water at the park and developed a bacterial infection. Thank goodness that's over with...

Now, for the fun stuff.

2 weeks later, and she starts to itch. She's going to town on her legs, stomach, and ears, her skin is hot and pink. She's pulling out chunks of hair with her teeth when she itches.

Libby, the DH, and I leave for vacation (at my parent's house an 8 hour drive away) 2 days after the itching starts. While we're away, her symptoms completely disappear.

The day we get home, the itching starts again FULL FORCE. Libby didn't sleep all night as she itched the whole time. We didn't know what to do... we bathed her in the middle of the night just to try and soothe her skin... nothing helped. The next day we called the vet and he told us to put her on Benadryl, and that we could give her up to 3 tablets a day, but to start with 1. Well, 1 did nothing, 2 gave her enough relief so that she could sleep, and 3 did little more. Poor girl was SOOOO miserable... as were we, as we could do NOTHING to help her. It was awful being so helpless.

We gave the Benadryl a fighting chance, to no avail. Today we took her into the vet and he prescribed VANECTYL-P as he is pretty sure that we are looking at an environmental (inhalant) allergy, probably seasonal, as she was not affected while we were on vacation (it was far enough away to be in a different "allergy zone"). This is an antihistamine combined with a low dose of prednisone, a steroid. It lists some interesting side effects: http://www.camroseanimalclinic.ca/vanectyl-p.html

Does anyone else here have a dog that suffers from seasonal allergies? Does anyone have experience with Vanectyl-P? Is this something I should inform Libby's breeder about? Any other words of wizdom? I know it's silly, but I feel like I've done something wrong, and it's frustrating me!

CorgiKarma · 08-21-2009, 08:23 PM

Bailey gets seasonal allergies. She'll get little scabs from scratching, but it's not nearly as bad as Libby's seems to be. Bailey was on steroids for a short period last summer for it. I'm not a fan of steroids, too many side effects. The "possible increased sensitivity to bacterial infections" would worry me since Libby just had one...

I was looking for a natural joint supplement when I came across Yucca Intensive. It's supposed to help allergies. I think I'm going to give it a try. http://www.1800petmeds.com/Yucca+Int...prod10850.html

Squeeker · 08-21-2009, 09:06 PM

Quote:

I'm not a fan of steroids, too many side effects. The "possible increased sensitivity to bacterial infections" would worry me since Libby just had one...

I was looking for a natural joint supplement when I came across Yucca Intensive. It's supposed to help allergies. I think I'm going to give it a try. http://www.1800petmeds.com/Yucca+Int...prod10850.html

No kidding. It's a scary prospect... I don't ever want to see her that sick again. My MIL is on Prednisone, and it is not a nice drug. However, I don't ever want to see her ever be this miserable and itchy again, either. I think we are going to do the round of Vanectyl-P for this season, and I am going to do some serious research on other options just in case this comes around again.

Please let me know how that Yucca stuff works for you.

How long has Bailey had allergies? Have they gotten worse or lasted longer as she ages?

CorgiKarma · 08-21-2009, 10:01 PM

They didn't really get bad until last year. It seems they are getting worse with age now that I think about it. It doesn't seem to last long, though, and is not as bad as Libby's

zorba · 08-21-2009, 10:45 PM

I just noticed you are in ohio...

Billy (my pug) and I just go into Columbus a week and a half ago. He has been in hot weather and humid weather before and this never happened until I got here in Columbus:

One day in one of his wrinkles I noticed a bit of crustiness so I cleaned it out. I figured he might have gotten a scratch by a dog he was playing with at the park, but I couldn't see any one area so I just decided to monitor it.

The next morning we woke up and he was all goopy in there so I cleaned it out and decided that it should be looked at by a vet. They took a swab and decided it was mostly yeast and was a result of too much moisture in the skin fold. She gave me some cream (would have to look at what it is, can't recall right now) to smear in there 2x per day.

He is rubbing his little face all over the carpet and grass when we go out. I try not to let him, but it is obviously itching him. I think it is getting worse and now I am starting to think it might be an allergic reaction to the allergins in the air/on ground. He isn't super bad, but he has never had this before and I feel for the little guy. Plus, I think it is spreading into the other fold on his face.

I am hoping the vet is right, and it is not an allergic reaction because we are in Columbus to stay and I don't want him to go through this all the time.