Allergy Meds for Dog?

[meresandwillsmom]

My dog is constantly scratching. She is a 9lb maltese with short hair. We keep it short b/c she has moist dermititis, which just means she smells. She chews on her paws, front and back, and scratches all the time. At first we had her on a steriod, starts with a P and I just forgot the name of it. Next we put her on Temeril P, not a steroid, but kind of. Still has to have blood tests to make sure she is alright. It got to where it did'nt seem to be helping so I quit giving it to her in Nov. All of a sudden it has gotten so much worse. I don't want to put her back on the medication b/c of the cost and what it may be doing to her. We have changed her food many times to no avail. I am ready to try Benadryl again, but you have to give it 3 times a day. I am not home all the time to give it to her. Any suggestions would be helpful. I have posted this on the budget board as well. Thanks.

 

[Disney-Kim]

We have a Malti-poo who has allergies. they just started in the last 6 months and he is almost 3.
We tried the benadryl...did nothing for us.

We have changed his dog food to Natural Balance (the Dick van Patten) food and it has to be the formulas for allergies. We also only do organic dog treats. We have tried to eliminate all wheat, corn, beef, chicken, etc. I think that helped but it didn't go away.

we honestly think its wet grass...as we notice he chews his feet the most after being on the grass...when its wet. isn't it weird how they mostly do it at night...at least our guy does.

we also do oatmeal shampoo baths.

this all helps for the most part...but he still chews. not bad enough that his hair is going too. so we haven't gone further with drugs yet and we don't really want to.

good luck

 

[PrincessKitty1]

Please see my "smelly dog" post!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1415662

By the way, a lamb-and-rice diet and fish oil cured my previous dog of skin problesm, but you would need to get your vet's advice for fish oil dosage since your dog is so tiny.

 

[SetzKitten]

We're going through this now with our Maltese. A couple of weeks ago, we took her to get a cortizone shot. Last Friday we started her on Prednisone. She'll take a 1/2 tab twice a day for 5 days, then 1/2 tab once a day for 5 days, then 1/2 tab every other day. This is the first time she's had allergies and I hope they're just seasonal. The poor thing was in agony until she got the shot. We tried Benedryl but it didn't do anything for her. I hope your puppy feels better soon.

 

[dawn8226]

I know about this problem well. I have a pitbull with horrible allergies (some of the worst the vet has seen) and my parents' dog, a shi tzu, also has allergies. They have both been through every medication you can think of, steriods, benedryl, claritin. My parents' dog even had the allergy testing done and then they gave her shots for a few months to build up her immunities to the allergies (it didn't work). Both dogs are now on cyclosporine (hope I spelled that right) also known as Atopica (the name for the name brand dog version). It is really expensive, but it works wonders and doesn't have the terrible side effects of the steriods. I highly recommend it if you have tried everything. My parents even considered putting their dog to sleep because the dog was so miserable all the time (it is really a tough situation and really sad). Now their dog is fairly normal most of the time. And for a small dog like yours (and my parents) the medication isn't that expensive, particularly if you get the generic human form of the drug. I pay $130 for 30 pills for my dog, but my dog is also 60 pounds, and depending on the time of the year and how bad her allergies are that amount will last one or two months. Yes it is expensive, but with a small dog like yours the cost will be much smaller (I think like $30-40 a month).

Also cyclosporine can be used in combination with other things. For example, my dog is terrible during the winter (I think she may be allergic to house dust and when the furance runs she is miserable) so then I have to give her the cyclosporine every day and often give her a claritin besides. When she first started on it she was so bad the vet kept her on steriods for a couple of weeks until the cyclosporine could start having an effect.

PM me if you want more info.

Here is a link to a website that may help give you more info: http://www.atopica.com/about_ad/en/index.shtml

Good luck.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

My dog has horrible allergies, too. She's been on everything, including that steroid (was yours on Prednisone? That's what Tara had to take). She's currently taking an antibiotic, but it's not doing one bit of good. She still chews her paws incessantly, to the point where she now has no hair at all on her feet. She also has swelling and hair loss around her mouth. My mother is constantly yelling at her to stop the chewing, but she won't listen.

 

[golfgal]

A friend of mine has a Maltese with bad allergies. She ended up trying a new food-I don't remember what it was-something all natural, etc. and it did WONDERS for her dog. I would try switching foods and see if that helps.

Our dog has allergies but not that badly. She mostly gets watery eyes and itchy skin. We didn't think her meds were helping all that much until we ran out and she didn't have them for a few days.

 

[maxiesmom]

Did you take her off of the steroid because it was starting to affect her in other ways? How was she when she was on the steroid? If she was better on it, you might not have much choice but to go back on. And know that I say this as someone who hates saying that. My Maxie was on steroids almost her whole life, so I know what it does to their bodies.

You said that you were not home during the day to make sure she got all of her meds. Do you have a neighbor you trust that would be willing to do that for you? And if cost is a problem, have you tried looking on-line for the same medication?

 

[donald&daisy]

Our shih tzu was constantly licking/chewing his paws and he would make these horrible "backwards sneezes" which sounded like snorts but he couldn't catch his breath. Our vet said the sneezes weren't too much to worry about (worse for us than him, b/c i was convinced he was dying) and he gave us a bottle of Malaseb to wipe onto his paws twice a day. The reason he was itching to much was an allergy due to a yeast buildup in his paws. You can tell if you look at the paw and between the pads it is a reddish color. We have been wiping him twice a day and he is doing much better.

 

[meresandwillsmom]

I love these boards! Thank you so much for all the information. I also received a lot of good info on the Budget board thread I started. I hope some of you can use this as well. I am going to do some more research on the things I've learned here. It helps to know I am not the only one dealing with this. Thanks again.

 

[Evi]

Check with your vet re your maltese skin problems can be early signs of cushings disease wich can be treated.