Anyone else have a dog with allergies?

[DznyLvr2005]

My 6 year old Golden has been through alot in the past 2 years. Ear surgery, hematomas on her ear, staph infections, ear infections,etc...
I FINALLY switched vets because her old vet would charge me $200 a month to tell me to switch her food. So this new vet, right away, wanted to get to the bottom of it.
We got her allergy tested thru a blood test. They just came back last week and she is allergic to EVERYTHING!!
chicken, beef, soy, wheat, peanuts, potatoes
mold, some carpet fibers, grass, trees and HER OWN STAPH INFECTION. She's been on antibiotics since August on and off and she has cost us thousands of dollars. FINALLY we know what's wrong with her and we just switche her food to something she isn't allrgic to.
Has anyone else gone through this with their dog?
I hope this food switch is going to work . we also give her benedryl twice a day!!!

 

[mamamary]

Yep we've gone thru it also. Too much to go into though - lol. Nothing really seems to help. He was on super expensive meds - Atopica - $200 a month. Still gets infections - MRS - goes on antibiotics - gets ear infections - skin lesions. Benadryl doesn't seem to help though. Switched food around a few times. Just at the point we're we figure it is what it is. We love him to death and would do anything but we just can't seem to get to the root of his problem. Oh and to top it off he just had a $3,000 knee operation. He's our baby though.

Good luck with everything!

 

[2binak]

After a few years of her getting sick on and off and having the vet tell us it must have been something she ate in the field behind our house, our dog had a very scary episode of sickness and spent 3 days in a specialty hospital. It was then that we found that she is allergic to beef flavoring - not beef itself, but the flavoring that many companies use. Since removing it from her diet, she's been fine. She is allergic to certain trees & ragweed though. At certain times of year, she goes on prednisone for 2 weeks to help with that.

 

[luvwinnie]

Yes, we've been through it all. Nothing worked except Temaril P which had prednisone in it...but it made him aggressive. Finally our vet agreed with us that trying a GOOD holistic vet was our only hope...and it has done WONDERS for Hooch (he's a rescue bulldog). There is no quick fix in holistic medicine and a good holistic vet will use Western meds when needed (he still takes Zyrtec sometimes)...but if you can find a really good one, please consult with him/her. We went to 3 before finding one who wasn't a quack to be honest.
For right now I can tell you to wash his bedding at least once a week (is he allergic to dust mites?) in hot water and a detergent free of dyes and fragrance. cut out all fragrance really. I don't even wear by scented body lotion anymore around him lol. Bathing him often will help also with an oatmeal or medicated shampoo. Duoxo is good now that malaseb is gone. We also like Earth Bath brand. We keep a tshirt on Hooch to help with 1)keeping the allergens off him 2) if he does scratch, he does less damage.
If you want to pm, feel free.

 

[luvwinnie]

oh, you might want to read The Nature of Animal healing by Dr. Marty Goldstein to start with if you are interested in holistic/integrative medicine. We see one of his associates who is now has her own practice. Oh, i see you are in Staten Island. Are you willing to travel to Orange County, NY? We travel about an hour and half to our holistic vet 2x a year and have our local vet also.

 

[LuvOrlando]

What are you feeding her now?

My MIL went through this with her Golden & Chocolate Lab. They went through food by food I think Lamb was ok for the Golden but the Sweet Chocolate Lab could only eat Duck, "Pinnacle Holistic Duck & Potato", PETCO carries it. She had awful MRSA ear infections that meant constant medications and whenever she would eat anything weird her ears would blow up and look like puffed Doritos. That poor dog was always on prednisone.

My Border Collie gets eye allergies but some Visine A works wonders for him, I hope I never had to do the food thing with any of my pets... its so very hard on everyone. Good Luck, I hope your woofie feels better

 

[DisneyLover83]

Yes, our dog is allergic to certain types of grass, trees and corn. We changed her food and put her on benadryl for the grass and tree allergies. She does fine now, I hope your dog feels better soon!

 

[Pakey]

Yes, I have a dog with allergies. I make my own dog food and give her benadryl for her outdoor allergies.

 

[nathalee81]

Yes, we are actually going through this with our dog right now.
He is a 7 year old lab mix that we got through a rescue. Never had any problems, then suddenly a couple of months ago we noticed a couple of skin lesions.
Took him to the vet and was told it was a staph infection and put him on antibiotics. Antibiotics didn't help so we took him back. They said allergies so now we are just working to get his skin healthy again.
Switched food (Science Diet Sensitive Skin), but I am thinking of switching to Wellness or California Natural after hearing some good things. He is also getting weekly baths in medicated shampoo and he is on steriods (although we are being very conservative with them because I don't like the side effects they could have).
Our vet has basically said this is going to be a long process of figuring out the right food and medication.
I do wash his bedding every week, but (duh) didn't cut out the detergent so I will start doing that. Also, the person who mentioned the shirt-that sounds like a good idea and I may try that. I also may try to find a holistic vet soon-we live in a pretty big city so I figure I should be able to find one that is not a quack.
To, the OP-good luck. Skin issues are so hard because it is so individualized to each and every dog and, sometimes, just when you think you have it under control there is another flare up. It is also hard because I see my pup scratching and so uncomfortable and it just makes me want to cry because he is in pain and I can't "fix" him right away.

 

[luvwinnie]

another tip: Portable air filters

 

[JessicaR]

I feel your pain! My 5 year old mastiff has major allergies. About a year ago I switched vets too. The new vet tested also. Many food and environmental allergies. She also has to have her ears maintained carefully to avoid infections. I clean them weekly and use her drops when I notice an infection brewing. (Usually very easy to smell) Staph on her belly sometimes too. Antibiotics clear that. Mostly yeast/fungal infections. So we did elimination diet - we did BARF - we tried every grain free kibble with limited ingredients one worked great for about a month then same old same old.

I cook for her now, buffalo meat, beef and lamb seem to be OK - she is very allergic to chicken. So I mix it with brown rice, sweet potato - green beans and plain yogurt. She is down to 2 episodes in the past year and I'll take it! The Vet had me add Proud Dog Complete Wellness as a supplement to make sure she is getting all she needs. My husband says the dog eats better than him!

So far were doing OK. Allergies in pets can be maddening. I hope you find something that works.

 

[katesorad]

My parents' beagle is also allergic to everything. They pay around $250 a month for his special food through the vet. He can eat that, along with carrots and a few other random foods. They recently discovered that he was epileptic, so not only is he on the special diet, he takes medication for seizures, and just recently got bitten by a rattlesnake in my parents' backyard while out playing poor little puppy dog. But he's doing awesome now that he's on everything he needs to be on and has had proper treatment and care.

Don't worry.. even though it may seem ridiculous to pay that much for your dog's food, it will really help the dog thrive!

 

[golfgal]

Our dog also has allergies. She gets a benadryl once/day in the winter and twice/day in the spring/summer when she is really bad. We have some topical steroid spray for the itchiness and bathe her often to keep her clean. She got an ear infection this past spring with her allergies and boy did she HATE having her ears cleaned.

 

[clutter]

Just took mine in again this weekend. She's on shots every other week and a low dose of prednisone for another problem, but she's been itching like crazy (mostly her bum). The vet said it's yeast, which is from her allergies. She increased her prednisone and her ketakonazol (sp?) for the next 10 days and within 24 hours there was a major difference. Poor pup. Fortunately, she doesn't react too poorly to the prednisone (and we have a doggie door). She's actually more hyper from the allergies than from the prednisone.

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

I feel your pain! Ours is a Belgian Sheepdog and she's allergic to everything. Her ears stick up but she gets ear infections constantly. We clean her ears now every other day and she does much better. Good luck!

 

[robinb]

I have heard that allergies are very common in Goldens. Have you done an elimination diet? My Akita was allergic to beef and we fed her (a 100+ dog!) rice and peas and then added things to her diet until we found a reaction. We ended up with a chicken based food. There are also lamb,duck and fish based foods. My friend has a Goldendoodle and she has to cook ground turkey for her dog. Good luck!