Dog Allergies

Looking for some help. My Springer Spaniel (8 yrs old) is miserable with allergies over the last month. Vet says it is soybean and grain pollen from harvest that, until we get snow, will continue (we are in Iowa). He says worst season he has ever seen. She is tearing herself up with itching, scratching. Sores everywhere that she opens up nightly. She is on medication for infections and gets periodic steriod shots to try and lesson the discomfort. Obviously, the shots cannot continue much longer without physical damage to her. I wrap up her tender ares with no stick tape, give her baths and use anything I can to stop her from hurting herself. She is an absolute wreck. Our last dog (terrier)died from allergies (different type). I have seen this movie before and it does not end well. My vet is acting loke he is at the end of his advice but I want to fight as she is my buddy. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Have you tried oatmeal shampoo? That’s about all I got.

Keep fighting for her and I’ll keep you two in my prayers!

Along the lines of pugs suggestion here. Blend the oatmeal up in a blender and add to the bathwater. Can help cut cost from the overcounter stuff. Worth a try anyway.

My sister had a dog choclate lab/english setter that was highly allergic to grass and maple tress of which she had both. We used to give him low dose of benadryll(spelling?). This did seems to help I believe it was a childrens dose even thought he weighed around a 100lbs. That is all I know besides what you are doing. Good Luck, it sucks watching them suffer with that.

I can sympathize with your dog… I have allergies and they have been terrible… some days, my eye won’t stop dripping (gross, I know) but it looks like I am crying all the time Bad year… I was also told, “you need snow cover”… Been waiting

She has gotten Benadryl each am and pm since Thanksgiving along with a whole cocktail of other drugs. The Benadryl has been a godsend but the nasties are starting to overpower the short term benefits of that drug (she is only 55 pounds). Have tried every type of oatmeal bath out there. Am now thinking of switching to Allegra or some other strong human drug to try and save her. I see no snow in the near term forcast.

bottled water, check what’s in her food..

different vet? too many medications?

Second opinion from may be an allergist for humans.

Heres a link with some ideas maybe they will help it looked interesting but I have no idea what all you have tried. I hope you find something that works. If I hear of anything else I will let you know.

http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/medical/canine-allergies.html

It would be worth the trip from Waterloo to St. Paul if you really want the best research and treatment team available for your dog IMHO. Your vet can probably refer you and provide all the history and meds that you have tried to date and they will give you an honest opinion and options.
Link

It is like walking into the Mayo Clinic for dogs if you have never been there or seen it

Might have you wearing a Gopher jersey for the Hawkeye games!
barc

Another excellent resource for pet allergies in the Twin Cities area is Dr. Patrick McKeever who helped found the vet dermotology program at the UofM. We’ve seen him with 2 of our labs (both related) that had allergies and had good results. Feel free to PM me if you’d like more info on our experience.

Finhunter-thanks for a great article. So much of it sounds familiar given the treatments we have tried. The steriod thing scares me and I know can lead to long term problems. I want to get her away from those asap. We have long done the diet thing. No wheat, etc.

barc and Briley-thanks for the leads. I will follow up with them today. The U of M thing sounds interesting. My vet has discussed Iowa State Vet Clinic but acts like that is a last resort option.

I’m not trashing my vet. He is a kind and caring man who gives 100% to his clients but even he admits he is at his wits end with her and it is time to get some other assistance.

It might not be your case, but worth a shot. One of my mom’s cats had similar issues. She would be all itchy and get bumps all over her back in the dry air seasons that she would break open often. Right around Thanksgiving we found a huge one on her back that didn’t take her long to break open. We took her to the vet and he cut it out and stitched it up, then biopsy’d it. He found it to be a non-cancerous tumor. And since removing that the cat has been excellent with no signs of bumps or much itching or scratching at all.

Good luck!

I have scheduled a meeting Wednesday with Dr Patrick McKeever in Eden Prairie. He has a strong looking resume for animal allergies. Thanks a million for the recommendation. I hope he can help but am expecting no miracles as the article mentioned above draws upon the long term nature and fixes to these problems. Maybe he can get us started down the path towards dealing with this stuff.

It is a 4 hour drive one way but that gives me some time to work on New Years resolutions, do some mental pushups and continue to think of additional improvements to my new Jason Mitchell Elite Clam one man tent.

My lab has seasonal allergies as well and August-freezing is rough for him. We get him a steroid shot and that helps a good amount and we usually only need one. I have recently noticed he is itching a lot more than normal again and was wondering if there were certain pollens that might be around due to the warmer weather.

Let us know what you find!

Update-met with Dr Patrick McKeever today. Our dog was diagnosed with Sarcoptic Mange aka Scabies. This is a skin condition in canines including fox, coyotes, that is caused by a type of mite. The animal can come into contact with the mites a variety of ways including animal to animal contact or contact with infested fur of say a mouse from cotote dropping.

Mites tunnel into skin and lay eggs that hatch into larvae. Leads to obvious problems of fur loss, skin irritation, inflamation and other nasties. Treatment is a series of 3 injections over a four week span. First was today.

Can’t say enough good things about Dr McKeever. If your pet has skin problems he is the one to see. Thanks again for the lead to him.

Glad they got it figured out and your dog is on the road to recovery.

Awesome! Well worth the drive, I’ll bet.

Quote:

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Mites tunnel into skin and lay eggs that hatch into larvae.

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OUCH! That had to be just as hard to watch as it was for your dog. I hope that injection kicks in right a way.

The fox that was hanging around here that had it ended up looking like a chupacabra. Also, the neighborhood Mexican kids called my pug the chupacabra once when they passed us on a walk.

So your original vet didn’t test or think it was mange???? Wow, I think you need a new vet!