Going Insane!!!!! - Allergies

Indiana's allergies have flared up again. I swear I am at a loss as to what to do other than pay the vet more $$ to do some sort of allergy testing. I just really don't know what that would do.

Anyways, his skin looks really different than it has in the past with his allergies. I went out to brush him and noticed that he was losing a lot of hair. Not bald or anything, but definately thinning. It is mostly his undercoat (long hair st. bernard - there is the top coat and the very thick undercoat). I started sifting through his hair and noticed like these red splotches. those have happened before. But there were like specks of scabbish skin in it? Not flea stuff. It looked like fleas, but it wasn't. Any idea as to what this could be? I don't know if this is a sign of something else other than allergies.

I shaved his butt area b/c there was a hot spot starting (I hope I got it in time so we don't have to go to vet). His skin looks horrible. Horrible. Red splotches. And it looked like it was dirtyish. It is hard to describe. Brownish, but just splotches of the brown. There has never been any brown before. Before it was just raw and red. ?

He was on this elimination diet for awhile (vet's idea). He was on it for 2 mos and he had no hot spots on it but his skin was still reddish and splotchy so I figured it wasn't a food allergy b/c the vet said if it was a food allergy all signs of itchy skin would go away. This did not happen. Before he was on the elimination diet he was on Calif Natural (put him on this after his first bout with hot spots). He was doing great on that for about 4-5 mos then he get really bad hot spots (came about the same time as the weather got really hot and humid here). Now I have been slowly switching him over to Natural Balance Duck & Potato food . Just recently I have also started him on these supplements that were supposed to help with allergies. They are called Fresh Factors. The ingredients are yeast culture, bee pollen, chondroitin, kelp, biotin, and liver. And I was giving him a little bit of some joint health supplements I give my older dog (glucosamine and chondroitin). I have also given him some dog treats(pig ears, hot dogs, peanut butter rawhide), but not that many.

Jeez. I feel like I'm typing my life story here. Hope you are still following. LOL

OK. The foods (Calif Natural & Natural balance & supplements) have none of the same ingredients so I don't know if it is the food.

I was thinking maybe I should stop the supplements b/c they could have aggravated his condition even further. But then I was wondering if there was any truth to the "It has to get worse before it gets better" thing? Has anyone ever heard of that for dog allergies?

Or do you think all of this could just be due to the weather? Just this week it has been hotter here than it has been all summer (100+ and 100% humidity). The major time he got his hot spots was when spring first hit. But then the first time he got hot spots it was in the middle of the winter so????????

I was also thinking maybe it wasn't just allergies. I was reading about mange, scabies, and ringworm or some other parasite infection. Do you think it sounds like any of those?

This is just driving me insane. Any ideas as to what to do????

 

Okay I hope I can help. My dog had similar problems not so much allergies but sensitive skin. After numerous trips to the vet several medications and diet changes, I also was ready to pull my hair out. Nothing seemed to work. I was on the internet one night and came across a new food for dogs with sensitive skin. It is called Science Diet Sensitive Skin. I thought what the heck and tried it. I tell you it is the best stuff. He cleared up and we haven't had a problem since. It's expensive around $37.00 for a 35 lbs. bag. It is well worth it. The only thing he gets oterwise is rawhide. I know it's seems harsh not to let him have treats but he really is much better and we are both happier. I'm not sure if this will help but maybe it would be worth a try. Good Luck!

 

Elizavixen
My Pekingese Fancy has severe allergies and we to have tried everything from expensive meds from the vet, special supplements, food changes & even these medicated allergy dips at this expensive doggie spa.
She's allergic to any and all vaccines most all flea & tick meds and numerous other things including grass! it is so frustrating! She has the exact same spots you described in various places through out her body and we have been told they were hotspots. We have used the following recipe and it works great for fleas, ticks and hotspots and it's all natural!

Here's the website the recipe orginates from there are many great natural recipes for various ailments and for just all around good pet health. We have referred to it many of times for all Fancy's allergy problems.
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/petallergies.htm

 

While I was in the vet office last week, I asked her why my dog has less hair. The lady told me that it's normal just like some humans have a less amount of hair than the others. However, the vet told me that if my dog is losing hair on certain part of the body, I better bring my dog to the vet asap.

I guess your dog's diet has something to do with the skin problem right now. One of my friends has 5 dogs (from the same litter, I believe), and they all have skin allergy of some sort. He's feeding them AvoDerm. He said his dogs also had itchy skin before switching to AvoDerm.

My dog had tried Science Diet and Eukanuba, but he never like either one of them. Finally, he's switched to Healthwise (made by the same company that makes California Natural), and he likes it better. Still, I had to mix the dry food with the shreded Natural Balance food roll. His coat is getting healthy and bright. Well, each dog is different, but I would still like to share this with you.

Hope your dog is feeling better now.

 

The first thing I would do is GET MY DOG OFF THE KIBBLE!

With out going into a lot of detail here's some links to products I use with zero allergies and great healthy skin /fur and lean muscle mass.
Other bennies are less body odor and less poop! And at least in my dogs there energy levels are awsome with out the nurvus hyperactivity that grains and preservitives can sometimes cause.

http://www.thewholisticpet.com/pages.cfm?ID=20

http://www.bravorawdiet.com/index.html

http://naturmix.com/pages/products/griz ... n_oil.html

And for working dogs
http://www.k9power.com/

You owe it to your dog to give then the good stuff cause if your miserable imagine how they feel.

 

The current edition of Whole Dog Journal has a lengthy article on allergies. There might possibly be something in there that would help?

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/

 

I had been having the same problem with Jake, he was on Calif nat, allergy, only lamb rice and flaxseed oil, he was on the nat bal, duck and potato, just wanst getting any relief, and the calif nat sent hum thru the roof. I went to a holistic vet and he put him on raw. Think he has a yeast problem too, I think the main culprit was the flaxseed oil because as soon as he started eating the calif natural, he went into a scrathcing fit. and all of the premium ffos has this as one of their main ingredients.

so far he has had no hot spots but he is scratching again. teh vet thinkgs he is just purging his system, he also thinks the chlorine in pool could be aggrivating, since we cant keep jake out of it.

so hang in there,

honeybear

 

I agree. Switching him to raw may be your best bet!
I know my dogs don't ahve any problems. But they do eat a little kibble for snacks if they get hungry during the day.

 

Hi there, in addition to considering the suggestions that others have given, I would definitely take him off the allergy supplement at least temporarily. Considering that your dog seems to have inhalant allergies, it seems likely that he could be reacting to bacterial/fungal allergens. The yeast cultures in the supplement might actually be making things worse. Among other things, my dog is allergic to yeast (diagnosed through blood screening), so any allergy supplement with that ingredient could intensify his symptoms. Maybe something like Solid Gold SeaMeal would be better if you suspect he's allergic to yeast. SD has removed yeast from the formula because a lot of dogs react to it.

Have you tried bathing him more frequently with an anti-fungal medicated shampoo? My dog reacts to pollen, my lawn, my cotton clothes, etc. and bathing him makes him a lot more comfortable because it gets rid of the spores and other things from his skin and coat. Just make sure to dry thoroughly. Fungi and bacteria love moisture, so I'd be sure to take special care that his coat as dry as possible in the humid summer, rainy winter, etc.

Also, did your vet put him on the Cal Natural Chicken or the Lamb formula? I've had limited success with NB Duck/Potato, but Cal Natural Lamb/Rice seems to be working quite well. I've had him on it for about two months (switched from Wellness Lamb, which has a more complicated ingredient list) and temporarily cut out treats that weren't lamb-based. He goes nuts for dried lamb lungs... smells pretty gross to me, but he loves it! Regardless of whether you decide to try another kibble or go with raw, I would limit the ingredients of his treats (ex: if you're feeding chicken-based foods or raw chicken, stay with chicken treats) for the time being. My dog got 2 Greenies a week for about a month -- his hair was falling out like crazy, his skin came off in huge flakes, massive itching... ugh.

Anyway, these are all just suggestions, but I hope this long-winded post is at least somewhat helpful.

Good luck!