Cortisone Shot, Yes or No ?

[KimboSlice]

My 1 year old boxer has been battling allergies for quite a long time. I just visited the vet to get his histiocytoma removed and i was told that a cortisone shot will help his allergies. He constantly licks his paws, they are red and inflamed. He constantly itches his skin, alot of dry skin with flakes. What are the side effects of a cortisone shot, would you guys reccomend it or no. Also i was told there might be yeast in his paws, are there any over counter products or herbal remedies i can do to treat this. I have an antifungal vet prescribed shampoo, Will cleaning it with this help? Sorry for alot of questions, im just so frusterated.

 

[Caney Creek]

A Cortisone shot would definitely help, but unless you treat the underlying cause of his itching then his symptoms will return after a little while. Since steroids are damaging to the immune system you want to try to avoid them as much as possible, so it's a "last resort" type of thing.

I totally feel your pain though... Caney has allergies too and it kills me to see her when she gets super itchy, she's so miserable :( Her biggest issue is also her paws. Just last week we started her on a new limited ingredient kibble that's supposed to be good for dogs with allergies, so hopefully we can start figuring out WHAT foods exactly she's allergic to. I might be crazy but I swear it's helping her already!

What have you tried already to combat his allergies?

 

[KimboSlice]

We have tried alot of different kibble, to determine if its a food allergy. We went from iams kangaroo/oatmeal allergy fomula, to natural balance duck, to acana lamb, to acana fish formula, etc. The itching hasnt stopped, this month it has been much better, i dont kno why? last month his whole neck was rashy, that has cleared up but he still itches his underarms. Its weird, it might be seasonal as well because its winter and the redness is all gone but the itch is still there. We tried a skin scrape, with no parasite results. This is soo tough to deal with. We have spent so much money on shampoos, sprays, antibacterial pills from the vet, scrapings, differnt foods, creams, etc. It comes back, sometimes its really bad, sometimes its not that bad. I do not want any steroid use or cortisone use, i would prefer to handle this naturally.

 

[ELubas]

Poor baby. My boy suffered with them too. I ended up home cooking and eliminating all grains (right down to no cookies from nice strangers) His were also seasonal so I did put him on hydroxyzine at the bad times and even prednisone. Little things were problematic. I used all natural laundry products for his blankets and coats and had to make sure he was always dry-rainy days got his coat right off and made sure his leash was not rubbing on him. Vet gave me a salve called Resicort that really soothed his skin. I hope your baby is on the mend. I know how frustrating allergies are. Good luck