Help! Allergy Crisis

[bayacaldwell]

My 4 year old baby needs help. He is scratching himself to death. We have given him numerious cortizone shots and he has been on prednisone for months now. They no longer help! I am at my wits end. He wakes the kids up at night with his scratching and he has sores all over him. I think it might be the dog food but I can't find anything without any corn in it. Help me please.

 

[sgbtab]

alot of dog's can not handle corn. go to the feeding thread and you will find alot of info about good kibble. what kind of kibble is he on?

 

[gmacleod]

Itching that badly certainly does sound like a pretty intense allergy. Of course, that could be environmental, but food is also a very likely cause. The most common problematic ingredients in dog foods are any form of corn, wheat or beet pulp - so if any of those are in his food, it would be a good idea to switch to something else. There are plenty of good choices - and information on how to choose a good quality dog food can be found at www.boxerworld.com/feeding

 

[courtney323]

bayacaldwell -

Please post yor Introduction, a requirement you agreed to when joining the site.

www.boxerworld.com/rules

 

[jessie30]

Hi

Jessie's 2 years old and she's going through an allergy food diet right now. She would scratch herself so bad that she would rip skin on her neck and ears. her ears would bleed and become very infected that she had to go on anitibiotics and topical medication.
The food that she's on now is called "Wellness". It has only 1 protein (we chose Venison) and 1 carbohydrate and we're giving her the yougurt apple treat that's by Wellness too. The vet said for us to keep her on it for about 16 weeks and see if it clears up. if it does then we can slowly start to introduce her to other foods little by little. The only thing that I thought would be difficult and unfair is that she can NOT have anything other than her food and treat so it's pretty boring but it seems to be working.
If you haven't tried this food, maybe you can consult with your vet and see what he thinks.
hope this helps.

 

[littleone]

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear your boy is suffering so badly. Have you tried some benadryl, it can help some with the itching. You can use the OTC type, the vet can tell you what dosage to use. An oatmeal bath can be soothing when your dog has skin problems.

We've had another dog who is highly allergic to a number of foods, we tried Solid Gold "Holistique Blendz" and it worked well when he had a very bad flare (we were able to figure out that chicken, turkey and beef were the sources of his problem - ironically, he can eat a bison based kibble with no problem). It uses only fish as the protein source, carbs are things like oatmeal and there are stores in Oklahoma that carry it, website with store locator can be found at:

www.solidgoldhealth.com

Once our allergic dog's skin healed we slowly began to transition back to a kibble with a bit of a higher protein level since the Holistique blend is about 18% which was a bit low for a dog with his activity level.

I've heard very good things about the "Simple Solutions" formulas that Wellness makes too. Since we have the skin problems under control now, we're not going to try it to minimize sensitizing him to any other ingredients.

Hope this helps, let us know how it goes,

Penny

 

[K9LUVR]

another itchy doggie

Hey there you may want to check out things around you home too like cleaning products. My 3 yr old Doxie is allergic to the carpet sprinkle. You know the kind that you put down before you sweep, it releses pet hair and oder ect. Well he had much of the same symtoms as you little one with the rash and sores. I did hydrocortizone and baths and meds and nothing seemed to work. It took me forever to figure out what it was, sorry little guy mummy is a ding-dong! Good luck to ya!

 

[bayacaldwell]

Holistic vet visit.

Sat. we went to a new vet. She was a holistic vet where I live. So she had some new Ideas on how to fight against the itching. One of the cool things was an Ion bath. Has anyone tried it? Mac stood with his front feet in a tub of water with an Ion changer in it. It pulled alot of the impurities from his body in about 30 min. It was so gross. When it was done the water was a golden color with yeast floating on the top. (Mac has a yeast infection as a result of the intense scratching). Mac was also put on Olive leaf extract. It is to boost his immune system so he can fight the allergy and it helps with the yeast infection also. I will keep you posted. As of right know it is helping the itching.