Skin Allergies still persist . . .

[ToriFan]

Hi everybody! I’ve got a 2 year old boxer and I guess I’m looking for people to commiserate with. I won’t go through the whole list of stuff we have done to battle his skin problems. I will say that it started with demodectic mange and all those treatments including ivermectin for quite some time. Then we had the allergy testing done – positive for elm, mold and dust. He’s gotten shots since October. We’ve been on every drug possible including all the antibiotics. Went to a derm specialist and he tested positive for yeast and methicillin resistant staph aureus so he spent 6 weeks on a very expensive drug called Baytril and Malaseb spray every day and Malaseb shampoo every 2 weeks.

We are in a very nasty spell of feet problems, severe hives and itching right now. His feet look just terrible. He is licking so much that he is developing sores around his mouth. His ears are bloody and crusty from scratching hives and I just feel so dang helpless. He had a few tremors (new) this week so I can’t go full blast on the Benadryl so I am doing 1 Temeryl-P and 1 25 mg Benadryl. He has been on duck and potato since old enough, but docs are talking a food sensitivity to that now so I’ve got to locate some venison and rice without all the yuckies. Personally, I just don’t think the food thing is it, but I guess anything is worth a shot. I think in all he has probably been on 15 different drugs at one time or another for all this. By the way, we aren’t rich and we’ve now maxed out our credit cards on his treatments and health care.

Anyhow, sorry to sound so glum, but like the other lady, I really am just beside myself with worry for him and feeling so helpless.

Amy

P.S. We have got the swollen eyes and the armpit scratching, too.

 

[LokiGem]

I didn't even concider OCD. Thank you. I will be sure to tell my friend, I also have The Dog Listener. I will lend it to her, maybe that is her dog's problem.
Thanx. -Kim

 

[griffonwife]

Allergies

Hello everyone!! Our pup Delta who is 8 months old has allergies as well. So far we have tried a hypoallergenic food from the vet. Her symptoms started with itchy sore ears. Her ear canals were so inflamed the vet couldn't even see down them. Cortisone ear drops quickly helped the ears...but we still have an itchy irritated muzzle and neck. Simply having her collar on makes her develop lumps. I am thinking of changing her food yet again to something else. I dread taking her back to the vet as she is now scared/nervous to go there. She was fine until the vet tried to handle her sore ears--and he was very gentle and considerate of her. Anyways I am very interested in hearing from anyone dealing with allergies--it seems as if we have a long road ahead of us.
Thanks.

 

[binky]

Interesting website regarding yeast infections in dogs, which some of you may find useful.

http://www.purelypets.com/articles/yseabinfections.htm


And one regarding Malassezia Dermatitis (Yeast infection of the skin)

http://www.westiemed.com/malassezia/

 

[pagen]

Alternative therapy

Hi - our 18month old boxer has had skin problems for most of her life - demodex initially, now that's cleared up, but she has the typical allergic reaction symptoms (red paws, itchiness, hives). We think maybe some grasses and food set it off...but so hard to diagnose!!!

Anyhow, we've found a vet who is also a naturopath, she does this tratement called NAETS...which stands for Nambudripad Allergy Elimination Technique.

Its an allergy diagnosis and treatment in one, has been used for humans for years. It's supposed to actually eliminate the allergy, and once treated, you can re-expose the dog to the elements again without the reaction.

We're just about to start a course of treatments with Ali. I like the idea of treating the cause rather than masking the symptoms...but am a little sceptical, as I have read positive and negative reviews about NAETS.

Will let you know how it goes.

Here's some links for you about NAETS in general:
http://www.naet.com/
http://www.savvypatients.com/naet.htm
http://www.healthplusweb.com/alt_directory/naet.html

and these are about NAETS + dogs:
http://www.wellbeing.com.au/natural_health_research_centre?cid=7169&pid=16401
http://www.alternativepethealth.com/tat.html
http://dmoz.org/Health/Animal/Alternative_Medicine/Practitioners/

 

[Bers]

Koda is seeing a holistic vet and has had two NAET treatments so far. She is also doing chiropractic treatments, and treating him for low thyroid using a natural thyroid supplement. Koda has had allergy symptoms for about 10 months (he is now 14 months old), and we tried the traditional treatments for months, until we decided something drastic had to be done. The first treatment she did was for our well water. For the week following the treatment we gave him only bottled spring water, and he was doing much better. The chest/neck/belly scratching and ear shaking was completely gone, but he did start digging at his feet more than usual. Well, we went back for the second treatment and she did chicken, beef and lamb. She said we could start giving him the well water again, so we did. That was Saturday, and now he's back to scratching like crazy! I just called her and am waiting for her to call back. I don't know if he "dropped the treatment" (that's the term she used for when the treatment is unsuccessful), or if we've done something wrong or what. She also said that when she sees dogs who get worse after a treatment, it's usually related to thyroid problems. I think I read somewhere that it can take months before you see a result from the thyroid supplements. I feel the pain of everyone here who has gone through what we go through with Koda's itchies. I call him Scratchy Itcherson, but really I just want to cry when I see him mutilating himself. He's such a beautiful boy, and such a good sport considering all he's gone through. Good luck to all, and I will try to update when I hear back from the vet.

PS - Almost forgot, the vet also has him on a detox regimen of homeopathic meds and the herb Milk Thistle for his poor liver. All those chemicals and medications over the past 10 months have taken a toll on his poor body.

 

[Rocky Hoya]

We too are a member of the allergy family. Our baby has enviromental allergies to just about everything. He had small bumps on his body, chewing paws, itchy skin BUT we saw a great dermatologist. He was allergy tested and started on his allergy shots and it is just a miracle he is just doing so great now. No more symptoms....There is hope out there. I know it is frustrating we cried and cried when he was going thru the worst of it. We bought him some shoes/slippers so he wouldnt bite his paws and it turned out he was allergic to the lining of the shoes!!!!!!! wool...We are in such a great place right now and still on the allergy shots. Hopefully with spring and summer coming up he will do okay through out. I have researched the downfalls of steroids but at the time Medrol(steroid 4mg) was the only thing that would ease the pain. He was on it for about 7 weeks and then we slowly weened him off of the steroid. Thank God he hasnt had a steroid pill in forever. I just wanted to say there is hope out there. Do a search on my very first posts and you will see everything we went thru. Good Luck everyone