Doodle with allergies

[Dianna Ruiz]

It sounds like there is a group on here for doodles with allergies but i cant seem to find it.  My 3yr old aussiedoodle Cooper has always scritched & scratched & probably one or twice a year has ended up with either an ear infection or an eye infection.  

  Was thinking it was allergies so have switched to natural balance limited ingredient food (grain free).  He got another eye infection,brought him to the vet  so I just asked if they could allergy test him just so i know what i am dealing with.

  pretty much looks like he is allergic to molds :O (I swear to you that i keep a clean house) 

alternaria, cladosporium,curvularia, pullaria & stemphylium

Wondering if anyone has done allergy shots & your thoughts?? advice?? comments??.

Thanks in advance for any comments, hate to see my guy uncomfortable but just wondering if this stuff works????

  

[F, Calla & Luca]

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/atopicdermatitissupportgroup
Lots of others deal with this and Karen has a wealth of information.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Unfortunately, the blood tests are notoriously unreliable, and you really need to get the allergens right in order to be successful with immunotherapy. I strongly recommend that you consult a veterinary dermatologist. GP vets are not experts in allergies and aren't well educated in the best ways to treat them, just as your internist isn't.  

Most molds have nothing to do with keeping a clean house. They exist in wet places, even inside your water pipes and under your foundation as well as everywhere outdoors.

JD has been on the immunotherapy shots for several years and they have been extremely successful. 

[Dianna Ruiz]

So how do the shots work? It sounds like in the beginning you go more frequently & then they taper off?? What does that look like? Weekly in the beginning? To monthly? To? How often do you do them now after a few years? Do you do them yourself or do you go to the vet?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's a little more complicated than that. 

You give the shots yourself because you have to give a shot every other day for the first few weeks. There's a fixed schedule where you build up the from a very dilute version of the antigens to stronger ones, and from a small amount to larger amounts. And don't do this through your vet, it's done through a dermatologist. The antigens are custom made based on your dog's skin test results. That's why you need the test results to be as accurate as possible. 

From my discussion on JD's testing: http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/all-about-allergies

"There is a schedule involving three different strengths of the serum, increasing both the strength & amount of serum each day until you are full strength(at which point they give you instructions for what to do if he goes into anaphylactic shock), and decreasing frequency of the injections. At first, he would need a shot every other day, for a month; during the first month, the shot has to given at the same time of day each time, and he would have to be watched for a half hour afterwards.Then once a week, then once every two weeks, then once every three weeks, then once a month. Every time you go to a higher dosage, you have to watch them for signs of shock, so you have to do it when you can stay home for 30 minutes. The idea is to build up his tolerance to the allergens so that his immune system won't recognize them as foreign invaders" 

The only other treatment option for Atopic Dermatitis is an immunosuppressant drug which is costly and carries a lot of side-effects, so obviously if the immunotherapy works, it's by far your best option.