Floyd has allergies!!

[Karina, Wass and Floyd]

It's seems like it has been one thing after another for Floyd. He had an upper respiratory infection about a month ago and now he's got airborne allergies aka atopic dermatitis. He's scratching at his belly a lot, the fur on all 4 paws is deep red, and he bites at the base of his tail. Our vet told me that he's too young for food allergies and put him on anti-histamine's which seem to help a little but he's still scratching his belly like crazy and his paws just a little less than before. I'm concerned that he may not be too young for food allergies and that is more the cause and that we are feeding him something that is causing this.

She recommended a topical steroid spray to help relieve him of his itchiness since the pills don't seem to be working alone. I've been hesitant on giving him a steroid even if it's topical because he's so young and because it's a steroid. I think I'm going to go ahead and use it though to at least help the itching until I can find a better solution. Our vet also recommended giving him baths more often, like once a week which we have done with hypoallergenic puppy shampoo with colloidal oatmeal and it seems to help at first but he starts to scratch 20 minutes later.

Has anyone here dealt with allergies in their pups, especially so young? Floyd is just over 6 months now. I have an appointment with a holistic vet on Wednesday to get her opinion on other options. I'm just curious if any other Almond Blossom puppies have had allergy issues!

[Bonnie and Kona]

Our doodles don't have allergies but our goldens did. They were airborne allergies not food allergies. Same symptoms you describe. If I had to do it over again I would definitely go to a holistic vet.

[The Dude and his person, Kristi]

Poor Floyd! Keep us posted.

[Linda and "Toby"]

Poor baby! Toby doesn't have allergies that I'm aware of - well... except after surgery. Pain meds seem to make him super itchy. Putting a t-shirt on him (one of mine, tied in a knot on this lower back) seemed to make him feel better, plus it stopped him from cutting his sides up with his toenails.

Please let us know what you find out!

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

I know Kachi has allergies. Lucca gets the "itchies" now and then but it's not that bad and is controllable. We did switch him to a grain-free food (Orijen) for that reason. It has helped him. I also bathe him every 2 weeks. Have you tried over the counter Benedryl? We give that to Lucca if he gets too itchy. Ask your vet how much to give. I used to use the topical steroid on my Golden Retreiver. She used to get "hot spots" on her tail by her rump. It was soothing for her.
I plan to start new puppy on Orijen Puppy just for this reason.
Keep us posted.

[Bodie, Whidbey & Jill]

Our golden retriever had atopic dermitits starting at the age of about 1yr and like humans you don't usually find out the reason for the allergy. We gave him Benadryl (2 mg/kg or about 1mg/lb) and tried low dose topical steroids as needed sometimes along with a topical antibiotic and anti-fungal for hot spots so they didn't become infected. We also tried to keep him cool and kept his abdomen shaved so it was easier to apply his meds. He was on a hypoallergenic diet for 6 months with no improvement. This regime seemed to help to keep it under contol. Good luck!