Posting this in the hopes that it's helpful to others---allergic doodle

[Nugget's Family]

I just read Anne's post about her day with allergy testing for her dood yesterday. We were starting the process for having the same thing done with Nugget. I know that there has been a lot of allergy info posted on DK already (We have benefited from it all....esp the help of Karen and Jack) but I thought our Nugget story may help another doodle and his/her owner.

At 2.5 years old last summer, our ALD, Nugget began scratching....scratching like she really meant it. Up to that point, she never shed, but we were finding clumps of her hair everywhere. She was chewing her feet, chewing the front of her legs, scratching her ears and had scratched the top of her head so violently that she broke open her skin, bled and the wound got infected. Our regular vet treated her with an anti-inflammatory, prednisone and an antibiotic. Nugget basically lived that way from August-October. The treatment helped a great deal and she was once again a happy doodle....but a happy doodle on a lot of meds. Our regular vet told us that she would recommend allergy testing for Nugget. There was a specialist (allergy/derm vet) at a nearby animal hospital who is very good. But, we'd have to wait until all of the steroids, antihistamines, etc. got out of her system before the testing could be done. So, since Nugget was doing well (we had also begun supplementing her breakfast/dinner with 500mgs of EPO which really seemed to help) and the cold weather was on it's way and we had to wait for her system to get back to "normal". I think we were also hoping that last summer would be a weird little blip on the radar of her life and that the "itchies" wouldn't start again. Well, our hopes were dashed when the weather started to warm-up here a few weeks ago and she started itching again. We made an appt with the specialist. That appt was yesterday. We (I asked my husband to take the morning off from work to join me so that we could both hear the same message) were very impressed by the doc and her staff. Nugget loved them! She didn't love so much being there, but she loved them. They took skin scrapings, did a physical exam, asked us tons of questions, took blood and then, diagnosed Nugget with atopic dermatitis. (Very common in Labs, they say.) The vet recommended skin testing which we scheduled for next Tues. We will drop Nug off :( at 9:00 AM and pick her up betw 3-4 PM. They told us a couple of times "no breakfast" that morning.....after reading Anne's story, maybe now I know why! They will test her for 62 allergens and will go through the same testing that Anne posted the pics for. They will send us home with "custom" serum for Nug that we will inject once every three days for a while then once a week for about 12-18 months.

They also diagnosed her with a yeast infection in her ears, but not her feet which surprised them a little. They sent us home with drops for her ears.

So, if you're wondering: Our costs: Yesterday's consultation and tests: $378. Tuesday's allergy testing will be between $910-1,448 (depending upon how much she's allergic to....they've prepped us for thinking that she's allergic to a lot.) and then the serum will be $248 twice a year. Thanks to others on DK, we were prepared for this and we're OK....in a little sticker shock....but OK. I mean really, what else can we do? We've got to go forward with this. If Nugget has a better summer this year and isn't miserable it will improve the quality of all of our lives: Hers because she's more comfortable, of course and ours because we won't be so worried about her. And, if the treatment works as they are very confident it will, we'll be free and clear from all of this in just a little bit of time.

Thanks for reading. I will post again once we get the results on Tuesday. FYI....Nugget is fast asleep on the couch on the other side of the room not terribly worried about anything at the moment! It's a rainy, cold day here in our little slice of paradise and she's just as happy as a clam to be inside listening to the sounds of the house curled-up on her couch.

Have a great weekend!

Susan

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Thank you for sharing. Many of us have doodles with milder allergies (so far) and we don't know what the next step might be. Now we know what to watch for and we can have a plan for it if we need to.

[Ann Kendig]

I'm sorry to see that you are going through this also. Although it really stinks that Duke suffers from this
we are relieved to finally find out what was wrong with him. I hope that Nugget and Duke are able to find relief
from this condition with the shots. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they found that Nugget didn't suffer from this condition!!!! :)

Gosh, I am amazed at how much your costs will be. It is much worse for you!!!
Last month when we went to the doc it was $200+ dollars but that included initial consultation, scrapings, swabbing his ears and checking for infection, allowed treats for food trial and some medication. The $500+ dollars we spent yesterday included 6 mo. of serum, allergy testing, swabbing ears, checking out a cyst on Duke's belly, treats, syringes, sedation, medication and a few other incidentals. The also checked for 90+ allergens. I guess it all depends on where you live.

Keep us informed on Nugget's results!!!

[Minga & Malu & Costa]

Yes, you are totally right. The food allergies manifest themselves as a skin problem (much as we might break out in hives if we are allergic to something we ate). I wasn't being very clear, I should have said skin issues can be associated with food allergies.

Now I am sure everyone is confused. LOL.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

However, you did say:
"Many times the skin allergies are associated with the grains found in most commercial diets, so upgrading to a higher quality grain free food can get rid of that!"
There is no such thing as "skin allergies". Allergies are diseases of the immune system, and nothing can "get rid of" them. In the case of food allergies, if the allergens are grains such as corn or wheat, which they often are, eliminating these from the diet can help alleviate symptoms.
But only 1 in 10 allergic dogs has a food allergy. 9 out of 10 times it is inhalant, so it is not true that many allergies that manifest in skin diseases are associated with grains. Only 1 in 10 might be.
It is really important that people understand this.

[Minga & Malu & Costa]

Karen & Jack....

One other side note, I did not say that food was the cause of skin allergies....only that it is sometimes ASSOCIATED with them and a grain-less diet can be helpful. I have seen this is dozens of cases working in clinics over the past 20 years.

But again, I apologize that I didn't see atopic dermatitis as the diagnosis. Wasn't reading too carefully, apparently.

[Nugget's Family]

Hi, Minga-

The specialist we are with is from Texas A&M! Small world. Also, she's the first vet that we have worked with who didn't say anything bad about feeding raw. We've had our problems with that in the past.

She asked about what shampoos we are using....told her an oatmeal anti-itch. She didn't recommend anything else so I guess she's OK with it. We also use a tea tree oil spray on her "itchiest" spots which the vet was fine with.

We are really hoping the serum does the trick!!

[Minga & Malu & Costa]

Also, did the vet suggest any shampoos or treatments that may help with itchiness, to use in conjunction with you serums? Although since the serum will be designed to specifically combat Nugget's allergens, it should be the end of the itchy skin.......

[Minga & Malu & Costa]

Must have skipped the line with the atopic dermatits diagnosis (oops).......

I am not saying that you should switch a skin allergy dog to a raw or no grain diet and then give up on treating at the vet's office, just another route to try in conjunction with the vet's treatment when the steroids, etc aren't working. ALOT of vets don't know very much about raw diet options, because they are really taught in school to be loyal to Science Diet (or hi-end Purina products). They aren't really taught a lot about balanced raw diets (I work at Texas A&M, in the Vet Med Physiology Department, my mom is a Vet, and most of my friends are Vets. I am apparently not good enough for Vet school, so I got my PhD instead in Physiology and now work and teach here) and so they often times would rather use steroids to treat than to even TRY a raw or grain free diet.

But nice to know Nugget already eats a good raw diet! I hope they figure out what treatment will work best. :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Atopic dermatitis is genetic, so if the insurance doesn't cover genetic deiseases, it won't cover this.

[Nugget's Family]

To Adrianne-

We do not have pet insurance, so I don't know if it would cover it. Other DKers may have an answer for you or you may be able to call the specialists' office staff and find out?

Good luck.