itching and allergies

[Jack & Cooper]

Cooper, male, MINI /OR SM. MED-31 LB.  now 10 months STARTED SCRATCHNG AT 5 MONTHS. HAVE SEEN 2 DERMATOLOGISTS AND 4 VETS. fIRST dermatologist GAVE BLOOD TEST AND SUBSEQUENTLY PUT HIM ON ALLERGY SHOTS.  AFTER ROYAL CANIN RABBIT AND SWEET POTATOE EXCLUSION DIET,  NOW ON DUCk AND SWEET POTATO COOKED BY ME.

 

2nd vet said it was premature to start such shots since he was never exposed to many of the allergens he allegedly was allergic to. Dust mites were at top of list as well as LI grasses and pollen (ragweed)  and trees. Bough Dyson vacs and changed bedding in our room using anaditallegen sheets and covers.

 

Now on 4th round of prednisone to control his itching. Tried fish oil and anti-histamines (4 of them) . careful about rinsing off soap from shampoo. Tried apple cider vonegar rinse.

 

Nothfing really stops the itching fbut steroid. We are frustrated but love the dog.He loves his bully sticks but they had tof go since he may be allergic to beef. Nsow on Revodlutuion heaRTWSORM SINCE ALTERNATIVE WAS MEAT FLAVORED AN D WE WERE WARNED IT COULD TRIGGER ALLERGIC REACTION TOO.

 

Anyone else out there with some suggestions? WE have spent several thousand dollars.

Also holistsic vet  who wanted to usde acupuncture, homeopathics and new food. had to abandon supplement- NuVets b/c it contains chicken liver.

 

had to stop vitamins upplement -NuVets b/c dfdit contains chicken liver.

[Adina P]

Karen, from your reading, how do true food allergies present, symptom-wise? What about food intolerances?

All I know is people and typical food allergies in people are things that are truly dangerous for the allergic individual to eat and may cause anaphalaxis. Then there are food intolerances that give a variety of GI symptoms. Then there are things like autoimmune responses to gluten (Celiac disease) that also show in GI symptoms. It's pretty complicated, last time I read up on food allergies.

So in dogs, what is known about food allergy symptoms and when, for instance, a dog IS truly allergic to..let's say CORN...how does that allergy present? The assumption always seems to be: Itchy ears/frequent ear infections = corn/grain allergy. But I still haven't ever seen how or why this would be so.

[Liza, Halle and Finn]

That's how Kachi behaves. Itchy, shaking his head, rubbing his face, licking at his paws, scratching at his chin, and ears.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

True food allergies present exactly as the inhalant allergies do. it usually starts with paw licking, biting and chewing, which leads to hair loss and infections. Also scratching, biting & chewing of the axilla, groin, face, especially the eyes and base of tail. Also red runny eyes and hair loss or breakage on the head & face.
Food intolerances present as diarrhea, vomiting, and other common gastrointestinal symptoms.
Dogs do have anaphylactic reactions to allergens, but I have never heard of it happening from food. It can happen from the immunotherapy shots, from the testing, and from a severe allergic crisis...it happened to Jack twice.
And food allergies take a long time to develop. A dog never eats a particular food for the first time and suddenly starts itching and scratching. It builds up over time.

[Liza, Halle and Finn]

I agree with you Melissa! I bet that number is higher as well. And, as it turns out, Kachi has both food allergies AND environmental allergies. And the food trial has been long and tough, but ultimately worth it. And personally, statistics mean nothing if your dog is miserable, and he's one of the 10% that has a food intolerance, so you HAVE to rule out/in food first, because its the one thing you can 100% control.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with you that nothing means anything if your dog is miserable. That's exactly why I am so adamant about the fact that most allergies are not caused by food.
Liza, how do you know that Kachi has both food and environmental allergies? He hasn't been tested for the environmental allergies, and since he's been on the food trial, he has also been on medication including antihistamines that contains steroids, and fatty acids. Those medications & supplements alone controlled Jack's symptoms 10 months out of the year. So how do you know he's allergic to food, and if he is, how do you know what particular foods he is allergic to?
If I had started ruling out food first, Jack would have suffered much longer than he did, because his symptoms weren't caused by food. He would have gone through months and months of food trials, and dangerous drugs, when he isn't allergic to food anyway, and could have started on the treatment he does need that many months sooner. And whether you believe the statistics or not, they are based on lots and lots of clinical studies and have to be more reliable than anecdotal evidence in chat forums. So based on the best evidence we have, 9 out of 10 dogs who have allergies would be harmed, not helped, by following the advice that you have just given, "you HAVE to rule out/in food first" which is the same advice I was given 3 years ago when this started. I am not saying this to disagree with you or have an argument. I'm saying it to save others from going through what Jack and I have gone through. Testing costs nothing but money...if it turns out that the allergies really are food allergies, some money was lost. Delaying testing almost cost me my dog's life.

[Liza, Halle and Finn]

Sorry. I just saw that you asked me a question about how we knew of Kachi's food allergies. Around the time Kachi turned one, he started to exhibit the licking, scratching, biting, rubbing his face, etc. We put him on the food trial then, and started giving him EFA's. No other medications. After a few weeks, he stopped the behaviors. Then we got laxed, and started letting people (including ourselves) feed him things outside the trial. It wasn't until around January of this year, when Kachi got real, real bad that, and my husband casually mentioned that lately he had been adding cottage cheese to Kachi's food (which we use to give him as a puppy), since he was giving it to Halle! At that point, we went back to the vet, who was going to refer us for testing to find out what, if any, other allergans (outside of food), that we made the decision to give the food trial another shot. She also explained, (like what another poster's vet said), about the triggers, and the thresholds, and the goal was to keep Kachi under the level that produces the reaction. At that point, Kachi was given the antifungal, antibiotic to clear up the bacterial part of it(which he is no longer on) & the antihistamine (which he continues to take once a day). And of course, he's on the EFA's. He's doing really well.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I hope Kachi continues to do well, and that you have found the solution to his problems.