Prednisone

[Stacy]

So, I'm hoping to pick the brains of everyone who struggles with allergies in their dogs. I know I should just go to the dermatologist for skin testing and allergy shots, but honestly I'm not ready to put her through that yet. 

I've tried several antihistimines and the duoxo shampoo with limited success, and I know we need to go further. So I talked to my vet and he said we can do prednisone or apoquel. I said I was concerned with the long term side effects of both. And he felt that she did well on low dose prednisone the long term side effects would be minimal. He suggested 10-20mg prednisone every 2-3 days. 

She got a steroid shot on the 9th and then I gave her 10mg of prednisone on the 12th. Then I gave her another 10mg today - she really started getting itchy again last night and this morning. But I felt that she was much less itchy before that. 

Anecdotally, she is very well potty trained, but after the steroid injection she peed in the house once on the 10th and the 11th. She hasn't done it again since. I want to attribute that to the steroid. And I really don't want that to become a thing. I'm not sure if it would have a higher incidence with the injectable steroid than with oral steroids, or... I don't even know. Maybe it was coincidence. 

I really want to do the right thing for her, I just don't know what it is. I would love opinions on this. 

Thank you! Stacy

[Lynda Kamrath]

You are right to question it.  I also love western medicine for handling the acute maladies, but for long-term I prefer eastern medicine.  It's hard to find an acupuncturist for canines, but they are available in my area, well at least where I am living now, not where I am moving.  Question everything, it is your life and the life of your cherished pet.  My best wishes as you look for the right answer for you.

[Stacy]

If I've learned one thing from my career, it's that you have to be your own advocate for things. All doctors/vets are not created equal. I know doctors I would trust with my life without question and I know doctors I wouldn't trust to trim a hangnail. We are lucky to be able to have access to more information and resources than ever before and you definitely do have to question things. 

[Cathy, Josie and Piper]

We had a Sheltie many years ago and she had allergies. She would scratch at her face so hard it's amazing she didn't scratch her skin open. We tried all kinds of remedies for her, even had her on prednisone. She gained a lot of weight on it, and drank a lot, and more listless. Finally we were at our wits end and took her to a dog allergist. She was diagnosed with food allergies. She couldn't have anything that came into contact with beef or pork. That explained why she vomited and had diarrhea when she got a bone. We had to buy her special dog food that was processed in a clean facility where they clean the machines before processing this special food and she was on a lamb and rice blend. This cleared up her allergies, no more drugs and she felt so much better. I would highly recommend going to an allergist, it's worth it.
My whoodle was put on prednisone a couple of times last year and she urinated so much, and would pee in the house, and acted really weird. but you have to what's the best thing at the time.
Good luck

[Stacy]

I can only hope that Ava's allergies turn out to be something so simple as a food allergy, although from what I've read that is relatively rare. My luck she'll be allergic to humans! But we'll figure it out. Hopefully without the prednisone. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Please keep us informed about this journey you are on with Ava.  I hope the dermatologist has some tricks up his/her sleeve to try first and that they work.

[Stacy]

I will do that - and I hope so too! I really value the wisdom I get from everyone here. I know we'll get it figured out. I am really not at all opposed to doing immunotherapy with her. I just hate the idea of the skin testing. I've had it done, and while it wasn't the worst thing in the world, it was unpleasant. And I always feel guilty that I can't explain to them why I'm letting someone do these things. And do you want to hear me be really superficial? I don't want them to shave her! I know that should be my last concern. But I love her sweet scruffy doodle curls. Hopefully I'm worrying over nothing and they will have an easier answer. I'll let you know!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If she does have the testing, it's done under sedation, so it won;t be as bad for her as it was for you. And they only shave one area, usually on their back or their side. The hair grows back really fast. :)

[Stacy]

Sedation does sound better. Especially if I can stay with her. I don't like leaving her. Now that I made the appointment I'm in a hurry to get in there and see what he says! It sounds like some people have had good luck with hydroxyzine. Maybe that would be a good place to start. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Different antihistamines work better or less well for different dogs, and the only way to know which one works best for your individual dog is to experiment. Cetirizine works well for some dogs; for JD, loratidine worked better. (He gets 3x the human dosage.) I know F's Calla has had the best results with fexofenadine. 

But no antihistamine on its own will completely alleviate allergy symptoms, especially during a flare. And all of them work better when used in conjunction with Omega 3 fatty acids. 

[Stacy]

We tried claritin and allegra with no noticeable effect. Even with the EPO it didn't do anything that I could tell. Benedryl seems to help a little. I know there are other things we can try, but ideally I would like to not have to shove pills down her throat all day every day. She's a good sport, but good grief! 

I read elsewhere where you had said that there isn't an antihistimine that will fix these symptoms, but I sure wish there was! I wish there could just be a magic fix for her. I could fix a food allergy much easier than environmental allergies (which is what I suspect we are dealing with. She doesn't have any GI issues and I feel like we would see some of that if we were dealing with food problems, of course what do I know really!!)

I just love her. And I want her to be the happiest, healthiest, nonitchiest dog that she can be. She and Katie are my best friends and I just want them to have the best lives!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Only 10% of all allergy symptoms in dogs are due to food allergies; despite what you read on line, food allergies rank a distant third; the most common allergies in dogs are flea allergies, followed closely by environmental allergies, also known as seasonal or inhalant allergies, and the correct name for it is Atopic Dermatitis. And yes, food allergies are much easier to "fix". You can eliminate a particular protein (or several) from the diet, but it's just about impossible to eliminate pollen or dust from anyone's environment, lol. 

Antihistamines may help alleviate allergy symptoms because an allergic response will trigger histamine release, which is what causes the itching. But allergies are a disease of the immune system; the symptoms are triggered by antibodies to the allergens, and you can't cure that. All you can do is treat the symptoms, or suppress the immune system, which as you know can lead to other, more serious problems. 

[Stacy]

Are you sure you can't just be our dermatologist? Second career, Karen? All of my research aligns so closely with what you've told me. The good news is that the two vet dermatologists in the practice where I am going are board certified vet dermatologist and they are the only ones within a hundred of miles of me. In fact, the next closest vet dermatologist is at the University of Missouri veterinary teaching hospital - and it's the same vet. So he must teach as well. And they make the antigens on site in their own lab. So I have a really good feeling about them. She may not have the worst allergies of any dog out there, but I just can't stand to see her chew on her feet. 

Ava didn't come to me with fleas, and she hasn't had fleas since she's been here, so while she may be allergic to them I don't think that's the cause of her current itching. She's probably allergic to me. *tear* 

I don't want to suppress her immune system if we can do something else. Autoimmune diseases are so hard - sometimes the cure is as harmful as the disease. I'm really leaning toward the intradermal testing and allergy shots, assuming the vet agrees. She won't be able to have skin testing on Tuesday regardless, I read their medication withdrawal criteria and she's had steroids too recently. But I'm really interested to see what they think.