Allergies/ Food Intolerances????

[Stella]

Our older dog (16 month F1 LD) had really bad diarrhoea for the first six months or so that we had him, along with developing what looked like hot spots on his elbows. He never fussed with them, but lost all his hair there and the skin was red and hot. After a lot of playing around with his food, and removing virtually all cleaning chemicals and scented products from the house, we found out that he couldn't have liver. As soon as we eliminated liver from his diet his poops got firmer and he got hair back on his elbows again.

He continues to have repeated episodes of conjunctivitis though. Yesterday when I was brushing him I noticed both elbows are red and losing their hair again, and today he has begun with loose stools and generaly being a bit out of sorts. We haven't given him any new treats, we haven't started a new bag of food, there is nothing new in the house..... So, what is going on?? Is it possible he is developing an intolerance to something else in his diet?

Otherwise, the other only things I can think of is that maybe he picked up a liver treat or something at obediance class ?someone could have dropped one on the floor and he could have snagged it without me seeing? And, we began having Molly Maid two weeks ago (a treat from my Mum!!!) and they could have used something chemical on the lino floor in the kitchen, but would it have taken two weeks for him to start to show effects?

I know some of you are dealing with true allergies with your doodles and didn't know if you had any thoughts or suggestions on my boys symptoms? Thanks so much.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Does the time of year that he had red elbows etc coincide with the time of year (now) that it is happening again? Dogs ( and humans and other animals) with one allergy often have several. Is the liver a positive allergy test or did everything just clear up by dropping liver from his diet? Possibly he is allergic to something in the air that coincided with the liver. Lots and lots of dogs are allergic to grass. Do you have grass all year in your yard or is it dormant in the winter? Allergies are incredibly difficult to diagnose sometimes. Have you been to the vet? How about a specialist in allergies? A steam cleaner works well on hard floors ( Iknow) and does not kick up allergies or need any chemicals. You can put him and a rice and boiled hamburger diet (and nothing else - use it cold for treats). (boil the hamburger right in with the rice in big batches and freeze in serving sizes) Don't shampoo him, just use water to clean him. These are the easy things to do, totally controlling his environament is a lot harder. If the hamburger, no shampoo routine seems to clear him up, gradually add one thing at a time. My bet thought is on the environment as in pollen, grass etc, because of the off again on again nature of his symtoms. just checked your page and I see you live in Toronto. Huge pollen and grass changes there and things are just beginning to get going again. If it is seasonal allergies you can get something from your vet during the summerr months to help lessen the symptoms. I had a grass allergic dog with pretty much the same symtoms and that helped him, he actually got less sensitive with age, so hope that will be the case with your dog. In the winter his tummy was more tolerant of food differences than in the summer and his eyes got really itchy as his elbows got red in the spring and summer.

[Stella]

Thanks Maryann for your feedback. Thinking about it, it was a smilar time of year last year that he began with the digestive issues and elbows. But, his conjuntivitis developed in the winter and cleared up in the summer. We didn't get any testing done, just played around with his food until he improved. As an experiment (unbeknown to me!!) my husband did start feeding him liver again a few months later and all of his symptoms returned. I didn't know he was doing this and was worrying about the reoccurence, evetually he came clean and told me and ever since them we have had no liver products in the house!

I am definitely intersted in what you have said about the grass allerergy, particulary as he had a lot of simliar symptoms. Yes, finally after all the snow, spring is here and the plants are growing again ao perhaps that is it. We will see how he goes, and if things keep on this way we will be back at the vet again. (Our vet is convinced we are using plug-ins or something in the house that is causing it, I keep telling him we never use anything scented!!).

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/allergi...
http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/all-about-allergies
http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/healthandmedicalissues/forum/topi...
Hi Stella,
Please read the above discussions. While everyone immediately thinks of food and then chemicals when it comes to allergies, 85-90% of allergic symptoms in dogs are caused by inhalant allergies to pollens, dust, and similar allergens.
While chemicals can be irritating, they do not produce allergy symptoms...the allergen has to be organic. You can stop worrying about the cleaning company and their products. The dust that gets stirred up when vaccuuming, etc. is another story.
Diarrhea is never caused by allergies. Food intolerances are a completely different issue. Liver has a very high fat content, along with very high amounts of vitamins A & B, and that may have caused the digestive problems, but the chances of this being an allergy to liver are almost zero. Allergies to any food at all exist in only 10-15% of cases of allergic dogs, and then it is more likely to be corn, wheat, or soy that is the culprit.
Environmental or inhalant allergies usually show up in dogs between the ages of 1-3 years. Right now, everyone in the US, two and four legged alike, are suffering way more than usual with inhalant allergies, due to the unusual weather & extremely high pollen counts. Ask anyone you know who has pollen allergies and you will find that they are having an unusually bad spring. Jack got so bad, we had to change his immunotherapy protocol and start a new antihistamine.
Look at the tufts of fur on the bottom of your dog's feet, between the pads. If you see redness there, you are dealing with allergies. In any case, this is not something you can deal with on your own...I'd see the vet.
I hope this is not allergies. Good luck!

[Stella]

Hi Karen. I have read a couple of your posts about Jack and new that you would be a wealth of information, thanks so much for your reply. After almost six months when his digestive issues and the elbows had been a non-issue I was really disappointed that it looks like things might be starting up again. Strangely, his conjunctivitis is worst through the winter and improves in the summer. So, maybe he has issues with more than one thing? He seems a bit better today, so we will see how he goes. If there is no consistent improvement, we will go back to the vet and see if we can get him tested. Do you know if using something like Bendryl is beneficial to reduce allergy symptoms in dogs?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

For true allergies, antihistamines like benadryl are very helpful, because allergy symptoms ARE histamine reactions; the immune system releases histamines as a reaction to the proteins in the allergens, and that's what causes the itching, red eyes, etc. But benadryl is not always the antihistamine of choice. That's why I don't like asking & giving med advice in forums. Benadryl is the one you always read about in forums, but Jack's immunology specialist doesn't like it for him, and put him on loratidine, which is Claritin, and now Zyrtec. In fact, there are four different antihistamines that the allergy specialists prefer over benadryl.

[Stella]

Thanks, I wouldn't give him anything without checking with the vet first, and ours is pretty good about tellling you off the shelf things you can use rather than selling you expensive veterinary products - he is a good man!!!

[Noble Vestal Labradoodles]

the red elbows are likely a form of a yeast infection, ask your vet about this, there is a pill that you give once and it kills the yeast.

[Stella]

We tried a topical cream from the vet last year (can't remember what it was) that was supposed to be for hot spots, but it didn't do anything at all to help. His elbows only appeared to clear up when we changed his diet. His elbows weren't itchy though, I never saw him fussing with them, they were just red and hot and hairless! Thank you so much for your help, he is our first dog so we are still learning!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Kendra has a good thought there. I really don't think this is allergies, because the huge symptom with allergies is itching.

[MBKANE]

Kensi was having some similar issues but they turned out to be food intolerence not so much allergies....I now have her on California Natural dog food. It is specifically desingned for dogs who have intolerences, sensitive stomachs, and allergies. Not to mention it is just flat out one of the best high quality dog foods available. I would give the lamb and rice, or herring formula a try. After just two weeks I noticed a marked improvement with kensi. Good luck!