Quote:
Originally Posted by 107barney  Blood testing for food allergies is not reliable. I paid for these tests about 12 or 13 years ago and I was really mad at my vet when two tests showed inconsistent results. One day Daisy was "allergic" to sweet potatoes, and then upon retest was somehow miraculously not allergic anymore. Most people pay for one set of tests and never see how there are problems with it. I confronted my vet at the time and asked her to explain this apparent lack of consistency and she had no answer - just looked at me with embarrassment. I let it go and met the vet derm shortly thereafter and got my dog on a plan that's worked for 11 years now.
Since everyone keeps mentioning Apoquel, I had an interesting discussion about Apoquel w/ my vet derm just a couple of weeks ago when my dog was flaring. Obviously, this derm uses Apoquel all the time but wouldn't in my dog finding it harder on the liver than Atopica. There have been a couple of dogs who got really sick on Apoquel -- not reported in clinical trials, not widely seen, but discussed on listserves among vet derms. I found that very interesting. I learned also that Apoquel works within 4 hours so if it is a good match, it's great. It's also out of the dog's system in 18 hours if it doesn't work. It is a consideration for my dog as an "add on" if we get desperate but I would not want to use Apoquel in a yorkie unless I knew for sure the dog had a good liver. |
I had learned last years about the unreliability of the blood tests as well and the false positives and I had been thinking of comparing the saliva tests to the blood tests to see if the results were the same because some of the food that the blood tests said were borderline Buster did not seem to have issues eating. I think many great points were brought up by many members and I appreciate the discussion. I think it is wise for our members to be aware of the different points of view. I was basing some of my decisions on my experiences with cortisone and was doing Buster a disservice not being open to medications especially Atopica and realize that I do need to consult with a Vet Nutritionist to make sure Buster is getting a well balanced diet.