Thank You
Very helpful.
I understand why you think it is environmental allergies and it VERY WELL could be. In that case you will probably have to go with strong meds... I think i would really look at food first though. Food allergies can be acquired, so sometimes they pop up after feeding the same food for awhile. I will type our story below and maybe it will help you.
Ellie used to eat Iams puppy and did fine. We went to Science Diet Adult and had no real allergy problems. This food is full of corn. She was on it for about 4 years (
I get disgusted when I think about it). She went to Canidae Lamb after recalls last Spring. She was on that for a few days. She had itchy paws but was okay. I got scared of the recalls, so we went to homecooked and she did well...maybe slightly itchy in the summer. We went to Canidae Chicken kibble after that. She did okay. I found out she might have a liver problem. We had to go to a low protein diet. I chose Royal Canin and this is full of corn. A week or two later Ellie goes nutso itching her ears, jaws and paws. She scratched her ears so bad that they bled. We went to the vet. The vet's hands were tied because of the possible liver problem. She did give one shot of Kenalog (steroid I guess) that was supposed to last for about 5 days. Twenty-four hours later it kicked in and the only side effect was Ellie peed on my bed once (side effect can be frequent urination). The day after the shot I got worried about her splitting her ears open since the Kenalog hadn't kicked in yet, so the vet gave us Panolog to put on them. After the shot wore off the itchies came back but it was slightly more tolerable. We went back to homecooked food and have continued with this. The vet gave us a topical anti-inflammatory called Synotic for her ears. This may be a better choice than putting drugs directly into the system. I am very happy with how it works for her ears. Detoxing from food allergies takes up to sixty days, but we haven't had a major problem for awhile now. Of course, Ellie did get into another dog's food a couple weeks ago that had corn in it.
So, we are itchy right now but when it got bad the other day, I just used to Synotic...
So, I would also (as another poster said) consider beef (in particular) and chicken as possible allergens. Also consider dairy...
I would ask for Synotic for her ears to see if it helps. Even if it is environmental, I think it might relief the itch. This med may have some side effects and is still processed by the liver but atleast mega doses aren't shoved in everyday.
I agree with you about not going to allergy meds right away. Long term use of those meds can cause serious damage and it isn't something I would take lightly.
Remember, even if you pull a food that you think could be causing it, it can take up to sixty days for symptoms to stop. In that case, you may need medical relief in between. If it's environmental, I don't know what to tell you.