Quote:
Originally Posted by Ellie May  Elimination diet is the way to go. Were these ingredients novel to her? Who is guessing food allergies? It is very likely something else. |
Thanks for your help, Ellie May!
When I first took her to a dermatologist in mid-December, they checked for flea bites, did skin scrapings to check for fungal infections, and said that they wanted to "rule out the easy ones". She was then put on Clindamycin (antibiotics) for inflamed areas of her skin and Mometamax for the yeast infection in her ear. They started her on canned Rabbit & potato as well since she's so young (6mo at the time) and I've only ever fed her
Honest Kitchen Embark,
Blue Buffalo Chicken/Rice for Puppy, and cooked ground turkey.
After a month without improvements, she was prescribed Clemastine (anti-histamine). I know the plan was to start her on a dietary trial/elimination diet once her itchiness reduced but it's been 2 months now of anti-histamine and I can't really say there's a noticeable improvement...although I guess she hasn't lost any more hair so that's good.
Here's a quick outline of what she's currently on:
* Canned Rabbit & Potato by Royal Canin (sometimes mixed in with plain boiled rabbit)
* Carrots, Celery, Blueberries
* 1 tablet/1.34mg Clemastine (anti-histamine) per day - she is 6lbs
* Mometamax every 10 days (to control/prevent yeast infection in her ears)
* Bath every 1-3 weeks with some combination of HyLyt shampoo, Virbac Epi-Soothe cream rinse (prescribed by general vet), EQyss Micro-Tek shampoo, and EQyss Mega-Tek Rebuilder (for her balding back legs).
* Revolution every 2 weeks (just in case it's fleas)
* She does not have any redness or infections in her skin, but around 3 weeks after a bath, small dandruff-looking flakes appear near her scalp.
At this point, I agree with you that it doesn't seem like her allergy is food-related, which is a relief actually. But if it isn't food, then is my only option to pay for the blood test? Are there any other way to figure out environmental sensitivities?
Thanks again for any advice you can give me (and sorry for this novel I'm writing). I was pretty optimistic when I found a recommended dermatologist for her but after 3 months without results and almost $1000, I'm hesitant to just keep scheduling follow-up appointments without finding out more info on my own and being prepared to make some suggestions.