Quote:
Originally Posted by amaryl1ia  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. |
all of the foods you listed have poultry and usually if the dog is allergic to one poultry they are to all
sounds like your dog had a staph infection as my dog has staph now and we are using clindamycin as well for a second round
how old is your dog and has her thyroid been tested as dogs with skin issues need to have a full thyroid panel and loss of hair is a sign of hypothyroidism and my dog with allergies is also hypothyroid as well so it is very common and that is one of the first thing they need to check along with food elimination diet. It is a full 6 panel thyroid test
allergies start from age 6 mos to 3 years of age so how old is your dog?
ear infections are a clear sign there is food allergy going on and I would not give sugary foods like carrots, blueberries, etc as sugar keeps yeast and bacteria alive so the fact that the dog has ear issues that is a clear sign of food allergy along with environmental
yikes revolution every 2 weeks i was told at most every 3 weeks and it is also used to rule out scabies mite as well - do you see fleas on her? are you in a flea area?
she should be bathed weekly with allergies to keep pollen etc off and if she has staph occuring chlorhexedine duoxo is a great shampoo and not as drying as benzoyl but benzoyl is good to as others on here have had success with it
the scalp drying again leads me to be food related as dd has no issues on head and head is usually demodex or food allergy related and they scraped for demodex already so probably not that
I disagree i think it is food related is well as the ears are your source of food allergy - my dog has never had ear issues in 6 years not one infection and on food elimination diet of pinto beans and white potato she still itched so hers is mostly environmental but she is still on limited ingredient diet
my guess is your dog has both and in 12 weeks you should see improvement on food diet but you have to ditch the carrots, blueberries too sugary