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Originally Posted by dwerten  actually most vets do exactly what her vet is doing so I disagree - most just throw the dog on steroids without trying to find the root cause and the first step is food allergy has to be ruled out. California is different then a state like where you live as we have NO SNOW. We bloom all year round so DD issue is year round never lets up in the winter ever. This is why cali is the worst state for allergies as we never get a break with an allergy dog.
Dogs with allergies need to be on a limited ingredient diet and while i agree steroids will not stop a food allergy in most cases but this does need to ruled out. Even if not food allergy dog needs to be on limited ingredient diet as to not over tax system with potential allergents.
I went to vets for 1 year prior to dermatologist - I went to holistic and I went to a regular vet before going to a dermatologist and there is a HUGE difference in how they approach an allergy dog. Vets throw the dog on steroids to mask the problem and dermatologist try to do it more naturally and use the least amount of drugs steroids being the very last drug of choice. I understand the cost aspect but sometimes a little more money upfront saves you a ton in the long run. I spent thousands before I got to the dermatologist and the vet gave wrong doseages of atopica etc it was a nightmare actually until i got to the dermatologist - the wrong doseage of atopica was when i said I am done with vets and going to dermatologist as that over dose of atopica would have made her sick. This was back when atopica was pretty new too and I had done my homework on it prior to asking about it as i learned about it from a lady at the pet store |
also in regards to food usually if a dog is on steroids and they still are itching it is a food allergy but allergy dogs usually have all three allergies going on anway. Food, Flea and Environmental. If it is just food you are really lucky and why this is the first thing to rule out.
OP how old is your dog? Usually allergies present themselves from the age of 6mos (ironically after vaccinations like my dog
) until the age of 3 years
also for environmental antihistamines like zyrtec are much safer than steroids and antihistamine trials should be done before trying steroids too which is what derm did as we did 3 3 week antihistamine trials to see if this would help and not have to use steroids. Usually antihistamines work best when combined with omega 3