Hi All,
well many of you know Harley's been having troubles lately, he's been sick on and off since August. His IBD issues flare up cyclically, and we can't figure out the triggers, (he's been seeing a vet every 2 weeks), and his skin was getting ALOT better, but last night he had a minor IBD flare-up, (stomach gurgling, massive poop, bum itches, not eating, burrowing in blankets), which annoyed me cause I thought we were making progress, and today he's nearly chewing his foot off his paws are so itchy, and his skin has turned red again.
Just to avoid comments about rushing to a vet, I've been told by my vet how to deal with the IBD flare-ups to stabilize him, and the itch issues we've been doing to the whole trial and error thing for 4 months, no immediate vet attention will fix it, seeing we don't know what it is. He has also seen his new vet every 2 weeks for over a month now.
Sorry for the long ramble... but my question is, has anyone with a baby with severe skin issues had success with allergy testing? Is it conclusive? My vet seems to think that it can be successful, I've heard mixed reviews from my friends, and before dropping $500 on a blood test, I wanna see what others have to say about it. Also if you're insured, did insurance cover it.
He's on a vet diet (the only thing his IBD would handle), gets no treats or foods other than kibble, doesn't go outside too much (we exercise inside), he isn't exposed to other dogs often, I always use the same cleaning supplies (cause I have allergies and can't switch my detergents etc). I track his daily poos, food intake, water intake, temperament levels, itch levels, when I bath him (use vet shampoos for allergies), and we've removed all flea prevention, wormers, and luckily he hasn't need vaccines yet cause he was up to date prior to these issues.
I'm trying everything I can think of...
Sorry I'm having a mini break-down and needed to come rant, I had a bad day and to come home and see my baby sick just upsets me.