Warning
 

Hi, I am new to this site and was anxious to get on and warn other yorkie owners about teh VARL Liquie Gold Allergen Immunotherapy Program (Desensitization shots)

My Meah was about 6 six months old when we noticed that she was itchy ALL the time. So we took her to the vet and tried a number of things. Finally we bit the bullet and had allergy tests run on her. It came back that she was allergic to just about everything. Even Human dander! So our vet suggested that we use the desensitization injections so that she would become immune to the things that made her so itchy. We had been given her the injections for about 2 1/2 months when on 10/11/07 we gave her an injection that sent her into anafalactic (spelled wrong) shock. We rushed her to the ER vet and they got her back, I left her at the vet reluctantly to be observed over night. They called me at 11:07 pm and my baby had passed.
This is the worse thing that has ever happened to me and no one should be as cheated as my baby girl and I were. I would do anything to have her back and I miss her so much.
Just a warning!!!!
On a brighter side we just got 2 new healthy babies~!

I'm so sorry for your loss.

wow, i'm sorry for your loss!!

welcome to YT!

Welcome to YT!!! So sorry to hear of your loss.
I was happy to hear about your two new furbabies!!!! Post pictures when you can.....we are all suckers for furbaby pictures!!!!!!!!

I am so sorry for your loss and appreciate the warning. My Cali has allergies and I know not to use that. I am glad you have 2 new babies to love. Welcome!

I am so sorry to hear about your loss. I couldn't even imagine what that must have been like for you. The shots that you are talking about, they were the allergy shots?? My vet has suggested doing these for Reese who suffers from allergies to many things...what exactly happened if you don't mind me asking. I was actually considering trying it..are these the same shots??

I'm so sorry for your loss, I'm sure you are heartbroken :(

I'm not sure how canine allergy shots are done, but I know that I'm starting them on Monday and the injections are such minimal amounts of the allergen that it won't cause a reaction like that and I have to be supervised after for so much time just in case. Do they not supervise the dogs when they are going through immunotherapy?

Thank everyone for your sympathy~
It was very hard and I still miss her like crazy!
The shots were given in sets and the dose and strength increased over time, the shot she was given that night. The emergency vet told me the amount was too much for her little 4lb body! My fiance is a fourth year med student and we took training on how to inject her, due to the fact that our vet is 1 hour away. Afterwards, my mother in law to be called the vet to tell her what happened and she was very upset, she said the mixture from the company must have been wrong! I would NEVER do this again!! Be very careful!!

To answer the question: You give your animal shots that are mixed with the things that they are allergic to hoping to build an immunity to these things.

O, and It won't let me post my pictures I have tried a few times

so sorry for your loss and thank you for posting about this,we can never have to much information.

So sorry to hear of your loss. How awful for you to lose a pup by trying to do the best thing for her. My sympathies.

Sorry for your loss, that had to be awful for you with her being so alergic.
I am glad to hear you have two new baby's to comfort you.

My wife and I are both very sorry for your loss. We also thank you for passing on your experience, though sad, and your warning.

Our Gracie has been on these shots for three years and, SO FAR, has not had any reaction to them. We watched her while the dosages slowly increased for any signs of trouble and stopped increasing the dose once her scratching and itching were greatly reduced. She takes the shots fine and, in fact, comes for them because afterwards, she gets a treat, of course.

The vet warned about the obviously very real possibility of the shock you describe. Needless to say, shot day every week is with a little trepidation.

HOWEVER, if there's another way to treat allergies without this possible scenario, we'd LOVE to hear it.

Wow, it's a good thing I am all about going all natural and organic as much as possible for my furbabies. I'm always reluctant to put my babies on anything from the vet unless that ABSOLUTELY need it. I'm so sorry that happened to you, but congrats on your new babies!

This so sad, I'm so sorry for the loss of your precious one, thankyou for sharing this info may safe someone dog:aimeeyork

I'm very sorry for your loss, but I'm glad to hear you have 2 new babies!

I know a lot about immunotherapy and I am very interested in it. Forgive me if I'm being crass but I would like to know more about what happened. There's nothing wrong with immunotherapy but you have to be quite careful with it.

How long did your pup stay in the surgery for after having the injection? Anaphylactic shock can be caused up to about 1/2 an hour to an hour after having the shots. The dog has to be closely monitored for that time to see if they are going to have an adverse allergic reaction.

Did you have anything on hand to bring her out of it? Adrenalin? Antihistamines? Oxygen to open up the air passages? How long after going into shock did she pass?

I'm sorry for all the questions I am just very interested to know what exactly happened.

Welcome and thank you for the information, I am so sorry for your loss.

allergy shots
 

These do this to me too. If you are allergic to things you are still exposed to in large amounts...like for humans who have a cat and get the cat shot... it will put you into anaphalactic shock. I have been there.... it is horrible.

Directly following her injection I took her outside to Potty when I turned around she was puking and fell over. she was very lathargic and was breathingk very shallow I immediatly grabbed her and called the emergency vet, She was there withing 15 minutes. They gave her oxygen and told me I could take her home. But when they gave her to me she was so cold. Which is so odd because her skin due to allergies was always very warm and "flared up" I left her because I thought it was a better idea (just in case) I was to pick her up at 7am the next morning. I got the call at 11:00 that she had stopped breathing and asked if I would like her emergency action taken. I said YES!!!! about 5 minutes later they called to say they got her back but the outlook was not good. I was on my way back up when they called and said she had passed.! I was given to adverse reaction medicine! : (
I am sure that this is rare, I just thought people should hear my story

Thanks for letting us know, and I'm sorry for your loss. I hope you're enjoying your new babies.

That's an over-generalisation. It MAY put you into anaphylactic shock, not will. That's not the case for all people. If you see an allergy/immunologist specialist who's very good at what he/she does, then there's a very small chance that you will have any problems. I had immunotherapy myself for over 6 years to a variety of allergens - animals, grasses, pollens, hair, dust... a whole heap of things - and never once had a problem.

(If you were undergoing immunotherapy for an allergy which puts you into anaphylactic shock then I'd seriously question the doctor. Imunotherapy does NOT cure anaphylactic allergies. At the moment nothing does, although it is expected that something will be on the market within 10 years.)

I too have suffered anaphylactic shock, too many times to count. In fact, the next time I go into it there's the chance that I could die as the last time was very, very scary. It's absolutely horrible.

Thanks for sharing that with me, I know how horrible it must have been for you. By saying what I'm about to say I'm in no way wanting to offend you but as a number of people have said that they were interested in this, I don't want to deter them because of your story.

Immunology is a very effective way of controlling allergies but there are a number of things that should be first considered before going ahead with it. Here are a few:

*Antihistamines. When the body has an allergic reaction it releases histamine into the body. Antihistamines reduce or elmininate histamine. They're quite effective in controlling allergies. Dogs can handle a small dose of over the counter human antihistamines without any problems. (Note: check with your vet on this, in Australia "Claratyne" which is what we give to our Jack Russell as she's allergic to grass. Antihistamines may be enough to control whatever the allergic reaction is. It doesn't work in all cases but it is worth a try. Again, talk to your vet about which brand is best before going ahead with it.)

*Diet. Sometimes food can be the issue. Food chemicals play a major role in bodies, not only manufactured chemicals but also natural chemicals. Amines, salicylates, glutamate... For example tomatoes contain a high level of salicylates, salicylates are not good for some people with skin issues as they exacerbate the condition.

*Products. Some products may be causing havoc - ie if it's itchy skin then a sensitive skin laundry powder or shampoo will help with the problem.

*Home life. Some dogs may be allergic to mould spores, household cleaners... various things around the house. It's worth changing things around to see if that helps.

Also your situation was very different from what usually happens with immunotherapy. I'm sorry to say this, please don't be cranky, but when dealing with immunotherapy it's absolutely imperative to have an emergency kit available containing everything you need in the event that the dog goes into anaphylactic shock. Oxygen is not enough to help the reaction work its way through the system, fair enough it will help open the airways as they close when one goes into anaphylactic shock, but it also needs to be used in conjunction with antihistamines (to counteract the allergic reaction) and (in the case of humans, I'm not sure about dogs) adrenaline to speed up the system to make it work through the system faster. 15 minutes is way too long to wait before seeking treatment - that's why people who suffer from a severe allergy carry around an epi-pen so they can self-administer a shot of adrenaline to get the allergen working through their system as soon as possible.

I know you wanted people to hear your story but I just wanted to clear things up as the topic title is a little off-putting. I cannot emphasise enough that I didn't mean to upset you or make you feel bad, I just want others to know some of what I know. I'm sorry for the essay...

(Disclaimer: No, I'm not a vet. But I do know a lot on the topic. If anyone has any concerns over what I've had to say feel free to either reply in here or PM me.)

I am so very sorry for you loss!

I'm so sorry for you loss.

Sorry for your loss...:(

Sorry to hear about your little furbaby. I also glad that you have two furbabies now.



:littleang

Im so sorry for your loss ,and welcome to YT.

i'm so sorry for your loss:( this is good to know, ebcause my mika has allergies too

Thank you to everyone that for your sincere sympathy! It was a very tramatic experience.
I only posted this to share my story! I am sure this is rare, but it did happen to me as a first time dog owner who's world revolved around her dog! I miss her every day! I love this site, I wish I could figure out how to post my pictures of my Meah and my new babies Zoey and Diesel pictures! I am working on it! Thank you again for all the support!!!!!

Im sorry for your loss. Thanks for the heads up. hugs!