I've Learned.....& need opinions on Temaril P
 

Hello and thanks YT friends for all the advice. Bella went to Vet today as followup from Jan 30 skin issues. All that I've Learned: with hopes to help someone else.
1. Bella's hair was thinning on backside & back legs only. She had couple of black scabs on shoulder area. Simplicef was prescribed. Now the scabs have cleared. Itching still exists!
2. Itching started about the same time as 1st heat cycle? I waited because my stepdaughter was interested in me breeding her. Her yorkie is getting older.
3. Bella is possibly having false pregnancy signs? It started before Jan 30 and she is still swollen. The Vet explained that some swelling will be permanent after 1st heat cycle and continue to get worse with each cycle. Did not realize!:( I will probably have her spayed within the next month. I wanted to do all I can for the skin issues first.
4. Anal Glands were a little full. She was doing the scooting on carpet thing.
5. I was alternating ML and fish oil capsules, but read Vit E was also needed? Vet prescribed 3V caps, (I got the Liquid skin formula). It has all the needed supplements containing Fish Oil, Omeg-3, plus Vit E. :D I think I'd read that on YT too. Wish I'd bought that first.....
6. Her hair looks healthier since I've changed her to Wellness & Chicken Soup for the Puppy. Also now using MinkSheen shampoo. Love It! Big improvement. Plus, I know the supplements are helping.
So much to share, but I still need advice from my YT friends....please.
The Vet has prescribed Temaril P to see if this will alleviate the itching. She suggested the skin scraping, but since I'd started seeing improvements from all the changes, I wanted to wait until maybe when I have her spayed. The Temaril P is a lower dosage of steroid and antihistamine. She doesn't think Bella has mange because she doesn't have complete hair loss, just thinning, and it's not all over. She also said she's been proven wrong before too. Anyway, I hate to give Bella this med at such a young age, but if it's just to get over this, it will be worth it, I guess. Opionions??

Oh, wow, poor baby. Well....I assume they did a gazillion blood tests and ruled out everything there? Liver, pancreas, cholesterol, glucose etcetera, the whole thing? What was she eating before/during all of this?

If you have the money, I'd almost be thinking about allergy testing at this point. It isn't cheap, but I wonder what the cost of steroids (to both health and pocketbook) would be? You could also try a homecooked hypoallergenic test for a month (nothing but this) - 6 weeks, Marcel's nutritionist prescribed this for him when he was in trouble and it worked miracles (white fish, mashed potatoes, steamed/pureed green beans).

A skin scraping could be interesting too though...I wonder if that'd be a good thing to do.

Thanks for yr reply. Well, before YT, I was feeding Bil Jac. It seemed the probs started when changed over to Iams and Caesars canned. I know, it was before I knew better. There are definitely improvements now with the food change, supplements, and shampoo. I guess it won't hurt her to take this Temaril P to see if it does the trick. Maybe others have used and will reply. Bella is only 10 months old.

When was the food changed to Wellness and Chicken Soup?
It could take 60 days after a change to notice a difference.
Allergies aren't uncommon with Chicken Soup. I like the Wellness better.

Yeah, it's only been a couple of weeks with the food change. That's why I wanted to give it some time, since I have seen improvements. The Vet still wanted to try the Temaril P?

Were thyroid problems ruled out with the thinning hair?

I try not to use steroids on Ellie if they aren't necessary.

I didn't want to go that route yet because of the improvements seen. I will definitely bring it up if this doesn't get better. The Vet wanted to do the skin scraping next and I asked to lets wait until she is spayed which will be within the next month. Do you think trying the Temaril P is harmful if only given this dosage? It's 8 tablets. 1/2 tablet is given at the time. The Vet said it is a lower dose of steroid & antihistamine.

I would give the temaril-p. It's a great antihistamine and will cut down on the itching.

And yes, that is a low dosage.

Good Luck!

I think that has to be your vets decision. If it were my dog it would depend on how bad the itching was whether I gave it.

Thanks so much for the opinions.......it helps to discuss!

Well, I wanted to post an update on Bella. We went for another Vet appt today. The place I take her alternate who sees her each time unless you specifically ask. It's worked out great to get different opinions and to compare. He was very nice and took the time with all my ?s. He doesn't think it looks like Bella really has any mites, or mange because her skin really looks healthy. He also told me that what I thought about her hair thinnning is really her going from puppy stage to adulthood. We talked it over and he is somewhat convinced to lets give it a try first with her being spayed. He thinks it could be related? She never had itching problems until around 9 months old. I told him this is when her first heat cycle started. She still has a little swelling and could still be having false labor symptoms. So, we're putting her on Temaril P again until she is scheduled for spaying which will be in the next week or two. I want to search on this more. I was really impressed that he did not try to persuade me to do other allergy testing at this point. We talked about it, but he really did not think it was necessary at this stage. Anyone else seeing this occur during heat cycle?

A very short term use of steroid won't hurt but my one girl couldn't take it. She lost complete control of her bladder after just 2 doses. I don't like to use steroids unless absolutely necessary

I would also recommend that you stop this med well before surgery

Thank you for sharing. Do you recommend because of steroid mixed with anthesia @time of surgery? That's a good idea. I was told Temaril is a very low dosage.

After reading your post, I also thought about incontinence when on Temaril.
Johnny's got itchy skin problems and had a reaction to Atopica (vomiting) so I give him Temaril when he's itching a lot. Last time I gave it to him, he peed in the kitchen 6 times during the afternoon. The vet said he would be hungrier and would urinate more but not on the kitchen floor when ever.
How common is this?