Need suggestions on severly allergic yorkie!
 

There has to be someone out there that has been through all this that we are going through. Did you go to the Dermatologist? and did it HELP? We are not rich people. Here is list of everything we have done, this is over a period of 6 months. When we first got Finn, doc sd. he had Sarcoptic Mange and we dipped him 3 different times. We have been treating ears forever and the panalog works but have to stay on it. They were clear, now are red again. We have never seen one flea on Finn, ever.
Benadryl
Zyrtec
Omega 3 fatty acid (on now)
Thyroid med (on now, vet sd. it was worth a shot to try)
Prescription Diet z/d (Food trial been on over a month)
Prescription Diet d/d (Doc wants us to try this)
Frontline Plus (always used to use this)
Comfortis (on now) just started this.
Allergy pills from vet
Prednisolone (didn't help)
Malaseb Shampoo (on now)
HyLyt Creme Rinse (on now)
Allermyl Shampoo
Oatmeal Shampoo
Allergy Shot
Steroid Shot
Tried Sulfur Powder mixed with oil
Tried Rinsing him in White Vinegar and water
Hydrocortisone Creme
Hydrocortisone Spray
vet sprays don't work either.
Heartgard
Cephalexin (makes him so sick)
I know their were other things but can't remember them all.
Eliminated everything in the house that it could be except carpet.

I know allergies are a shot in the dark but maybe just maybe their is something out their that might work. If he looks up at me one more day as if to say, "Mommy fix it, make it better! I will go crazy. :eek:
Vets will not give me temaril p, sd has allready been on practically the same thing. Mentioned Revolution, vets didn't want to try. etc. etc. Oh yea, we have 2 cats in the house too. They are healthy and always have been.

Thanks to everyone, again sorry for all this talk on allergies. I promise to quit asking.

Yes, I've been to a Derm, and yep - they were AMAZING!!!!! Seriously.

Okay, I didn't see Atopica in there...why wasn't that tried I wonder?

Are they sure the mites/mange is totally gone -- sometimes they burrow underneath the skin and live there, and a skin biopsy actually has to be done to see if they are still there. :(

Also, what happens when you do the steroid shot, exactly?

is the mange gone? it usually takes more then 3 dips

Could the allergies possibly be caused by ingredients in the food, such as corn, wheat? Many allergies can be food related. Just a thought. Good luck.

Have you had allergy testing done? Food allergies may also be an issue, and will need to be ruled out.

I tried everything for Cali's allergies and the only thing that worked is the Atopica. We tried everything else and nothing helped. I have finally gotten her to one pill every other day so it is less expensive. The pills are 60.00 for 30 so it isn't cheap but so worth not having her miserable and scratching. Hope you can get some relief.

Yowza, that's a lot of drugs.

The steroid shots and allergy shots don't work at all?

My guess would be that the mites never did get taken care of all the way.
Maybe I'm thinking of something else, but can't Ivermectin be used for that?
Isn't the a standard treatment? Not Heartgard but an off-label dose or am I thinking of something else...?

I can't help too much on the allergy front, but have they corned the issue with the ears? Is it just allergies?

Winston had some ear issues since I first got him. Took him to a couple vets but didn't have a whole lot of success in treating it so it wouldn't come back or them taking it all that seriously. They just pushed it off as allergies and left it at that. He was still scratching like crazy at his ears and rubbing his head like no tomorrow.

I did some searching and found Zymox. I noticed a huge difference in his behavior the first night I used it, and by the next day he was hardly having ear issues at all (I was dosing twice a day.) We've been using it about the last 6 wks. I've tapered down to once every 2-3 days and I've yet to see any of his issues return and for that both of us are grateful. (We started off with the hydrocortisone formula, but I switched to the non-hydrocortisone formula since his issues have subsided.) I get mine off amazon, but there are a couple other places like 1800meds that sell it as well.

It certainly isn't going to solve all your allergy problems, but perhaps it might give your dog some relief in the meantime.

The Vet gave Reggie Temiral P a few summers back. His allergies start late spring- early summer, going on right now. He gets very dry itchy skin, mainly down his back by his tail and sides of his legs. Depends on how bad his reaction is but usually after about a day and a half he feels better.

Allergies
 

I have a vet that works both Eastern & Western Meds for dogs, PLUS he has 30+ yrs behind. He has started his own supplement company called 2docs. You can find it on the internert and he has a great natural formula for allergies. I would make sure it is not a food allergery, something as simple as changing him to a fish and potatoe food, several companies make them. THAT"S ALL HE GETS during the test. NO treats!
Check out 2docs web site Randy is the BEST of the BEST and the allergery formula is great, you can also get support from them on their website:)

Sparkling Blu Yorkies!!!:animal36

You know what, maybe thats it but we treated him for that when we first got him in December 2008. Finn was 2 months old. We dipped and dipped that poor fella and then the ONLY symptom was a little crust on his outside ears, honestly that was it but our vet sd. he had seen a few of the other liter with the same thing. I will check on this and I will research this Atopica too.

Nothing, doesn't phase him. I tried to get him to give him the Temaril P but he sd it won't help you have already done that with the benadryl and the prednisolone, so sd no need.

We have been on the Food Trial now for 1 month and 6 days. The vet put him on Hill Prescription Diet z/d food. We have done very well but every now and then have had to slip a bite of cheese to get medicine down him and then a couple of times we have slipped with a little bite of plain chicken but that was great for us cuz we loved giving treats but we stopped it all! Now country doc sd. we might want to switch foods since the z/d isn't working he wants us to try Hills Presciption Diet D/D, so they have ordered it for us.

This Ivermectin, isn't that whats in the Heargard medicine that we are giving him and also the Flea Medicine is supposed to help with Sarcoptic Mange. But I tend to agree maybe just maybe he still has mites!! We have been to 2 different vets one doesn't do the allergy tests so we went to another doc that does. Now he talked us out of it and sd. we need to do food trial. He also sd. the allergy tests are $350.00 and still do not make a complete diagnosis. No one has offered the scratch test, they talked us out of that too sd not definitive. THANK YOU, THANK YOU ALL OF YOU. I WILL GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS YOU JUST WAIT.

My little furball thanks you!
 

It is the active ingredient in Heartgard, but that is a much lower dose than would be used for mites.

Phoebe was having bad scratching spells a few weeks ago, and the places looked awlful, the vet checked her out and she was allergic to a few of her treats, and it had to be her favorite two!!!!

WOW you have been through the ringer - pm me and we can talk if you want as i have been through what you have and yes i go to a dermatologist now but i can give you alot of insight in the journey as have been through it for 4 1/2 years as sounds like you are all over the place poor thing :( and like vet is taking stabs in the dark with some of this stuff

i do not think i have seen atopica on this list but going back to check

ok my dd is hypothyroid too but did the vet do the 6 panel thyroid test to determne hypot as he should NOT be giving this med unless the dog is hypothyroid or this dog can go hyperthyroid which is not going to be pretty :(

ok if steroids are not working then it is food or mites - my guess food as steroids only work on environmental and to rule out scabies we used revolution as that covers scabies unlike other flea protection

he is correct allergy testing is a waste of money unless you are going to do hyposensitization shots and food is the first trial but the foods you are feeding made my NON allergy dogs itch - the best food i have found is natural balance venison and sweet potato and use it for 12 weeks nothing else -- the ultra zd was given to my ibd dog and he never itched ever and on that food he itched like a mad man and he does not have allergies my dee dee does so i know that food stinks for allergies as even though hydrolized they can still get a trigger from the protein which is the allergent

NO CHICKEN if you need to pill get the wet food and pill with that you cannot give anything when doing a food trial

lol i asked the same about atopica but if steroids are not stopping the itch then it is not environmental so atopica will not work either as the steroids should stop it

blood cannot determine food allergy only environmental so the allergy test portion for food is worthless you can only determine food allergy through elimination diet

ivermectin is used for demodex mange not sarcoptic mange - for sarcoptic mange (scabies) revolution can be used to rule it out but if scabies by now you would have it too as my grandma's yorkie had scabies and she got it as it is contagious to humans. Demodex is a mite from the mother dog that is seen in puppies with poor immune systems as we all have mites in our skin but when we have a poor immune system the mites take over causing demodex which is stinky moist spot usually around the face area but my friends yorkie has it on her back a round stinky moist spot and she uses interceptor daily as opposed to ivermectin as her yorkie got ivermectin toxicity from a derm prescribing ketoconazole and ivermectin together which you NEVER do as the ketoconazole breaks the blood barrier wall allowing the ivermectin to go straight to the brain and her yorkie went into a coma :( she is alive now but it was horrible and costly mistake this derm made :(

if this were my dog from what you are describing i would take a step back and on the next time for flea protection i would use revolution as it is for flea, heart worm and tick and it is used to rule out scabies (sacroptic mange) and much prefer that to toxic dips :( and i would do natural balance venison and sweet potato for 12 weeks there is a canned version as well to pill with. I would do this for 3 months

also if the dog was not tested for thyroid I would get that panel done as i am freaking out reading this not knowing if a thyroid panel was done and a vet giving thyroid meds as that is just nuts to me. You can have the thyroid panel done through michigan state or dr jean dodds as we see dr jean dodds and she is an expert in blood work.

I personally think it has something to do with scabies or food if steroids are not giving relief - i do not suspect demodex as demodex is not that itchy but scabies is.

Gabby has had allergies since we adopted her. I have been trying to find more natural or holistic approaches to treating her. I have yet to find the "miracle cure". lol. After reading about how much money people spend at the vets for medications that don't seem to "fix" the problem, I have been trying different treatments with a variety of results. I have tried a powder, similar to "Thorn-It" for drying out the ears. That alleviates the itching for several days, but doesn't really solve the problem. I have tried Zymox with cortisone and the ear cleaner. It seems to help, and does alleviate the itching. Benadryl upsets my dogs stomach and causes the runs. Using vinegar and water seems to do the best. I just received some Azmira Pau D'Arco (pow darko) which is a herb from South America tree bark. The trees do not grow any type of fungus and they have found it effective in the treatment of yeast infections. Will have to let you know if it works as I have just started giving it to Gabby yesterday. Azmira has other things to use with the Pau D'Arco, but I am trying one thing at a time. I also feed ZiwiPeak which is a very good food and my dogs all love it.....although it is quite costly.

ziwi peak has too many ingredients and ear infections are tied to food allergy as my allergy dog has no ear infections as on a limited ingredient diet so that is very important for a dog with allergies to be on limited ingredients

my Dakota has severe food allergies. We did the process of elemination, he had ear infections, yeast infections on his toes, eyes, skin, you name it. We are on ZD ultra and nothing and I mean nothing else. I have to put him in a separate room for feeding time because one bite of anything else sets him off. He has been on ZD for over a year now and doing well. Suki on the otherhand has allergies to who knows what, but just itchy, she will scratch so bad she bleeds. We went thru all the steroids, benedril, but the Atopica works for her. So so far were in good shape. Hang in there. Be diligent and dont give up, it takes awhile to figure out what works. Good luck to you.