allergies and blood work

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by sferrini

I have heard that before, but I would think if YOU truly wanted accurate information from what I read this is the ONLY way to know exactly what Miracle is allergic to.

you can get a good idea from blood work and on an allergy group on yahoo and many have had great success with food and environmental with VARL lab so i highly recommend if you are going to spend $400 as that is what i spent on each do the full one through VARL as they swear by the food on that test yet i am still skeptical as i believe elimination diet is true way but worth a shot

the skin testing is really only if you are going to do hyposensitization shots which is 85% accurate and the reason why is you can only get about 15 things into the vile so they go with the 15 things most allergic and most likely to be in your surroundings. It is the most natural safe way but it takes a year of shots to see if it will work. It is better than steroids or atopica if it works but my concern was i had heard it can make some dogs worse - that is the one thing i did not try and sometimes regret

[dwerten]

yes steroids will give you inaccurate results and why i did both tests prior to any steroid use in my dog. I tried holistic, raw food, etc before any drugs with my dog. Drugs were last resort and i tried atopica first

remember food is 10% of the time environmental is 90% of the time but being on a limited diet does help allergy dogs not to over tax system with too much

[sferrini]

Originally Posted by dwerten

you can get a good idea from blood work and on an allergy group on yahoo and many have had great success with food and environmental with VARL lab so i highly recommend if you are going to spend $400 as that is what i spent on each do the full one through VARL as they swear by the food on that test yet i am still skeptical as i believe elimination diet is true way but worth a shot

the skin testing is really only if you are going to do hyposensitization shots which is 85% accurate and the reason why is you can only get about 15 things into the vile so they go with the 15 things most allergic and most likely to be in your surroundings. It is the most natural safe way but it takes a year of shots to see if it will work. It is better than steroids or atopica if it works but my concern was i had heard it can make some dogs worse - that is the one thing i did not try and sometimes regret

My vet uses a different lab. I already spent $130.00 on a food allergy test that is not even right. The environmental is $165.00 which if accurate I will spend. They use Greer Labs (sp??)

I know about the accuracy in the hyposensitization and the mixes as it's the same for humans, I went through it and it did not work for me, plus I had an allergic reaction to the shots so my plan is not to go that way but get ACCURATE results in what ever test I decide to perform.

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by sferrini

My vet uses a different lab. I already spent $130.00 on a food allergy test that is not even right. The environmental is $165.00 which if accurate I will spend. They use Greer Labs (sp??)

I know about the accuracy in the hyposensitization and the mixes as it's the same for humans, I went through it and it did not work for me, plus I had an allergic reaction to the shots so my plan is not to go that way but get ACCURATE results in what ever test I decide to perform.

hmmm have not heard of that one - i had two done one with spectrum and one with biomedical. You could try atopica if environmental it is safer than steroids but it is more costly - I used it with dd for a year but she started vomitting it up after a year so we went to temarilp

[sferrini]

Originally Posted by dwerten

hmmm have not heard of that one - i had two done one with spectrum and one with biomedical. You could try atopica if environmental it is safer than steroids but it is more costly - I used it with dd for a year but she started vomitting it up after a year so we went to temarilp

Well I am happy to report that Miracle's thyroid test came back good so we have not problems with her thyroid so now it's up to the dermo to find out what is going on and what she is allergic to.

Are your babies allergic to dust mites? Her previous owners said she was but I'm not sure how they new that since they NEVER had her tested and they told me that she had none of these problems when they homed her.

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by sferrini

Well I am happy to report that Miracle's thyroid test came back good so we have not problems with her thyroid so now it's up to the dermo to find out what is going on and what she is allergic to.

Are your babies allergic to dust mites? Her previous owners said she was but I'm not sure how they new that since they NEVER had her tested and they told me that she had none of these problems when they homed her.

dust mites are in kibble and yes allergy dogs are allergic to dust mites

that is great about thyroid - what was t4free as normal for a yorkie is 1.0 per jean dodds

[sferrini]

Originally Posted by dwerten

dust mites are in kibble and yes allergy dogs are allergic to dust mites

that is great about thyroid - what was t4free as normal for a yorkie is 1.0 per jean dodds

I don't have copies of all of her blood work but will get them next time I go to the vet. She doesn't eat kibble, she only eats wet food. Miracle is VERY high mainteance dog. LOL!

So what do you do with a dog that has allergies to dust mites? I'm not positive she does this is going by her previous owner who I think is a little weird and how would you know about an allergy if you says she has NEVER had this problem before she came to my house but yet she's allergic to dust mites!

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by sferrini

I don't have copies of all of her blood work but will get them next time I go to the vet. She doesn't eat kibble, she only eats wet food. Miracle is VERY high mainteance dog. LOL!

So what do you do with a dog that has allergies to dust mites? I'm not positive she does this is going by her previous owner who I think is a little weird and how would you know about an allergy if you says she has NEVER had this problem before she came to my house but yet she's allergic to dust mites!

yeah they knew and probably why they gave her up allergies are very frustrating and there is no real cure sadly just try to keep the dog comfortable is all you can do - I know i have tried everything just about but hyposensitization and spent 8k over 5 years getting the best of everything and that does not include the 2k brand new carpet i pulled out, the oreck air purifiers, the hypoallergenic filters, the 5k laminate floors i had put in - you name i have done it all - again allergies are the worst i have dealt with HATE IT

[sferrini]

Originally Posted by dwerten

yeah they knew and probably why they gave her up allergies are very frustrating and there is no real cure sadly just try to keep the dog comfortable is all you can do - I know i have tried everything just about but hyposensitization and spent 8k over 5 years getting the best of everything and that does not include the 2k brand new carpet i pulled out, the oreck air purifiers, the hypoallergenic filters, the 5k laminate floors i had put in - you name i have done it all - again allergies are the worst i have dealt with HATE IT

We use the hypoallergenic filters because of my allergies, always have. Am looking into pulling up the carpets (their old and we wanted to do it anyway) in the living room and putting down laminate. The carpet in the family room will eventually come up and berber will do down but for now we have an air purifier down there.

What is the name of the yahoo group you belong too?

and yes, I agree, I do believe they knew. They were actually the handlers and gave away 3 yorkies- Miracle being one of them because they were moving down to Florida.

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by sferrini

We use the hypoallergenic filters because of my allergies, always have. Am looking into pulling up the carpets (their old and we wanted to do it anyway) in the living room and putting down laminate. The carpet in the family room will eventually come up and berber will do down but for now we have an air purifier down there.

What is the name of the yahoo group you belong too?

and yes, I agree, I do believe they knew. They were actually the handlers and gave away 3 yorkies- Miracle being one of them because they were moving down to Florida.

yeah i believe they knew

the group is allerdog and it is on yahoogroups.com

there is alot of info there but each dog is so unique and trial and error one thing at a time is what i have learned -- I posted a bunch of info on a thread so i will go link that now so you can see how i would approach things

[dwerten]

ok i really went in depth on this thread

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...y-what-do.html

[sferrini]

Originally Posted by dwerten

yeah i believe they knew

the group is allerdog and it is on yahoogroups.com

there is alot of info there but each dog is so unique and trial and error one thing at a time is what i have learned -- I posted a bunch of info on a thread so i will go link that now so you can see how i would approach things

Great1 thank you. Yes, I do believe each dog just as each person, I myself have dealt with allergies since I was 5 years old and they have only gotten worse as I have gotten older. I do allergy shots for many years and they did me no good. As with dogs, they can only put so much into a vial and since I am allergic to every tree, weed, grass out there not including pets, flowers, food etc. it's almost impossible to treat mine.

I have gone on various types of meds. some work, some don't some I can no longer take because I am either allergic to them or my body becomes immuned to them. Most of the time, I can not smell anything unless I am on antibiotics and predisone. My skin is very sensitive and gets dry in the winter. I will usually have a rash/hives once a year but am lucky have not been hospitalized in over a year.

So anyway, I know quite a bit about human allergies and I can say that our furbabies are not that far off.

[sferrini]

Originally Posted by dwerten

ok i really went in depth on this thread

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...y-what-do.html

AHH!! yes, I already read this link but thank you for posting. I believe that is where I first heard about the coconut oil.

[sferrini]

Originally Posted by dwerten

ok i really went in depth on this thread

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...y-what-do.html

is there a certain brand or type of coconut oil I should look for? Can you get it at Whole Foods?

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by sferrini

Great1 thank you. Yes, I do believe each dog just as each person, I myself have dealt with allergies since I was 5 years old and they have only gotten worse as I have gotten older. I do allergy shots for many years and they did me no good. As with dogs, they can only put so much into a vial and since I am allergic to every tree, weed, grass out there not including pets, flowers, food etc. it's almost impossible to treat mine.

I have gone on various types of meds. some work, some don't some I can no longer take because I am either allergic to them or my body becomes immuned to them. Most of the time, I can not smell anything unless I am on antibiotics and predisone. My skin is very sensitive and gets dry in the winter. I will usually have a rash/hives once a year but am lucky have not been hospitalized in over a year.

So anyway, I know quite a bit about human allergies and I can say that our furbabies are not that far off.

well i believe we get them for a reason so maybe she is with you as you can help her as you know alot about it I am glad she now has a good home