For those of you who have had blood panels done for allergies...

[amaryl1ia]

Just got back from a visit to the dermatologist and sent off some blood to Heska for testing. I also asked the dermatologist about VARL but she thinks Heska has more repeatable results.

For anyone who's curious about pricing, going with either VARL or Heska would cost around $315.

In the meantime, Ruby's is switching to a home-cooked vegetarian diet for 3 weeks (along with half tablet of Zyrtec twice a day) to see if she responds any better so she can restart her food challege. I'd be happy to post the recipe if anyone is interested but it does not look like it will be at all tasty...

Thanks again for all the information, everyone! I feel like Ruby's finally on the right track to getting better

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by amaryl1ia

Just got back from a visit to the dermatologist and sent off some blood to Heska for testing. I also asked the dermatologist about VARL but she thinks Heska has more repeatable results.

For anyone who's curious about pricing, going with either VARL or Heska would cost around $315.

In the meantime, Ruby's is switching to a home-cooked vegetarian diet for 3 weeks (along with half tablet of Zyrtec twice a day) to see if she responds any better so she can restart her food challege. I'd be happy to post the recipe if anyone is interested but it does not look like it will be at all tasty...

Thanks again for all the information, everyone! I feel like Ruby's finally on the right track to getting better

yes please post it as curious to see what other dermatologists recommend as going back to ours on 4/1

[amaryl1ia]

Originally Posted by dwerten

yes please post it as curious to see what other dermatologists recommend as going back to ours on 4/1

The following is replicated in the exact format as my printout...I can't explain why certain things are underline or in caps.

Home Cooked Vegetarian Diet (no cooked meats, potato, soy/tofu, rice, corn, pasta or wheat)

ANY FLAVORED PET SUPPLEMENT (LIKE GLUCOSAMINE OR HEARTWORM PREVENTIVE) HAS TO BE SUBSTITUTED WITH A NON-FLAVORED PRODUCT.

The RATIO of food should be:
* 1 cup cooked beans (navy, white, Mung) - smash these before mixing with the other ingredients (they are hard to digest!)
* 1 cup cooked barley, lentil, or millet (if not in the current diet)
* NO MEAT
* 1 cup cooked vegetables (BUTTERNUT squash, green beans, spinach, etc. - NO starchy vegetables like corn and nothing that is in the current diet)
* A dash of salt and a tablespoon of fresh onion for flavor
* 1 - 2 tsp of olive oil

Feed 1/2 - 1 cup of the mixture a day. The guideline is that your pet should neither gain or lose weight with this diet. Be sure to switch to this diet over a few days so as to avoid soft stool or vomiting. IF HE/SHE IS HUNGRY, FEED HER MORE.

If your pet is on the diet for more than 8 weeks, we will want to add a multiple vitamin (Vitaline Hypoallergenic) daily.

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by amaryl1ia

The following is replicated in the exact format as my printout...I can't explain why certain things are underline or in caps.

Home Cooked Vegetarian Diet (no cooked meats, potato, soy/tofu, rice, corn, pasta or wheat)

ANY FLAVORED PET SUPPLEMENT (LIKE GLUCOSAMINE OR HEARTWORM PREVENTIVE) HAS TO BE SUBSTITUTED WITH A NON-FLAVORED PRODUCT.

The RATIO of food should be:
* 1 cup cooked beans (navy, white, Mung) - smash these before mixing with the other ingredients (they are hard to digest!)
* 1 cup cooked barley, lentil, or millet (if not in the current diet)
* NO MEAT
* 1 cup cooked vegetables (BUTTERNUT squash, green beans, spinach, etc. - NO starchy vegetables like corn and nothing that is in the current diet)
* A dash of salt and a tablespoon of fresh onion for flavor
* 1 - 2 tsp of olive oil

Feed 1/2 - 1 cup of the mixture a day. The guideline is that your pet should neither gain or lose weight with this diet. Be sure to switch to this diet over a few days so as to avoid soft stool or vomiting. IF HE/SHE IS HUNGRY, FEED HER MORE.

If your pet is on the diet for more than 8 weeks, we will want to add a multiple vitamin (Vitaline Hypoallergenic) daily.

thanks just did not like the onion flavor yikes as onions can make dogs anemic so i would avoid that

we used pinto beans, white potato and safflower oil or canola and they wanted her on multivitamin as we did for 12 weeks but i did without as i wanted to rule out food. She would not eat after a while so we added in ground almonds a little to add flavor as i went to whole foods and they ground them up fresh and added a little.

I hope you get some answers on this as my girl still itched while on it while not as bad she still itched and 90% of the time it is environmental

[Patti]

I had the allergy testing done on Cali and it was about 300.00 a few years ago. That was for food and environmental and the tests showed that she wasn't allergic to anything they tested for. Vet said with environmental it could be anything and they can't test for everything. We finally put her on Atopica and she has been fine since. She had scratched so much of her front hair out and her nose was scabby. The Atopica has been a miracle for her.

[amaryl1ia]

So Ruby had her blood sent off to Heska for allergy testing on April 1st but it only came back with strong positives on (1) storage mites, (2) flea saliva, (3) pigweed, (4) timothy grass, and (5) American sycamore trees out of the 48 allergens tested for. Her dermatologist was still a bit skeptical about the accuracy of these results and wanted to do an intradermal test just to be sure we had as much info as we needed before formulating the cocktail of allergens for her allergy shots that'll last 6 months ~ 1 year.

Well, that happened today and Ruby is not happy (see picture). However, we did find out that she is EXTREMELY allergic to storage mites (just like Heska's results), dust mites, yeast infections (which are caused by her allergies so it turns into a vicious cycle), and human dander! I guess I will need to cover myself up in long sleeves and pants as much as I can (Atlanta is at least 95 degrees daily right now) and stop letting her sleep with me...but who of us wouldn't do ANYthing for our babies to be itch-free and happier.

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by amaryl1ia

So Ruby had her blood sent off to Heska for allergy testing on April 1st but it only came back with strong positives on (1) storage mites, (2) flea saliva, (3) pigweed, (4) timothy grass, and (5) American sycamore trees out of the 48 allergens tested for. Her dermatologist was still a bit skeptical about the accuracy of these results and wanted to do an intradermal test just to be sure we had as much info as we needed before formulating the cocktail of allergens for her allergy shots that'll last 6 months ~ 1 year.

Well, that happened today and Ruby is not happy (see picture). However, we did find out that she is EXTREMELY allergic to storage mites (just like Heska's results), dust mites, yeast infections (which are caused by her allergies so it turns into a vicious cycle), and human dander! I guess I will need to cover myself up in long sleeves and pants as much as I can (Atlanta is at least 95 degrees daily right now) and stop letting her sleep with me...but who of us wouldn't do ANYthing for our babies to be itch-free and happier.

awe poor baby but at least you have answers and hopefully can make her better. I have an allergy baby too and it is a NIGHTMARE keep me posted on the hyposensitization shots as I may just bite the bullet and try it as that and full time home cooking are the only two things I have not done and they say in dry kibble food there are dust mites so you may want to try homecooking as well

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by dwerten

awe poor baby but at least you have answers and hopefully can make her better. I have an allergy baby too and it is a NIGHTMARE keep me posted on the hyposensitization shots as I may just bite the bullet and try it as that and full time home cooking are the only two things I have not done and they say in dry kibble food there are dust mites so you may want to try homecooking as well

I too need to bite the bullet. Even though Marcel does well on Atopica, I really don't want him on it the rest of his life and want to see if shots are an option, depending on the allergy testing results. I just can't bring myself to make that appointment and put him thru the testing...but I should...

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

I too need to bite the bullet. Even though Marcel does well on Atopica, I really don't want him on it the rest of his life and want to see if shots are an option, depending on the allergy testing results. I just can't bring myself to make that appointment and put him thru the testing...but I should...

yeah you can do skin testing done on yours too whereas I cannot as dd cannot be off the steroids for 60 days to do that testing so we will have to do the VARL testing. I think on atopica they can still do the skin testing unlike with temarilp - YOU GO FIRST LOLLLL

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by dwerten

yeah you can do skin testing done on yours too whereas I cannot as dd cannot be off the steroids for 60 days to do that testing so we will have to do the VARL testing. I think on atopica they can still do the skin testing unlike with temarilp - YOU GO FIRST LOLLLL

Yup, exactly - he doesn't have to be off of the Atopica, like they do w/ steroids, so that is really lucky. YOU go first ! Ack...I just need to *do* it...just hate anesthesia etc .

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Yup, exactly - he doesn't have to be off of the Atopica, like they do w/ steroids, so that is really lucky. YOU go first ! Ack...I just need to *do* it...just hate anesthesia etc .

It looks like they may be able to do it with just sedation...
Sounds like it may be worth it for him.

I think Atopica is a good drug, but there is way too much talk about compromised immune system and cancer surrounding it. Since it can lead to the development of cancer, it really would concern me long term.

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Yup, exactly - he doesn't have to be off of the Atopica, like they do w/ steroids, so that is really lucky. YOU go first ! Ack...I just need to *do* it...just hate anesthesia etc .

yeah with her just have to do the blood test just scared she will get worse is my biggest fear and uh giving SHOTS ughhhh that will be a first for me

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

It looks like they may be able to do it with just sedation...
Sounds like it may be worth it for him.

I think Atopica is a good drug, but there is way too much talk about compromised immune system and cancer surrounding it. Since it can lead to the development of cancer, it really would concern me long term.

yes this is why i stopped the atopica because of the big C along with her vomitting as she was on both steroids and atopica so two drugs was another reason.

My vet told me he had an owner who had a bull dog with allergies and the dog was on cyclosporine same as atopica but generic and he got cancer. Then she got another bulldog and it had allergies and it was on cyclosporine and got cancer. He said I do not know if it was just coincidence or not but he wanted me to be aware of this when i started dee dee on atopica. It was always on my mind and since it did not work real well for her I just said forget it.

If it had worked alone without steroids though I might have just kept going with it and taken the risk of cancer though as steroids have their issues too NO drug goes without risks sadly