Allergy testing and desensitisation in dog *another update*

[soooexcited!]

I've posted before about our spaniels dreadfully stinky sore ears. Long and sort hes been on a prolonged course of steroids with an oral antibiotic and antifungal tablet. Hes a very allergy prone dog. When I took him in November he was constantly biting his paws which are pink most of the time. He bum shuffles and shakes his head and ear scratches. The vet took one look at him then and said this is allergy based. Discussed options and said he could be sedated ears swabbed pre op bloods and ear cleaner. He did say but this wont clear the problem. The other option is allergy testing and desensitisation treatment. We are coming to the end of his steroids the ears cleared up within that first week on the antibiotics and antifungal. As the steroids are reduced to just a 1/4 tablet hes now chewing his paws which are now pink and bum shuffling. So far his ears are still pretty good. After declining the offer to wash his ears for just shy of £600 I want to go for the allergy testing as feel this may get to the the route of the problem. Hes been like a different dog on treatment. Has anyone gone down the allergy route what does it entail? Does it work any idea on cost and did insurance cover it please? I cant see any benefit in subjecting him to an ear wash if I don't get to the route of the problem. Sorry for my waffle.

[Mqt]

Have you tried changing his diet? My dog had severe allergies on her paws which she was constantly biting. She went onto James wellbeloved food (chicken I think). Within a month we’d seen an improvement and she was completely cured within 6. It might be worth looking into his diet.

[soooexcited!]

Originally Posted by Mqt

Have you tried changing his diet? My dog had severe allergies on her paws which she was constantly biting. She went onto James wellbeloved food (chicken I think). Within a month we’d seen an improvement and she was completely cured within 6. It might be worth looking into his diet.

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I've gone grain free before but hes part raw fed so the minced chicken would be grain fed too. Hes never had the paw problem until November. Nothing changed other than the heating is on more ? more dust mites.

[WhereIBelong]

Our boy is allergic to any type of fowl in his food - chicken/turkey/duck/pheasant.

He now has "Simply" - dry food - from Pets Corner - lamb suits him the best. Still has a Malaseb bath every other week and his skin is pretty clear now.

(He gets raw beef when we eat any beef.)

[soooexcited!]

I'm going to try going totally grain free and see if that helps. I've ordered the 18 day trial pack from tails.com anyone used them?

[Edie ray]

Took my dog to the vets yesterday for very sore ear, itching, scratching, chewing paws and bum shuffling

Was given Easotic for sore ear and Apoquel to stop itch, she literally stopped all itching within a couple of hours

Have to go back in 2 weeks

Talked to vet about her food and it is extremely difficult to pinpoint if it is this making her itch, she would have to go on a one food diet for 8 weeks and then introduce one more food item at a time so could take months

There was also talk about a steroid injection once a month

Will go back in 2 weeks and see what the options are

Trouble is you never get to see the same vet at our practice and they all give differing advice so will try to make sure we see the same vet as yesterday when we go back

Sorry not much help but it’s just awful when they are so uncomfortable

[danisleigh]

My friends dog had all of the same issues he went to a specialist for allergy testing and it turned out he was allergic to storage mites that live in complete dry food. She put him into raw food and/or tinned meat and he was like a different dog after that.

[soooexcited!]

Our vets rely on locums and we see a different one every time we go. This was the first one who talked sense but then seemed to back track and say his ears should be washed out swabbed again. He was swabbed before it was a mixed fungal growth cant see if being any different. I'm not a huge fan or ear irrigation because the risk of causing more problems perforation or needing it done frequently is increased. That maleseb wash is script only isn't it?

[soooexcited!]

Originally Posted by danisleigh

My friends dog had all of the same issues he went to a specialist for allergy testing and it turned out he was allergic to storage mites that live in complete dry food. She put him into raw food and/or tinned meat and he was like a different dog after that.

See more...

Theres an allergy specialist who comes in twice a month hes offered that we go and see him too. This is sounding like a better option to me.

[4fromsuffolk]

I did reply to your earlier posts, you might recall we had a Labrador with similar symptoms. We had allergy testing with her at a huge animal facility in Newmarket which we were referred to by our vet. They developed a serum for her. I can’t remember the exact costs but we think around £2,000. This was in 2008 ish. We then had to learn to inject this. I think first it was every few days, then weekly then once per month. This was covered under our pet insurance. Unfortunately it didn’t get the symptoms under control but we were glad we tried it. The only thing that worked for her was a daily steroid and 2 piriton in am and 2 in pm. We agonised about giving her a daily steroid we were worried about the long term prognosis and spent a good few months fiddling with the dose so she would have the lowest dose possible. We tried one every other day, half a day etc. Anyway this all developed around 18 months old and she lived to nearly 11. We took the view we would prefer her to have a happy shorter life than to be itchy all the time and get infections all the time. The vets did recommend a treatment called atopica which I think does something to the dogs immune system. This was a new drug at the time and would have exceeded our insurance levels quite quickly, we had a young family and not too much spare money so we declined that drug. Subsequent reading about atopica I think the side effects are quite great so I’m glad we didn’t use it.

I really feel for you it’s miserable for the dogs. You will find something that eases things for him I’m sure.