Allergies??

[bryony]

Hi,
I wondered if anyone could give me any advice on allergies. My 5 year old cocker has got runny eyes and sticky scabs on his body which he itches all the time. I have taken him to the vets several times and hes had steroids, vitamins and is now on the ZD diet aswell as having bathes with medicated shampoo. However, nothing is helping :-(

Has anyone else experienced anything similar?

Thanks

Bryony

[JaspersMum]

My friends cocker has had similar and was having some expensive stuff from vets, she's had him on Yumega Plus now for the last 6 weeks or so and he's been much better and his coat is looking lovely

Has the vet done any allergy testing incase it's something specific he's allergic too?

[bryony]

Thank you for your reply.

They did general bloods and said he had slightly high calcium but that was it. I think they are going to have to do more thorough tests as i cant bear to leave him like this :-(

[coopersmum]

Poor boy Did the steroids and antibiotics not help at all? Has the vet done skin scrapings?

[JennyBee]

Brodie has problems with her ears, and most recently, her skin. She came out in these horrible scales on parts of her body (such as along the side of her face and behind her ears) and is covered in white dandruff. We were seeing a specialist about her ears and he thinks it is allergy related. He diagnosed her skin condition as primary cocker spaniel seborreah... The bad skin happened after she had been ill and was put on a food full of fillers and cereals, so I think that may have been the cause. There's been a large improvement since moving her onto a good food, but it is still an issue and she is still itchy. I would look at your food and make sure it is good quality.

My point of posting is to say it may help to be referred to a specialist if this looks like it's going to be a long term problem. It is expensive (thank goodness for insurance) but we have made more progress in three appointments with the specialist than we did with almost a year at our own vet. Our next step is allergy testing (I was hoping we wouldn't need to go ahead but it looks like she has another ear infection ).

Really hope you get to the bottom of things, it isn't pleasant seeing them like this.

[deano]

I posted over the weekend about Frankie, he developed what looked like a lump on his leg at the back, and also smalls lumps on the top of his head, this was just before xmas, after constantly using Hibiscrub I found it wasnt a lump on his leg but a groups of small crusts type sores and same on his head so he was put on a course of steroids, his leg seemed to clear but his head no better and in fact has got worse in the past 10 days, his eyes are slightly watery and he his nose red raw either side of his nostrils.  We have been back to the vet and he says it allergies, but said it could be many things, food, bedding, garden. told us the dust in the dry food can cause if if kept in a container, maybe something in the garden.  we moved back from Spain in Nov 2011 and never had a problem with him there or in the first year we have lived in this house, its literally started in December, although his food is the same, his bedding constantly washed and the only thing is maybe hes picked up something from the garden. In September we found him with a dead squirrel which we quickly got away from him so I did wonder if that has something to do with it but am sure it would have shown up before December. The vet has given him more steroids, anti fuungal gel for his head, and eye drops and told me to wash his feet in hibiscrub and if hes no better in 10 to 14 days to go back and we would have to start the testing.  It's so hard to watch them suffer with itching and licking and also when they get sore. Hopefully we can find the answers for them.

[lottiescat]

Hi, my Wheaten terrie had constant skin problems and it has turned out to be an unusual form of hypothyroidism. Hope that you can sort it.

[bryony]

Thank you all - i really appreciate you taking the time to reply.

Paddy is normally on good quality food (i was home feeding both my dogs as the other has always had food allergies and the only way i could contol it was to make him food). I have posted before about 'Honeys Dog Food' as a raw diet is supposed to be good for clearing up allergies. However you need a proper freezer to store it all in which i dont currently have, so havent been able to get it. I normally feed Lilys Kitchen but now both dogs are on the vets ZD diet which i have previously heard bad things about.

The steroids helped a little bit but not fully. I also found he was having accidents everywhere while on them which the vet said was normal as they drink more liquid while taking them.

I am not due back to the vets again until the middle of March but i just dont think the diet, vitamins or medicated shampoo are working.  I have sent his hair off to be tested by a guy who deals with holistic remedies aswell. However, I think i may have to be referred to a specialist to get to the bottom of it.

Thank you again for all your comments :-)

[ollie nathan's mum]

Poor thing, as coopers mum asked, have they done skin scrapings.?

[bryony]

No, my vet has not suggested that but i am going to go back in this week (if i can get an appointment), so will ask him about doing that then.

[deano]

our vet has told us that he doesn't like dry food at all and think that all dogs should be on a raw food diet, we have looked into it but its all a bit hard to manage at the moment.  We haven't got the room in our freezer here to store it all and until we decide what we are doing re moving etc we don't want to buy a freezer, also with 3 cockers all on different food it wouldnt be easy.  Alfie has recently been put on Natures Best as he had been suffering stomach problems and sickness so we took him off the royal canin, Louis is on Royal Canin Mobility for his hip dyplacia and joints and Frankie has been on Royal Canin the same as Alfie.   I have to watch Alfie eat his food separately as he is a very slow and fussy eater and stands looking at it until the other two come in and then he will growl at them constantly and eat little bits at a time, Louis and Frankie are fast eaters and will then go to Alfie where they sit in wait incase he leaves anything so if we were to give Frankie raw food it would be a nightmare trying to keep the other two at bay.   Allergies are such a nighmare as it could be so many things, I don't like the idea of being on steroids on and off or the fact Frankie is going to have the sore dermatitis looking sores on his head and feet.

[JennyBee]

Thank you all - i really appreciate you taking the time to reply.

Paddy is normally on good quality food (i was home feeding both my dogs as the other has always had food allergies and the only way i could contol it was to make him food). I have posted before about 'Honeys Dog Food' as a raw diet is supposed to be good for clearing up allergies. However you need a proper freezer to store it all in which i dont currently have, so havent been able to get it. I normally feed Lilys Kitchen but now both dogs are on the vets ZD diet which i have previously heard bad things about.

The steroids helped a little bit but not fully. I also found he was having accidents everywhere while on them which the vet said was normal as they drink more liquid while taking them.

I am not due back to the vets again until the middle of March but i just dont think the diet, vitamins or medicated shampoo are working.  I have sent his hair off to be tested by a guy who deals with holistic remedies aswell. However, I think i may have to be referred to a specialist to get to the bottom of it.

Thank you again for all your comments :-)

Brodie was like that on steroids too, she started leaking everywhere . I know how frustrating it is when none of the meds seem to be helping - I do think your best bet really will be with a specialist, hopefully they will be as good as mine, and find the cause quickly.

I have looked into home cooking and it may be something I do in the future. Unfortunately I have decided raw is not for Brodie (unless I went for Natural Instincts 'special diet' which is a little dear - and again I have no freezer!). As I said above, she is on a very good quality wet food now and there has been a huge improvement since she was on the Royal Canin, but there are still problems . So it's very likely we'll be back to the specialist too and facing the same tests as your boy.