[Charles B]

Over the past year we have fostered and adopted a Golden that’s got some pretty nasty allergies.

We have him eating Zignature Kahatoo and Venison. I see that a Goat and Quail just came out. Hoping to try theses as well.

Anyway he does have some food sensitivities, and when he came to use on Kirkland Grain Free Chicken he was a walking Yeast infection. We got that sorted and after lots of trial and error got him on his current food. It’s still not perfect, and if we give him the wrong treat he’ll start kicking st his face and lick between his toes till they bleed.

He loves being outside sun bathing in the grass. He also loves to eat grass. He’s part cow. He will bathe, grab a mouthful of grass, then roll on his bag chewing till he’s ready for some more.

He’s been on Apoquel for 7-9 months now off and on. On a good day we can give 8mg and be fine. On a bad day we are on 32mg a day. Now that spring is here we are on 16 morning to deal with the allergies.

Is there another route we should be perusing? We can’t force him to stop eating grass so we would like to figure another way around it.

Apoquel is $2.39 a day for us, do $71 a month in pills.

[Susan]

Hi Charles,
sounds like my boy he’s part cow as well, Patch has IBD, Evironment Allergies & Food Sensitivities, Patch has stopped eating heaps of grass these last 2months since I changed his medication for his acid reflux, I think the Prilosec was making him feel sick & then he’d eat & eat grass, also after he ate certain kibbles like TOTW he’d go outside & eat heaps of grass, since I changed his diet most of the grass eating has stopped, his vet said only let him eat about 1 min worth of grass then stop him, when he eats too much grass it was causing diarrhea, the grass clears him out also too much long grass can get tangled causing a blockage, I watch a Vet TV show & there was a Labrador he did the same would eat & eat grass all day long then 1 afternoon the dogs mum came home early from work lucky cause she noticed her dog he didn’t come to great her like he normally does when she comes home, she found him in real bad pain outside, she rushed him to the vets & he had bloat, when vet operated he found what look like a big ball of wool but it was a big ball of grass all tangled together in his bowel vet removed it…..
now I make sure Patch doesnt go over board with his grass eating, he only eats & eats grass if something is really wrong with his stomach/bowel then I bring him inside & give him 5mls Mylanta or a Quick Eze & he feels better then goes to sleep, are you sure your dog isn’t feeling unwell in stomach? has he always been a heavy grass eater?

I have found baths the best as soon as Patch is really bad with itchy skin & red itchy paws normally around every 5 days thru the hotter months he gets a bath in Malaseb medicated shampoo, the bath & Malaseb relieves his itch & washes off any allergens on his paws & skin, when I dont feel like bathing him, I ge the baby wipes Coconut Oil or the Cucumber & Aloe wipes & wipe him down & wipe his paws, this Summer in Australia was the worst Summer I’ve had with Patches allergies, I dont know if its cause we moved, vet said it is & we dont have CADI injection yet in Australia…..
Have a look at “Cytopoint Injections” given every 4-8 weeks depending on dog & his allergies, Zoetisus are the makers of Apoquel make Cytopoint after so many dogs were having side effects with the Apoquel, Cytopoint is suppose to have less side effects, you could give it a try & see..
https://www.zoetisus.com/products/dogs/cytopoint/

[anonymous]

Please visit a board certified veterinarian asap for testing/diagnosis/treatment.

It’s been a year/4 seasons without significant results by the regular vet.

Do not give over the counter meds/supplements or apply ointments, creams that are not intended for veterinary use unless advised to do so by a veterinarian that has examined your dog.
See my posts:
/forums/search/atopic+dermatitis/

Intradermal skin testing done by a veterinary dermatologist.
/forums/search/environmental+allergies/
Good luck
PS: The initial testing can run about $800. the solution for allergen specific immunotherapy can run about $200 or more maybe 3 times a year. We just see the dermatologist once a year for a checkup. Otherwise he is available by phone and will talk to the regular vet if need be.
The treatment is lifelong, but it is natural, similar to the allergy shots people get to desensitize. No prednisone. Don’t get me wrong, it can take up to a year to kick in, but we saw results right away. They can still have flare-ups but they tend to be mild.

[Charles B]

Wow my spelling was horrible in my first post… Blame my phone.

Anyway, Tex has always been a grass eater. And he has a stomach of steel. We don’t believe he has stomach upset. Ive treid giving him some doggie supplements to help regulate him, but saw no change at all. We actually just tried the SeaMeal from SolidGold, and that makes his allergies much much worse.
https://www.solidgoldpet.com/product/seameal/

When we first took foster the vet perscribed us creams, cleaning wipes, and powders for him. When we cleared his infection we went through a different allergy med every 3 weeks for about 3 months. We did get a Cytopoint Injection. It lasted for about 2 weeks and then we were back to severe itching. On the injection the itching never fully subsided, but i was improved. The Apoquel works, and it works very well. He does get blood work every 6 months to monitor on it.

We were considering going back and pursuing a request for a dermatologist, or atleast restarting the Cytopoint injections.

[anonymous]

“We were considering going back and pursuing a request for a dermatologist, or at least restarting the Cytopoint injections”.

Sounds good. Best of luck

PS: The grass eating may be related to his environmental allergies. Environmental allergies can also play havoc with the gastrointestinal system. He is probably eating the grass in an attempt to alleviate an upset stomach, nausea and such.
Also, most supplements are a waste of money.
Regarding that solid gold supplement, did you read the ingredients?
A fish oil capsule would do the same thing (check with your vet first)

[Charles B]

anon,

We have used fish oil capsules in the past and they seem to always trigger toe licking, so we wanted to try getting him the benefits without the fish.

[anonymous]

dried seaweed meal, flaxseed meal, dried lemon, pineapple and other nutritious and wholesome ingredients.

Here’s the thing, seaweed meal would probably have the same adverse effects as fish oil, fish eat seaweed.

Anyway the only thing fish oil may help with is dry skin (as far as skin conditions go). That’s it.

[anonymous]

Hope this helps:
/forums/topic/getting-to-the-bottom-of-frenchies-itchiness/

Supplements are not medication.
Check the fine print there is usually a disclaimer.
“This product is not intended to diagnose, cure, or treat” or something to that effect, in other words, the product is useless.

[Charles B]

anon,

A friend mentioned that if our dog is allergic to grass, they would also have an intolerance to Alfalfa meal. I noticed that most foods have alfalfa meal in it, as does the Zignature he is currently on.

Would one consider that to be possible/true?

[anonymous]

No, that is incorrect.

Most environmental allergens are airborne or caused by skin contact. There are literally thousands of grass, weed,
and tree allergens. Not to mention dust, wool, cotton. The list goes on and on.
Avoidance doesn’t work.

Your friends may mean well, but they are not veterinary healthcare professionals.

Either go to a veterinary dermatologist or work very closely with your current veterinarisn.

My dog’s a!lergy solution lists 20 allergens, allergen specific immunotherapy, it’s the best.

This is not the place (internet forums) to seek veterinary medical advice.

Lots of bogus information. Obviously you did not look at the links I provided.

[CockalierMom]

Charles,
SeaMeal contains digestive enzymes and that is what made your boy much worse. Zignature is a dense food, not as easily digestible and does not contain probiotics-this is why he does better on it. You are going to need to stay away from anything that makes food more digestible.

What other supplements have you tried?

[Charles B]

Primarily the NuPro All Natural Dog Supplment and the Joing and Immunity support.

We are setup to go to the vet this weekend.

Our other current battle is deal with with the fact he has severe feet issues after taking any kind of heart worm medication. We give him Apple Cider Vinegar instead of a flea/tick as it also triggers feet issues.

[CockalierMom]

Both of those products also have digestive enzymes so they would have made him worse. My allergy girl is like this and I understand what you are going through. She also does not tolerate probiotics that have a prebiotic in them either.

I have been able to use plain Heartguard with only a slight increase in itchiness for a couple of days, and use Advantage topical every other month for fleas.

[Blaire S]

I used to bathe my german shepherd anywhere from 5 to 10 days, depending on itchiness. I used a sulfur shampoo for dogs, but head & shoulders dry scalp worked also. Back then, there was a spray called Gentocin that really helped his hot spots and feet. I think there is a new, better product. When his skin began to ooze and get pink (not a full on hot spot) one spray and in 20 minutes it calmed down.
I also did a skin test for allergies, I think it helped but not cheap. At least it gave me a tool for label reading!

[Charles B]

Adding some closure to this post, we had him allergy tested today.

On a 0-4 scale:
D.Farinae 4
D. Pteronyssinus 4
Connon 3
Curvularia 3
Penicillium Chrys. 3
White Poplar 3
Hickory 3
Ash 3
Johnson Grass 3
Rye Grass 4
Sweet Vernal 3
Pigweed 3
Ragweed 4

We also found him to have yeast present under his nails… again, so back to a antifungal.

We had allergy shots developed for him that we started today, that we are directed to give him for the rest of his life.

Im also pulling him off of Zignature per our vets recommendation and putting him on the hypo RC for 6 months.

[anonymous]

Are we talking about intradermal skin testing done by a veterinary dermatologist?
If so, you won’t regret it.
My little dog has been on immunotherapy times 5 years with excellent results.
It’s confusing at first, then it becomes routine.
Best of luck.

[Charles B]

anan101, Yes – from a Animal Dermatologist. Took us almost a month to get an appointment.

They tested 64 different allergens and he came in at 13. It wasnt terribly expensive… with the 2 month supply of starter shots/first strong doses, a month of apoquel 16mg tablets, and a month of antifungal we made it out for <$700

[anonymous]

I am so glad that you got a positive result from consulting a specialist 🙂

It is what it is, allergies just don’t go away but there is effective treatment.

Now, the next step, avoid vaccines, talk to your vet, ask about a medical waiver for the rabies vaccine.

[anonymous]

Posted in the wrong thread/delete

[Jack M]

You may need to try several different limited-ingredient diet foods. Your dog could be allergic to the potato, the rabbit, or something else in that particular brand. Try a different brand with completely different protein and carb source.

It takes a lot of time to try a diet. You need about a week to switch. Then, you need to spend 2 or 3 weeks on a diet before you know it will work. It’s kind of frustrating when you don’t get immediate feedback. You have to wait for the reaction to the old food to subside before drawing a conclusion.

One of my dogs is very allergic to chicken and somewhat sensitive to rice. When she was on commercial food, she could eat food with fish, lamb, and potato.

Now that she’s on a raw diet, she gets lamb, goat, beef, mackerel, and canned salmon without any itching issues. I accidentally gave her a ground organ blend that included some chicken and the itching came back.

https://ecopetlife.com/best-food-german-shepherds-skin-allergies/

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