Dog Allergies (dog with allergy).

Nesta99

Hi Folks!

I hope it is ok to ask this question here.
My dog who suffers from repeated ear infections and nearly always has sore and inflamed paws. It has been put down to some form of allergy and so has been put through an elimination diet but with limited success. The ears are treated with drops but every couple of months needs drops again and a course of prednisone, which clears up the paws too when on the course of steroids. Obviously she cant be on the prednisone constantly but at the same time she is distressed or significantly uncomfortable walking. She is 4 year old black Lab. She is of course under the care of good vet who has queried a few things like yeast infection for example.

Has anyone else had experience of this type of thing? and if so how they managed it. The ear infections are a nuisance but can be treated as needed but the paw issue is a worry just simply because it is a constant bother to the dog. She is constantly licking then and even with a lampshade collar on for a period of time to stop the licking the paws it makes little difference. We also take care as to where the dogs are walked etc. Any suggestions on management would greatly appreciated or if anyone else has experienced similar with their dog how things were done. The vet is a bit baffled herself to this is just on the off chance type inquiry.

thank in advance!!!

DBB

Hi Op,
The poor dog, that's very distressing for her and you
Has this been a lifelong problem?
Any biopsies done?
When you say exclusion diet, what exactly have you tried?
Is there any evidence of seasonality to this? eg worse in summer than winter?
What does the skin in her feet look like when it's bad? Red and raw? Any cracked skin or pus?

kathleen37

Not in relation to allergies, but, we have a cat that has suffered constant ear infections. She has polyps which don't help, but, we've just tried this

http://www.veterinaryireland.ie/images/osurnia.pdf

https://www.elancovet.com/products/osurnia/?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

It's actually only licenced for dogs, but the vet said to give it a try on the cat (half dose) as we've had no success at all with anything else.

Just gave the second dose last night, and there has already been a huge improvement in the last week. I'm really impressed and am hoping the improvement continues.

Just thought it may be worth mentioning to your vet, see what they think?

https://www.elancovet.com/pdf/cah1872-otitis-externa-client-education-sheet-2015.pdf

I found the above pdf is actually also quite helpful in regards diagnosing reoccurring ear problems.

Good luck, I hope you get your pup sorted!

tk123

Thornit might be worth a try to "fire fight" with while you try to find a permanent solution? I've only used it on ears but you can use on paws ...and bums lol! :P

I got it from Amazon myself but here's their website - http://www.thornitearpowder.com/

Nesta99

DBB wrote: »

Hi Op,
The poor dog, that's very distressing for her and you
Has this been a lifelong problem?
Any biopsies done?
When you say exclusion diet, what exactly have you tried?
Is there any evidence of seasonality to this? eg worse in summer than winter?
What does the skin in her feet look like when it's bad? Red and raw? Any cracked skin or pus?

It has been lifelong. It is all year round so not seasonal (I wish as it would be some indication). The paws are red and angry looking but not cracked and no weeping or pus. Swabs were taken from the ears and it was a yeast type infection and sorted by drops. In terms of diet - changing from feed that is bought from a pet store, home cooked type food like rice and chicken, to vet prescribed hypoallergenic (and bloody expensive stuff lol). But has made no difference. Even just kind of meat stuff with no rice, potatoes etc. We have a second dog from the same litter and would be in close contact but the other dog is fine. The vet didnt suggest a biopsy and allergy testing isnt always the most reliable. Hope this added info might help a bit, at least to understand why the throwing it out there type post. She doesnt get snacks under the table and the like and is well watched on walks and where and so on so it is a bit of a mystery. I am not sure what a biopsy of the paws would show up? It is inflammation rather than infection it seems to me. Thanks for the responses as it is much appreciated!!!!

DBB

A biopsy could/should help get a diagnosis.
I fostered a dog last year with horrible feet, biopsy revealed furunculosis, but her feet were not only sore, but stinky, cracked and infected... Yours doesn't conform to this.
I do wonder about the diet... Chicken can't be part of a canine exclusion diet as it is a big allergen for a reasonable number of dogs. I've a cousin with two lab sisters, one perfect, the other with really bad skin problems very like yours... She eventually discovered a single-protein, cereal-free dry food that has really turned things around... The protein source is kangaroo (!) but she isn't in Ireland. I'd suggest doing something along the same lines... A real exclusion diet... Don't mix protein sources, no grains at all (including rice), no chicken or beef, and vital to try a novel protein she's never had before... Duck, rabbit, turkey, game, venison, fish.. Purizon do a single protein duck-based, cereal-free food, I'm sure there are others.

Finally, your vet may want to rule in or rule out the various other immunosuppressants (other than preds) that are available now that weren't about even a couple of years ago.

muddypaws

I agree with DBB, chicken shouldn't be on an exclusion diet.

If you go for a kibble, make sure you read the ingredients really, really well. A single protein source, not chicken, and check that the kibble isn't coated in anything, some of them will be coated in poultry oil, and they might add fish for the omegas. You need to make sure it has only one protein source, and that it is clearly marked as such. JWB do that I know, but there are others out there I'm sure.

razorblunt

Hi OP,

I've a rescue, who we were watching for any skin issues (she's a Westie) and she seemed to be getting aggravated in her paws and belly and scratching a lot.
The vet advised some dogs have an allergy to mites in the grass, can't remember the exact name and apparently it goes by local names in different areas.

We washed her paws and undercarriage with Hibbie scrub, twice a week and it cleared up in 2 weeks or so. It's seasonal so the vet expected the autumn and winter months to be easier on her.

We use Wainwright's dry food too.
Combined it's made a big difference.


Can't advise much on the ears issue, except to say we had a family Westie growing up who was prone to gungy ears. Two course of ear drops (the symptoms reappeared after a few months) and he was right as rain though.

DBB

razorblunt wrote: »

The vet advised some dogs have an allergy to mites in the grass, can't remember the exact name and apparently it goes by local names in different areas.

That's harvest mites, or chiggers.
They are seasonal, only about in the warmer summer months until the first frosts. The op has already confirmed that this is a year-round issue... Pity, at least it could be dealt with if it was harvest mites, which are excruciatingly itchy

Alun

I came across a little JRT while I was on holiday who had some kind of allergy problems with his paws, and he had some very smart looking bootees on his front paws which helped a lot according to the owner. His back paws weren't as badly affected for some reason.

tk123

Somebody on a FB group I'm on used booties and a tshirt to shield the dog while they did an elimination diet - they had gotten bloods done though so knew what environmental/foods to avoid. They raw feed so a bit easier where you can just feed say plain beef, venison etc etc - you're not having to scrutinise ingrediants in raw/wet/dry completes. I tend to avoid chicken for my two and the amount of wet or dry foods and teats that'll be say duck or even salmon... but have chicken in the ingrediants!
For them they described it as finding out which protein was triggering the environmental allergy - the dog was allergic to tons of different grasses as well as different proteins so while they could work on the food they couldn't really eliminate all grass. They worked on feeding one protein at a time to find which worked out best and got there in the end. I just stocked up on some wet food for my two and zooplus have a good few single and novel protein foods so might be worth a try. If you were going down the raw route http://www.slaneypetfoods.ie/ sell single protein minces and more unusual ones so game so rabbit, venison, pheasant, different types of fish etc.

razorblunt

DBB wrote: »

That's harvest mites, or chiggers.
They are seasonal, only about in the warmer summer months until the first frosts. The op has already confirmed that this is a year-round issue... Pity, at least it could be dealt with if it was harvest mites, which are excruciatingly itchy

Harvest mites, that's it!

Can't remember what they were called here, but it was something typically Scottish and brilliantly daft.

Choc Chip

razorblunt wrote: »

Harvest mites, that's it!

Can't remember what they were called here, but it was something typically Scottish and brilliantly daft.

Berry bugs?