Meat, fleas, pollens allergies, what now? Help please… Becky’s newer skin condition… - Page 3

don't know if it maters but the veggies (and fruit) we gave her were:
Carrots, Broccolis (just the top side and in small quantity), Spinaches and Pumpkins (especially the carrots and the pumpkin was almost 100% not digested...)
apples and bananas for desert

Finaly! Becky photos...

Belly:

Chest:

Inside the ear: (the ear is getting better with the Conofite)

Muzzle:

Have you been able to rule out flea allergy yet?
A lot of years ago I owned a dog with several allergies. He was fine on Prednisolon. During the time of coat change when it became worse he got a cortison-shot. Made his life a lot better - it´s very often simply not able to avoid all the stuff they are allergic to.

We (us and the vets) are almost certain now that this is a severe allergic reaction to fleas and pollens... Flávio is at this moment taking her to the vet to check how is she and do the additional testing.

We repeated the bath with malaseb and this time it looks that it got a little bit better, the more aggressive spots are starting to dry out...

The weather isn't helping... We are almost in Christmas and the fireplace still was not use! Are having days with 20ºC and more... And we had about a week of rain this winter... So fleas and pollens are still everywhere... So Becky is now living in a little plastic bubble =( we can't take her anywhere, no walks in the woods, no training (the training camp is surrounded by poplars and cedars trees) and as much as we work with her inside she is a pile of energy and super stress out.. what doesn't help her get better... today we have to go to Lisbon so we will take her at least in the city she wont be exposed to so much of all of these...

Sorry about the outflow... just very sad with all of these...

Thanks,
Ana

Ana, sorry to hear your troubles but there is light at the end of the tunnel. I'm limited on time today so see if the search engine will pull up some previous threads I've commented on with suggestions for cheap supplements etc - search TIG and allergy.
Often tho not always dog's skin issues are caused by the treatments we are giving them in all good faith and we end up on what I call the hamster wheel - just when you think it's covered something new or old pops up. A couple things to keep in mind and two quick stories of two dogs I faced this issue with. The skin is actually and organ and it is the bodies largest organ. Often what we see as skin issues are simply the bodies way of spitting something bad out of it tho if she does has epi issues that may just be complicating things since she is not getting enough nutrition. For now I would not test for epi but would start a light dose of the enzyme supplement - see if someone on one of the epi lists would share a small bottle of the powder. The reason for this is irregardless of the epi status her body is in crisis and could use all the support she can get - I have done this on a temporary basis b4 for ill dogs. Only use the pancreatic enzymes NOT the plant based ones. Use the powder not the tablets so you can micro control the amount. Start very small - too much enzyme will cause diarehha and mimic an epi problem.
Also plain black tea rinses are soothing to the skin (leave on) and also the judicious use of Selsun Blue or a tar shampoo can help skin issues (tar and sulfur old fashioned remedy).Quercetin can help with the itching - it is a bioflavonoid that falls into the might help won't hurt category. next post will be re my experience

Had a longcoat that ended up on the hamster wheel all due to a mismanaged ear infection (on the vets part). At one point based on a biopsy I was told he had pemphigus an autoimmune condition . Well guess what - NOPE. Presented w/ ear issue - vet gave a shot of prednisolone (to reduce inflammation) and prescribed antibiotic for infection. First problem is vets give pred not for the dog but for the owner. The dog will TEMPORARILY perk up and seem to feel better (hello it is a steroid what a boost) so the owner feels better. Second problem giving pred in the presence of infection is like lighting a match to gasoline. Result dog ends up on long term heavy antibiotic (Baytril or nowadays Clavamox or similar). Result long term antibiotic use opens the body up to yeast and fungal infections and dog w/ ear problems now is diagnosed with allergies or fleas or both due to widespread skin issues. (Had one vet insist Nemo had skin issues due to flea allergy even w/ no evidence or presence of fleas and totally ignoring the fact he was a pituitary dwarf who did not make enough growth hormone. Kept insisting she was an expert in it - ah no. One visit vet) So now we have wide spread skin issues from yeast/fungal(often malassia - my dog actually had the "elephant skin" at one point) - DUE TO THE MEDS NOT AN ALLERGY. In comes the heavy guns to treat the fungals which unbalances the body even more and while the fungals may TEMPORARILY go away back come the bacterial infection w/ gets treated with pred and... so now you are on the hamster wheel all the while trying to figure out what the cause was.
Now comes the tough part. My recommendation is to get off the hamster wheel. Most people won't because I will tell you even going cold turkey - it will get worse before it gets better because the body has to spit out the bad stuff. No more pred no matter how tempting. Support w/ good nutrition and supplements - fish oil is essential as are selenium and zinc but be careful on dosage of last two. Use soothing black tea rinses or tar/sulfer shampoos on a limited basis. Quercetin for itching or occasional use of benedryl. Do make sure you are flea free - you got great suggestions. If possible go as chemical free as possible - no collars no monthly posion. If she has periodic ear problems get Red Earth Nature's ear Oil. Drop in a few drops directly into ear and massage. with Mike, my coat I started 2-3 times a day and slowly moved to once a day, once a week, every other week etc until we were at maintence which was once every 3-4 months If treatment is not needed just a rinse for dirt use a very dilute white vinegar and water solution or a citric based cleaner - no need for heavy duty prescription cleaners. The good news is following the more natural treatment program we came back out into the sunshine of no problems. No pemphigus, allergies, skin issues - nada. I did have to keep an eye on the ears because they had been so badly mismanaged (a ruptured ear drum at one point) but the red earth worked real well. So it is possible but of course each dog's issues are individual especially what leads up to them and the genetics so what works for your girl may be different. Have you checked with he breeder to see if there are any thyroid ,allergy or autoimmune issues in her lines - all highly inheritable. I had the good fortune of knowing 4 generations of the dogs in Mike's pedigree with none of those issues rearing their ugly heads which gave me the courage to try something different.

Hello,
I am so sorry for you and your G.S.D. I understand how you feel your and the end of help for your dog,hang in there.I have a Reg.German Showline bred Shepherd that has EPI,Allergies,and skin issues during the Fall.
I have had great luck starting from the website WWW.K9 Canine Global.com,I use 1 teaspoon of the dried Pancreatic Enzyme Concentrate,place on his dry kibble(Natural Balance) Lamb/rice L.I.D,add a half of cup of canned Green Tripe.then I ad very warm water,stir,then let sit covered for no less or more then 30 minutes before serving to my dog.I have found if I stick to this feeding and ONLY an hour before and an hour after this meal,I can give my dog a single source meat treat.Also,when and if I can find it,I give him raw cow pancreas or pig.I cut it up into very small pieces as to mix with his dry kibble and some of the Green Tripe and can serve this right away with great results.I also had the RAST test done for Allergies! This I would highly recommend for the help in the results. My dog is doing so well I have to watch his weight and my vet  told me she has never seen an over weight EPI dog.
I also keep in the freezer,frozen pancreas in smaller baggies for a back up if I run out of the dry pancreatic powder.I use PancrePlus. This has worked well for my dog.
I wish you luck and for your dog.
Storm Von Rainier "Woof Woof"!

Last post I promise. Re the food issue. I long ago learned with my first shepherd - you feed what works for that dog. At one point we had a mutt - collie/golden retriever. You know the mutts who are supposed to be magically healthier than purebreds. This dog was allergic to virtually every known food for man or beast but we finally found something that worked.

Years later, I had gotten her in to a new vet with a fondness for old dogs since she was adr and current vet was like well she's old. At the time I think eleven or twelve but lived to almost 17. New vet asks what we feed. Me - I don't dare tell you. After a bit of a go around I fess up. She ate a can of Alpo mixed with cornflakes once a day. This was back in the days when opening a can of Alpo was like walking into a rendering plant. Ah gad the smell. Being a laconic New Englander he ruminated on this for awhile finally saying , well I suppose the cornflakes offer some small amount nutrition - totally dissing the Alpo but you know for that dog it worked and that's the point. Do what works for your dog even if the literature says it shouldn't. Listen to you dog.

Good luck. Keep us posted and here's praying that you find what works for Becky. Beth

Sorry duplicated for some reason.

Hi, thanks for the comments and tips, and mostly thanks for sharing with me your own experiences... we learn a lot with our own mistakes but I do believe it is possible to learn with others experiences.
Tig, we did for a while the tar shampoo when she was younger and it works very well with the food allergy symptoms. But it does not work with this problem...

Becky is actually getting a lot better and we (the vet) have figured out what is wrong... her immune system is having troubles working as it should, it reacts to hard to the allergies and she was being affected by 2 different contact allergies, pollen and fleas, and to little to fungus and mites, and we finally found something about her ears, she has again developed fungus (malasesia, that is why the malaseb shampoo got her a bit better) this time concentrated inside her ears.
But there is good news in all this... without any other medication than the spray and the capstar she is getting better not only with the allergies but the fungus is also diapering by himself. Our vet don't want to give her any meds, we wants to give her a change to recover by herself... and she is getting getter so right now we are just waiting...