Meat, fleas, pollens allergies, what now? Help please… Becky’s newer skin condition… - Page 1

Pedigree Database

Premium classified

This is a placeholder text
Group text

Premium classified

This is a placeholder text
Group text

Premium classified

This is a placeholder text
Group text

Premium classified

This is a placeholder text
Group text

AnaSilva

by AnaSilva on 20 November 2015 - 19:11

So as some of you know, my dear Becky has really bad allergies… At first it was only meat… She started to lose weight, she was about 4 almost 5 months, she got really itching, diarrhea (sometimes, at the worse she got with blood), her ears start to get inflammations and then gets really bad and at the worse even started to have blood as the “pimples” popped , the allergies tests are really expensive so we did a elimination diet with the vet, just rice and chicken, and with Becky it immediately got worse, passed on to rice and fish (whitefish and salmon) and it stabilized.. Then we passed to a meat free kibble, and EVERITHING went away. Since that we have tried different meats, tried chicken, lamb, beef and rabbit, and she reacted to it all.
At the star of the summer, 5 or 6 months ago, she started to have this red marks on her belly, legs and hair lost mainly on her legs belly and chest area, we went immediately to the vet, as she just had a yeast infection (malassezia) and we were thinking it might be back. The vet concluded that she was doing a pollen allergy…
About 2 or 3 months ago, she started itching again… back to the vet… She had some spots all over her body, but the itching was mainly on her rear legs, just over the tail, and in her harm pits. She also had some flea drops (couldn’t find even one flea, but there were droppings) so she was doing a flea allergy…
The vets are amazing! They know we don’t have much money (none right know lol) so they don’t push her to tests and more tests, she have done a lot of skin scraping looked into, never found anything wrong (just when she had the yeast infection, also hade mites) but it was treated and never had it again. We are trying to gather the money to do the blood test for allergies. But through the symptoms and scrapings and looking into her they always got it right and were able to treat her…
Know, there is a new problem…
She got even more itching, located everywhere but mainly on her chest, belly, chin and legs, and lost, one day she was fine the next she was like this, almost all her fur in the top side of her muzzle (from the nose until the eyes) and around the eyes. Re-appeared the skin infection, with spots everywhere, and appeared some horrible red popping spots on her belly… The hair lost and the not gaining weight (she is not skinny but we wanted her to gain some weight) lead us to think about Leishmaniasis, we live in a really hot area of the disease, and although we always protected our dogs against it, we were scared, so did lab test, the results were negative, Becky does not have it, thank God, she is now being medicated to allergies, she is taking 1 Atarax (Hidroxizina) pill every 12 h. But she is not getting any better…
The vet talked about a thyroid problem that is very common on GSD, but they usually get very very fat and lazy, meaning the opposite of Becky…
It is really dark now (dam winter days) so the pictures are not the greatest, but tomorrow I will take some more to post here.
Help… What is wrong with Becky? We are considering a dermatologic vet consultation, but it is really expensive and we really can’t right now… Anyone recognize the problem? We really trust our vets, but they are not sure also, because the symptoms can be related to a huge number of problems… We are now just trying and guessing…
Thanks for the help.
Ana

AnaSilva

by AnaSilva on 20 November 2015 - 19:11

An imageAn image


dragonfry

by dragonfry on 20 November 2015 - 21:11

Did you look into hyperthyroid? Which makes it had for the dog to gain weigh, poor skin, low tolerance to just about anything. Poor hair coat, easily attacked by fungal infections? Or maybe she is immunocomprised? Some dogs just have all the bad luck.
As a retired groomer my suggestion would be try Malasab shampoo. It helps with the bacterial and fungal infections. Gives the dog some relief.
Ask the vet again about the thryiod.
Fry

by Living Fence on 21 November 2015 - 01:11

Given the areas most affected (belly, chest, legs, face in areas where paws wipe face) a contact allergy comes to mind. Floors and grounds she lies on, inside and/or outside.
Inside: Carpets? Carpet treatment? Cleaners? Floor wax? Her bedding, fabric softener?
Outside: Grass? Mulch? Any plant she lies on?

It could be so many things, this is just one possibility.

PS Armpits and area just above the tail are typical for flea bite allergies indeed. How did you treat the fleas? Topical on the dog? Environment, could there still be flea larvae? Any poisons/pesticides used?


by Living Fence on 21 November 2015 - 01:11

More on contact allergies:
More possible contact allergens:
Lotions on human hands (belly rubs, petting)
Nickel (collar and harness hardware), chrome (leather tanning)
Rubber/latex - rubber flooring in gyms and dog training space

by Paws4awhile on 21 November 2015 - 05:11

Did you have the "RAST" blood test done? It is very through and here in WA state was only $225. Go to www..vetallergy.com. I am really happy I did this test.It is from SPECTRUM Labs.It was a life saver for my 3 dogs.! You will get a booklet with your dos name on front cover,they do all the leg work to find what foods your pet can eat,dry food,canned,treats,so you do not have to spend hours looking at labels. I have found each vet clinic is different on there cost on this test,so ask around. One of my dogs is allergic to human dander,dust mites,Kapok(fillers in comforters),nylon collars,cat hair and so on.They test for Grasses,Weeds

AnaSilva

by AnaSilva on 21 November 2015 - 13:11

dragonfry yes the vet is thinking about a thyroid problem, it's the next thing on the list right after the allergies... We still have some Malaseb shampoo left will try to see if it improves... And yes we have already concluded that Becky is the most unlucky dog in the world... Thanks for the advice!
Living Fence we have been able to diagnose some contact allergy, like the fleas and the pollens, and are thinking about a mite allergy also, but the test for mites didn't accuse anything... Inside is mostly tile with some carpets, but actually not many, Outside her bed/house is wood and the rest of the place is also tile. Where we train and walk her there is always lots of fields and many types of grass/plants...
We treat the fleas, ticks and mosquitos usually with advantix or Sacalibor, and every other mounth we dust the area with a dust solution of Carbaril 5%.
Thanks for the tips, and will remember the vet about that carpet thing ;)

Paws4awhile thanks for caring, we are trying to get money to do the blood allergies test =S waiting on the Christmas aid to try to be able to pay it...

___
It was just brought to my attention by PM the EPI, Becky is not that thin but she actually always has really pasty poo... Never thought much about it so didn't even mention it to the vet... Can it be? I'm at work now so can't take the pictures, and my vet Is only back on Monday. Can what we always thought as meat allergies be this intolerances caused by this disease?

AnaSilva

by AnaSilva on 21 November 2015 - 13:11

this is not becky, but her skin gets sometime like this but also have black spots Confused Smile

An image


alienor

by alienor on 21 November 2015 - 14:11

The cheapest (since you don't have much money) and easiest first step is to stop contaminating the environment the dog lives in with pesticides (Carbaryl) in addition, stop treating the dog with the fea treatments. There are other ways to treat fleas and ticks that do not harm the dog, your family, and other forms of life. There are many examples of flea treatments causing the symptoms you describe and worse. In this forum and all over the web.

Here is the rub: applying chemicals is easy. Treating insect infestations without them takes more of your time.

Second point:  Many vets are wonderful people who really care about your dog.  However they make money off of chemical treatments and they are taught in school that this is the only way.  Just factor that into your thinking. 

I really do hope you find the solution to your problem.  It must be heartbreaking to see your dear dog in such a state. 

Ssee bolded line below and picture how close to the ground your dog is, lying in the chemical. The stuff gets trapped in the fur.  She rolls, scratches, rubs it in further.  This may not be total solution to your problem.  However it is a first step that will cost you nothing to try.

Excerpt From Toxipedia.org

"...As a cholinesterase inhibitor, however, carbaryl can have serious acute health impacts on mammals, despite the rapid metabolism process. According to the EPA, occupational exposure to carbaryl can result in nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, coma, and difficulty breathing (EPA). Likewise, laboratory tests in mice, rabbits, and guinea pigs indicates that the chemical can have a severe acute impact on some mammalian organisms (EPA).The oral LD50 in rats can range from 250 mg/kg to 850 mg/kg, and dermal values are somewhat similar (EXTOXNET). Like other mammals, humans are affected by carbaryl via skin contact, ingestion, and inhalation. Acute human symptoms, given a large enough exposure, can also include burns, irritation, and stomach cramps; however, as noted above, the severity of the symptoms is dependent on the route of transmission


by Living Fence on 21 November 2015 - 15:11

Carbaryl? Ouch! Carbaryl has been demonstrated to interfere with the function of the thyroid gland and the pituitary gland. I would stop that immediately, as alienor already suggested.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13206-010-4201-1#/page-1
Quote:
"It induces thyroid dysfunction by acting as a thyroid receptor (TR) antagonist and altering the circulating levels of THs; it increases triiodothryonine (T3) levels."

The photo looks classically like flea bites. The feces of fleas look like black granules. They consist mostly of partly digested blood. When you place these black crumbs on a wet paper towel, they dissolve into a reddish/brownish blotch.

Are you familiar with the life cycle of fleas? The adult female sucks blood on the host and lays eggs on the places where the host rests. Larvae hatch from these eggs and feed on the blood rich feces, the black crumbs that you see.

So it is important to make a list of all the places where your dog lies down, whatever they may be, a list of the usual: her bedding, the sofa, favorite spots both on carpeted and non carpeted areas. And clean these in a way that does away with the flea eggs and larvae.

It is near impossible to get flea larvae out of carpeting. As hard as it may sound, the most effective is to remove all carpeting. You can roll it up and seal it for a year or two (how long depends on temperature). If she is allowed on human furniture, stop it as it is difficult to deflea. Her bedding should be washable at high temperatures. Toss out what isn't, incl. foam mattresses etc. Wash bedding at least once a week (more often if you live in a hot climate; the rate of insect development is temperature dependent). If there are any spaces/gaps/cracks in the floor (e.g. between planks of wooden flooring, between floor and doorsteps), it is another place for larvae to sit safely. Clean out any such gaps.

Dusting with an insecticide does not break the life cycle of fleas. It affects the health of dogs and humans though.

There is only a point in treating the dog herself if the environment is cleaned in that way at the same time. Once I have everything cleaned, I give them a Capstar tablet. That only kills the adult fleas on the dog at that point, the rest is taken care of by clearing eggs and larvae and its harboring spaces in the house.

By 'cleaning' I don't mean a house is 'dirty'. A very clean house can harbor plenty of spaces for flea eggs and larvae. It takes understanding the life cycle and habits of fleas to target the cleaning at them.

A flea infestation is a terrible pain. BUT if your dog's problem is indeed a flea bite allergy and a likely carbaryl induced thyroid imbalance, it is something that with knowledge and effort can actually be resolved. I can't overemphasis stopping the Carbaryl treatments though. Best of luck to you and your dog!

 

 






 


Contact information  Disclaimer  Privacy Statement  Copyright Information  Terms of Service  Cookie policy  ↑ Back to top