Allergies? - Page 2

Well I didn't change his food when he was on antibiotics and he did clear up. He looks to be turning pink in the ears and black on his belly again and of course he itches and has dandruff. My other GSD has always been this way on and off and I don't do anything for her anymore, it is just the way she is and she tollerates it as part of life. You wouldn't know unless you took a close look at her black thickened skin on her belly. No itching or bald spots. I'm attacking this on the male because he has been fine up till now and then bam it just happened. Wasn't sure what it was. I'd like to just do the damn tests and get an answer but I would be really pissed if I paid for testing and came up with no offender to address. I was trying to get collective answers here before talking to the vet again.

Was he on steroids too or only antibiotics? Do you give him any fatty acids like lipoderm? The fatty acids won't stop an allergic dog from scrathing, but they might keep his skin healthier in spite of the self-trauma. Dandruff is all a part of the allergic dog's profile and is the result of the condition, not the cause of. Never overlook the obvious - is there any chance he might have a flea or 2? In an allergic dog it doesn't take a whole colony of fleas to get him scratching like mad. One bite will him them off. The flea only spends a very small part of its life on the dog, so it's hard to know if a dog is exposed to just a few fleas from time to time. Maybe you are using a flea repellent, is it working? Fleas are known to build up resistance to pesticides so you might need to go with another. They are almost bionic. Just thinking out loud here. It does seem that is just a way of life for some dogs to have skin problems. Dylan scrathed day and night until his skin was traumitized and then he'd develop hot spots and secondary bacterial infections. Keflex always cleared it up, but when he was finished with that it was back to square one. The bacterial infections also causes scratching. I was lucky enough to have been taught a lot about allergies in dogs by a friend who worked in the Derm dept at the University of PA vet school. He always said jokingly that he chose dermatatology becuase the patients never died from derm problems, but most never get better either; so it was a nice turnkey business LOL. He told me that until you identify and eliminate the irritants, the reason for the scrachcing will never go away and the benefit of the antibiotics will be temporary and short lived. I can promise you that you will get the correct results from skin testing given the vet who does it is experienced in that venue. The blood tests I can't recommend based on my own experience. They are a lot simpler to do and less expensive, but so what if they don't work?

Well our first trip in he had as staph on the skin and I think they may have given steroids that time, yes a shot of something and Cephalexin with Tem P. Second trip yeast and bacteria found no steroids given. Keflex, Ketoconazole tabs and Ketochlor shampoo, Epi-Otic ear wash, Otomax ear drops, and Resichlor leave on lotion. I came out feeling like a doggy pharmacutical. Things were clearning up great wihtin and week and 2 weeks looked great. Been off the antibiotics for over a week now and is looking pink in the ears again but I havn't noticed any sign or scratching or sores or anything else, just the pinkness. The vet said that if this came back we would start on a allergy diet and go from there. I think he wanted to spare me the allergie tests in case it just went away with meds. I'm thinking I will go ahead and change to a kibble and see what that leaves me. Give him a month on that and see where we end up. I just called my feed store and they have... Taste of the Wild Venison/Bison Pinacle Duck and Potatoe or Trout and Potatoe Any good or bad stories with these feeds?

That would be what I would do for now. If the food change doesn't help, then I'd think about skin testing IF he starts to scratch again. I'd try to find a commercial food without grain as that and/or the protein source is usually what the dog is going to reaact to. Is he eating any grain now? Rice, oatmeal? I'm not familiar with any of the foods you've mentioned, but I do think they all contain grains. Innova EVO does not, but it is very "rich" so some dogs (like Blitz) don't do well on it. Good luck, you'll get it figured out sooner or later and think about how much wiser you will be when it's all over LOL.

This is what I am going to try out... All Natural Ingredients Plus Essential Vitamins & Minerals with Added Probiotics Duck Meal, Potatoes, Oatmeal, Duck, Oat Flour, Potato Fiber, Canola Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Flax Seed, Organic Quinoa, Lecithin, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Vitamin E Supplement, Bromelain, Papain, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Product, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, Zinc Oxide, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Sulfate, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Manganous Oxide, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Riboflavin Supplement (Source of Vitamin B Complex), Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Folic Acid, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Source of Vitamin B6), Thiamine Mononitrate (Source of Vitamin B1), Biotin, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite, Cobalt Carbonate. When he was on his meds I did make brown and wild rice with veggies for his morning meal. This is what I dumped his pills in and smothered in salmon oil. I also used oatmeal when I didn't have any rice made. Just add hot water, add pills and wait 5 minutes throw it at him and walla! For PM pills I wrapped in a slice of cheese. This is the grain free Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream Formula that I can also try... Ingredients Salmon, ocean fish meal, sweet potatoes, potatoes, canola oil, salmon meal, smoked salmon, potato fiber, natural flavor, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Saccharomyces cerevesiae fermentation solubles, dried Aspergillus oryzae fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid. They also have venison/bison but I did have him on Solid Gold for a feww eeks as a pup and that had bison in it, so I opted to not go there. Thier Duck/Fowl formula has chicken fat in it's ingredients so I nixed that choice sicne chicken is the main culprit if it is a food allergen at all.

I like the Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream Formula. Never heard of it, but I think I'll try to find a distributor here and feed that to Blitz. I really like the grain free part and everything else looks pretty good too. My vet friend told me that generally if a dog is allergic to beef, it will most likely also be allergic to venison, bison and all other grazing animals. He always suggested first trying duck or fish. Good idea to use a protein source he has never eaten too. Let me know how he does.

Your right the grain free is better, I should have chose that to try first and it was cheaper than the Pinnacle. Fewer ingredients is always better.

If I were going with a grainfree, fish-based product, I would go for ORIJEN - 6 Fresh Fish & Sea Vegetables---http://www.k9cuisine.com/p-51-orijen-6-fresh-fish-sea-vegetables.aspx---pricey, but top quality. also manufacturer's site: http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/products/ORIJEN6FISH.aspx I've picked up free samples of several Taste of the Wild kibbles at the feed store. They're pretty tasty and have a good aroma. However, I wonder about the fact that many of their protein sources (including fish) are SMOKED! As for kibble, I feed one dog a little Orijen Large Puppy (contains chicken) plus mostly raw. However, the other guys get EVO Red Meat (small bites) because it contains various red meats, no chicken, has a high caloric density, and is grain-free. Otherwise, as I mentioned above, there is the Honest Kitchen "Embark" (turkey based).

Is it possible he wasn't on antibiotics long enough to clear up the infection and it came back?

For Staph pyoderma; one may have to keep the dog on cephalexin for ~ 1 month. Other useful links links (copy/paste entire links on your browser): (1) http://www.vetlatranquera.com.ar/pages/wild/small_animal_75.htm (2) http://books.google.com/books?id=OxQU_cLEGd8C&pg=PA138&lpg=PA138&dq=immunoregulin+canine+dosages&source=web&ots=btIDe01NLW&sig=FOuqAgi1e_u7El2zdQQJ5Yuutr8#PPA134,M1 (3) http://www.delmont.com/product.htm (4) http://www.vetamerica.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=5050 (5) http://www.revivalanimal.com/store/p/781-ImmunoRegulin-EqStim-.aspx?&a=google&_oskwdid=1960033&gclid=cpdwnuvkppacfq8nawodbryi8g (6) http://www.nextag.com/immunoregulin/search-html?nxtg=2a1550a1c0534-34C4B3149116EBD2