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-   -   Skin Irritation (http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=150)

Tara July 29th, 2001 08:20 PM

Skin Irritation
 
I am hoping someone can help!

I have a 3 yr old Yellow Lab who has a skin irritation on her paws (on the skin in between her "toes"). This has been recurring for the last year and has been treated with antibiotics and predisone. My vet has suggested that she has a food allergy and has put her on a hypo allergenic food (duck and potato) and gets NO other food or treats whatsoever.

Since this has been recurring since we changed her food, I think that it's not totally food related. I use a detergent with no perfunes or dyes and no fabric softeners and we have little carpet in our house, it's mostly hard wood.

She has been treated with strong antibiotics and predisone, and this does help but it has not totally disappeared. Her skin is red, swollen and oozes gooey stuff and she licks constantly.

If this is an allergy, is there some allergy drug that she can take that is safe on a long term basis? I don't want to keep her on the antibiotics and predisone forever. Since we don't know the cause, I am at a loss for what to do.

Tara

marielayne August 19th, 2001 04:30 PM

skin irritation & other treatments
 
It could be Atopic dermatitis. Atopic dermatitis is an allergic skin disease of dogs which is caused by immunological hypersensitivity to common substances in the environment such as house dust mites. I don’t know of any other treatment besides steroids that will be as strong/effective. Cortisone creams are possibilities. Corticosteroid medication is best withdrawn throughout the period of treatment as steroids can interfere with the dogs ability to fight infection. Essential fatty acids are now widely used for skin conditions. They are known to have few side effects and will help about 25% of allergic dogs significantly. Allergen avoidance is useful when house dust mites are known to be the problem. Exposure to bedrooms should be avoided by house dust mite allergenic patients to minimize exposure to the allergen. When pollens and molds are involved, avoidance is practically impossible as these allergens travel for miles on the wind. You should get a skin test done. Skin testing is performed to identify the allergens involved in allergic disease.

Marie


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