Puppy Allergies
 

Alright, so I am a new puppy owner and we have been having a lot of issues with here. She is only six months old and for the past two months she has lost crazy amounts of fur and developed sores, lesions, open wounds and an awful odor (Which I know is a yeast infection) She is severely lethargic occasional diarrhea, and definately not puppy happy what so ever. Since the day we got her she has been seeing veterinarians day in and day out. I work at a specialty veterinarian office and they told me it was for sure food allergies. We had done the food trial and that did not help her. She has also been on antibiotics, antihistamines, steroids, pain relivers, and now she is currently on Atopica as my last option. We have done a skin scrape with a negative outcome (I am a little worrysome about this test since no result had ever been put on her records along with no test) and the dermatologist will not do any blood work nor allergy testing because he told me she is to young that there will be no outcome from it. So what I am pretty much asking is she to young for allergy testing at 6 months?
What else can I do to help my puppy?
Does any one have any suggestions to help us any I am at my last hope with the Atopica:(

I am considering issues for being spayed to early, hypothyroidism? Any suggestions?
I am looking into doing a full blood panel because her symptoms are worrying me

I am going to put something out there that may sound crazy to you but it sure is worth the effort of researching. Leaky gut syndrome. I was watching Dr Oz....I know, I know...but he was disussing this today and with a quick google I noted that dogs can have it too. Diet is one of the things that helps along with some homeopathic remedies. Worth checking into since your pet is so yooung and your vet does not want to do some tests because of her age.

ALSO, welcome and do you have some pictures that we can drool over???

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Im not sure I added these right but this is my first time of a forum.

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These are the pictures of Bolt when we had noticed she was taking a quick turn for the worst.

Looks like Bolt and your kitty gets along really well together. Cutie pie. I sure hope that you find out what her troubles are and help her.

I am also terrified of the medications that the vet. keeps recommending and the fact that every vet. is kind of just throwing medication at her like she is a test dummy for meds. I am not getting help from any veterinarian that I visit, I cant have my puppy suffering like this

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Her face is slowly turning black/purple and drying out around her lips

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Her stomache looking its best

Another issue that is not really related to the skin issue is that she had anisocoria, and there was again no treatment nor diagnosis for this


Is there a possibility of Bolt having skin issues from her spay at the shelter we got her from?

[QUOTE=Tylala34;1054097]I am also terrified of the medications that the vet. keeps recommending and the fact that every vet. is kind of just throwing medication at her like she is a test dummy for meds. I am not getting help from any veterinarian that I visit, I cant have my puppy suffering like this[/QUOTE]

Welcome Tylala, she is a big beautiful girl!

Sorry to hear she is having some health problems, it is always nerve racking when our little ones are not well.

Have you thought about maybe going to a holistic vet? (if you have one in your area). I personally don't like putting my furbabies through many medications and always prefer to use homeopathic remedies. So maybe that could be an alternative to look at?

Jull,

I have thought about it. I just moved to the Denver, Co area and every time I google it comes up with veterinarians that I know arent holistic vets and I dont know any one who might know of good vets:shrug:

[QUOTE=Tylala34;1054130]Jull,

I have thought about it. I just moved to the Denver, Co area and every time I google it comes up with veterinarians that I know arent holistic vets and I dont know any one who might know of good vets:shrug:[/QUOTE]

I have family in Denver, I believe they go to the park animal wellness clinic (?..something like that is called) and I know my niece who lives there told me they do acupuncture and homeopathy and more... Now, I don't really live there to tell you if its a good place or the right one, but that is the only one I know off from them. Maybe someone else here in the forum from that area can help and recommend some of their vets.

So your vet has not done a full blood panel yet? And has been pushing all these drugs into your pup?

What are you feeding your pup? Have you considered a raw diet?

Is that rug in the photo new or has it been cleaned recently ? I found this link and has list things that can cause dogs to have allergies and it said allergies to rugs can cause a dog to lose fur. Do you know if any of the other puppies are having the same health issue's? Some people feed their dog according to their blood type when the dog has food allergies. I met a woman that had a DNA test of her dog to see what breed it was as her dog was having food allergies and the woman said it helped her dog .





[url]http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=75[/url]

Barkingdog: I'm not sure which rug you are talking about but there is no rugs in my house. I think you may be talking about the picture of her curled up next to the green cloth? If so that was when she was at my work it was a much older picture when her issues began, since then she rarely goes to my work and I had washed the clothing that she is in contact to.
As for the puppies I am not to sure, she is a rescue pup and she has had a rough start at life.
Bolt we think she is an Akita, Husky, Chow, Shepard mix. We have tried fish and potato diet but are unsure where to go from here.


Jull: Thanks I will be looking into them!


Love4himies: Yes my vet will NOT do a full blood panel telling me she is to young nothing will show up for results? I am getting frustrated at his approach to my puppy. He has been pushing these drugs and the only testing that was done was a skin scrape (That for some reason has no results in her record?) We intially started out on Hills Science Diet since that was what the shelter had been feeding her and she was having bad diarrhea from it. So we transitioned to Innova to see if anything would help her. The diarrhea went away and she loved the Innova diet, during the Innova diet she had begun to exhibit her extreme hair loss, bumps, sores, lesions, and lethargy. We took her in to see her vet who told us it was parasites, once again no testing done. And told us to put her on revolution. We did revolution and she dramatically gotten worse and worse each day. I decided to take her to the derm specialist who then told me it was food allergies (No test) we tried Iams K-9 skin and coat FP which she did not get better and she lost a lot of weight. I told the derm my concern and he told me we need to do the diet for two months. After the two month trial I told him she had no improvement and she lost a considerable amount of weight. He began to tell me she is not allergic to her food and that she is allergic to dust mites (Again no test) I told him my theory that she might be allergic to laundry detergent and I does make sense if she is, he told me that she is not allergic to my laundry detergent because it is not COMMON in dogs? And he told me we need to get her on steroid injections. I told him I do not want to take that route and so we began Atopica and a raw food diet with Fish, potato, chicken, rice, some fish oil to get her skin to not be so dry. As of today 3 days on Atopica the bumps are not as large, her skin is extremely dry with flakes falling off like crazy. She is also sensitive to the touch. But her atttitude is so much better she is willing to go on short walks and play with her toys now. So Im not sure if she is getting worse or what?

:confused:

[QUOTE=Tylala34;1054160]I'm not sure which rug you are talking about but there is no rugs in my house. I think you may be talking about the picture of her curled up next to the green cloth? If so that was when she was at my work it was a much older picture when her issues began, since then she rarely goes to my work and I had washed the clothing that she is in contact to.
As for the puppies I am not to sure, she is a rescue pup and she has had a rough start at life.
Bolt we think she is an Akita, Husky, Chow, Shepard mix. We have tried fish and potato diet but are unsure where to go from here.[/QUOTE]

Oh it looked like your dog and cat where lying on a rug in the photo. I know some of the new rugs can made people very sick that is why I asked about the rug. I hope you can find out what is making your have allergies. I do feel some dog food is a real problem as some the ingredients is coming from China . So we have to really read the list of ingredients and see if does say any it from China. I buy Marty food from stores that will not sell any pets food that has ingredients from China in it.

Barkingdog: That is new carpet that my apartment complex just put in the day we had moved in. Do you think that may be the cause of her sensitivity? I am definately going to look where it is made from for sure!

This is what I would do, and I have been dealing with allergies in a young dog too, but luckily I have a jump on things.....

I would put her on a homemade elimination diet. It's a little tricky being young and you don't want to mess up the diet, but things are already messed up. I would find a protein, and either over-cooked rice, or steamed green beans. I prefer the green beans and meat as a base diet. Will need to find a multi vitamin and add some calcium and a bit of potassium, but the commercial foods aren't going to cut it.

Have her lay only on things with sheet coverings. I was going to say use cotton sheets, but heck, my last dog was allergic to cotton, but try to make sure that she is not on the new carpet.

Atopica is a scary drug, and it sounds like they are just throwing drugs at her. I would want a couple of things done.

I first want a vet that will work with me. If I ask for a blood panel, even if it's just to make me feel better, I want the vet to honor that request. If the vet doesn't honor that, particularly in a dog that is having problems, that vet needs to be fired.

I would want blood drawn and sent to Dr. Dodds for a full thyroid panel. I would also want a blood allergy test done (some say they are controversial, but they are extremely helpful), and my vet humors me and lets me send the blood off to Spectrum labs. These are things I request of my vet, have them draw the blood, and I ship the blood myself to save money (though the vet has to set up an account with Spectrum, this is not true for Dodds). I also would want a blood test run, since this young dog has been on pred and Atopica.

I would want to see a holistic vet, though I know of none in your area. If I can't see a holistic vet, I am off to a Dermatologist, because if I'm dinking around with these issues, I want to be consulting with someone that specializes in these things.

The quality of food is important here. For example, a deficiency of zinc, caused by high grain diets in certain breeds (nordic backgrounds primarily), will cause a lot of skin issues. But then again, too much zinc is toxic. There are many things to consider here.

Looking at the eyes - is there some Husky in there?

Maxalisa: Wow thanks so much for all of that advice! Why is Atopica a scary drug? Also the reason why I am being treated like this is because I am an employee here. And yes she definately has husky in her bright blue eyes =) I have been seeing a dermatalogist who I work with as well, he has not been helpful. As soon as I get enough money to take her to another vet I am going to even though I saw many others.

Atopica is an immune suppressant. They give it to people so that they won't reject organs after transplant. It is however commonly used in dogs for allergies and other conditions. I don't like using it in a dog so young, and wouldn't want to unless all other options are explored. If I used it, I would have the dog on liver support.

I have had a mixed bag of specialists, many that were not helpful, though the local Derm here is great, so I understand how you might not see satisfaction. Many really are good at using high powered drugs.

I would look for a vet that is more holistic minded. Do you know any dog trainers around, or local internet forums, to look for a recommendation? To me, this stuff starts with getting the diet right. Harder to do that with a larger dog (more expensive), but there are so many good limited ingredient diets out there.

Was there anything that actually helped?

Should say, since the Atopica is making some things better, you want to work toward weaning to the lowest possible dose, while finding other ways to manage.

There is a thread about Atopica in the health section somewhere. It has mostly the negative stuff, though in some situations, it is needed.

Oh, the Husky thing, there may be a higher zinc requirement for your particular dog. Zinc is tricky, since too much is toxic...

[url]http://windtalkers-siberians.blogspot.com/2006/07/siberian-husky-health.html[/url]
[url]http://www.meetup.com/shaaz-sibes/pages/Canine_Zinc_Responsive_Dermatosis_%28ZRD%29[/url]

The Atopica is the only drug she seems to be showing positive signs to everything else she had a negative reaction to. :( She never responded to anything not even a food change nor raw home cooked food.
Would the zinc levels be able to be tested with blood work

Hope the furkid is feeling at least a little bit better today... btw the correct name of that place I mentioned is park animal hospital and wellness centre. Again I really dont know much about the place but could be worth a try :shrug:

[QUOTE=Tylala34;1054167]Barkingdog: That is new carpet that my apartment complex just put in the day we had moved in. Do you think that may be the cause of her sensitivity? I am definately going to look where it is made from for sure![/QUOTE]

I would check into it. When I was health aide I had a client that lived in a low income housing apartment and a new commercial rug was put into her apartment and my client started getting sick within a couple of days , she was getting headaches from the toxic fumes in the rug . If it a commercial rug I would want to know how it laid on the floor ,was it rubber cement and if it came from China I would be be concerned.

[QUOTE=Tylala34;1054181]The Atopica is the only drug she seems to be showing positive signs to everything else she had a negative reaction to. :( She never responded to anything not even a food change nor raw home cooked food.
Would the zinc levels be able to be tested with blood work[/QUOTE]

Then you have to go with what works.

As for the homeprepared diet, it won't be effective unless it's a true elimination trial (one protein, one carb/starch/etc.).

There is no test for zinc levels that would help.

I do think that the rug is definitely on the suspect list.

[QUOTE=Tylala34;1054167]Barkingdog: That is new carpet that my apartment complex just put in the day we had moved in. Do you think that may be the cause of her sensitivity? I am definately going to look where it is made from for sure![/QUOTE]

Is there new carpet in all the rooms ? Could you afford to buy some large rugs for your puppy to lay down on or buy a nice big dog bed , or a couch that made for dogs. And make sure to see that whatever you do buy it not from China and that includes toys and bowls for your puppy food and water. how is the water in your town or city , can you drink it or do you buy bottled water , if you do you may want to give your puppy bottled water too.