Allergy testing

Lady La La

Lady La La

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Does anyone have any experience?
Last time we had this problem with Bryony the vet took a blood sample and put her on permiment piriton.
Her issues have flared up again now and after a visit to the vets last week she has been given antibiotics, double the pirton dose and we have to wash her in maliseb twice a week...
Well none of this seems to be helping. She is biting at her feet, scratching herself raw and licking her bum till its sore... she's like a dog obsessed and the tablets are nearly coming to an end now. The vet said at our last visit that if the piriton and anti b's didn't have an effect she would need to have a skin test. We didnt go into much detail then as I was hoping these tablets would work.
Any ideas what a skin test involves? Is it like a skin scrape for horses? Is it going to bankrupt me, and most importantly, will it help us get to the bottom of whats wrong with the white dog once and for all?

Oh, and she ****ing stinks - like nothing that you can possibley imagine!
 
We had skin scrapes taken from B and were told 'it could be anything'.

The proper allergy tests involve actually exposing the dog to certain triggers and waiting for a reaction, I think. It is expensive but more definitive than other methods.

We never went for it in the end as the dog was not insured and between the vet and I we managed to work out the triggers by process of elimination.

Is she still on raw, she may not be able to tolerate it, some dogs can't.

What kind of wood is your kennel made from?

Can she wear a lampshade?
 
CaveCanem said:
We had skin scrapes taken from B and were told 'it could be anything'.

The proper allergy tests involve actually exposing the dog to certain triggers and waiting for a reaction, I think. It is expensive but more definitive than other methods.

We never went for it in the end as the dog was not insured and between the vet and I we managed to work out the triggers by process of elimination.

Is she still on raw, she may not be able to tolerate it, some dogs can't.

What kind of wood is your kennel made from?

Can she wear a lampshade?
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Any idea of the cost involved in the proper allergy testing CC? - I've called to speak to the vet but the receptionist said I'd have to wait for a call back, so just trying to best equip myself with some knowledge now so that I'm not going into this blind..

She isn't on raw anymore, she is on fish4dogs, has been for a couple of months and she's been a lot less windy so I think the change has helped her in that respect. The vet seemed happy with her food last week.

I don't know what kind of wood our kennel is made from :o she's hadly ever in there though, maybe once every couple of weeks?

I can put Tysons cone on her, do you think I should?

Edited - She is insured with Pet Plan, but as she came to us with this allergy problem it wont be covered by her insurance
 
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I was quoted a couple of hundred pounds. Spent a couple of thousand on him since then :o oops. But not sure which company that would have been with.

Regarding food, the vet is a vet, not a nutritionalist. Also, do not be afraid of getting a second opinion, it really helped with us, the original vet was not up to much TBH.
 
CaveCanem said:
I was quoted a couple of hundred pounds. Spent a couple of thousand on him since then :o oops. But not sure which company that would have been with.

Regarding food, the vet is a vet, not a nutritionalist. Also, do not be afraid of getting a second opinion, it really helped with us, the original vet was not up to much TBH.
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Phew, I thought you were going to say thousands :o
I'm quite happy to throw a couple of hundred quid at them in order to get a definative 'she is allergic to this' kind of answer at the end of it, im just worried that wont happen.

We didn't change anything in between the time of her first problem with allergies and now - so Im confused as to why its all happening again :(

Ive had two different vets look at her from the same practice, hadn't thought of going to a different practice for a second opinion but its an option. I just dont want to keep shovelling any more pills down her, I want to know once and for all what it is that does this to her... and I want my house not to stink so bad :o
 
I've known dogs that were allergic to Malaseb.

Could you try a full exclusion diet and environment check which takes longer but is as effective as the testing.

You really have to commit to it though.
 
s4sugar said:
I've known dogs that were allergic to Malaseb.

Could you try a full exclusion diet and environment check which takes longer but is as effective as the testing.

You really have to commit to it though.
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What's an environment check? Sorry for my ignorance :o

The first time she suffered from these problems we started with her food, and had a long list of stuff to try from the vet, but not one single change in food made a difference to her :( The only thing that changes with her food is her wind...
 
Is there somewhere sterile you could send her or can you keep her in a sterile environment? B has spent time in boarding kennels, it was cheaper than a lot of other options and he improved because he was not near the trees which set him off.
 
CaveCanem said:
Is there somewhere sterile you could send her or can you keep her in a sterile environment? B has spent time in boarding kennels, it was cheaper than a lot of other options and he improved because he was not near the trees which set him off.
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What counts as a sterile environment? She's going into kennels over christmas but only for 2 days...
The vet thought as it wasnt seasonal that pollen type allergies would be rulled out.
I've stopped using any drop in vac, no air freshner, ive tried washing her bedding with nothing but hot water, Ive seperated her from Tyson (no idea why, I thought in a moment of madness she might have been allergic to him :o ) but no positive effects.

I could put her in boarding kennels for a longer amount of time if it could be useful?
 
B's worst attack was Christmas 09, snow everywhere. It was tree pollen-triggered but it was the result of a couple of months of build-up because I hadn't been fire-fighting it, if that makes any sense.
 
CaveCanem said:
B's worst attack was Christmas 09, snow everywhere. It was tree pollen-triggered but it was the result of a couple of months of build-up because I hadn't been fire-fighting it, if that makes any sense.
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It does..
Obviously it will depend on what the vet says when she calls me back, but Im leaning towards asking if the full and propper allergy testing can be done as I just want to get to the bottoms of things.
Any ideas what a York test is?
 
CaveCanem said:
It's one of the allergy tests, like I say, dog is injected/exposed and then reaction is measured after a certain time period.
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Ah right, thanks.
I hope the vet gives me the go ahead to have this done then, she was talking about putting her on steroids at one point, but she seemed reluctant to do that either.
 
We paid about £400 for a rescue dog we had with terrible skin, she was shaved (patch on side) and tested for the more common allergens all in all £900 but that was with treatment and bloods and skin scrapes, she was allergic to metal (her collar was swifly changed to synthetic) this did not show on tests but we realised when her neck became baled after placing bog standard greyhound collar on with metal touching her skin, and she was allergic to storage mites (all food from then on kept in sealed bin and never the bag it came in) and duck. We put her on JWB ocean fish.
You can get an artuvetrin injection customised for her to help detensitize her to the allergens. They are not cheap but you don't always have to take that option if you can rule out the triggers.
http://www.alk-abello.com/veterinary/Veterinary/aboutallergy/Pages/SectionFront.aspx
 
CAYLA said:
We paid about £400 for a rescue dog we had with terrible skin, she was shaved (patch on side) and tested for the more common allergens all in all £900 but that was with treatment and bloods and skin scrapes, she was allergic to metal (her collar was swifly changed to synthetic) this did not show on tests but we realised when her neck became baled after placing bog standard greyhound collar on with metal touching her skin, and she was allergic to storage mites (all food from then on kept in sealed bin and never the bag it came in) and duck. We put her on JWB ocean fish.
You can get an artuvetrin injection customised for her to help detensitize her to the allergens. They are not cheap but you don't always have to take that option if you can rule out the triggers.
http://www.alk-abello.com/veterinary/Veterinary/aboutallergy/Pages/SectionFront.aspx
Click to expand...

We tried her on the JWB fish as vet advised it for Tyson but it made her reeeeally stinky!
How else can I go about rulling out the triggers? Will the vet be likely to offer us the artuvetrin injections do you think?
 
If the allergy tests came back that she would benefit form artuvetrin then no reason why they should not, half the worlds population of westis are on them:p sorry westi folk:o:p
You need tests first and formost and of course you can say "I want allergy testing please":p
Don't forget she is a bull breed and they have their fair share of skin problems, bred from parentage with horrendous skin no doubt, but there could be other factors triggers, always good to try and find them.
 
CAYLA said:
Ps, also never meant for you to put her on JWB just thats what we put ours on:p
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I know, I just thought I'd throw it into the mix that I tried it ;)

Receptionist has just called back to say that basic allergy tests start from 80 quid and can go up to 170... so Im guessing thats not the propper megga testing CC was on about.
I've booked her in to see the vet again on Saturday so I'll see what she advises. Its just really annoying, I want to help her :(
 
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