grandmaweloveyou
Well-Known Member
This may be the diagnosis on my rescue dog and I am seeking advice. My vets bill since taking her on in Feb is almost £2000
Does anyone have an "atopic" dog?
- Thread starter grandmaweloveyou
- Start date
fmay
Well-Known Member
What do you mean by atopic?
CorvusCorax
Deary me...
Me. His is triggered by an allergy to tree pollen and we spent around the same amount over all trying to find out WTF was wrong with him!
Tis a bit of a pain as we live in the middle of a big forest
He also has food allergies and is on hypoallergenic meal.
We have it under control using Piriton, twice weekly shampoo with Malaseb (in summer) and putting aloe vera on his itchy/baldy bits. He also has natural yoghurt in his food.
Calamine lotion on itchy bits can also help, although it can get messy.
He takes his infections in his ears and under his elbows and along his chest - basically anywhere sweaty, he has quite a heavy coat, which doesn't help.
However bad it might look when things are bad, his hair has always grown back fine when it gets wetter and colder and he was pretty much fine this year because we had no summer
This time last year he was completely bald along his chest and the skin was all blackened and hard
but he has made a full recovery thanks to the weather
and us knowing how to manage it now
Tis a bit of a pain as we live in the middle of a big forest
He also has food allergies and is on hypoallergenic meal.
We have it under control using Piriton, twice weekly shampoo with Malaseb (in summer) and putting aloe vera on his itchy/baldy bits. He also has natural yoghurt in his food.
Calamine lotion on itchy bits can also help, although it can get messy.
He takes his infections in his ears and under his elbows and along his chest - basically anywhere sweaty, he has quite a heavy coat, which doesn't help.
However bad it might look when things are bad, his hair has always grown back fine when it gets wetter and colder and he was pretty much fine this year because we had no summer
This time last year he was completely bald along his chest and the skin was all blackened and hard
CAYLA
Well-Known Member
As CC suggests it's good to find out the triggers, have u had any allergy testing? I assume so if your bill is this big
What breed is the dog?
What diet is he/she on?
We had a rescue dog in with horrendous skin, her bill topped £1000 in the initial testing stages, she is now 100% clear on and no meds at all.
Edied to add, I also had a shepherd that suffered horrendous sking problems and it was autoimmune related.
What breed is the dog?
What diet is he/she on?
We had a rescue dog in with horrendous skin, her bill topped £1000 in the initial testing stages, she is now 100% clear on and no meds at all.
Edied to add, I also had a shepherd that suffered horrendous sking problems and it was autoimmune related.
grandmaweloveyou
Well-Known Member
There is no sign of any skin baldness or irritant at this stage, swelling eyeballs (see previous posts) and chewing / licking of feet which only started about 10 days ago, and shaking of ears. The other opinion is it might be lungworm. I am dreading the onset of skin tests etc, the vet thinks it might be dustmites and said that unless I take all carpets out and sleep on a wooden board instead of a bed I wont rid the source. Being as she came from kennels and was in kennels and a stray in Greece beforehand, this is likely as she wont have come across carpet but alas my carpets are new and I am not taking them up!!
CorvusCorax
Deary me...
B's baldness is caused by his own scratching/licking, just to add.
Atopic dogs will suffer thickening of the skin after a time and it will have a greasy feel with a quite pungent smell.
It could be an allergy to the actual carpet, I think MM had a bitch with something similar? You say the carpets are new?
Or a household product like a cleaning fluid etc.
Atopic dogs will suffer thickening of the skin after a time and it will have a greasy feel with a quite pungent smell.
It could be an allergy to the actual carpet, I think MM had a bitch with something similar? You say the carpets are new?
Or a household product like a cleaning fluid etc.
CorvusCorax
Deary me...
PS if it does turn out to be the carpet and you aren't prepared to compromise I would invest in a good dog run with attached box/kennel. What breed is she?
CAYLA
Well-Known Member
So your bill is £2000 and he has had no tests yet
I would do a little reading if I where u, there are many reasons why dogs suffer these reactions, and some u could begin to work on via illimination.
What food is he on? is it high in protein?
Sometimes self mutilation of the skin can literally be unrelated and it's because the dog cannot get to the part of the body that is causing pain/discomfort so they will selk mutilate other reachable areas(is the simplest way I can describe it)
Example a dog will chew paws and legs when they need anal glands expressing, as they cannot reach the area the irritation comes from so they will mutilate another(hope this makes sense)
One of our rescues was self mutilating(she has recently had an ablation operation on her ear(is was horrible) her skin issues have now completely cleared.
You can also have injections made up to desensitize to allergic reactions to pollen/dust mite e,t,c called artivetran.
have a read up and chat to the vet about your concerns after u have a little more of an idea.
I would do a little reading if I where u, there are many reasons why dogs suffer these reactions, and some u could begin to work on via illimination.
What food is he on? is it high in protein?
Sometimes self mutilation of the skin can literally be unrelated and it's because the dog cannot get to the part of the body that is causing pain/discomfort so they will selk mutilate other reachable areas(is the simplest way I can describe it)
Example a dog will chew paws and legs when they need anal glands expressing, as they cannot reach the area the irritation comes from so they will mutilate another(hope this makes sense)
One of our rescues was self mutilating(she has recently had an ablation operation on her ear(is was horrible) her skin issues have now completely cleared.
You can also have injections made up to desensitize to allergic reactions to pollen/dust mite e,t,c called artivetran.
have a read up and chat to the vet about your concerns after u have a little more of an idea.
horsehelper
Well-Known Member
Hi, My dog (a staffi x )after four years of no problems suddenly developed itchy skin, which progressed into wet scabs along his back and also on his cheeks. I iniatially thought it it would clear so I shaved the hair off along his back so I could keep it clean after a week of no improvement I went to the vets and asked for a dermatology referral. he was then allergy tested and showed high sensitivity to flea bites, dust mites, tree, grass and flower pollen!!!! I had the option of feed trials or steroids of course i opted for the food I fed him only james wellbeloved fish and rice kibble he wasnt keen at first but I added some bolied coley and he now wolfs it down. after 3 weeks his skin calmed and so did his itching. He has no other food or treats only the JWB fish snacks he is frontlined every month and uses the dermapet dermally range which is colloidal oatmeal (used for human exzema) from the vet.
three years on and hes under control in march/april he gets snotty eyes from tree/grass pollen which clears up with brolene eye drops and september he sometimes has abit of an itch but thats all.
The idea of a restricted diet is that as he has intolerance to meat proteins found in most brands (even hills and royal canins sensitive have meat protein so would not be suitable) by not making his body fight food intolerance it can handle the pollen allergy. I also have carpets and he does not suffer from the dust mites I just keep everything hoovered (no more than normal I avoid housework like the plague!!!). I am a dog groomer and have advised others the same as this and it has helped some of them it depends on how strict you are with the food issue I suppose
three years on and hes under control in march/april he gets snotty eyes from tree/grass pollen which clears up with brolene eye drops and september he sometimes has abit of an itch but thats all.
The idea of a restricted diet is that as he has intolerance to meat proteins found in most brands (even hills and royal canins sensitive have meat protein so would not be suitable) by not making his body fight food intolerance it can handle the pollen allergy. I also have carpets and he does not suffer from the dust mites I just keep everything hoovered (no more than normal I avoid housework like the plague!!!). I am a dog groomer and have advised others the same as this and it has helped some of them it depends on how strict you are with the food issue I suppose
CAYLA
Well-Known Member
Ditto the james well beloved it's fab for food realted issues tis what our rescue lurcher settled on.
CorvusCorax
Deary me...
Cayla, you made a very good point regarding externalising internal problems - will be be interesting to see if B worries himself so much next summer now that his UTIs have been sorted.......
grandmaweloveyou
Well-Known Member
ah now then, very good point about the anal glands needing to be expressed as her glands have been bad this last couple of weeks and she has been expressing alot more - i wake up to the fishy smell courtesy of my baby girl haha
CAYLA - i think you might be onto something about that more so than the atopy - i think the vet might be clutching at straws re the atopy cos the tests done so far (£1200 of the £2000) have involved the ROYAL VETERINARY COLLEGE in London cos my staffie has come across from Greece (May last year) and lived in kennels til Feb this year (when she came to me).
There is nothing on her skin, nothing at all, to show a skin related disease, simply that she has started chewing her feet was the thought for the atopy. There have been ssoooo many suggestions til now they are stumped.
Cavecanem - I appreciate your comments also but "if youre not prepared to compromise" seems a little harsh having taken a rescue dog in and having visited a vet about 30+ times since Feb and putting her on a special diet etc etc - she wants for nothing
I just think the carpet thing is taking my dedication a bit far at this stage being as we dont know what it is. Oh and I did change my job purely to be with her daytimes, very spoilt.
CAYLA - i think you might be onto something about that more so than the atopy - i think the vet might be clutching at straws re the atopy cos the tests done so far (£1200 of the £2000) have involved the ROYAL VETERINARY COLLEGE in London cos my staffie has come across from Greece (May last year) and lived in kennels til Feb this year (when she came to me).
There is nothing on her skin, nothing at all, to show a skin related disease, simply that she has started chewing her feet was the thought for the atopy. There have been ssoooo many suggestions til now they are stumped.
Cavecanem - I appreciate your comments also but "if youre not prepared to compromise" seems a little harsh having taken a rescue dog in and having visited a vet about 30+ times since Feb and putting her on a special diet etc etc - she wants for nothing
Cop-Pop
Well-Known Member
I have
My goldie suddenly developed it two years ago when she was 12. As she hates the vet and is so old she's on a low dose of steriods which keeps it undercontrol. She now looks like this:
You can see the hair is still thin on her belly but its grown back everywhere else
You can see the hair is still thin on her belly but its grown back everywhere else
CorvusCorax
Deary me...
[ QUOTE ]
Cavecanem - I appreciate your comments also but "if youre not prepared to compromise" seems a little harsh having taken a rescue dog in and having visited a vet about 30+ times since Feb and putting her on a special diet etc etc - she wants for nothing
I just think the carpet thing is taking my dedication a bit far at this stage being as we dont know what it is. Oh and I did change my job purely to be with her daytimes, very spoilt.
[/ QUOTE ]
I went through exactly what you are going through for over a year, the vets visits, the bills, the clutching at straws and the no answers and it was Cayla and Llyncwyn and Murphy's Minder on here who prompted me to start asking the right questions instead of smiling and nodding and taking 'er, we don't know' for an answer and I went to a different vet.
I never for one moment questioned your care of your dog, I just meant if she is allergic to the carpet and you don't want to pull them up, get her a run.
I apologise if I caused you offence, I can assure you that none was intended.
Cavecanem - I appreciate your comments also but "if youre not prepared to compromise" seems a little harsh having taken a rescue dog in and having visited a vet about 30+ times since Feb and putting her on a special diet etc etc - she wants for nothing
[/ QUOTE ]
I went through exactly what you are going through for over a year, the vets visits, the bills, the clutching at straws and the no answers and it was Cayla and Llyncwyn and Murphy's Minder on here who prompted me to start asking the right questions instead of smiling and nodding and taking 'er, we don't know' for an answer and I went to a different vet.
I never for one moment questioned your care of your dog, I just meant if she is allergic to the carpet and you don't want to pull them up, get her a run.
I apologise if I caused you offence, I can assure you that none was intended.
flash1
Well-Known Member
If it does turn out to be atopy, there is a lot you can do to help the condition. wash the dogs bedding weekly at a high temp.
essential fatty acids ie evening primrose oil, antihistimines, flea control needs to be kept up to date this may mean monthly. weekly baths etc. If you are insured ask your vet to refer you to a specialist. you will need to find out what your dog is allergic to and it may be several differant things.
you might be able to have a immunotherapy injection that will help.
Its not a condition that can be cured but there is a lot that can be done to make the dog more comfatable.
My dogs skin still flares up some times, but he is now much better than he was.
essential fatty acids ie evening primrose oil, antihistimines, flea control needs to be kept up to date this may mean monthly. weekly baths etc. If you are insured ask your vet to refer you to a specialist. you will need to find out what your dog is allergic to and it may be several differant things.
you might be able to have a immunotherapy injection that will help.
Its not a condition that can be cured but there is a lot that can be done to make the dog more comfatable.
My dogs skin still flares up some times, but he is now much better than he was.
grandmaweloveyou
Well-Known Member
thank you again. flash12 - i wash her bed weekly and her blankets and her towels and her baskets (yes she has more than 1 of each of these things!) and cavecanem i think i am due for a vet change actually that is very good advice thank you (and no offence taken)
hollykb
Well-Known Member
If your bill is £2000 and you haven't even had skin tests yet then I would ask for a full breakdown of the bill and an explanation of everything that has been done. I'm amazed they referred you to the RVC before doing basic skin tests, or even elimination testing (ie. cutting out foods). I would shop around for a new vet, say when you call what the problem is, you might find you have a first opinion vet near you who has a particular interest/knowledge in skin and allergies, or they may be able to recommend one. Ask for one of the vets to call you back and chat to them directly, they'll be happy to talk to a potential new client and you can guage if you like them and their suggestions. I work in two vet surgeries and our vets are always happy to talk to people.
fruity
Well-Known Member
I have a JRT who has had it since she was 12 wks old,spent over £3000 on her,i work at a vets and for all the drugs that are out there i have found over the years that the one thing that helps her hugley is Aloe Vera Juice oddly,you can get them in bottles from holland & barrett,it doesnt affect any drugs the animals on as completly natural,worth a try. It is prob one of the most expensive conditions they can have and is also prob the most frustrating,good luck with everything.
flash1
Well-Known Member
I hope you didnt take offence about washing bedding etc. One of the common things for atopic dogs to be allergic to are house dust mites.
It helps to use cotton type bedding rather than blankets and wash them in non bio washing powder at high temp.
prednisolone is sometimes used but long term has side effects. A skin specialist will be able to find out if it is atopy and find out what the dog is allergic to.
It helps to use cotton type bedding rather than blankets and wash them in non bio washing powder at high temp.
prednisolone is sometimes used but long term has side effects. A skin specialist will be able to find out if it is atopy and find out what the dog is allergic to.
grandmaweloveyou
Well-Known Member
thanks everyone so interesting coming on here for your amazing advice x