Itchy allergic dog parents. conventional/ holistic approach

[Vixen G]

Owner of a dog with skin allergies also here! Luckily mine is doing really well with cytopoint once a month (however at 100£ per shot its enough to make me itchy!).

I also give him weekly baths with this

https://ch.virbac.com/files/live/sites/virbac-nz/files/pdf/product-profile/Allermyl%20PP.pdf

It seems to help a lot if nothing else than to sooth his skin!

View attachment 117222

Yea cytopoint is expensive was £154 for mine but apoquel has been the one that works best but would love to get her off it! Yes I use allermyl good stuff

 

[Vixen G]

If you decide to try raw I would suggest starting with a novel protein, if possible something your dog has never eaten, for instance if your dog has never eaten venison or rabbit you could try that. Some raw food suppliers sell ostrich, zebra and (sorry folks) horse meat. Start with one protein and ensure it is single source including organ meat and bone. Don't feed anything else unless you can find natural treats of the same protein with nothing else added. If your dog gets worse then stop feeding this protein but if she has no reaction continue to feed only this protein for about 4 to 6 weeks before trying to add another.

Some raw food manufacturers such as Prodog Raw sell novel protein single source complete meals for elimination diets.

Personally I don't feed raw fish to my dog. It would have to have been frozen to a temperature low enough to kill fish parasites so I just give it a miss.

Be very choosy who you buy from, there are some companies that I wouldn't touch with a barge pole.

Thank you, what companies would you avoid?

 

[Vixen G]

A skin scrape is only going to identify mites. it won't help if it is an allergy (but it's useful to eliminate mites/parasites).

The RAST blood tests are poorly regarded by dermatologists - they have a high level of false positives. Intradermal testing is much more sensitive and accurate but requires a GA/heavy sedation and clipping large areas of coat to do the injections. It's also only done at refferal dermatologists generally.

Vaccines aren't going to influence the dog's atopy or allergic dermatitis.

Wormers aren't going to influence it either but I do support worm counting to reduce our useage of dewormers before we see resistance

If she didn't improve on Anallergenic a raw diet is unlikely to work any better (did you do the full 12 week trial, absolutely nothing but the food?). A low allergen food is still a good idea but a fish or duck based option would probably suffice (avoid the common allergens of beef/chicken/wheat) A summer suit might help, as will washing paws after walks if it is grass related.

is this the stuff?

 

[druid]

is this the stuff? View attachment 117255

Yep, that is it.

 

[skinnydipper]

Thank you, what companies would you avoid?

There are a few brands I wouldn't buy and one in particular but the company seems popular with other forum users. Rather than risk offending even more on here than I have done already I'll keep quiet for once

 

[Vixen G]

Yep, that is it.

Thank you, so just to recap. Should I keep her on the Anallergenic food or should I look for something else? I was thinking of trying her on Years ( fresh cooked)

 

[skinnydipper]

change of mind - deleted.

 

[druid]

Thank you, so just to recap. Should I keep her on the Anallergenic food or should I look for something else? I was thinking of trying her on Years ( fresh cooked)

There's no problem trying her on a new food if you prefer, just try to pick one that has just one protein source and make it one she hasn't had before in an ideal world. Stick to that protein/food for 6 weeks, if all is the same or better than now you can add in one new protein (if you're doing raw/cooked vs a bag of kibble) and trial that. If she reacts you need to stop the new protein and revert to the one that didn't cause issues (or back to your anallergenic if it's working right now until you find a new food that works for her)

 

[Vixen G]

There's no problem trying her on a new food if you prefer, just try to pick one that has just one protein source and make it one she hasn't had before in an ideal world. Stick to that protein/food for 6 weeks, if all is the same or better than now you can add in one new protein (if you're doing raw/cooked vs a bag of kibble) and trial that. If she reacts you need to stop the new protein and revert to the one that didn't cause issues (or back to your anallergenic if it's working right now until you find a new food that works for her)

Lastly druid, how common have you found it to be a storage mite allergy? I know you can kill them by freezing the food but then you'll still have dead one's which dogs can still react to. I'm assuming with raw/cooked there would be less chance of storage mites in the food compared to kibble. Thank you for your help

 

[druid]

Lastly druid, how common have you found it to be a storage mite allergy? I know you can kill them by freezing the food but then you'll still have dead one's which dogs can still react to. I'm assuming with raw/cooked there would be less chance of storage mites in the food compared to kibble. Thank you for your help

Not very common but as you say freezing at a suitable temperature can help, as can buy bags of smaller quantities (only what will be used in 3-4 weeks), storing in the original bag with a clip inside a sealed bin. Or switch to raw/cooked

 

[sbloom]

Lastly druid, how common have you found it to be a storage mite allergy? I know you can kill them by freezing the food but then you'll still have dead one's which dogs can still react to. I'm assuming with raw/cooked there would be less chance of storage mites in the food compared to kibble. Thank you for your help

Ours had this, and house dust mites. Almost every household and foodstuff allergy you can imagine! We kept his kibble firmly clipped up.

 

[Chucho]

We have an allergic itchy one, our first, and I feel for you and her. Sometimes the reaction is itchy/biting herself, others it's ear yeast infections, others its gastro. She's a large puppy and I prefer to keep on commercial food for the first year, so we went through trialling tonnes of different kibbles. Kangaroo was disasterous. We stuck with salmon and potato, plainest kibble with nothing but salmon and potato and vits/mins. She couldn't form a solid poo to save her life, but she was not itchy or yeasty.

Once she got to a year, I switched her to a nutritionally-balanced homemade diet. I don't feed raw meat as have a toddler, I find mine do best with a 50:50 wet weight mix of grain/veg and meat/organ plus vits and minerals. I have a spreadsheet to make sure she's getting everything she needs. At the moment she's great on beef (one of the most common protein allergens, go figure). She absolutely could not tolerate white fish. Later we added in Royal Canin large puppy kibble for training treats (again, this would not be my first choice for an allergy dog!! But it suits her in small quantities, so what do I know). Poos fabulous, she put on some weight and looks amazing. Then we got hit with a load of pollen and she started itching again... she had her first cytopoint last week and she's like a different dog. So so happy. We'd had some out of character reactivity develop and that's disappeared entirely. She's back to herself. Anecdotally, if you can resolve the food allergies sufficiently then cytopoint stands a better chance of working.

I definitely prefer making my own food as I am 100% sure of what is in there and can do properly controlled trials of different ingredients before something gets added to her menu. I have been told that research has shown there is cross contamination in the non-veterinary kibbles from the manufacturing process so if you have one that is very sensitive then you really need to buy vet exclusion diet products (by a vet though!). Or make your own, which is easy enough to do, but I would recommend doing some reading first, or, my lovely vet would say to speak to a vet nutritionist. I'm not familiar with the complete raw products in the UK, but I used to use Natures Menu frozen as the protein source (variety of straight options, no bone so could cook it, and add my own calcium to the correct ratio).

We also keep her ears clean and wash her feet regularly. I keep mine fully vaccinated. I do not use a bravecto-type parasite treatment, I prefer a spot on for the summer months (we are in tick country). We worm as needed (vet recommended approach).

 

[Vixen G]

Ours had this, and house dust mites. Almost every household and foodstuff allergy you can imagine! We kept his kibble firmly clipped up.

I close mine up too and trying to up my cleaning in case it is house dust mites.

 

[skinnydipper]

I close mine up too and trying to up my cleaning in case it is house dust mites.

It might be worth trying an air purifier with HEPA filtration in the room the dog uses the most.


Edited to add:

Conclusions​

Air filtration was effective in removing mites, cat and dog allergens and also particulate matter from ambient indoor air, offering a fast and simple solution to mitigate allergen exposome.

Effect of air filtration on house dust mite, cat and dog allergens and particulate matter in homes - PMC

Indoor allergens (i.e. from mite, cat and dog) are carried by airborne particulate matter. Thus, removal of particles would reduce allergen exposure. This work aims to assess the performance of air filtration on particulate matter and thus allergen ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Chucho]

We also invested in a robot hoover, so we can hoover more frequently than we would otherwise be able to. We have hard floors and it also mops. They're not that expensive now and it does a great job.

 

[Vixen G]

It might be worth trying an air purifier with HEPA filtration in the room the dog uses the most.


Edited to add:

Conclusions​

Air filtration was effective in removing mites, cat and dog allergens and also particulate matter from ambient indoor air, offering a fast and simple solution to mitigate allergen exposome.

Effect of air filtration on house dust mite, cat and dog allergens and particulate matter in homes - PMC

Indoor allergens (i.e. from mite, cat and dog) are carried by airborne particulate matter. Thus, removal of particles would reduce allergen exposure. This work aims to assess the performance of air filtration on particulate matter and thus allergen ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Thank you is there any you'd particularly recommend?

 

[skinnydipper]

Thank you is there any you'd particularly recommend?

This is the one I have in my bedroom, it's okay for me but might not be the best one for you.

This small but mighty air purifier is so quiet you can sleep right through it

Oust pollen, dust and bacteria from your home for less than £160

www.independent.co.uk

Which buying tips & video. I don't subscribe so can't tell you the best buys.

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We've tested air purifiers from Dyson, Levoit, Philips and more, to help you find an effective, quiet and energy-efficient air purifier

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