dog with grass allergy

Rowan9

Hi - just been to vet again with our 4 yr old retriever. She's on her 2nd lot of steroids and antibiotics for what the vet thinks is a grass allergy. She had an itchy tummy 2 summers ago but was ok last yr. The previous vet ( 6 weeks ago) thought it might be a skin infection caused by anal glands but this one thinks 'just' allergy. Anyone else with dogs with this|? She says it can get worse as they get older and also occur during autumn as well as summer. I'd be interested to know if there is anything alternative which can help. Off top search the net.
Thanks
w

oystercatcher

Hello,

My three year old terrier cross has just been diagnosed with an unknown allergy. Initally we thought she was getting ear infections as she was scratching mainly ears and they do get a little red and inflammed although no discharge. After several repeats of this and treatment with antibiotics and steroids the vet asked if she scratched a lot or chewed her feet and we've realised that she's actually a very itchy dog. Skin not inflammed much at present but some thickening in the ear due to scratching.
We've tried piriton for a few weeks but it's not really made much difference. The vet has put her back on steroids until the autumn , if it improves when she stops them then it could be some sort of pollen , if not then we can try changing her food or having blood tests or skin tests.
Vet says mostly this sort of allergy is caused by something inhaled occaisionally by food although we avoid food with colouring and preservatives. Apparently it's very hard to track down what causes it and usually even harder to avoid the cause.
It's not good for them to be on steroids all the time so he said we will have to play around and find a treatment that worked and made her comfortable without costing a small fortune.

I took a gamble and didn't insure either of my dogs as we have savings if they need surgery etc. I have a feeling this sort of thing wouldn't be covered by insurance anyway.

Meanwhile my dog thinks her name has changed to 'Stop Scratching !!!!'

Oystercatcher

elsien

Try evening primrose oil. It was recommended to me by my vet - I forget the science behind it, (something to do with prostaglandins) and he said it doesn't work for all dogs, but it helped mine. She was chewing her feet to bits beforehand. She still has the occasional nibble, but they're a lot better.
(Although I did change her food as well a little later, so some of the improvement might also have been due to that.)

Rowan9

Thanks very much for your replies. The fact that she had a less severe case a couple of summers ago kind of hints at grass/ pollen. She lies down a lot on walks - tears about and flops down, always has.
I'll certainly try the evening primrose oil. I have that in the house for myself!
I read online that aloe vera capsules can help too so might try that in future if evening p doesn't work. I'll wait until she's finished these tablets though.
Neither of my dogs are insured either as I've always used savings for expenses.
Good luck with your allergy-prone dogs!
w

elsien

In my case, my everything prone dog!
Aloe vera was recommended to my pooch for colitis - not tried it yet though as she already rattles with the multitude of pills and potions. I could swap from the evening primrose when it runs out - any one else out there tried it?

oystercatcher

Any idea how to work out the dose of evening primrose ot aloe vera? My dog is quite small 7k (similar size to Jack Russel or Westie ) I wouldn't want to overdose her but I like the idea, I have taken it myself in the past.

Oystercatcher

Rowan9

http://www.denes.com/advice/fact_sheets/evening_primrose_oil.php gives details of 1 capsule per 10kg of dog weight and the capsules they sell are 500mg. Hope this helps. The ones I have the house for me are 1000mg so a bit much for my dog.
w
ps don't know if my link has worked but if you google denes it will come up

ed to add - just noticed size of your dog. Might get some 250mg tablets?

oystercatcher

Thank you very much I'm going to look out for some 250mg capsules.

Oystercatcher

RustyFlange

Oystercatcher, My father in laws dog has an allergy to dustmites, grass and something else similar can't remember what it is. She is on pure Aloe vera which is helping very well. She is also on some kind of serum (£500 ish) from the vets however they had to get this to try and see if it would help her. As yet they haven't started the treatment other than the aloe vera but it does help loads.
Good luck

stephiep_2

wmf wrote: »

Hi - just been to vet again with our 4 yr old retriever. She's on her 2nd lot of steroids and antibiotics for what the vet thinks is a grass allergy. She had an itchy tummy 2 summers ago but was ok last yr. The previous vet ( 6 weeks ago) thought it might be a skin infection caused by anal glands but this one thinks 'just' allergy. Anyone else with dogs with this|? She says it can get worse as they get older and also occur during autumn as well as summer. I'd be interested to know if there is anything alternative which can help. Off top search the net.
Thanks
w

i have a 4 yr old retreiver as well 2 years ago she started to lose her coat had painfull lesions the vet put her on steroids+a 6 week coarse of anti-biotics daily baths with werberac shampoo a streroid cream called fusiderm also antihistamines (tried various) managed to clear up her skin and fur and reduce itching but not cure it we then had blood tests done found out she was allergic to 7 different grasses dustmites and house mites had a serum called immunotherapy made up for her gave her a coarse of injections at home she's just coming up to 6 months on those and it has been unaffective now we are hitting the highest part of the pollen season she is back to square one cotex supplement (contains essential oils including primrose oil) does help slightly but so far have not found a remedy sorry to give you a negative response but some of the things i've mentioned may be of some help p.s. also tried an alternative remedy i had to have sent from states with no effect

hethmar

Have had other threads on this but briefly, both of ours have grass/pollen allergies. Both had been on steroids, had anti biotics and one had £600 worth of skin tests. Nothing worked until I found dermacton. Its not a complete cure - this time of year and through the hottest weather one of them still has a bit of a scratch BUT he isnt bare from the waist down, he doesnt have open sores on his chest and he isnt keeping us awake chewing and scratching continually. Ill give the link again, lots of people have used it after Ive recommended it and most of them have come back and thanked me for the link. Its not expensive, its herbal and it has 100% guarantee money back - you have nothing to lose. As I said recently, one lady I meet at the park who I recommended it to, has a westie who has been on steroids constantly since he was 6 months old and he still looked awful. She tried this stuff and when I saw her recently she literally ran across the park to say for the first time in his life the dog was off steroids for his skin and her vet was dumbfounded.

Try it, nothing to lose. I use the shampoo soap mostly - the spray is handy but my dogs dont like the sound. The ointment I have to treat sore patches if they come up. Have a look at the photos on the site. They are genuine, Many Tears, the big rescue for puppy farm dogs trialled some of the product and gave the photos of the results.
http://www.aromesse.com/pages/petnat/dermacton.htm

Oystercatcher - re the ears. Our terrier had all these bald spots plus red burning hot ears. We didnt associate it with his allergies as the vet said it was an infection and off we went on steroids and more antibiotics. After we got such brilliant results for his skin with dermacton, the last time he started pawing his ears and they were brilliant red, I thought before we take him to the vet again, I will try the dermacton ear drops. I used them once, he shook his head and I thought oh dear, not helped. BUT he didnt scratch his ears again that day! I continued for 4 more days with the drops. That was a couple of months back. Ears are cool and no sores and we didnt have to go to vet with him. Its really worth trying the stuff.