Page 3 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast
Results 21 to 30 of 43
  1. #21
    Real Retriever SCDoug's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Monterey Bay, CA
    Posts
    307
    Thanked: 122
    Best of luck with the probiotics. We've had great results with FortiFlora. We encountered a bunch of problems with Lola when she was a pup (bad ears, rash, loose stools, etc.). We finally ended up going to a specialist and having a food allergy panel done. After that, we changed Lola's food and stuck with the probiotic. The results have been amazing.
    Hidden Content

    Just another day at the beach.....

  2. #22
    House Broken Starla's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Usa
    Posts
    97
    Thanked: 27
    Quote Originally Posted by Snowshoe View Post

    Prednisone is a strong drug and very effective but it does have long term side effects. My first dog was fine on it but I was anxious the second time around so My Vet prescribed Atopica, which worked wonderfully. It also has possible side effects but is generally considered to be less dangerous than Prednisone. Another similar new drug is Apoquel.

    My Vet didn't recommend allergy testing either but some people here have done it and been very happy they did. It is expensive. Another option, if you think your dog might have food allergies, is the NutriScan Food Sensitivity and Intolerance Test for Cats and Dogs test. I did this recently. My dog does, as we thought, have mostly seasonal environmental allergies but as per this test there are a few, very few, foods he should avoid.
    I have been battling this issue with my girl as well.... We did the allergy test and she has 36 different allergens. Everything from fleas to the trees in our back yard.... Her own dander. We tried Atopica and it helped, but didn't solve it and my girl has a sensitive GI system so it made her sick. So back to the pred we go... Next step is to find a derm vet, because I hate pred! It scares me.

  3. #23
    Puppy jwathas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    20
    Thanked: 1
    I just thought I'd come back and post a quick update on Nitro. He has been on the NutriSource Seafood Select food for about 5 weeks now. He has also been getting organic coconut oil twice a day with his meals and 2-3 baths a week with an antifungal/antibacterial shampoo with ketaconazole. His itchiness has not gotten much better, although his skin isn't nearly as red and irritated looking as it was previously and some of his fur is starting to grow back just a bit. However, he is still scratching, chewing, and licking very frequently. We went to the vet this morning and they ran a new thyroid panel, which came back 100% normal. It wasn't even low normal. It was perfect. Also, his cholesterol came back normal as well. (The vet said sometimes cholesterol problems can lead to skin issues). They also did a skin scraping. He definitely does have yeast, but no mites were seen at all. After all of the foods we've tried over the past year, the vet is 100% certain that he does NOT have food allergies, rather a yeast infection that has managed to get out of control and she did not agree with him being on prednisone, which is what our previous vet had him on for so long. She said we have been doing all of the right things to try and help him as far as trying different foods, the coconut oil, frequent bathing, probiotcs, etc. She gave us a lime sulfur dip to try, which she said works about 90% of the time and should hopefully take care of the problem. (The stuff smells HORRIBLE.) We are going to do that later on today and then call the vet back in a couple of days to let her know how it worked. If it doesn't help, the next step is most likely a skin biopsy. The vet did say that other than this skin issue, he is perfectly healthy and she has high hopes that this lime sulfur dip will clear up the problem. He's also a bit underweight, especially for an English lab, which the vet thinks is from a combination of the very limited ingredient foods we've been feeding him and from the yeast infection, so we are going to try and bulk him up a bit and start him on Eukanuba Performance 30/20. The vet said we can feed him any food we want now since we have pretty effectively ruled out any food allergies, but we are still going to avoid ingredients like oatmeal and potatoes until this yeast infection clears up. Hopefully, this stinky dip will be just what he needs and his fur will start growing back in very soon!

  4. #24
    House Broken Starla's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Usa
    Posts
    97
    Thanked: 27
    Good luck!! I really hope it works for you!! I've been through something like this with my girl. Turns out she is allergic to protein... She has 36 allergens total. We have her on a prescription food and medicated shampoo bath once a week, Apple cider vinager and 2 scoops of yogurt in her food and she is still itchy, but no longer chewing herself up. Her coat has come back in and she is beautiful again ��

    thanks for the update!
    Hidden Content

    My furbabies Starla and Copper
    💗love my rescues💗

  5. #25
    Puppy jwathas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    20
    Thanked: 1
    I'm so ecstatic right now. We did the lime sulfur dip yesterday afternoon and he hasn't scratched, licked, or chewed ONCE since! This is the absolute longest he's gone without scratching since he was on the prednisone (which we hated). The vet seemed pretty confident that this dip should take care of his problem since all of his blood tests and skin scraping were normal, and it sure seems to have done just that! Our entire house smells like a giant rotten egg now, but we can deal with it as long as it's working! I can tell that even he is happier now that he isn't so itchy anymore. He's jumping all over the place, playing with all of his toys that he's been ignoring for so long because he was too busy scratching (he totally destroyed 2 bumpers and a tennis ball), and the tail is going about a hundred miles an hour. I don't think he realizes how he smells right now. Now, time to work on getting that fur to grow back and getting some weight on him! I don't think he'll be complaining about the extra meal each day for a while.
    Last edited by jwathas; 03-17-2015 at 12:01 PM.

  6. The Following User Says Thank You to jwathas For This Useful Post:

    Starla (03-18-2015)

  7. #26
    Senior Dog Georgia's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Centreville, VA
    Posts
    998
    Thanked: 639
    Excellent update! I hope Nitro continues to be itch free and his fur starts to grow back!
    Hidden Content
    Sam and Frank

  8. #27
    Real Retriever
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    318
    Thanked: 120
    Keep us posted - the only way I completely eliminated yeast issues in my guy was to stop all dry foods/kibble all together; kibble itself has starch which is very problematic in yeast prone dogs.

  9. #28
    Puppy jwathas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    20
    Thanked: 1
    Just another update. Nitro is definitely improving and has put on a significant amount of much needed weight on the Eukanuba 30/20 Premium Performance and his hair is starting to grow back. He has regained a lot of muscle and looks great in that regard. He is also still on the coconut oil and the yeast infection has pretty much cleared up. He is definitely less itchy than he was before, but the itching still hasn't 100% resolved. He doesn't really scratch all that much anymore, but is mainly just licking his paws. Whenever we catch him licking, we put the cone on him. We did 2 of the LimePlus dips, which didn't really make much of a difference at all. All it did was make him and our entire house smell like rotten eggs. The vet is fairly convinced that he has environmental/inhalant allergies since we have already done several food elimination trials. He's actually doing much better on the Eukanuba than he did on any of the grain-free foods we tried and his coat is shinier than ever, so we're going to stick with that. He used to be on prednisone, which we were absolutely 100% against doing again because of all of the harsh side effects (mainly urinary incontinence and muscle wasting from long-term use). The vet convinced us to try Temaril-P. She knew my husband and I were absolutely against steroids because of our previous experience, but she talked us into at least trying a taper of the Temaril to see if he responds to it. She assured us that it is a much milder form of steroid compared to the prednisone (it's an antihistamine/corticosteroid) and that he wouldn't have all of the harsh side effects that he had with the prednisone. We reluctantly agreed to at least try it. Well, he has been on it since yesterday and already has had 4 accidents in the house. We even got up at around 4 in the morning to take him out an extra time just to be safe so that we wouldn't wake up to any accidents, but we woke up a several hours later to a lake of urine in his crate and Nitro was standing there with a very shameful look on his face. I have called the vet and left a message. I was pretty upset and said that this is exactly why we wanted to avoid any kind of steroids at all and that this was one of the primary reasons why we had stopped the prednisone. I'm waiting for a call back.

    Has anyone else ever used Temaril-P before? If so, did it work? The vet said that if this works, he can be on it long-term, but I don't know how I feel about that after going through almost 2 rolls of paper towels in 24 hours. I'm hoping that he's only having these accidents because he's on a pretty high dose right now (3 pills twice a day for 5 days) and then it will gradually taper down. Maybe he will be able to handle a lower dose a lot better...at least I hope.
    Last edited by jwathas; 03-28-2015 at 01:34 PM.

  10. #29
    Real Retriever
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    318
    Thanked: 120
    Gosh, how terrible. Your experience though, was the reason I gave up on all traditional treatments, protocols.... Rivers's allergies were more then just food, they too were environmental.

    With us getting rid of all starch/grains, & I'm not talking just feeding a grain-free food...all dry foods have starch of some kind. We got rid of all pet food period; and the difference is amazing.

    I refuse to do steroids as well; of any kind....within 3-4 days of a total change in diet, we knew we were on the right path.

    Rivers hasn't itched, scratched, etc in over a year. I would be looking at alternatives, personally.

    Just because a dog is not allergic to what he's eating, does not mean he won't reap the benefits of a change in diet. I agree the Eukanuba is doing something good for him in a way; however his immune system is still not to the level of what you need it to be.

    Thus, the dry food is not working in a complete way; not saying diet is a cure all, but it definitely plays a HUGE part.

    Question I have though, is if your pup is improving, which it sounds like he is - why the need for a steroid in the first place?....I'd be taking him off all steroids and see if he continues to improve; steroids will deplete his immunity, which could be causing all of this to worsen over time.

  11. #30
    Puppy jwathas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    20
    Thanked: 1
    He was getting a little better, but not completely. While his scratching has essentially stopped, he is still licking/chewing his feet, but he's not scratching his sides, chest, and ears constantly like he was before. He has already had his immunoglobulins checked and they were all normal, so his immune system is functioning at a normal level, but now we're turning his immune system off with steroids . His thyroid panel was normal as well. I just feel like we're going around in circles with these vets. I was VERY clear that we do NOT want him on steroids again. I went over that with the vet both in person and on the phone, so she knows how against steroids I am. He has been off the prednisone for a good 6-8 months now. I did a lot of research on Temaril-P the other night and while it has worked great for a lot of dogs, it's STILL A STEROID. It still can have the same effects as straight prednisone, especially when used long-term, and I absolutely am not okay with that. What if he really gets sick and his immune system can't fight it off because it's suppressed from the steroid? That's another big concern that we have. Today is his fourth day on the Temaril and after tomorrow he goes down to 3 pills just once a day. I am actually getting ready to call the vet in just a few minutes to voice my concerns. Hopefully she'll be able to come up with some sort of alternative plan for us.

 



Not a Member of the Labrador Retriever Chat Forums Yet?
Register for Free and Share Your Labrador Retriever Photos

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •