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  1. #1
    Puppy
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    I'm so tired of the itching and he must be too!

    GRRR Cooper, my 5 yo male, has been on prednisolone since May. He is also on TOTW GF. Has been on it for several years. He has been itching like CRAZY and has chewed his feet raw. I stopped the meds this week because they just don't seem to be working.

    I've been trying apple cider vinegar and it seemed to help for the 1st 15 minutes, but not since even with repeat applications.

    The vet keeps telling me everyone is having a bad allergy year. Is it the worst you've ever had with your lab friends??? What's working for you?

  2. #2
    Senior Dog Maxx&Emma's Avatar
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    That is a long time to be on steroids. Have you tried the new allergy med that came out this Spring, I think it is Apoquel? What about washing and rinsing his feet when he comes in from outside. Obviously the GF food isn't working, maybe a raw diet would help. If you haven't done allergy testing that would be the first thing I would do, with a specialist.
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  3. #3
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    At this point, after this amount of time, would definitely suggest a doggy dermatologist. Had to take Bandit and it was worth every penny.

  4. #4
    House Broken
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    Have you considered trying raw food? Unless it's an environmental allergy it might help.

  5. #5
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Did you wean off the pred. slowly? It's dangerous to stop it cold turkey.

    How to Taper Off Prednisone Dog Dosage

    Gee, prednisolone (prednisone) is very strong but usually very effective. Though I have my own, non-allergy, story of it not working. There are other options you can investigate. Maybe ask your Vet about:


    • Atopica or Apoquel - both said to be a lesser evil than the prednisolone
    • Dermatology Vet and scraping or blood test for allergies
    • The new saliva test for food intolerances NutriScan Food Sensitivity and Intolerance Test for Cats and Dogs I think I will be doing this one on Oban.
    • Raw food but I've read there's no point if you don't know which foods to avoid. Our new holistic Vet though, has us going raw and Oban is itchy but not as badly as ususal but then again he tapers off as it gets cooler out anyway, so hard to tell. And when we first visited her in July we did not go raw but home cooked. Oban was getting over Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
    • Over the counter antihistamine. Reactine did work for us but only for a very short time. However if you haven't tried it....


    Good luck.
    Last edited by Snowshoe; 10-24-2014 at 02:54 PM. Reason: wrong word, when not went

  6. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Snowshoe For This Useful Post:

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  7. #6
    House Broken ls2erin's Avatar
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    We are in the same boat right now, except it's only been happening for the past 2 or 3 weeks for us. Roxy is only a year old, so not sure about if allergies are worse this year, but she is itchy and has licked and chewed her feet raw. The vet thinks it's environmental allergies and gave us antihistamines, as well as genesis spray. Nothing is helping, other than putting booties on her feet before taking her outside every time she goes out. Also washing her feet right after coming in if she went out without booties.
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  8. #7
    House Broken dynamicgang's Avatar
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    When I got my latest rescue, I was told every food caused her to itch except Science Diet Sensitive Skin. They have since changed it to Sensitive Skin and Stomach but she has been fine on it. Not the best food though.

    i had tried my last rescue on Taste of the Wild but it did not help. She was taking Pred every other day at the end.


    The Dynamic Gang

  9. #8
    Senior Dog sheltieluver's Avatar
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    I don't like putting my dogs on steroids especially long term like that. Gage has seasonal allergies. Benadryl doest work for him so I got him a stronger med called Aterax from the vet to help with the itchy. I also bathe him in a chlorihex shampoo every 2 to 3 weeks to help any infection as he will start getting hot spot like sores. This year it wasn't as bad as last year. If his skin breaks out he will get antibiotics as well.

  10. #9
    Senior Dog shellbell's Avatar
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    Go see a derm vet or a holistic vet. Do you vaccinate every year? Overloading on vaccines, kibble, flea/tick preventatives, environmental toxins.... it can all overwhelm a dogs system leading to itching and raw skin. It weakens the immune system and makes them more susceptible to environmental allergies as well. Been through it with Tux, after three years on raw, stopping all vaccines except rabies, limited use of topical preventatives, as well as supportive supplements.....he is doing awesome

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  12. #10
    Real Retriever amyb's Avatar
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    I had to take my chocolate lab to a dog allergist. $800 for testing. She used to be on shots, but now thankfully, allergy drops 2X a day and I give her a allergy pill every day.
    DOGS ROCK!!!

 



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