Allergy Meds

[jys1011]

Hi everyone…well it seems like my little guy C3PO has some kind of
allergy. We took him to the vet after we noticed his ear
scratching has gotten worse & biting his little paws was becoming
more often (here I thought he was just grooming).

Anyhow her initial thoughts were that it looked like an inhalant
allergy (as opposed to a food allergy) so she gave us a lotion which
contains mostly benedryl hydrochloride, and different types of
alcohol. She also gave us a shampoo to help with the itching. And
finally a pills to be given 2x a day that contains hydrochloride &
Hydroxyzyne.

I asked for blood work but she wanted to treat symptoms first. Ok, I
guess.

Well it seems like as soon as we put the lotion on he scratches
incessantly...I mean he can't stop scratching like a maniac & starts
chewing non-stop. We've only tried this for 2 days but my feeling is
that this is making him itch even worse.

Anyone have any experience with this?? Could he be allergic to the
benedryl?? or the hydrochloride??

[nobarkus]

God I've dealt with allergies for years. I've used the over the counter topical Hydrocortizone. That works. Rarely do I use any oral Benedryl unless it's a bad one. One of mine gets the ear scratching/arm pit scratching when I feed her chicken. Allergy problems seem to come on about age 9-10. Some of it's diet and some is from the environment, like grasses/weeds in spring summer.

[tanza]

Ear scratching and paw biting is classic food allergies…. at least from my experience. What are you feeding?

And if inhalant, Benedryl would stop it... again in my experience... and Benedryl is very safe to use for all dogs... all ages

[jys1011]

We feed Merricks dry & wet. Although he hasn't had any reactions until now. Not sure why the Benadryl would make him scratch more.

[tanza]

@jys1011:

We feed Merricks dry & wet. Although he hasn't had any reactions until now. Not sure why the Benadryl would make him scratch more.

Again, from my experience with my Kristii that has corn and wheat allergies, Benadryl did nothing…. and if a food allergy, Benadryl will not happen... It took Kristii till age 3 to really show the allergies to corn/wheat... it built up over the years till it was really horrible... so while they might not have an immediate reaction to foods... after time, it can and will show, at least that is how it was with Kristii...

Is there corn and/or wheat in Merrick's dry? You can alway try an experiment like making him something like boiled ground turkey and rice to eat.. and see if after a couple of days the itching stops...

[lvoss]

It may not be the benadryl he is reacting to, it could be the alcohols in the lotion.

Grains are a common allergen for dogs. Does the Merrick food you feed contain grains? You may want to try a grain free food. Usually when an allergy is suspected it is suggested to switch to a food with fewer ingredients and see if the dog improves. If it does you can start gradually adding foods back but be observant so if there is a reaction you can identify what is causing it.

My limited experience with an inhalant allergy in dogs is that the major symptom is sneezing much the same as it is in humans.

[tanza]

Looking at the Merrick sight, looks like all the dry has Oatmeal as the second ingredient… so unless there is an allergy to the meat, I might guess it is the oatmeal or could even be the rice....

[Basenji_Boy]

Our Max is allergic to wheat, get's those itchy spots. His daddy and C3PO's great grand daddy are one in the same.

Who knows.:eek:

[nomrbddgs]

I know my Boxenji is allergic to wheat,rice,corn-any grains including oatmeal. Natural Balance has some fish and sweet pot that has no grain. She is doing tons better on it. Not perfect yet but lots better after only 4 wks. And benadryl seldom helps with food allergies.

[jys1011]

So we finally got the C3PO's blood work back from allergy testing. They tested for inhalant allergies as well as foods. I asked the vet how reliable the food results were..she was confident but I'm not so sure.

Anyways..he's allergic to about 20 different things…too long to list but he's positive for many grasses, trees, fungi, weeds. I think I knew this much. He's also HIGHLY allergic to house dust & dustmites. Altho we clean neurotically I imagine that this will be difficult to manage.

Now for the foods...Poultry, Eggs, Wheat, Barley, Carrots, Peas, Flax..they did indicate the different degrees of sensitivity. High on the list was Carrots, Peas & Barley.

While I'm not 100% confident on the food results, I still will err on the side of caution & just not feed him any of these. Just in case there is a small chance the test is correct. I've been beating my head here trying to find a food that I can give him that eliminates most of these ingredients but it has been very hard!!

A lot of the Allergy Formulas or Simple Formulas have Barley or Flax or Carrots..Geez!! :eek: :eek: I really hope I don't have to resort to cooking for him..oh boy!!

[jys1011]

Oh yeah & I also forgot to mention…he's also allergic to COTTON!! :eek:

Anyone know of a non-cotton doggy bed??

[luzmery928]

Yeap..hey did you by any chance get my B's test results by accident, we have the same problems. I am now feeding Champ IVD (innovative vetinarian diet) rabbit. We can only get it form the vet's but he loves it. It is pretty much impossiblw to find any store products that don't contain peas and carrots. My B is also allergic to soy so even the treats are a nono. We buy him some spercial treats, I forgot the name but when I get home I'll look it up and let you know. Champ is doing great with his new food. I feed him dry mixed with wet. My B is also allergic to the cotton but he dosne't have a probelm since he really just lays in it at night. Plus he did pull the cotton out but it's still fluffy. I could probably stuff it with some old non-cotton towles to make it better for him. (Just thought of that one). It's not so bad once you get used to it. I also only give him the pills when I start seeing him bite on his paws.

[jys1011]

UUUGGHH what a pain :mad: I've been looking for some thing that I can buy at specialty pet store b/c I really don't want to go with the Vet foods. They're so pricey these vets! :eek:

[luzmery928]

Yeah I did the same but didn't find anything. Seems like all the food in the stores contain peas and carrots. Well I get the 10lbs bag plus the case of wet food. I spend $85 in about 2 months, so though it's a little more expensive it's not over the top when you realize you have a bulk supply of the food plus it makes all the difference since you know the vet is aware of the allergies and won't (hopefully) give you anything containing what he's allergic too.

[jys1011]

I think I may have found something..Solid Gold Barking at the Moon and then some treats that would work too…Natural Blance Treats Sweet Potato & duck. I'll let you know how it goes.

[luzmery928]

Oh yes let me know, nice to have other options except that champ is also allergic to wheat and soy.

[lvoss]

Wellness makes a couple of allergy formulas

http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/wellness/dog_wellness_simple_food_solutions_index.html

http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/wellness/dog_wellness_dry_fish_sweet_potato.html

I have found many stores if they carry other products by that company will special order the one you want since they already have an account with the ditributor. So if a company has an allergy formula that would work for your dog but the local store doesn't carry it but has their other formulas, then ask if they can order it for you.

[luzmery928]

thanks I will check.