Anyone do Allergy Shots?

[jys1011]

Hello

The vet has ordered shots to start my little boy on a desensitizing regimen for his many inhalant allergies (for food we are just modifying diet) especially his high sensitivity to house dust.

I'm wondering if anyone has done this & whether it was effective & worth it. She says the shots will be daily for about a couple of weeks & then it would taper off to finally about 1x a month.

Just a worried B parent ;)

[subaruthie]

Cooper started shots this spring to desensitize him to dust mites and storage mites. He's severely allergic to both (we cleaned out a closet and one room in preparation for our move, and he's still covered in hives a week later!).

He did really well through his first ramp-up vial, but we're nowhere near maintenance level yet. We've had a few setbacks, but we're optimistic (my husband has been on allergy shots for half his life and they make life bearable!).

Be sure AHEAD OF TIME to ask your vet what to do if/when you hit your dog's threshold before reaching maintenance. How to step back a level, whether to give antihistamines and/or steroids, or to use any topical treatments.

So far, it's been relatively cheap (we're still on our first set of serum), and we think we've figured out Cooper's dosing schedule.

Also, as with any new experience, use treats! Cooper now sits automatically when he sees a syringe. At my parents' house, he always gets a treat for sitting quietly while my dad injects insulin. Now, he knows he gets chicken chips during and after his shot! But it takes my husband holding the treat and me handling the shot.

Hope this helps.

I'd be interested in hearing about other B allergy stories. We supplement with omega fatty acids, use ProPlan sensitive skin and stomach, use the mildest shampoos and conditioners recommended by our groomer, use Benadryl, and are constantly trying to wean him from prednisone.

Ruth

[jys1011]

Thanks Ruth!! This is great stuff…We started treating with Benadryl then the vet increased his dosage hydroxyzine & added steroid shots & pills for a week. We weaned him off quickly. Until we start with shots he's still on high dosage of hydroxyzine.

We're also feeding simple diet for skin & stomach allergies, using supplements of brewers yeast & omega fatty acids (No Flax b/c he's allergic to that too! :eek:) and 2x a week he's bathed with oatmeal shampoo for the itching.

My little girl Topaz is starting to show signs of itching but she's not nearly as bad as C3PO. So I just give a pill of benadryl & spray her paws with hydrocortisone which helps.

[luzmery928]

Well Champ only had to get a cortizon shot the first time he developed allergies and now if we see him itching or biting his paws we give him a pill but honestly only had to do it twice (the pills). Good luck with your babies.