Dog Allergies

This is a wide topic and I do hope that by summarizing the tips, it'll help owners with dogs who are prone to allergies.

If you suspect your dog has allergies to something,

1. Visit the Vet. Let's face it, visiting the vet is the first thing you should do. Rather than trying to figure what allergen triggers your dog's reaction by yourself, have the vet check him out first.

2. Corticosteroids, anti-histamines and other medications. Your vet will probably give you information on how and when to administer these meds, don't forget to follow instructions.

3. Allergens.

• Food. In order to narrow out the possibilities, food is the first thing owners often change in a dog's diet.
  
• Environment. That could include a lot of things, from the detergent you use to the pollen count in the area. Even the plants you have in your backyard could be the culprit.
  
• Parasites. Some dogs may have severe allergic reaction to tick or flea bites
  

4. Omega 3, herbal and natural remedies and holistic vets. If your vet is not able to pin point the problem, you might want to consider getting a second opinion- may it be from another medical or holistic vet.

My chow chow is allergic to parasites. Whenever she is bitten she scratches so much she develops a bald spot. Because of this we have resorted to using Frontline every month just to be on the safe side even though we bathe her twice a week with herbal soap that is said to prevent tick and flea infestation. I'm worried though because even if the VET was the one who suggested it I don't like the idea of applying chemicals to my pet's skin every month.

(04-02-2013, 07:12 PM)trishgl Wrote: My chow chow is allergic to parasites. Whenever she is bitten she scratches so much she develops a bald spot. Because of this we have resorted to using Frontline every month just to be on the safe side even though we bathe her twice a week with herbal soap that is said to prevent tick and flea infestation. I'm worried though because even if the VET was the one who suggested it I don't like the idea of applying chemicals to my pet's skin every month.

Our westie mix after hitting the year mark ... got tagged with the westie allergies lol.. so during flea season it's oh so fun as he too scratches or i think even licks and bits (when hes in his crate at night since we are a sleep and can't distract him) bold spots. We also have to watch certain foods, finally found one he does good with. And grass. The vet has us giving him benedryl when he needs it, and doing a weekly spray its still a chemical but not as bad in my opinion as frontline. I also learned the mane and tail conditioner (there is shampoo too i think) it has horses on the front both animals and people can use it, but its great for his paws keeps them soft when its high allergy time and wash his paws in it every night. Plus it helps aid in the rehair growth on his areas that are getting back to normal slowly but better then they were before the conditioner. He also gets bathed 2-3 wk in recommendation by the vet to help keep his allergies down and it works and with that conditioner saves his skin and everything from getting dried out.

He also gets some sardines one once every 2-3 days helps with omega3s, fish oils, etc. tried the fish oil pills like the vet said and squeeze the oils out on his food but he wanted nothing to do with it. The fish oil is way stronger then the sardines and yes the tiny bones in the sardines are safe as they are soft enough for them to chew and digest with no issue (asked the vet before doing it).

Don't know if you have ever tried that conditioner or not it may help.

A friend of mine used to give her dog a bath with an oatmeal shampoo. I never thought it worked very well. Another friend uses tea tree oil shampoo & conditioner, plus adding the tree oil on the sore skin spots. They use vitamin E oil for skin rashes and spray a mist of colloidal silver liquid on raw areas as it is a natural antibodic that prevents infections and helps with healing. It is safe for pets, as well as, people and is not harmful if swallowed. It can be found at natural health stores.

I find the store bought oatmeal shampoo really doesnt do much.. but if you take tea tree oil in water with oatmeal (grinned to a bit of a powder like) mixed enough to a paste and put in a sock (that you'll end up just using for this) and then rub it on the areas that is effected helps better then the oatmeal shampoo itself. I have found the anti dandruff (its also allergy friendly and lowers the allergies on the fur) helps with any scabs or flaking from the allergies themselves.

If you take a bit of lavender (has to be the safe essential oil), tea tree oil, vitamin e, and water use as a spray on the spots help too. I double my vitamin e in it sometimes.

my issue now is just getting our westie mix, Scruffy's fur to grow back in the few spots about the size of a fifty cent piece to grow back and around his collar line (which he really doesn't wear one unless we go some where) as it is kind of thin there still.

Petzcastle thank you for the advice. I do know that conditioner and I'll try it on chacha. I did not know that dogs could eat sardines. I remember my grandma telling me that dogs are not suppose to eat fish. Anyway what kind of sardines is best? There are those in vegetable oil or tomato sauce? And if you don't mind what is the spray that you use weekly so I can talk to the Vet about it. When I was growing up my dad always use to get us dogs with short fur because he said that it was the type we could maintain...now I know why. I love my chow though

I'm pretty sure my dog is allergic to brewer's yeast. I used to have trouble with her eating her own poo, so I bought the Potty Mouth tablets, which are made mostly of brewer's yeast and gave one to her. I noticed she had kind of some little red spots on her snout so I never gave her another one of those again. I've read that it is common for dog's to be allergic to it. For whatever reason she doesn't seem to be interested in eating her poo lately, so I'm glad. I've always fed her really nutritious food, so I never could figure out what the cause of her poo eating was in the first place.

I agree with all points!
In my case, my dog developed severe skin issues and would bite for hours on end if we let him (of course, we didn't!). He would end up with large, bleeding areas on his skin with bald patches and scabs everywhere. We assumed it was an allergic reaction to fleas, which my old vet agreed was "likely" but not surely to be the case during a conversation on the phone. We had a terrible time getting rid of fleas, but when the time came that I was sure we were rid of them, Rocky was still having a reaction and driving himself (and all of us; no fault of his own) mad. At a certain point, we ran out of his usual food and had to buy a temporary substitute. His allergies went away, and came back a week later when we switched to his regular food. The ingredients were practically identical except for one thing: Corn. I've since switched foods so many times, each time with no corn. The only time he has had a reaction since was when he got into the neighbor's dog food which of course had corn! I'm so glad that his allergy had a solution as easy as a simple change in diet.