Help!!! My Dog has Allergies!!

[JumpingBean]

Wondering if anyone can help me out? We have an Aussie Bulldog and she's allergic to a LOT of things! We had to take her to a dermantologist (yes they have doggy ones!) - cost a fortune tho! And they did skin tests on her and found out that she's got a lot of airbourne allergies. With the major ones being - mosquitoes, moths, tobacco, johnson grass, peppercorns, Cockroaches. Then there is another 20 things that she's also moderately and weakly allergic to! Mostly grasses. So we have to give her injections every 2 weeks, to try to build up her immunity to them.:crying: (poor thing!) It seemed to be working during the winter, but as soon as spring and summer has hit and all the grasses are growing and pollens are about she's ithy again! :banghead: The weird thing is tho, she looks fine, you can't tell that there's allergies, no rash or redness or anything. It's like this invisible itch! She's a solid dog, so can't really scratch most places a normal dog can, so it drives her insane! And us too!:banghead: We keep the grass cut and keep an eye out for the grass she's alergic to, to get rid of it.
So was wondering if anyone else has had a dog/pet with allegies and what did they do? The vaccine doesn't seem to be doing anything and she's on it for then next year and a half still! Any natural remedies would be greatly appreciated.:smiliedance:

[Mum2Tyla]

Hi,
I am a vet nurse and one of the main things we see dogs for is skin allergies, the breed you have are also prone to it, she is just lucky that she got an owner that is willing to spend the time and money on her. Skin is so time consuming and expensive and often with little result, i know how expensive the desensitising injections are and at the end you may not get the desired result, i know one client that concreted her whole back yard I know a bit extreme but she loved this dog and had plenty of money. Using a nice genlte shampoo can sometimes bring a little relief also plenty of bug zappers around to keep the insects away. Is she allergic to food at all ????
I really hope these injections work for you, I myself have a skin condition that itches and it is the worst, If she gets really itchy you can use cortisone in small doses just to give her a little relief not the best option but sometimes it is the only thing that works. Good luck
Kelly:)

[jem_1981]

Hello - my beloved Buster is allergic to fleas! :eek: He gets a red rash if he gets any - we discovered when he was a pup. So we use frontline and a organic Oatmeal Shampoo & Conditioner. We haven't had a problem since.

My problem is so mild compared with yours, good luck with his treatments. Hope he can get some relief.

[mythreelittlemonkeys]

my little beagle ate himself alive about 2 months ago giving himself bacterial infections due to allergy to something - we not sure what...the vet alone cost us near on 500 bucks for an overnight stay, biopsies, antibiotics, cortisone injections etc...but worth it of course :) He still a bit itchy and I have to go see the vet once the cortisone wears off and we will try to eliminate if diet or grass etc...cant afford a dermatologist...so I hoping it something easy to work out...I know it nothing like mites or fleas as we use revolution and he bathed in antibac treatment and oatmeal. He only itches a bit now and the patches nearly gone...though they get worse if we go to the dog park...but not sure what there that not here...

[shed]

oh you poor thing.

I have a certificate in animal nutrition and my advice would be to make sure her diet is free from wheat and beef as they are also common allergens. They might not be causing the skin problems she has but they certainly won't help as they make lots of dogs a bit itchy so she can do without that, poor thing.

Look on the list of ingredients on your dogs food to see if they contain wheat or beef.

Chicken is good, lamb is good, kangaroo is good. If you want some brand names PM me.

Good luck, poor doggy. Its hard to see them so uncomfortable.

[Squiggles]

Know how you feel - our mini foxy is allergic to just about everything... did the skin patch test on her too and she is allergic to Tobacco (not that we smoke) barley grass, washing powder, wool, acrylic and the list goes on and on...

She is a constant scratcher so we have to give her a bath once a week in some stuff called "Malaseb" which is medicated foam stuff and then she has cortisone tablets (called Delta) for 4 days then off them for 4 days in a cycle.

Costs a fortune for a little dog that only weighs 5kgs!!! we call her our dog with issues!!

[JumpingBean]

Hi!
Thanks for all your replies. I've pretty much tried all the suggested things tho! We use the oatmeal shampoo and conditioner on her. use malaseb also as she bit her feet so bad once, it made a sore. Can't concrete as we are renting, but am sooo tempted to rip all our grass out!!!! The only thing we'll now try is the no wheat thing, she has biscuits as treats which contain wheat, so might check that out. Although the skin testing didn't say wheat at all as an allergy. (we don't give her beef anyway - gives her wind! :eek: )
I was speaking to a naturopath and she said to try brewers yeast. Anyone tried that???
So thanks again for all the suggestions! I really appreciate it. :yelclap:

oh, I forgot to add, she's also having small doses or cortosone tablets, but due to her weight being a bulldog, we dont' give her much as she's prone to put on more with them. :banghead: :banghead: But they do give her short-term releif!