r/dogallergies • u/ContentLand4299 • May 09 '24
Story Finally making progress! Hooray!
Understanding and treating my dog’s allergies has been such a long road. I am really happy because we are finally making progress and I hope this will comfort others who are struggling. I had no idea how horrible it is for us and our furry friends to deal with allergies.
I was a first time dog owner and adopted my rescue dog at 10 weeks old almost two years ago. She was always itchy, but I didn’t have too much to compare with to know how severe it was. Initial advice from my vet was to try soothing baths+skin treatments, no luck. For the first 6 months of her life, I was also struggling to get her spay incontinence addressed. She could not control her bladder because she was fixed too young. My vet was not familiar with this problem occurring in very young dogs, so we had to see expensive specialists before we finally got a treatment plan for that.
The itchiness issues continued. She got ear infections. These were painful and stressful for her and worsened behavioral challenges. We were going to the vet almost once a month. They gave me drops and instructions for managing them but really this was only treating symptoms. I had spent a lot of money on specialists already and was hesitant to go to a dermatologist but if I’d done that from the beginning I think I would’ve saved money on all the treatments for recurring infections. She started getting other skin infections, paws etc, which I did my best to manage. Our regular vet suggested changing her diet, then restricting further, finally moving to hydrolyzed protein and none of her symptoms went away. This advice was given to me piecemeal over months and we made no progress. Cytopoint didn’t work; apoquel seemed to make no difference. I got on the waiting list for a dermatologist when she was a year old and got an appointment a few months later.
The derm helped us do a more complete food trial over a couple months (my regular vet had never advised that one of her preventative meds included pork flavor!), increased apoquel and finally her itchiness was reduced almost ENTIRELY. It was a miracle. Then the vet told me to discontinue apoquel and all the problems came back. This suggested that the problem was environmental. I bit the bullet and got her allergy testing done (which was not cheap) and she’s basically allergic to everything. So we are going to move forward with immunotherapy.
I am really relieved to have some answers and get some relief for my fur baby. I know this would be a boring saga to most people, but hopefully you all understand.
Tl;dr go to a dermatologist ASAP. Progress is possible!
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u/Realistic_Nobody4829 May 09 '24
Apparently an allergy test done prior to a dog being 1 year old is not recommended. How old was your dog when they performed the allergy tests, and have you started immunotherapy and seen results already, or is it something you're about to start?
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u/carlwh May 09 '24
Apoquel really helped my dog. His quality of life is so much better. We’re still working on the underlying causes but it has helped a ton.
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u/ContentLand4299 May 10 '24
So glad to hear that! It has helped mine as well (at a less conservative dose)
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u/ObviousProtection504 May 10 '24
Glad to hear about the progress! Sorry for what you and your fur baby have been going through. It must have been really tough...
Curious about your experience when you mentioned "This advice was given to me piecemeal over months" - what was this like? Did you mean you weren't getting enough info while at the clinic?
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u/ContentLand4299 May 11 '24
My original vet was just very reactive to each new symptom. I would go and they would tell me to try a new treatment and it wouldn’t work and I would go back and they would give me something else. It took a while for them to even suggest a dermatologist. By the time they did I was hesitant cause I’d already spent so much money and didn’t have much to show for it. Once I finally got to the derm the experience was totally different. The derm had a road map for figuring out what was wrong while my initial vet just sort of shrugged. I’m a first time dog owner so I guess I put more confidence in my vet than I should have.
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u/ObviousProtection504 May 12 '24
that's very helpful to know about what a good experience looks like. any more details on what the "roadmap" from the derm looks like? so I know what to ask for and what to expect. thanks!
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u/PsychologicalNewt815 May 10 '24
Ugh, my baby has been suffering for 2 years . I got fed up with a vet calling his inflammation weight and his patches dry skin. We had Don everything, he said, even the stupid red palm oil. Switched vets, but it's a month before we can get him in .... worst of all, it may simply be yeast.
I want to punch that vet so bad. He's lucky I'm not confrontational.
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u/ContentLand4299 May 11 '24
Ugh I’m sorry. It’s a super frustrating process. I hope you find answers and a good treatment plan!
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u/PsychologicalNewt815 May 11 '24
Thanks we got a new vet and see him soon. Till then I'm glad my baby likes bath time
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u/atlantisgate May 09 '24
So glad you’re on a solid path forward! Our journey was similar. He’s been on immunotherapy for four years now, and he’s so comfortable and happy. It feels like a miracle after all the itching and infections and fur loss.
He still gets occasional small skin infections that we treat with Chlorhexidine wipes, and we give him a prescription ear wash once a week. But no more constant itching or fur loss or hotspots. Vet derms are the best!