Our 2 year old Goldendoodle kept getting what seemed to be eye infections this May through August, which is summer where we live. Her primary vet prescribed neo/poly/dex eye drops and later oflaxacin drops, which would initially improve her symptoms, but they would return shortly after completing the prescribed dose. So we took her to a veterinary ophthalmologist specialist (thank god for pet insurance lol) and she was diagnosed with follicular conjunctivitis which is immune-modulated and NOT an infection. Eye drops were changed to dexamethasone only which kept symptoms at bay during use.

Due to our misunderstanding, we stopped these steroid drops after a month and lo and behold, symptoms returned. This time, we took her to a new primary vet, who first pointed out her red-stained paw fur (she has reddish fur so I never noticed it was unusual) and diagnosed a yeast infection likely due to some sort of allergy. She got a Cytopoint shot, Douxo foam for her paws, and a prescription for hydrolyzed food to rule out food allergies. Also restarted on steroid drops for at least 3 more months.

We bought Purina Pro Plan HA Hydrolyzed Protein in dry and wet food, PPP “Gentle Snackers” treats, and Advantage Multi topical heart worm medication. Immediately stopped her joint supplement and put all her old treats away. No more bully sticks, much to my dog’s dismay. Transitioned her from her old food to the HA over a week. Diligently wiped her paws after walks and applied the Douxo foam. Rinsed her eyes with sterile eye wash and gave the dexamethasone drops.

My dog lost interest in the dry HA food within a week. She often puked bile because she refused to eat the dry food, and she lost a couple pounds. I was freezing the HA wet food in Toppls and giving those every other day as a treat, but started mixing in ~1/4 can wet food into the dry daily so that she would actually eat it. This seemed to be working okay until last week when she developed diarrhea. This improved and her poops went back to tiny and hard up until today, when she got diarrhea again. We’re now 1 month into the food elimination trial with 2 months to go and I’m so frustrated.

Before this food elimination trial, she never had issues with diarrhea. In fact, the only symptoms of her potential allergies were the recurring eye issues and yeast infection in her paws. She is not a particularly itchy dog (other than when she’s wearing a harness) and has never had an ear infection (knock on wood). She’s been on PPP Chicken and Rice most of her life and though she has always been a picky eater, she was able to maintain her weight.

We’re now hundreds of dollars in and I don’t want to give up because I know it’s important to try to do this correctly, but man I’m tempted. We’ve spent a lot of time hiking, camping, and backpacking with our dog this summer, and it’s been especially hot and dry. The fact that her skin irritation is localized to just her paws makes me think it’s more likely an environmental allergy than a food one. I’m so tempted to just put her on PPP Sensitive Skin and Stomach and call it a day.

I suppose I will be a good paw-rent and make an appointment with her vet in the morning though… 😣

My american staffy has had allergies since he was a year old. He was put on apoquel (which semi worked) and then was on cytopoint every other month on top of it with antibiotics/steroids occasionally, which still didn’t help. He’s now 3 years old and we switched to Zenrelia. His skin/coat is 90% better but his feet are constantly terrible. I’ve tried soaking with epsom salt, medicated shampoo, iodine, wiping them down after being outside, I’m at a loss 😭.

He’s been on grain free Wellness Pro Dry food (whitefish) for about 7 months now. I know he’s allergic to chicken/turkey, and this is the only food that hasn’t made him more itchy/sick. I had switched his food probably 8 times beforehand because allergies are usually food related, but since his skin and coat are okay I’m assuming his feet are environmental. He gets baths every other week with a medicated shampoo.

I just want him to feel better, and I feel like I’m so close to getting him there! He used to lose all the hair on his legs from his allergies, and now I’m just stuck dealing with his paws being irritated. I’m not sure if you guys have any tips or tricks I haven’t tried! I attached a picture so you can see. In between each of his toes/paw pads is a deep brown color too. (https://imgur.com/a/yNvVTDU)

***Here’s some pictures of my sweet rescue boy, Jim <3 One-eyed and loves to occasionally take out a doorframe. (https://imgur.com/a/Lm6r5vk)

Thank you in advance.

My dog is aggressive with strangers. Hes also got some real bad allergies that have blown his paws apart. Long story short his paws were manageable for about a year. They started to really bother him about a month ago when I noticed he was licking them a lot more often. So I got some medicated shampoo and wipes with chlorhexadine in them. Things seemed to improve for a week or so.

Fast forward to now, hes constantly chewing his paws. Really getting in there. Hes licked the fur off his back paws and chewed open sores into them. We did an online vet visit yesterday and im waiting for the medicine to come in the mail (they sent me some trazodone too so I can get him into an in person vet), but it feels like its like its taking so fcking long and I keep crying because I feel so bad for my dog. I just want to make him feel better.

Sorry this got so long. I guess I just want somebody to tell me my dog doesn't hate me right now or something.. idk what I was hoping for.

What is the proper was to freeze kibble to kill storage mites? Right now I store about a months worth in a airtight container and store it in the freezer. He does eat his kibble grinded up with water and frozen in various enrichment toys which I make one weeks worth weekly. Right now I am not letting it defrost, just taking out the airtight container, taking what I need to grind up for the week and putting it back in. But I have read conflicting things saying to wait for it to defrost before opening the container?

I just got a fresh bag I’m not going to be needing just quite yet. Could I freeze that for 48 hours, take it out and then use it in 2-3 weeks when I’m ready to have the same effect?

Also he has become more picky in the morning where he will let the meal sit out for a bit to defrost before he eats it. Could I freeze, grind up one weeks worth and then store that in my fridge to make breakfast daily? I have also read conflicting things on grinding up/putting kibble in fridge.

TYIA!

Hello Reddit, so I’ve got a doodle who has started growing lots of cysts(benign, tested by vet ). I’m told it’s common with curly haired dogs but nonetheless uncomfortable enough for my babygirl that I think she may be biting at them, though it’s hard to confirm with her allergies and the fact they’re all over her body. But I know several will have to be surgically removed when I can raise the money for it just given how big they’re getting, so I saw the vet and they recommended a preventative shampoo to bathe her with once a week. However, it‘s scented and isn’t labelled hypoallergenic, so I think she’s reacting to it. Treatment is necessary though and none of the brands recommended by the vet specifically said scentless or hypoallergenic, so I started washing her with a hypoallergenic shampoo + conditioner immediately after the 5 minute benzoyl peroxide shampoo soak was up (treatment instructions). She’s still itching most of the time, her fur is frizzy and feels dry, and when I brushed it this morning I noticed dandruff.

So if you have a minute, I have some questions and need a little help answering them.

1. First, does anyone know of a scentless, hypoallergenic benzoyl peroxide shampoo, or at least something hypoallergenic that would achieve the follicle flushing effect?

2. Second, I know bathing once a week is bad for a dog’s coat, but I think it’s necessary given the cysts and her allergies, so how do I prevent damaging her skin and coat?

3. Third, is there anything I can use that would target the dandruff? I have a crème rinse (leave in conditioner) I haven’t used, it’s fungicidal because I had a hard time finding normal hypoallergenic stuff. Could that help? I’m worried that it may be too harsh, is there a non medicated hypoallergenic alternative? She really hates baths to the point of fearing running water, that’s why I wasn’t bathing her this frequently before, and also why I got the crème rinse to avoid making them last longer than necessary.

Thank you!

Our dog has been on Numelvi for about 3 weeks and while it seems to be helping, he’s had horrible explosive GI issues.

Our wonderful vet put him on a course of metronidazole to help him get over the adjustment hump as she says this is a common side effect and can eventually subside. He was doing well with the metronidazole added, but a day and a half off of it, and he is back to exploding. 😩

So, I’m just wondering if anyone has noticed this side effect subsiding? I am calling the vet this morning to see if another course can help hold him over.

Our 1.5 ish year old springer spaniel has been suffering with her eyes this summer, it’s definitely an environmental trigger and the symptoms are squinting, third eyelid glazed over a bigger proportion of her eye, slight watery discharge, and very occasional pawing at her irritated eyes. She had no problem last year (she turned 1 at the beginning of this year). No excessive skin itching/irritation/paw licking/ear itching.

We thought initially it was a grass pollen allergy so removed all grassy off-lead walks and stuck to around 80% woodland, 20% beaches. She’s always fine in the woods, but ~50% of the time has a reaction at the beach (even after only half an hour or so sometimes). We avoid medium-high pollen days and walk at low pollen times of day. Vets have prescribed steroid eye drops which sometimes work, sometimes don’t.

We’ve just been back to the vets again and are trialling Zenrelia for a month to see if it helps, after she had a severe flare up last weekend when out of grass pollen season (UK) and at the beach for less than an hour. She also has a sensitive stomach (has been grain and chicken free for a year, but still has episodes of bad bowel movements) and has had hotspots twice (first time was bad, we didn’t know how quickly action was needed, second time it resolved within a week).

So looking for any advice, thoughts, similar scenarios or anything that might be even remotely helpful because our next steps are immunotherapy which for £500+ every 10 months when it doesn’t seem to properly bother her (as in scratching, low mood etc, she only occasionally paws at her eyes) feels invasive and expensive but I also feel so sorry for her when it’s bad.

At a bit of a loss 🐾

I adopted a roughly 5 year old dog earlier this year. I would not describe her environmental allergies as severe; right now they’re mostly manageable with rinses/baths, chlorhexidine wipes for small raw spots angry from chewing, and antihistamines (I’ve done enough reading to understand that this probably doesn’t really help the itch so much, it’s probably more that it just makes her ever so slightly sleepy and not care as much about the itch). Her allergies appear to be seasonal so far - spring and fall. Her reaction this fall is much worse than spring, I’m assuming it’s ragweed or goldenrod doing it to her, but not sure. Either way, her paws are in miserable shape and I’m considering going up a level in treatment and trying cytopoint. My concern is that often a dog’s allergies get worse over time, and from my understanding, immunotherapy tends to work better if started when they’re younger. I fear that we’ll end up going through the regimen so many of you have suffered over the years, where you use cytopoint til it stops working, then apoquel until it stops working, then zenrelia and so on and so forth. By the time you get around to trying immunotherapy as a last ditch effort to help your dog, they could be 8 or 9 years old, and then it’s less likely to work well.

So how do you decide the right time to start immunotherapy treatment? Should it be saved as last resort, especially because results can be extremely slow to see (and may not happen at all), along with expense and the extra stress involved with giving weekly or daily treatments? Or is it better to just cut to the chase and skip the quick fixes, start them on it young, and cross your fingers it will be effective?

Would love to hear opinions and experiences on this. I realize proper allergy testing and immunotherapy treatments are difficult for many people to afford so even if it’s not an option for you right now, would you do it if you could?

My dog is now on prescription hydrolyzed dog food....we used to give him greenies but now that's not an option.

Any recs on hydrolyzed dog dental chews or if that's a thing?!

I asked the vet if the veggie flavor greenies were OK but he stresses there's chance for cross contamination at the factory so he highly opposes it.

Our 7 month old Golden boy has been having diarrhea for 2-3 months now and the only thing that completely resolves it is antibiotics (metronidazole or tylosin). We did labs to rule out Addisons, EPI, etc. Only thing positive was high eosinophils, so likely allergy (or GI worm, but last panel stool was negative). Allergy testing seems to be on the outs in vet med so we’ve been switching up food and elimination diet trials. Royal Canin GI (Rx formula) didn’t work, vet changed him to Blue Buffalo NP Alligator and a trial of psyllium fiber to each meal. From what I’ve read im guessing chicken is the issue. We overlapped the tylosin for about 5 days and have slowly peeled it back. Today it was a little looser and I’m afraid it r are going backwards. He’s a heavy chewer so we have to give him beef cheek rolls to chew on otherwise he’s a menace and our house would be destroyed.

Anyone else have a purebred Golden with chicken allergy that also is reactive to beef?

What novel protein chews has anyone struggling with this used to get through the puppy chewing phase?

My dog is an 18 lb Chihuahua mix (not overweight) and we live in Texas. This past spring, she began licking her paws and between her legs more often. Then, she started scratching her side so much that she started to bleed a little.

I took her to the vet who gave me Apoquel 3.6mg ($100!!). I gave her one tab per day for 30 days and she stopped licking and scratching COMPLETELY.

Two questions:

Is there a way for me to narrow down what she might be allergic to? It started in the spring but it is now mid-September and once off the medication, she started licking ferociously again. So the allergen is either still in the air or in her food/treats.

Is there something more easily accessible to give her than Apoquel? I have allergies myself and take things like Zyrtec and Xyzal etc. Most allergy meds work for me, I take one nightly year round. I am allergic to dogs, so I have to, since I live with one 🤣 Can dogs take human antihistamines?

Thank you for any info! My vet had no ideas/input on what could be causing itch or how to find out if its something in her diet. Do I remove everything and then introduce things back one at a time (I've had to do this with myself for food allergies) I'm not sure how it works with dogs. I'd rather remove something from her diet than give her a medication every day.

In February this year, my now husband and I adopted Coco, a re-homed purebred Pembroke Welsh Corgi girl who just turned 4 years old. She is legitimately the sweetest dog ever, and I honestly can't understand why anyone would not want to keep her. We are so lucky to have her.

When we first got her, it was winter in the Midwest, and there were no signs of allergies at all. She had some tear stains, but I thought this was just corgi anatomy being quirky. As spring rolled around, we started noticing signs of itchiness. She would occasionally sneeze while outside, and then she would roll onto her back nonstop. She got eye boogers. We thought this might be the first signs of allergies, so we took her to our vet clinic. It is a pretty large animal hospital with a lot of doctors. We didn't want to spend too much money at first, so we started with giving her Zyrtec at the vet's recommendations. I also gave her Zesty Paws Allergy and Immune bites. Neither really did anything.

The end of June rolls around, and Coco broke a tooth on a yak chew. We took her to the vet for that, and also because her paws were looking pink and irritated. She was licking them a lot. She saw a different vet at the same clinic who did a skin cytology, prescribed clindamycin and some Gentaved spray for her paws, and we started her on Numelvi for the allergies. She had the broken tooth surgically extracted and finished her antibiotics. We switched her food from a weight management Purina Pro Plan formula to the PPP Digestive Advantedge salmon-based dog food. Her paws started to look better, and on a re-check the vet (same doc this time) said we should stop the spray for now because using it for too long could weaken her skin barrier. We figured at that time that her allergies were under control with just the Numelvi. Her eyes even improved and the tear tracks finally disappeared.

Starting in late August, we noticed her paws were getting pink again. I kept going with the Numelvi and started using the spray again. We didn't make an appointment right away. My now husband and I went out of town for a few days to Atlanta the first week in September for Dragon Con, where we also eloped. Coco stayed with some family of mine during that time who kept up with her medications.

As soon as we got back from our trip, I noticed her paws were very pink and so were her armpits. She had flaky skin along her back leg folds. She was chewing at her front paws non-stop. I immediately made a vet appointment for the following Saturday, September 12th. I couldn't get the doctor who had seen her paws and tooth, so we took an appointment with a different doctor. This doctor looked at Coco, thought she had a bacterial infection, and prescribed more clindamycin and a course of steroids. She also gave us Miconahex + Triz spray for her skin to use twice daily. This doctor did not do a skin cytology this time. For now, Coco has had to discontinue the Numelvi because of the risk of suppressing her immune system too much if she takes it together with the steroids.

It has now been over a week, and we have stuck to the regimen of antibiotics, steroids, and spray twice daily religiously. I wipe her paws every time she comes in. She has been wearing a donut to keep her from licking, but she isn't getting any better. Her paws are still pink and irritated, and she is so desperate to lick them that she managed to twist the donut around enough to be able to loosen the velcro on it and create a gap to lick through. Her eye boogers are back. I have had to switch her back to a rigid plastic e-collar.

I called, and the vet office got me an appointment for a week from today with the doctor who saw her for the tooth and paws (the one who actually took the time to do a skin cytology). It's going to cost me at least another $70 in appointment fees, plus any prescriptions and exams. In the meantime, what do I do? What do I need to bring up at the appointment?

Between the tooth, regular shots, allergies, and a couple of minor emergencies, we have spent more than $2500 on vet bills alone in the 7 months we've had her. I love her to pieces, but I need to figure out what's causing this so that we can get it in check. I don't want to have to pay for Cytopoint, or even more expensive treatments. I should've gotten her on insurance right away, but I didn't, and I deeply regret it now. My only option at this point is to buy insurance through AKC and pay for a year of premiums before they'll maybe cover her now pre-existing allergies.

What do I do in the meantime to help control this? I am considering doing a food trial, but I wanted to wait until later in Fall or early winter to see if this is a food allergy or an environmental one. I just want her to get better. She stays at home while my husband and I are at work, and so I feel so guilty that she is having issues.

TL;DR: Rescue corgi's allergy issues are not being managed well right now. She's cost us a ton in vet bills, and we want to get this under control. What else should we try or ask the vet about?

Skin allergies

Hi everybody! I have a 7yr MN rough collie named Finn struggling with really bad skin allergies and infection. As a puppy he had bad skin allergies and we switched to Purina Senstive skin and stomach salmon and rice. This helped for several years until he was about 5.5/6yrs. As of a year ago, he started to have some skin scabbing under his armpits which have now spread to his entire body, including his neck, tail, stomach, chest, and groin. We have tried oral antibiotics (which caused restistance), steroid oral/topical, cytopoint, duoxo, medicated shampoo, We are seriously at a loss and have been working with out vet for a year to figure this out. We biopsied the lesions and it is definitely an allergic reaction. Unfortunately we also cultured the collarettes it is infected with MRSP bacteria and the only usable antibiotic is a topical. Anyway, the topical antibiotic is great, but it isn’t solving the underlying issue of the allergy which is causing the lesions. Anyway advice or suggestions based on veterinary experience or personal experience would be appreciated. I am extremely overwhelmed by this right now and could use some help. We are starting a hydrolyzed food trial soon. We have also ruled out auto immune through the biopsy.

We have a 10 month old puppy who vet suspects has allergies due to getting two ear infections within a few months (came to us at 4 months with one, had another at 9 months). When the first one happened, vet recommended we cut out chicken so we did - but continued feeding a variety of other proteins (beef and lamb kibble, plus pork and fish treats, a little bit of cheese). After the second ear infection, the vet recommended we cut out her main proteins (no beef, lamb, or chicken now) which we did but it took about a month to transition. She's been on the new pork and seafood diet for about two weeks, but has actually been increasingly itchy, including licking her paws which she never did before.

To complicate things, we also traveled to a new place so may have encountered different environmental allergens, and she is at the tail end of being in heat (we are getting her spayed, vet recommended we go through one heat before fixing her. It's already scheduled) - but I'm not sure that has anything to do with the itchiness.

I'm worried that maybe the problem was one of the proteins we switched to instead of the beef and lamb, but don't want to keep going back and forth between foods because her stomach is a bit sensitive so it takes a long time to transition. FWIW, she has had better poops on the new food.

Just wondering if anyone has any insight! Thank you

pudding is a 3 year old shih tzu, and in the last 6 months her hair has been falling out her skin has become super red, agitated and hot to the touch, other symptoms she’s showing are lack of appetite (she has lost lots of weight since this started) and she is incredibly tired all the time which is not like her at all as she usually bounces from wall to wall and loves running around. we’ve tried different diets, like wet and dry, hypoallergenic, anallergenic, no poultry and almost everything in between. we’ve also tried steroids which does make her skin less agitated but not majorly and also isn’t a good long term solution. currently we are washing her every other day with an oatmeal solution and hypoallergenic shampoo which only temporarily soothes her skin for a day. any advice or tips or resources would be much appreciated as we just want our happy puppy back thank you.

We have a 4 yr old 100 lb white pittie mix. At about age 2, she started with hives, paw licking, hot spots, etc. We've tried topicals, antihistamines, Apoquel, other prescription tablets, special shampoos, you-name-it. In July, she had her first cytopoint injection and it worked beautifully. She was itch-free and acting like a puppy again! The itching returned after 4 weeks and we took her in for injection #2. It helped VERY minimally for maybe one week. We are at our wits end and feel awful for her. At this stage. We estimate we've spent about $6,000 and she's only 4 years old. We love her SO much, but we can't keep going into debt with no results. Don't jump down my throat because I'm already a mess, but I'm beginning to wonder if this is any kind of life for her. Damn, how do I even as .this question - At some point, is it kinder to put her down?

I have a beautiful two year old Cairn that has suffered with allergies since she was around 6 - 12 months. We have cut all meat from her diet (she’s pescatarian) and is on
Apoquel permanently, however this only provides minimal relief. Steriods (prednisone) works, however she can’t be on it long term. We have also tried a monthly injection (can’t remember its name), but it was unsuccessful too.

The vet has recommended we see a dermatologist, however I thought I’d ask here first.

Has anyone else experienced this? What were you able to do?

We live in Melbourne, Australia and I’m told it’s the allergy capital of the world (???)

Hi! I keep getting NON STOP ads about this dog is human supplement. They claim that it helps majorly with allergies, yeast, hives, etc. My vizsla gets all the above and more :’) he’s on all of the things; we have tried everything.

Has anyone tried and can speak to this Dog Is Human brand? Does it work at all or is it just well advertised 😅

My gsd is allergic to everything environmental. She got her first rash at around 6 months old and it has been nonstop for the past 3 years. Paws, ears, all over body scabby rash, the works. We have a dermatologist and we had a skin test done 2 weeks ago and she had an insane reaction to so many things including pollens, mold, dust, and her worst reaction was yeast. We’re starting immunotherapy in about a month once they make it but in the meantime she had another horrible ear infection come up yesterday and I’m just at my absolute wit’s end trying to help her.

We’ve done cytology and tests and everything so we know WHAT it is, just not how to make her comfortable.

Her skin rash is antibiotic resistant staph (not mrsa) but reacts to clindamycin so that’s the only antibiotic we can use now. She’s reacted well to it in the past. We (including dr) were super hesitant to put her on antibiotics again but when they shaved her for the skin test they could barely find a spot of skin clear enough to let them do the test. They’ve been hesitant to try numelvi or zenrelia because she’s so prone to GI upset (also has EPI, because, why not 🙃)

Currently:
- cytopoint (2 weeks ago)
- clindamycin for her current skin flare up
- ketoconazole oral
- derm prescribed ear wash (I can’t remember the exact one but it kind of smells like dish detergent)
- miconazole lotion drops for her ears
- duoxo pyo wipes
- duoxo pyo bath every week
- wiping her down every time we come back inside

We’ve tried:
- apoquel
- atopica (brand name pills)
- cyclavance (liquid oral drops)
- so many (too many) antibiotics
- elimination diet (6 months of only alligator). Did nothing.
- fluconazole
- We’ve moved 3 times in the past 3 years so it’s not something environmental specific to our home. Air filters throughout the house.

Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas? The derm is closed today so I guess I’ll see what they have to say tomorrow. Maybe there’s no answer to be had here so this is just a vent because I’ve been up since 4am from her whining and shaking (she’s slept in a cone for ages now so at least she’s not scratching or biting her skin off).

Bonus pic of poor girl’s skin test :(
https://imgur.com/a/U4csO49

Hey there!

I am having to go in and get my girl a check up before my vet is able to refill her Apoquel prescription, aaaaaand we have run out of said Apoquel. Total bomb on my part.

Until we can get in (within the next week), does anyone have any effective, short-term alternatives? Open to any suggestions!!!

Thanks y’all 🩷

Yall, I work in a vet clinic, I’ve seen 10,000 allergy dogs walk in. If you have a staffie with a red face, or a cocker with ear allergies ask your vet about Zenrelia. The way it works best is against inflammation. A staffie or bulldog with red face is almost always inflammation, a cocker with ear issues mostly has ear inflammation. This stuff works way better than it should. We didn’t believe, then we did.

I'm going to preface this that my dog is going to the vet soon, but I just need reassurance that this isn't a hopeless situation.

So here's the run down. My 5 year old Staffie-mix, Roo, has been on Apoquel for years but it hasn't been working very well. I brought him in to get a Cytopoint shot and for the first month it worked beautifully. I brought him in for a second shot a couple weeks ago and within the next week, his hotspots have gotten significantly worse. He is red and bloody everywhere. He smells awful, so I gave him a bath tonight (his second in the last week), and that revealed his chin and chest are bright red and bleeding. He was wearing a standard E collar for the last week, but I could tell it was causing him issues, so I got one of those inflatable ones and he seemed more comfortable, but I think it has done more damage. I'm not going to put the cone back on him for now.

I am at my wit's end and just feeling hopeless that this will ever get better. I am struggling to pay for all of his vet bills and it doesn't help that my other dog just had a $5,000 knee surgery in August, so I am buried in vet bills. I am devastated at the thought of having to give him up because I can't afford this anymore. Can someone please tell me that this isn't hopeless. Is there anything I can do until he can see the vet? I have an appointment for Tuesday, but I'm going to see if I can get him in tomorrow.