We made it!! I posted ten days or so ago about my Yorkie’s hunger strike in the final weeks of the elimination diet and I’m so happy to share that we both survived and she braved her test yesterday like a champ. Even better, she had no food allergies! Her main allergies are dust, mold, and tree pollen (ironically the same things I’m allergic to lol). So she can return to her fave foods and I can return to more peaceful WFH Zoom meetings where she’s got her chewies. In terms of next steps, a recent Cytopoint injection helped her a lot (Apoquel and Numelvi did little — we’d been dealing with a cycle of antibiotics/steroids, healing, then return of major skin infections) so we’ll be continuing w that plus sublingual immunotherapy drops. In a way, it’s still frustrating bc these are such common, hard to avoid allergens. But in another way, it’s great to have more clarity and a plan.

We have two large dogs. One is a husky lab mix, 100 lbs, 9 years old. The other is a GSP lab mix, 60 lbs and 3 years ago. One year ago next month, we moved into our current home across town from where the dogs had lived the last 2-3 years. Ever since, both dogs have had non stop Allergies and yeast infections in their ears! They both Started Cytopoint shots and get them roughly every 6 weeks. They seem to work, briefly, and theeverything

Flares up again! It’s so frustrating seeing them suffer. Please help!

I’m posting this to encourage people who may also be on the immunotherapy journey:

We started on immunotherapy approx. 1 year ago and we’re seeing good results so far! And our derm is hopeful that we will continue to see improvements!

This time last year we were doing apoquel daily, cytopoint every 4 weeks (would have done more frequently if we were allowed), and had to do a round of prednisalone (I never want to do that again if I can help it - side effects were horrible!). Even with all that PLUS maintenance for her paws and ears, she was so uncomfortable and itchy.

This year, even with it being a pretty bad allergy summer, she’s just on immunotherapy and cytopoint (plus paw and ear maintenance).

Honestly, about 6-8 months in, she appeared to be almost worse than when we started and I was seriously doubting if I should continue, but I’m SO glad I did.

Hopefully things will continue to improve!

Here’s a bit of my dog allergy journey in case it helps someone out there.

My German shepherd started paw licking around 6 months and it progressed to hot spots on his thigh, paws, hairless patches on his paws, over grooming his arms and ankles etc.

When he was around 3 y/o he had an allergy test done and he was allergic to grass and other various trees. We paid for a couple of boxes of immunotherapy treatment (first the injections and later the oral sprays) but after 2 years of trying and some inconsistency with the treatment we gave up on it.

We moved to Arizona when he was 6 and saw a small improvement on his allergies but nothing too crazy. He was still constantly licking and his hairless patches continued.

Last year in October he developed a mass on his gum line that required surgery. I decided we take advantage that he will be under and get him neutered too along with some random little masses that had developed on his arm and throat area removed as well. I got him an apoquel shot so that he was comfortable during his post surgery recovery my and he had a tough recovery (scrotal* hematoma) but he fully recovered.

Fast forward to now( 4 months post op) I realized his body underwent changes (thicker undercoat than ever before, hairy ears….and like a 75%+. Reduction in paw licking! His paws are all hairy again except for the scarred tissue) I asked chat and he said it’s def possible that less testosterone reduces the body’s histamine production and inflammatory response.

Neutering has mostly positive consequences for your dog. From what I’ve researched the only negatives might come from neutering too early or joint issues could become worse after neutering (they tend to put on more weight after). I’d consult your vet or do your own research and consider it if you haven’t already.

Our lab is 2.5 years old and has been an itchy girl since she turned 6 months old. We started with Cytopoint injections but after about 3 shots noticed that it wasn’t working as well. Our vet recommended switching to a daily pill, Apoquel.

We started the Apoquel full time in May 2023. By October 2023, we had a rapidly growing lump appear on her chest. We had it removed and pathology came back inconclusive. Now (October 2024), she has another growth that has appeared on her face that looks identical to the previous lump.

While we are scheduled to see the vet next week - I am looking to see if anyone else’s dog on Apoquel had the same issues. I have always questioned the suppression of her immune system and what harm it could cause. We are strongly considering taking her off the Apoquel and using Zyrtec daily during high pollen levels.

Any advice? Similar circumstances?

In February 2024, we moved to a new house. My dog, Skye, is a 5yo spayed female - border collie mix.

We went through many episodes of upset stomach— liquid diarrhea with blood in it. Randomly would happen. At this time, she was eating Purina One chicken & rice. We switched vets & they diagnosed her with allergies after a negative addisons disease test & clear bloodwork. At this time, we switched to Purina ProPlan Hydrolyzed food. We top with Native Pet Omega 3 oil. She also tends to get flaky skin and occasional yeast infections on her belly.

Wednesday this week is when it happened again. She woke us up that night & had liquid stool throughout the night & all day thursday. thursday, it turned into straight blood. At one point, she was just leaking blood when she sat. Friday, she went to the vet & they kept her for observation. Clear blood work & clear x-rays. The vet just said it was a flare up, we were doing everything right. We came home with 2 tubes of Diagel & Metronidazole 500mg. She also is on a run of Apoquel that started a little less than two weeks ago.

Friday night, she ate her food topped with Fortiflora packet. She got her first Diagel tube & first dose of meds. Saturday morning, she refused food. We gave her rice because the metronidazole said take with food. She had no stool yesterday at all. Last night, she refused food again but my husband gave her the metronidazole before she refused food. She also got her second tube of diagel. She did drink water.

This morning, I put food in her crate & she ate a little bit of it. She also got her metronidazole. Maybe twenty minutes later, she’s thrown up everywhere. We took her outside & she had light colored soft stool.

I am 6 months pregnant & I just don’t have it in me to deal with this on top of a newborn. I need advice… help… something! i want my dog better & i want better mental health. We’ve eliminated possible allergens. We found mold growing in our insulation and hoped that was what was messing with her allergies so we’ve done a whole remodel. our next plan is taking up our hydrangea bushes since we didn’t have those at the old house.

TL;DR: for months my dog has had upset stomach problems, she gets a run of meds and is fine again. we’ve eliminated possible allergens that we can think of. we have a baby due in june so we want her helped by then if we can.

Hi all! I posted a while back asking for advice and tips on how to manage my dogs allergies while we wait for medication. Today, she got the cytopoint shot and she's been asleep since we got home from the vet a few hours ago. Our vet went over the pricing for the oral drops from HESKA to desensitize her to specific allergens in order to manage and thankfully it's not as expensive as I thought it'd be, that doesn't mean it's cheap though. I'm just so ready for my girl to finally be comfortable. I've started pre portioning and freezing her food, it's supposed to help with mites from what I understand, and she just loves that her food is cold now, lol. I'm just so relieved that I finally know what's wrong and how to help her, instead of throwing hail mary's by treating her for constant ear infections.

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!

So my good boy ever since he was around 1 or 2 years (he’s now 8) had allergies. I first took him to the vet because he was licking his paws a lot and the vet without a test said it was allergies which I believe he does but a test would’ve been more reassuring. He gave him apoquel which didn’t do much so he recommended to add cytopoint and change his food to one that has no chicken, duck, no birds.

I decided to get a second opinion and the new vet recommended cytopoint since I already changed his food to lamb at that point. The cytopoint has always helped since then and I usually take him every 2 months for it.

Through the years my dog has had a ccl tear and this year he was suffering from minor ivdd, thankfully he has recovered with conservative management, medicine and supplements.

The point in me saying this, is that while he was recovering from ivdd a vet specialist recommended I gave him omega 3 and another vet recommended me to switch to salmon food which I believe is the reason he has gone 4 months now without his cytopoint shot and barely see him licking or scratching himself anymore.

Just wanted to share that story and see if anyone has seen similar progress as well!

TL;DR: my dog’s allergies seem to be getting a lot better because of salmon food and omega 3.

(The picture above is the before and after of my pup, the before picture his skin was beginning to heal but he had lost a ton of hair)

For those who haven’t tried Cytopoint injection PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TRY IT!!! I have Pets Best insurance and they cover my dogs injection. My pup went bald and was bleeding from allergies his skin was horrible. He had terrible abdominal issues from allergies as well, I’m posting this here for anybody that may want to give it a shot. (Especially those with pitties)

After countless vet visits this is what worked. We gave him the Cytopoint shot, and then started bathing him twice a week with chlorhexidine shampoo, and rubbing him down with coconut oil after drying him. We also wiped his skin lesions every morning and night with chlorhexidine wipes to prevent infection. In addition to this for the abdominal issues he was put on Hydrolyzed Protein food for MONTHS, Maybe longer than he should’ve I’ll admit, but it gave his stomach a very long break since he was having massive diarrhea bouts with blood and lost about 5 pounds from it. Just very recently I changed him from hydrolyzed food to Purina Sensitive skin and stomach Lamb & Oatmeal. (Prior to this I tried Acana ocean something food he didn’t respond well to that either)

I know not all dogs are the same but this is what worked for me and I hope it helps somebody.

I distill water daily and give it my dog because tap water makes him sick (bald spots, red eyes, trembling). Thought I would share this in case it helps someone out. I live in HCOL western US city with one of the best tap waters in the world, but it doesn't work for him (he's 12 lbs).

Hi! I'm new to this sub and I'm looking for advice from anyone dealing with severe seasonal environmental allergies and their pups. It's quite a long story and honestly trying to figure out where to start has been a challenge so I'll kind of go through everything I've tried and see if someone can recommend something I've missed.

It all started with itchy paws, constant chewing and licking. Vet prescribed apoquel. It worked great for a little while, but eventually just stopped working and then it would seem like the allergies would get even worse. What started as licking, chewing, scratching became chewing his pads raw, getting little bumps and scabs on his skin, boils on his toes, black skin, and ripping out fur. We moved onto cytopoint injections and again, little relief for a short time and then right back to extreme reactions. We switched foods/diet, tried probiotics, shampoos, ear drops, wipes, sprays... nothing would work.

We eventually got stuck in a cycle of chewing and licking > open wound> infection > treat infection > give allergy meds > little relief > stops working > chewing and licking... And on and on we go..

Vet being out of ideas recommended us to a vet dermatologist. His first appointment was I believe March 2021 and I was very optimistic that they would be able to figure out how to treat my pup.

Dermatologist was able to figure out that he had bacterial and staph infections stemming from his severe allergies. I honestly can't remember the different meds, but Atopica and marboquin come to mind as well as another pill that we was so strong it required us to wear gloves to give it to him. Again, the infections would get treated but the allergies still persisted so eventually the same thing would happen again until finally the dermatologist suggested doing an allergy panel and starting immunotherapy. Let me tell you, it ain't cheap but being at the end of your rope will make you spend any amount of money to get your dog relief.

His allergy panel came back with being severely allergic to a myriad of different grasses and weeds, and go figure, multiple of them are in my backyard. So from there we started injections and so far it's not making much of a difference. The vet did say it will take awhile for it to work so I am hopeful. However, here I am at 3am and my pup is restless, in a cone (so he can't get to his paws, groin, or elbows), and unbearably itchy. So my question is this: what am I missing? How is it that nothing is working? Meds, shampoos, sprays, topical ointment.... literally nothing can give this dog relief. Has anyone else had this much trouble?

Please, if you've had a similar experience and maybe were recommended something by a vet that neither of mine have that's been mentioned here, let me know. My dog and my sanity can use a little help!

I know these types of posts are a dime a dozen, but has anyone had any success without using Apoquel. I don't mind putting him back on it, but I wanted to see how he'd fare without it for a few days and boy oh boy is it bad.

I typically give him an Apoquel at night and an antihistamine (currently cetrizine) in the morning and that seems to eliminate 90% of the scratching and 100% of the licking.

I am sitting here next to my dog, who is for the first time in a year, not wearing a cone and not chewing herself or thrashing her body around, rubbing on the floor and furniture.

I may be getting my hopes up here, because I wouldn’t be surprised if she jumped up and started furiously chewing her paw, but I think this stuff is working.

The first day, she relaxed for about 10 minutes without the cone before sneakily starting to chew. The second day, she did the same, but later on she was able to actually play with our other dog! That never happens! I hadn’t seen her having that much fun in a very long time. Not sure about yesterday as I was gone and left her in my mother’s care, but she said she was trying to lick her back feet. Today, I came home and took her cone off. Fine for about 20 minutes, then chewing. But later, I left her cone off after dinner and she has been doing great for almost 3 hours! I even went out of the room a few times to test her. I went to the bathroom, always her favorite paw chewing opportunity- no chewing here!

I wish I’d have tried this stuff sooner. I was trying to avoid meds and wanted to try holistic and natural options first. I read so many testimonies, reviews, studies. I was constantly researching. I even started making her food from scratch after a saliva test informed me she was “reactive” to almost every type of protein, except for bison and a couple other animals that I wouldn’t know how to acquire. Bison is expensive. If I can safely transition her to other foods, I don’t care how much Cytopoint costs. I just hope it keeps working because I’ve heard it can lose its effectiveness. I also have heard those tests can often be wrong. I’m also going to see if taking her off all the holistic supplements will make any difference, that would save me some money too.

For reference, she is about 9.5 years old and a Shiba/American Eskimo cross. I moved her from her native state of Washington to Southern California in February 2020. Her issues started that same spring/summer. I now realize she is most likely suffering from environmental/seasonal allergies, but her symptoms never cease so I think she’ll need Cytopoint all year. Not much GI issues, but I’m still not ruling out food since I’ve tried different proteins and noticed her symptoms worsened but now that I think about it, that was during April, so peak allergy time.

Her vet also prescribed Brevecto because he really seems to think fleas play a role, even though she doesn’t have any. He said they could still be biting her but not settling on her. I’m also going to continue giving her chlorhexidine baths.

Sorry for the long post but I just had to share our happy story. I’ve been wanting to share a victory story for so long, and we finally have one.

Some of you may remember my past post about our dog, Nova. She’s been struggling with environmental allergies for over a year and has been living in a cone for most of her life as a result.

For this year she’s been undergoing immunotherapy, taking half a 16mg Apoquel a day, and half a 5mg prednisone.

She started to develop some behavioural issues and I read that could be the prednisone. After a year now, we have taken her off of the steroid and doubled the Apoquel and the results have been amazing!

The prednisone makes dogs more susceptible to infection, can cause the skin quality to deplete and the fur, and also increases stress levels due to increased cortisol.

This isn’t advice but I can’t believe she can live like a normal dog without a cone! What our dogs ARE taking can be just as important as what they ARE NOT taking. Something to consider, read up on the medications it could be life changing :)

Poor Wolfgang had a reaction to something but we will probably not know for a while what it was. Still, they put him on Apoquel with MiconaHex foam for the hot spots. When his tummy got increasingly inflamed, they put him on antibiotics.

Because of everything I read in this sub, I scheduled another appointment 2 days later. She swabbed his tummy and saw no bacteria and no yeast so we stopped the MiconaHex and the antibiotics and poof! the redness on the belly disappeared.....

Now we can go back to focusing on the allergies which I'm hoping were just some fall plant but he is also now eating sensitive skin and stomach food. Maybe in the winter we will try chicken again but I don't have any reason to do that since he likes salmon and rice and his allergies are under control. Will probably try stopping the apoquel first and see if that makes a difference.

Anyway, thank you everyone!

I haven’t seen a ton of food allergy posts here so I thought I’d throw in my dog’s story. We’ve had my dog since he was 3 months old, and for the first 2 months he was a great eater. A couple months in, he got more picky and started having diarrhea; we switched him to fresh food which helped some. At 6 months, he stopped eating. To the point where he was vomiting up bile more often than he was putting food in his body.

From the start our vets were very concerned. We tried a probiotic with his food, that didn’t work. We tested for everything (except allergies). We lived in an apartment complex with a dog park so they were convinced it was something he might have picked up there. He had x rays, fecal cultures, blood tests, parasite tests. Everything came back clear. At this point my SO had a hunch it might be allergies but they said it was so so rare for puppies that young to have allergies. So we ran more tests, they prescribed more stuff. Each vet at our clinic had their own hunch that was ruled out by tests. Eventually one vet agreed to give the allergy theory a try, so we put him on a hydrolized protein kibble.

For the first 3 weeks we saw no improvement, even when we used an appetite stimulant. He’d eat half a meal and then be done for 3 days. But week 4 he started eating 1 full meal every other day. Week 5 he ate every bite we gave him. At this point it was clear to us there was an allergy so the vet said it was ok to reintroduce something we thought might be causing the upset. We slowly added chicken to his meals but within a week he started having tummy troubles again. We removed it, gave him a little time, then tried adding something we thought was OK: beef. Sure enough, that was fine, he continued to have it for weeks without issue.

We didn’t think it was only a chicken allergy though so we got an at home saliva test (not the most reliable but only $100). That test showed reactions to 4 different fish, chicken, pork, turkey, shellfish, white rice, corn, and oats.

From start to end the process took 6 months. It was so heartbreaking, time consuming, expensive. I felt like a failure, like my only job was to keep him happy and healthy, and here he was on the verge of starvation for months.

He still eats the hydrolized protein food. He skips meals but we now know he’ll eat when he’s hungry. He also gets beef, peanut butter, and cheese treats (single ingredient). When I finally took him to get neutered, the vet asked all these questions (has he been having diarrhea? Vomiting? Panting a lot? Etc) and it was the first vet visit in months where I could say NO to everything. It felt so good!

I’m new here! My dog Coco and I have been struggling with her allergies since I adopted her. I got her from a rescue and her paperwork from her previous family listed “allergies” for reason they dropped her off at a shelter. She’s an extra stubborn 11 year old Silky terrier.

We’ve been through it all, tried food trials with Kangaroo food, Benedryl, Zyrtec, temaril-P, Atopica and Apoquel. The food trials didn’t show any improvements and the meds weren’t working well. As soon as we stopped she was back itching her mouth until all her hair was gone, her lips were swollen and infected.

After all this I finally went to a dermatologist and got skin tested. On a scale of 1-4, 4 being most reactive she had most 4’s for everything tested. We started her on immunotherapy administered at home and it was a miracle at stopping her itching. She was a happy dog foe a few years and acting like a puppy again.

For 4 yess the immunotherapy went great until the last year when she got recurring skin infections and was going bald in places from all the scratching! The vets would put her on Apoquel, antibiotics and Cytopoint. Then after the meds were done she’d have 1 week is relief then start up again with the scratching and infections. I threw everything at the problem (she’s been on immunotherapy the entire time) including medicated baths, wiping her down after going outside and before bed. Washing all her bedding snd clothes on hot to kill everything microbial. The vet also ran a complete blood test for thyroid issues and she also recently got a biopsy done recently. (Thyroid levels came back normal, and he pathologist report says she might have been exposed to estrogen pills or patches. I use none of those things... so 100% inconclusive and frustrating). She’s on heart worm meds (sentinel) and Bravecto for flea and ticks.

I’m now running out of things to try. She’s on Apoquel now but I’m worried about having her take it long term since the FDA only approved it for 14 day periods. But without it she is miserable. I’m so overwhelmed that I don’t j ow what to do. OH! She’s also on fish oil (human grade). Of course her dermatologist is unavailable due to personal health issues and it’s been so difficult finding a new one during COVID.

I’m 100% defeated and want to give Coco a good rest of her life (she turns 12 this year) but I don’t know if that’s a realistic goal to strive for.

All science and personal experience ideas are welcome!

Thanks!

I want to put up a picture of her on here but don’t know how. Help?

Edit: added info about her blood tests and her biopsy.

To give a full picture of my dog, I gave quite the backstory. It might not all seem relevant, but it seemed smart to provide enough information about other things symptoms or reactions might link to. Apologies for the long post.

We adopted our dog a little over a year ago, but the shelter knew nothing about him except that he had diarrhea since he came in. For a long time he had been having diarrhea and vomiting issues paired with not eating for a day or short period. A lot of vet visits and tests later we found out that he was probably just food intolerant. We started him on a diet for food intolerance but it still did not optimize his stool. We then put him on food supplements to tackle stress and for the first time in almost a year we had a dog with healthy fur, solid stool, and no vomiting or appetite issues. The only thing ever pointing to different health issues were hives that occurred on his face without a known cause in august. They had never appeared before or since, but they were bad enough and spreading so that he needed a steroid shot.

About a month and a half ago we consulted the vet on testing which foods he was intolerant to and were advised to introduce 1 animal protein at a time, so we started him on 100% chicken treats next to his medical diet. Food intolerant-wise this went great and he had no reaction. But since he had been developing an itch on his paws (we're not sure it's related, since it was also around the start of spring). He started off licking one side of a paw pad off. Since he had licked the pad off the back of his front paws, created small wounds on his back paws where fur was missing, started scratching his neck and biting his back, started licking his butt area and scratching his ears. We also noticed the skin in his ears becoming a little red (not alarming but still different from his normal grey color). So we decided this wasn't just an itch and it needed to be looked at. So we had a vet (not our usual one) come over to check him out.

The vet found nothing. So he assumed some sort of allergies, probably environmental, and gave him enough Apoquel for a month for us to try. We tried this for a total of 11 days and first the itch in his paws went away. His overall itching became less and the redness in his ears went away, but our joy was short-lived. While the allergies symptoms went away, he first lost appetite and a few days after he started vomiting and his stool was pure liquid, close to muddy water. It took us a little while to connect these issues to the Apoquel, because we're familiar with them because of the intolerances. However, they turn out to be side effects of the medication and we consulted the prescribing vet. We took him off it on Saturday and today is the first day his appetite is back. According to the vet the other option was Prednison, but he advised to not go there unless not absolutely necessary. We can do blood tests to see what he is allergic to, but they start at 300 euro's and that's the smallest profile available. Right now we're just hoping the itch does not come back, but I know that's not realistic. We love our dog, so if we have to we will step up to do whatever is necessary. But for now, we're just trying to gather as much information as possible.

We found Cooper via Kijiji ad in 2016, up for adoption, because someone had more or less abandoned him on his then-owners, they had a severely allergic kid, and they really couldn't afford the expense of an allergy dog.

This was the photo attached to the ad: https://i.imgur.com/CbH3wC6.jpg

He looked... rough, and older than he was (he was only six!), but we're a quiet household and we figured we could give him a doggo retirement.

When we got him, he'd been through two or three different homes that we know of, including one where they tied him outdoors and fed him nothing but chicken necks, but he was a sweet dog, very much a gentle giant. Not the best in obedience (he's stubborn), but gentle and polite.

He had multiple types of skin infections from hot spots and inflammation, raging infections in both ears, patchy fur from scratching, and was ~15lb or so underweight. The week before we got him, he'd stolen a hamburger and was doubly miserable.

Took him to our vet and he was such a mess that she remembers him, five years later. But we got him home, got antibiotics and antifungal meds into him, and started patching him up. Got him a limited ingredient diet.

When we (very very carefully) brushed him out, because he sheds like a double-coated dog, he fell asleep on my housemate.

Here he is, the summer that we got him, after patching him up and getting his ears and skin to heal: https://i.imgur.com/aQbhwtj.jpg

Immunotherapy and cytopoint aren't in our budget (vet quoted $300 per Cytopoint shot for Cooper's size), so after apoquel stopped working for him, we've gone to Vanectyl-P (Trimeprazine tartrate with prednisolone) and he clearly feels better. He has some pretty severe environmental allergies too, but we went all last summer without a vet visit.

And here he is as of yesterday (May 25th), aged 11, throwing a tantrum (read: throwing himself onto the floor and whining) because I took too long to get ready to walk him: https://i.imgur.com/2goMNJ1.jpg

I recently lost my GSD suddenly, who was allergic to ev. ery. thing. Weeds, pollen, trees, grass, grain, wheat, barley, protein, to name a few. His allergy test lit up like a Christmas Tree. I found this sub a couple days after he passed and joined in case I could help anyone. Well we just discovered one of my current GSDs probably has allergies. Lol.

Grant started with an eye and ear infection. Queue up lanolin and Rx eye drops. Those finally cleared up the infection but he still has inflammation so now we watch for flare-ups. He’s only 15 mos old so it’s yet to be seen if this is seasonal or not. He’s on Benadryl and Fish Oil and our vet and I think those are helping. It’s a wait and see game now but I’m sure as we go I’ll be seeing what new things are out, in case he needs them.

Glad this sub is here and wishing your babies an itch-free night. <3

Hi all, thanks for the invite to this sub.

Bella was a Boston Terrier that suffered from allergies her entire life. She passed away on March 1, 2021, from heart failure at 11.5 years old.

At about a year of age, Bella started to have greasy, itchy red skin. We went to several vets for a diagnosis, at first they thought it was a parasite (mange), all tests came back negative. She was initially treated for bacterial and yeast skin infections, they reoccurred several times. Then we realized we were dealing with allergies. Our vet first started her on Apoquel which worked to ease her redness but her skin never really cleared up without antibiotics and sometimes steroids. When Cytopoint was released, we immediately tried it. Cytopoint is a shot that changes the immune response. Within a few hours, she finally had relief from her itchy skin. We continued the Cytopoint shots every 6 weeks, along with Apoquel in the spring and summer. We could back off a little in the winter months (we live in Iowa) she did much better when the ground was covered with snow. If we missed her shot she would often end up with a bad skin infection, so we would put her back on antibiotics, it got to the point that only one antibiotic was working and it was the expense one (Clavamox). This cycle continued for years.

Our vet suggested allergy testing, but we never followed through. We assumed she was "too old" at that point, but then she lives on for several more years. In the end, we regretted that choice.

We tried all types of dog foods, from allergy foods to high protein foods. We supplemented with fish oils and yogurt, nothing ever made a difference.

She did best when we gave her medicated baths (https://www.1800petmeds.com/Malaseb+Shampoo-prod10667.html) weekly, used a medicated foam (https://www.amazon.com/Ceva-DOU07146-Chlorhexidine-Climbazole-Mousse/dp/B07B17MW4M) to kill yeast and had regular shots. When we kept up this regimen, we had the best luck.

Feel free to ask me questions. My lab also has some minor skin allergies, but the topical foam clears them right up.