Another question for the Vets or Vet Techs

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dragonzim

Active Member
My dog has been displaying behavior associated with some type of allergies. He is licking and chewing at his paws and scratching his whole body and especially his face. He's gotten to the point where he's drawn blood on his snout, under his eyes and on his ears more than once. I am trying to avoid a crazy vet bill for as long as I can. I have given him up to 50mg of Benadryl at a time so far. I know I can give more, but I havent yet. He weighs about 60 lbs and from what I've read I can safely give him 1-2 mg of Benadryl per pound of body weight. My question is, have any of you seen or given Allegra 180 to a dog? I saw on the manufacturers website that it was tested on dogs and found to be safe, but they really dont say whether it has any effect on allergies or itchiness.
Thanks for any advice!
 
mboswell1982

mboswell1982

Active Member
instead of giving him shots of benadryl and what not, have u tried changing up his food? its possible he has a food allergy, the most common being food with wheat, soybean, or corn, those are the most common allergens for dogs. food allergens that is
 
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usirchchris

Guest
Originally Posted by mboswell1982
http:///forum/post/2851940
instead of giving him shots of benadryl and what not, have u tried changing up his food? its possible he has a food allergy, the most common being food with wheat, soybean, or corn, those are the most common allergens for dogs. food allergens that is
Seems like you would be hard pressed to find a food without at least 1 of those three ingredients. Both of my jack russels have been itching like crazy for the past month or so...we have been switching foods because one of them has been getting rashes...we were concentrating on the meat used. Well his rash is now gone, but both of them itch like crazy on their backs. What is a recommended food for highly sensitive dogs...if there is one
 
girlina4x4

girlina4x4

Member
I have learned sooo much from the people on the craigslist pets forum. Its like a chat room since so many people are on. Just go to CL, and look in the bottom left under "discussion" and click "pets"
 
keebler

keebler

Member
It's just like chocolate, some dogs can eat 30 pounds of it and be unharmed and other dogs can eat a chocolate chip and die instantly (exaggeration mind you). Anyway, you could make some food for your dogs if it is really bad. Call up a vet to get some expert advice, but I'm sure you can find recipes online consisting of okay veges and meats.
 
girlina4x4

girlina4x4

Member
Originally Posted by usirchchris
http:///forum/post/2851955
Seems like you would be hard pressed to find a food without at least 1 of those three ingredients. Both of my jack russels have been itching like crazy for the past month or so...we have been switching foods because one of them has been getting rashes...we were concentrating on the meat used. Well his rash is now gone, but both of them itch like crazy on their backs. What is a recommended food for highly sensitive dogs...if there is one

there are actually tons of foods without those ingredients. Anything by wellness, taste of the wild, innova, etc. check out http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com and look for a grain free food in the 4-6 star range.
 
mboswell1982

mboswell1982

Active Member
Originally Posted by usirchchris
http:///forum/post/2851955
Seems like you would be hard pressed to find a food without at least 1 of those three ingredients. Both of my jack russels have been itching like crazy for the past month or so...we have been switching foods because one of them has been getting rashes...we were concentrating on the meat used. Well his rash is now gone, but both of them itch like crazy on their backs. What is a recommended food for highly sensitive dogs...if there is one

honestly chris, look into dog food brands such as innova, blue buffalo, merrick and taste of the wild, all 3 of our dogs have severe allegies, but, with those foods, they have no corn no wheat, and no soybean, and we have no more allergie problems :p
 
U

usirchchris

Guest
Neat, thanks all...still don't know how to multiquote or I would thank individually
.
 
mimzy

mimzy

Active Member
antihistamines are not going to solve the problem; they are just going to make him too tired to scratch.
what you need to do is remove the presence of the allergen that's irritating him; if it IS an allergy.
It could also be a bacterial infection, mange, or any number of other things. He should at least be SEEN by his vet, ESPECIALLY since he's drawn blood. He could develop a secondary infection!
 
al mc

al mc

Active Member
Originally Posted by Mimzy
http:///forum/post/2851986
antihistamines are not going to solve the problem; they are just going to make him too tired to scratch.
what you need to do is remove the presence of the allergen that's irritating him; if it IS an allergy.
It could also be a bacterial infection, mange, or any number of other things. He should at least be SEEN by his vet, ESPECIALLY since he's drawn blood. He could develop a secondary infection!
I agree a trip to your vet is the best choice here.
 
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dragonzim

Active Member
Originally Posted by Mimzy
http:///forum/post/2851986
antihistamines are not going to solve the problem; they are just going to make him too tired to scratch.
what you need to do is remove the presence of the allergen that's irritating him; if it IS an allergy.
It could also be a bacterial infection, mange, or any number of other things. He should at least be SEEN by his vet, ESPECIALLY since he's drawn blood. He could develop a secondary infection!
Thanks Mimzy. That is the route I think we are going to take. He's been on the same food for months now so unless he just developed an allergy to it out of nowhere I dont think that's it.
 
mboswell1982

mboswell1982

Active Member
Originally Posted by DragonZim
http:///forum/post/2852050
Thanks Mimzy. That is the route I think we are going to take. He's been on the same food for months now so unless he just developed an allergy to it out of nowhere I dont think that's it.
what are you feeding him?
 
mimzy

mimzy

Active Member
Originally Posted by DragonZim
http:///forum/post/2852050
Thanks Mimzy. That is the route I think we are going to take. He's been on the same food for months now so unless he just developed an allergy to it out of nowhere I dont think that's it.

it is possible to spontaneously develop an allergy, but it's not the most likely source of your dog's issue.
it's autumn; that means lots of leaves, lots of dampness, lots of mold - we saw MORE cases of mold allergies in the FALL than we did in the SPRING!!! so it could be environtmental, not nutritional.
besides, if it DOES turn out to be a food allergy, your vet will have access to prescription hypoallergenic food of which there are 2types;
one type is a novel protein food, meaning it's a protein that the protein present in the food is one that your dog's body likely has never encountered before and therefore will not recognize as an allergen (such as venison, duck or rabbit).
the other type is one that's been modified in such a way that the molecules of protein are too small for the immune system to recognize as something it should be reacting to.
...but again, this is all moot until your vet takes a look at the Poopydog, and tells you exactly what's going on!!
 
lkgrenegade22

lkgrenegade22

Member
Originally Posted by Mimzy
http:///forum/post/2851986
antihistamines are not going to solve the problem; they are just going to make him too tired to scratch.
what you need to do is remove the presence of the allergen that's irritating him; if it IS an allergy.
It could also be a bacterial infection, mange, or any number of other things. He should at least be SEEN by his vet, ESPECIALLY since he's drawn blood. He could develop a secondary infection!
Exactly. If anything your dog needs a steroid such as predisone to make him stop digging. If it has gotten to the point of drawing blood though he probably already has a secondary skin infection which will need some antibiotics. When my lab had those problems it was all related to the moist n' meaty food packets I had been giving him.
 
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dragonzim

Active Member
He is eating Science Diet Large Breed Puppy right now. I know, I know, not the best food for him. He was on Science Diet puppy since we got him as a 3 month old puppy at the end of April. Back in July or so we tried switching him over to Wellness since I know it is a much higher quality food.
We weaned him from one to the other over the course of about 2 weeks and once he was fully on the Wellness he almost immediately started having severe diarrhea. We had him at the vet and it took about 4 different diagnoses before hitting it. He was having a problem with the bacteria in his stomach and after a month on Forti Flora, which basically enhances the bacterias that you do want to have, he was fine. She also told us to switch back to the Science Diet since it all started when we went to Wellness.
Environmental can easily have something to do with it. This is his first fall season so he can easily have an allergy to something outside that we wouldnt have seen yet. I did have a lot of leaves on the ground up until this past weekend so it could have been something in there.
Gonna call the vet tomorrow and try and get him in regardless...
 
mboswell1982

mboswell1982

Active Member
try putting him on blue buffalo, nutro, wellness even, or something of that quality, but, when u do the switch over,make sure you transition him over, start off with mixing his food, roughly 3/4 of his old food with a 1/4 of his new food, and do that, gradually getting to where its all his old food, over a month or so, science diet, well, vets are paid big money by the company that makes it to endorse it, the company that makes science diet pays off vets college loans to get them to recommend it
 
girlina4x4

girlina4x4

Member
My dog had trouble on Wellness Core. Although it is a great food, the protein content is just too high for some dogs. Benny also takes forti flora when his tummy gets upset. Now he is on Taste of the Wild Bison & Venison and we havent had any issues, unless my bf feeds him no-no foods.
 
lkgrenegade22

lkgrenegade22

Member
Originally Posted by Girlina4x4
http:///forum/post/2852117
My dog had trouble on Wellness Core. Although it is a great food, the protein content is just too high for some dogs. Benny also takes forti flora when his tummy gets upset. Now he is on Taste of the Wild Bison & Venison and we havent had any issues, unless my bf feeds him no-no foods.
But us guys would NEVER do that.
 
mboswell1982

mboswell1982

Active Member
we actually mix blue, taste of the wild venison/buffalo, merrick cans, and assorted loose vitamin supplements and innova as well, we love the innova evo, but, it does get expensive doing all that for 3 dogs LOL
 
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