Hello and regards,

Ten yr-old Brittany pointing-spaniel, otherwise very healthy, very feisty.

She is red/raw, on and around her paws. Licking and chewing. Also
around her nose and her breast. Above the paws on back of legs is
probably the worst.

Have been over the issue with the vet over the years. She currently
is getting 10 mg prednisone every other day. Also on salmon oil
for 6 months or so. Doesn't seem to be much helping.

She is OK Jan. to April. Itching, etc peaks by Aug. then slowly
declines.

I fed Eukanuba until the recalls last spring. Don't see how it
could be food related. Currently on Canidae.

Not sure what else I can do. She is stoical and fabulously good-natured,
but it obviously bothers her a bunch (hence myself as well).

Anything I should be investigating? I can't afford extensive
shot-in-the-dark fishing-expedition type testing by the vet.

Your advice much appreciated.

Peetie

"Peetie Wheatstraw" wrote in message
...
Hello and regards,

Ten yr-old Brittany pointing-spaniel, otherwise very healthy, very feisty.

She is red/raw, on and around her paws. Licking and chewing. Also
around her nose and her breast. Above the paws on back of legs is
probably the worst.

Have been over the issue with the vet over the years. She currently
is getting 10 mg prednisone every other day. Also on salmon oil
for 6 months or so. Doesn't seem to be much helping.

She is OK Jan. to April. Itching, etc peaks by Aug. then slowly
declines.

I fed Eukanuba until the recalls last spring. Don't see how it
could be food related. Currently on Canidae.

Not sure what else I can do. She is stoical and fabulously good-natured,
but it obviously bothers her a bunch (hence myself as well).

Anything I should be investigating? I can't afford extensive
shot-in-the-dark fishing-expedition type testing by the vet.

Your advice much appreciated.

Sounds like she might have a contact allergy. Might be allergic to
something growing where she walks. Also, are you using anything in the
house like scented powder for the carpet? I'd quit that.

If she were my dog, I'd keep her out of tall weeds and try to keep her on
one type of vegetation - lawn grass, say - and see if that helps.

Ask the vet about giving her Benadryl for a couple weeks, see if it lessens
the symptoms. Benadryl is a fairly benign med, but I am not sure about
giving it with prednisone, so ASK YOUR VET please.

flick 100785

Anything I should be investigating? I can't afford extensive
shot-in-the-dark fishing-expedition type testing by the vet.

FWIW, my vets think the blood tests for food allergens are not accurate enough
to be useful, but the environmental allergen tests are. Our lab is supposed
to be allergic to our cats, and sundry other bits and pieces of plants and
mites that I suspect may be correct.

At any rate, he's been on allergy shots this summer and seems to be doing
well. He also gets generic Benedryl, which has helped until the shots
seemed to "kick in". He's back on the generic Benedryl at the moment, as
one of the identified allergens is blooming right now.

Certainly the shots seem to have made more difference to him than the trial of
Hills ultra-low-allergen diet did. Can't see that the diphenhydramine
has affected his energy level at all, either, and I pay less than a cent
each for the pills. Possibly worth asking about the diphenhydramine?

On Wed, 12 Sep 2007 23:31:18 -0500, "Many Dogs \(flick\)" wrote:

--snip--

Sounds like she might have a contact allergy. Might be allergic to
something growing where she walks. Also, are you using anything in the
house like scented powder for the carpet? I'd quit that.

No rug powder.

If she were my dog, I'd keep her out of tall weeds and try to keep her on
one type of vegetation - lawn grass, say - and see if that helps.

I think you've hit on something. Right under my silly nose.

Mea Culpa.

I walk her fairly often. We are urban, but there are little plots
untended, covered with ivy, wooded, or just tall grass. Because
she is so highly attuned to hunting (we hunt with our eyes), I
let her sniff thru all that stuff: she points/flushes rabbits, etc.

Hate to do it (she LIVES to hunt), but I guess I'll have to curtail
her "hunting", at least for a trial period.

Ask the vet about giving her Benadryl for a couple weeks, see if it lessens
the symptoms. Benadryl is a fairly benign med, but I am not sure about
giving it with prednisone, so ASK YOUR VET please.

I can't say it's not helping at all, but I'm thinking about discontinuing
prednisone. Seems it helped a lot more in years past.

Much thanks.

Peetie

You can try wiping her down with baby wipes after every time she is
out in the weeds/grass. It was recommended for me to do to dexter..
but it was a real pain when they would want to go out every 20-30
minutes. He is allergic to most grasses, on hills venison and potato
and only fruit/veggie treats. His feet and right leg are pretty bad
right now. I've been using some genesis spray on it too.

good luck..

On Sep 13, 10:54 am, Peetie Wheatstraw
wrote:
On Wed, 12 Sep 2007 23:31:18 -0500, "Many Dogs \(flick\)" wrote:

--snip--

Sounds like she might have a contact allergy. Might be allergic to
something growing where she walks. Also, are you using anything in the
house like scented powder for the carpet? I'd quit that.

No rug powder.

If she were my dog, I'd keep her out of tall weeds and try to keep her on
one type of vegetation - lawn grass, say - and see if that helps.

I think you've hit on something. Right under my silly nose.

Mea Culpa.

I walk her fairly often. We are urban, but there are little plots
untended, covered with ivy, wooded, or just tall grass. Because
she is so highly attuned to hunting (we hunt with our eyes), I
let her sniff thru all that stuff: she points/flushes rabbits, etc.

Hate to do it (she LIVES to hunt), but I guess I'll have to curtail
her "hunting", at least for a trial period.

Ask the vet about giving her Benadryl for a couple weeks, see if it lessens
the symptoms. Benadryl is a fairly benign med, but I am not sure about
giving it with prednisone, so ASK YOUR VET please.

I can't say it's not helping at all, but I'm thinking about discontinuing
prednisone. Seems it helped a lot more in years past.

Much thanks.

Peetie

On Thu, 13 Sep 2007 11:34:57 -0700, wrote:


You can try wiping her down with baby wipes after every time she is
out in the weeds/grass. It was recommended for me to do to dexter..
but it was a real pain when they would want to go out every 20-30
minutes. He is allergic to most grasses,

Ouch!

on hills venison and potato
and only fruit/veggie treats. His feet and right leg are pretty bad
right now. I've been using some genesis spray on it too.

Sounds like yours may be even worse than mine.

I was using antibiotic ointment last year. May be again,
soon.

I just wiped her schnoz and bathed her in oatmeal shampoo.
Crated her until dry, she's been in the back yard (close
cropped grass) for maybe a minute. And she's itching/
licking/biting like crazy. Aaaargh!

For a week, I'll keep her out of high grass etc anyway.
But it doesn't look good unless I can find an antihistamine
that her skin condition responds to.

Thanks,
Peetie
good luck..

On Sep 13, 10:54 am, Peetie Wheatstraw
wrote:
On Wed, 12 Sep 2007 23:31:18 -0500, "Many Dogs \(flick\)" wrote:

--snip--

Sounds like she might have a contact allergy. Might be allergic to
something growing where she walks. Also, are you using anything in the
house like scented powder for the carpet? I'd quit that.

No rug powder.

If she were my dog, I'd keep her out of tall weeds and try to keep her on
one type of vegetation - lawn grass, say - and see if that helps.

I think you've hit on something. Right under my silly nose.

Mea Culpa.

I walk her fairly often. We are urban, but there are little plots
untended, covered with ivy, wooded, or just tall grass. Because
she is so highly attuned to hunting (we hunt with our eyes), I
let her sniff thru all that stuff: she points/flushes rabbits, etc.

Hate to do it (she LIVES to hunt), but I guess I'll have to curtail
her "hunting", at least for a trial period.

Ask the vet about giving her Benadryl for a couple weeks, see if it lessens
the symptoms. Benadryl is a fairly benign med, but I am not sure about
giving it with prednisone, so ASK YOUR VET please.

I can't say it's not helping at all, but I'm thinking about discontinuing
prednisone. Seems it helped a lot more in years past.

Much thanks.

Peetie

Hi --

I fought with a similar situation with my Shepherd/Husky mix for years. He
was fine; he was chewing his fur off; he was red and scaly; he was fine; he
was one big itch; he was fine; etc. etc.

Food allergies were theorized. So we changed his diet. Several times. The
problem was blamed on a flea allergy, so we waged Global Thermonuclear War
on fleas (well above and beyond the normal flea controls we already had in
effect). He was periodically shot up with cortisone. I have Benadryl on hand
at all times. He was put on prednisone.

I finally relented and had a full allergy test run on the dog. It wasn't
easy, since the dog has to be off of pred and similar drugs for several
weeks before the test, and we kept getting the timing off.

Turns out that the dog is allergic to "most molds" and several types of dust
mite -- two classes of allergens that cannot be avoided in South Florida.

So now ...? Frequent vacuuming. Heavy-duty filters on the air conditioner.
Frequent swimming and bathing (not as easy to do since we moved away from
the beach a few years back). His bed gets thrown in the washer weekly (in
addition to being vacuumed daily). The dog's on allergy shots (which I have
to administer). It's too early to tell whether he's getting better. But he's
been off the pred for several months, and he's not getting worse.

Your dog seems to be allergic to something she's coming in contact with --
when she sits, walks, lies down ... You should consider getting her tested
for allergies. If nothing else, it finally answers the question about what's
causing the problem, and it's cheaper and quicker than all the
trial-and-error "fixes."

Maybe it's because of where we live, but the allergy test report I got was
extremely comprehensive. It included a section listing a slew of grasses and
such, in addition to molds, mites, fleas and other bugs, and many more
environmental allergens. Once it pinpointed the problem, I didn't have to
worry about whether to let the dog run and cavort through the grassy fields,
or sniff around the dunes, etc. In my case, the only way I can get away from
what he's allergic to is to move to Arizona or Nevada ...

HTH
Chuck


"Peetie Wheatstraw" wrote in message
...
Hello and regards,

Ten yr-old Brittany pointing-spaniel, otherwise very healthy, very feisty.

She is red/raw, on and around her paws. Licking and chewing. Also
around her nose and her breast. Above the paws on back of legs is
probably the worst.

Have been over the issue with the vet over the years. She currently
is getting 10 mg prednisone every other day. Also on salmon oil
for 6 months or so. Doesn't seem to be much helping.

She is OK Jan. to April. Itching, etc peaks by Aug. then slowly
declines.

I fed Eukanuba until the recalls last spring. Don't see how it
could be food related. Currently on Canidae.

Not sure what else I can do. She is stoical and fabulously good-natured,
but it obviously bothers her a bunch (hence myself as well).

Anything I should be investigating? I can't afford extensive
shot-in-the-dark fishing-expedition type testing by the vet.

Your advice much appreciated.

Peetie

(See my previous reply farther up.)

The reason we suffered so much with this was that our vet, citing the odds,
wanted to rule out food allergies and other such reactions for which
accurate blood tests don't exist. He wanted to avoid the expense of allergy
testing if the dog was allergic to, say, corn -- which a blood test won't
accurately pick up.

When we lived on the beach, and the dog swam and was at least hosed down
several times a week, it was easy to assume that the change of diet was
helping -- even though the vet also said that, to be effective, the change
of diet has to continue for several months.

But we weren't getting the consistent results we were expecting. And then
the vet started to wonder about flea allergies, because on at least two
occasions while he was examining the dog he found a flea. (Down here, fleas
are pretty impossible to avoid, too ...)

We didn't start to see a clear picture until my Lab mix blew out his knee
and I was told to keep him off the beach. That essentially kept both of them
off the beach. Then we moved inland. The dog started getting worse, but
since he was also off special diets we weren't sure what happened. Then we
had him on cortisone shots or oral pred because he was really destroying
himself. One day I finally told the vet to draw the blood for the allergy
tests, and he told me that he couldn't because the dog was on cortisone.
Timing this properly became a big hassle -- those final three weeks before
the blood was drawn were looooooong ones ...

One thing's for sure -- The allergy tests were cheaper than months and
months and months and months and MONTHS of vet visits, special foods,
cortisone shots, prednisone, Benadryl, antibiotics (he got several skin
infections during this ordeal), antacids and Advil (for me), etc ...

Chuck


"Kay Lancaster" wrote in message
...
Anything I should be investigating? I can't afford extensive
shot-in-the-dark fishing-expedition type testing by the vet.

FWIW, my vets think the blood tests for food allergens are not accurate
enough
to be useful, but the environmental allergen tests are. Our lab is
supposed
to be allergic to our cats, and sundry other bits and pieces of plants and
mites that I suspect may be correct.

At any rate, he's been on allergy shots this summer and seems to be doing
well. He also gets generic Benedryl, which has helped until the shots
seemed to "kick in". He's back on the generic Benedryl at the moment, as
one of the identified allergens is blooming right now.

Certainly the shots seem to have made more difference to him than the
trial of
Hills ultra-low-allergen diet did. Can't see that the diphenhydramine
has affected his energy level at all, either, and I pay less than a cent
each for the pills. Possibly worth asking about the diphenhydramine?

On Wed, 19 Sep 2007 01:58:18 -0400, Charles Lavin wrote:

So now ...? Frequent vacuuming. Heavy-duty filters on the air conditioner.
Frequent swimming and bathing (not as easy to do since we moved away from
the beach a few years back). His bed gets thrown in the washer weekly (in

Some dogs can be talked into standing in the shower for a couple of minutes
a day -- just long enough to rinse some allergens out of the coat with
plain water. Even mopping down the dog with a wet towel can help.
Am I ever glad I taught ours the "shower!" command when he
was a mere pup. g

Seriously,try just wiping the dog down or rinsing with plain water
every day. When I (an allergic human) get a sneezing and allergy fit,
it's usually time to my hair again, even if I just washed it
two hours before. Same thing seems to help the dog.

Thanks for the tip.

The shower trick is not workable in this house. The downstairs bathroom has
a Roman tub with very high sides and glass doors that get in the way. And
the upstairs bathroom is, well, upstairs ... There's a lot of (mostly
carpeted) real estate between there and the front or back doors! Plus, it
also has a tub.

When we lived on the beach, my hall bathroom had a shower stall. I'd give
the dogs a bath in there, then encourage them to shake off the water inside
the shower. Because once they stepped out, shaking was not allowed! :-) I'd
wrap them in towels, then lead them down the hall and through the guest room
to the balcony. They'd never make it all the way out to the balcony without
shaking! As soon as their front halves got out to the balcony, I'd be left
with an exiting rear half spraying water all over the room.

Fortunately, here I have a yard with a hose. I am hosing them down, usually
before we go on our afternoon walk, to help them tackle the heat a bit
better.

Thanks again!
Chuck

"Kay Lancaster" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 19 Sep 2007 01:58:18 -0400, Charles Lavin wrote:

So now ...? Frequent vacuuming. Heavy-duty filters on the air
conditioner.
Frequent swimming and bathing (not as easy to do since we moved away from
the beach a few years back). His bed gets thrown in the washer weekly (in

Some dogs can be talked into standing in the shower for a couple of
minutes
a day -- just long enough to rinse some allergens out of the coat with
plain water. Even mopping down the dog with a wet towel can help.
Am I ever glad I taught ours the "shower!" command when he
was a mere pup. g

Seriously,try just wiping the dog down or rinsing with plain water
every day. When I (an allergic human) get a sneezing and allergy fit,
it's usually time to my hair again, even if I just washed it
two hours before. Same thing seems to help the dog.