Allergies, wrinkles, and paws

Hi everyone,

I’ve tried to read through some threads here and some have had useful tips but didn’t come across anything recent so I’m hoping I can get some new feedback.

Our Luna girl has had a really difficult year with allergies. She’s about 1.5 years old and this last season they really started to flare up. The good news is we’ve gotten her allergy tests results. We’ve managed to get her on a limited ingredient dog food that accommodates her food allergies. We’ve even noticed a huge difference in the softness of her coat since we’ve changed her food.

However, she unfortunately also has a long list of environmental allergies. In the last year we’ve dealt with a few random (really bad) hive outbreaks, she constantly is trying to scratch her face and lick her paws every morning right when she wakes as well. We’ve had a few instances where she’s managed to draw blood around her wrinkles because her skin seems to be so irritated there. We’ve tried a wrinkle cream which caused her face to swell up. We’re now just cleaning with some anti itch wipes that are safe for the eye area. This gives her temporary relief but again as soon as she wakes up in the morning her skin is irritated. My husband and I have done a lot to keep her bedding clean, keep the house dusted, wipe her down as she comes in and out of the house, our vet gave us 100% Lanolin ointment to try and help with the wrinkles, we’ve done the allergy shots, steroids, over the counter Benadryl, etc. I just really feel like we’re missing something and I don’t want to keep medicating her if the problem isn’t being solved. The steroids are really the only thing that ever helps but I know that’s not a permanent solution.

Sorry for the long winded story. I’m just hoping someone has some suggestions, things that have worked for them. Any other suggestions that a vet has given you that helped? Has it just been a bad allergy season and out girl is getting the worst of it? Any help is so greatly appreciated!

Have you tried Cytopoint injections? Jax has severe environmental allergies and the injections has worked wonders.


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Agree with the cytopoint injections. Are you sure she's ok with her food? Paw licking in my dog seems to be related to food allergies. Although she has environmental allergies she stopped licking her paws once I got her on frozen raw dog food.

I clean my dog's wrinkle that the eye drains into as follows, about every 2 days:
1)apply a dab of chlorhexidine/ketoconazole shampoo such as Curaseb or Ketohex to a wet round cosmetic pad and clean out the wrinkle
2)rinse out the wrinkle with a 2nd wet round cosmetic pad
3)dry the wrinkle out with a 3rd dry round cosmetic pad
4)apply sudocreme, zincofax etc if it's really red

I also give my dog cetirizine 10mg daily.

I'm so sorry your girl is miserable. We are in Northern California and this allergy season is terrible. If she is itchy when she wakes up, have you tried to change your laundry soap or dryer sheets on her bedding? I have a blanket on Yuki's bed that I wash regularly but the dryer sheets seem to make him itchy so I don't use them anymore. Good luck and hope you find the answers.

What food are you currently feeding?


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My Bulldog has a long list of environmental allergies as well... besides wiping him with a cool cloth when we come in from outside... he gets a Cytopoint shot once every 6-8 weeksand I give him Zyrtec once a day.

Allergies seem to be absolutely horrible this year for mine as well (I am in North Carolina). I get my allergy test results this weekend. I am hoping that the information helps me help her. I am planning to get her Cytopoint if the things I do to modify don't help enough. There are several people on here that advocate for Cytopoint and have seen good results, so maybe ask your vet about that option. Good luck!