Allergy testing

Cbrugs · Nov 20, 2013

Just wondering how many people have done the allergy testing. Jax is only 7 months old and I know typically you would wait until they're 2 years old but my vet said he has been seeing allergies show up earlier and earlier. Jax may have environmental allergies and possibly some food allergies/intolerances. When he goes outside and as soon as he comes inside, he starts chewing/licking his paws so I'm thinking maybe it's the grass or something in the grass. I've also changed his food a few times and he has now been on his current food for a week (after the gradual change) and his stool is becoming loose again and shooting out. I just don't know if I want to spend the money on the allergy testing right now while he is still so young as I have heard it is quite expensive.

mhuinker · Nov 20, 2013

I've also noticed that Leo licks his feet/legs and figured it is allergy related.

Not sure what to do to help him out. He is on a grain free diet and raw and his coat is great, no skin issues. His feet aren't pink or irritated looking.

Cbrugs · Nov 20, 2013

mhuinker said:
I've also noticed that Leo licks his feet/legs and figured it is allergy related. Not sure what to do to help him out. He is on a grain free diet and raw and his coat is great, no skin issues. His feet aren't pink or irritated looking.

I brought Jax to the vet on Monday to make sure he didn't have some sort of yeast infection and he doesn't. The vet suggested trying an antihistamine and just wiping his paws and body down with a wipe or just rinsing him in water when he comes back inside to try and get whatever allergens there are off of him. I've given him Benadryl a couple times and have just been wiping him down with unscented antibacterial wipes and it does seem to help a bit. It would be nice to know exactly what he is allergic too but the testing is expensive and Jax is still so young so I might want to wait as long as possible and see if I can figure it out on my own and just try to relieve his itchies as best as I can.

Julie Stevenson · Nov 20, 2013

Cbrugs said:
I brought Jax to the vet on Monday to make sure he didn't have some sort of yeast infection and he doesn't. The vet suggested trying an antihistamine and just wiping his paws and body down with a wipe or just rinsing him in water when he comes back inside to try and get whatever allergens there are off of him. I've given him Benadryl a couple times and have just been wiping him down with unscented antibacterial wipes and it does seem to help a bit. It would be nice to know exactly what he is allergic too but the testing is expensive and Jax is still so young so I might want to wait as long as possible and see if I can figure it out on my own and just try to relieve his itchies as best as I can.

That must be a PAIN to have to wipe him down each time he comes back into the house. Yikes!

mhuinker · Nov 20, 2013

It is a pain to wipe them down each time they come in, but worth it in my opinion to make him comfortable.... I'm already wiping his little hiney hole anyway after he poo poos, so what's one more wipe for his legs.

Cbrugs · Nov 20, 2013

Oh it's a pain to wipe him down every time he comes in but if it helps him then I will do it. Sometimes he will run from me so I think he thinks it is a pain too!

mhuinker · Nov 20, 2013

Cbrugs said:
Oh it's a pain to wipe him down every time he comes in but if it helps him then I will do it. Sometimes he will run from me so I think he thinks it is a pain too!

Yeah, Leo gets this look on his face and the ears go back when he sees the wipes coming out!!

Kris Thomas LaBounty · Nov 20, 2013

Cbrugs said:
Just wondering how many people have done the allergy testing. Jax is only 7 months old and I know typically you would wait until they're 2 years old but my vet said he has been seeing allergies show up earlier and earlier. Jax may have environmental allergies and possibly some food allergies/intolerances. When he goes outside and as soon as he comes inside, he starts chewing/licking his paws so I'm thinking maybe it's the grass or something in the grass. I've also changed his food a few times and he has now been on his current food for a week (after the gradual change) and his stool is becoming loose again and shooting out. I just don't know if I want to spend the money on the allergy testing right now while he is still so young as I have heard it is quite expensive.

My pup was taken to a dermatologist at 11 mos. He was put in a RX Diet to rule out food for a period of 6 weeks. He still had pink around his nose and mouth (he's pied so it's evident), licked his paws, had some small bumps and the main thing is he smelled bad just 2-3 days after a bath. We took him back at 12 1/2 mos for testing and this last Monday at 13 mos started his injections to desensitize. He has no food allergies, it's environmental, grasses, trees, dust and a mite that enters food in the bags it's stored in. I took my dog to our general vet several times and complained about him smelling funny. I was given an antibiotic, a shampoo (antibacterial) and a fungicide spray. It cleared but came back. When I took him to the dermatologist his skin was scraped and the tissue was run to determine exactly what we were treating so we'd know what to use as an antibiotic and treatment. Ours was bacteria, not fungus, so he use the Dermachlor 2% and let it sit for 10 mins before rinsing and he was prescribed Simplicef which is expensive but effective for skin issues. He took it for a total of 5 weeks, QD, $135.00. He doesn't smell anymore but still licks his feet and after his first injection I noticed some little bumps and a slight pink around his mouth and nose. I put him on Benadryl 25mg QD after the first injection. The dermatologist told us that you need to use Benadryl (or other antihistamine) for a minimum of 7-10 days to gauge whether you get any benefit and even if you do it will be minimal and only 30-40% of animals respond to antihistamine therapy. Another thing we were told was that a lot of the time when food is the culprit there are additional symptoms like intestinal upset. I was sure it was environmental because he didn't have problems when snow was on he ground when he came to us but as soon as spring hit at about 5 months of age our troubles started. There is a good article on this site about Allergies, I wish I'd have seen it months earlier because I wouldn't have been guessing about what was wrong with my dog. As I have commented several times on other "allergy" posts, the $ you spend to take your dog to a dermatologist will be well worth it. You'll understand that when your dog licks his feet and has pink tissues he has allergies. Most people post their dog is on a grain free diet however the literature supports that grain aren't the biggest culprit and an animal would be less likely to have food allergies than environmental allergies. My pup was raised on Blue Buffalo Freedom Puppy and the dermatologist explained the chicken in the dog food would be more apt to cause food allergies. With skin allergies she recommends a fish based diet. She recommends the Dick VanPatten stuff but I didn't like the protein level and some questionable ingredients so we're weaning off the Vet RX Royal Canin and mixing Blue Buffalo Basics Salmon but I don't like the potatoes so next I am going to mix in Blue Buffalo Wilderness. Somewhere, and I think it's this site, which has another excellent article on Foods and what the best foods are and their evaluation and breakdown, look through the articles here there is a lot of good information.

Cbrugs · Nov 20, 2013

Kris Thomas LaBounty said:
My pup was taken to a dermatologist at 11 mos. He was put in a RX Diet to rule out food for a period of 6 weeks. He still had pink around his nose and mouth (he's pied so it's evident), licked his paws, had some small bumps and the main thing is he smelled bad just 2-3 days after a bath. We took him back at 12 1/2 mos for testing and this last Monday at 13 mos started his injections to desensitize. He has no food allergies, it's environmental, grasses, trees, dust and a mite that enters food in the bags it's stored in. I took my dog to our general vet several times and complained about him smelling funny. I was given an antibiotic, a shampoo (antibacterial) and a fungicide spray. It cleared but came back. When I took him to the dermatologist his skin was scraped and the tissue was run to determine exactly what we were treating so we'd know what to use as an antibiotic and treatment. Ours was bacteria, not fungus, so he use the Dermachlor 2% and let it sit for 10 mins before rinsing and he was prescribed Simplicef which is expensive but effective for skin issues. He took it for a total of 5 weeks, QD, $135.00. He doesn't smell anymore but still licks his feet and after his first injection I noticed some little bumps and a slight pink around his mouth and nose. I put him on Benadryl 25mg QD after the first injection. The dermatologist told us that you need to use Benadryl (or other antihistamine) for a minimum of 7-10 days to gauge whether you get any benefit and even if you do it will be minimal and only 30-40% of animals respond to antihistamine therapy. Another thing we were told was that a lot of the time when food is the culprit there are additional symptoms like intestinal upset. I was sure it was environmental because he didn't have problems when snow was on he ground when he came to us but as soon as spring hit at about 5 months of age our troubles started. There is a good article on this site about Allergies, I wish I'd have seen it months earlier because I wouldn't have been guessing about what was wrong with my dog. As I have commented several times on other "allergy" posts, the $ you spend to take your dog to a dermatologist will be well worth it. You'll understand that when your dog licks his feet and has pink tissues he has allergies. Most people post their dog is on a grain free diet however the literature supports that grain aren't the biggest culprit and an animal would be less likely to have food allergies than environmental allergies. My pup was raised on Blue Buffalo Freedom Puppy and the dermatologist explained the chicken in the dog food would be more apt to cause food allergies. With skin allergies she recommends a fish based diet. She recommends the Dick VanPatten stuff but I didn't like the protein level and some questionable ingredients so we're weaning off the Vet RX Royal Canin and mixing Blue Buffalo Basics Salmon but I don't like the potatoes so next I am going to mix in Blue Buffalo Wilderness. Somewhere, and I think it's this site, which has another excellent article on Foods and what the best foods are and their evaluation and breakdown, look through the articles here there is a lot of good information.

Thanks so much for your reply! I got Jax in June when he was about 10 weeks old. He was on Eukanuba (which isn't the best) and I kept him on that for awhile since he was still young. I then did a change to Blue Buffalo, I forgot which kind but it was a pink bag, Chicken and Oatmeal. He did not like it all so then I switched to Fromm Pork & Peas and Beef Fritatta. He started getting itchy so I switched him to Fromm Chicken A La Veg. He was on that for a little over a month and then started getting itchy and diarrhea. So I switched him to Wellness Limited Ingredient Salmon and Potato. Turns out the diarrhea was because he had giarda (probably picked up in daycare cause he had went to 2 weeks prior). I did not like the way his coat was with the Wellness (greasy, shedding) so I then switched him to Pacific Stream Taste of the Wild. He finished his medication and tested negative for giarda. It has now been a week since being solely on the Taste of the Wild and his stool is getting a little loose so I am not sure if that is due to a food allergy/intolerance. I think there is definitely an environmental allergy due to the licking/chewing/scratching after he comes inside, which is somewhat recent, perhaps the change in the weather? I did buy some Benadryl to see if that helps but I also know that is just a band-aid so to say, which just helps with the problem. My vet also said that most allergies are environmental as opposed to food. I have read the articles about allergies on here and found them helpful. I guess I just don't know if I should switch foods again or just wait a bit longer to see what happens. I just hate seeing my baby uncomfortable. I'm starting to think it might be worth doing the allergy testing just so I know what he is allergic to instead of playing the guessing game.

Kris Thomas LaBounty · Nov 20, 2013

Cbrugs said:
Thanks so much for your reply! I got Jax in June when he was about 10 weeks old. He was on Eukanuba (which isn't the best) and I kept him on that for awhile since he was still young. I then did a change to Blue Buffalo, I forgot which kind but it was a pink bag, Chicken and Oatmeal. He did not like it all so then I switched to Fromm Pork & Peas and Beef Fritatta. He started getting itchy so I switched him to Fromm Chicken A La Veg. He was on that for a little over a month and then started getting itchy and diarrhea. So I switched him to Wellness Limited Ingredient Salmon and Potato. Turns out the diarrhea was because he had giarda (probably picked up in daycare cause he had went to 2 weeks prior). I did not like the way his coat was with the Wellness (greasy, shedding) so I then switched him to Pacific Stream Taste of the Wild. He finished his medication and tested negative for giarda. It has now been a week since being solely on the Taste of the Wild and his stool is getting a little loose so I am not sure if that is due to a food allergy/intolerance. I think there is definitely an environmental allergy due to the licking/chewing/scratching after he comes inside, which is somewhat recent, perhaps the change in the weather? I did buy some Benadryl to see if that helps but I also know that is just a band-aid so to say, which just helps with the problem. My vet also said that most allergies are environmental as opposed to food. I have read the articles about allergies on here and found them helpful. I guess I just don't know if I should switch foods again or just wait a bit longer to see what happens. I just hate seeing my baby uncomfortable. I'm starting to think it might be worth doing the allergy testing just so I know what he is allergic to instead of playing the guessing game.

The lady dermatologist told us it takes at least 6 weeks to tell about a food allergy and the best way to know if it's food is to switch to the RX food (Royal Canin ANAllergen) which is made especially so the dog gets the purest form of the food and isn't exposed to allergens. It's $96 for 20lbs at Petco. The poop gets hard and small because they use every calorie and every bit of food is utilized. We called the food corn nuggets cuz thats what they look like. You can't give any treats at all. All bones and flavored toys must be taken from them. No flavored heartworm or flea meds. My dog loved the food but he lost weight. He was a little porker cuz he's a good eater and got skinny but 10 days ago we could start adding back in regular food and he's putting weight back on. I gave him back his bone and he gets treats again. He had no improvement during the 6 weeks so we knew it was environmental and did the skin testing 10 days ago and found he had bad allergies to dust, wool, grasses, trees, and a mite that gets into their dry dog food even though you keep the bag rolled over and clipped. One of the biggest culprits for my dog is a grass that is broad leafed and really more like a weed grass called "Johnson" grass. I'd never heard of it before because I am from Florida but we live in Utah. Almost my entire back yard where Sarge goes potty is Johnson Grass according to my husband. We live on a large piece of property and most of it is open fields and grazing land so the yard that is fenced is susceptible to lots of different grasses and weeds, the poor Sergeant didn't have a chance apparently.

2bullymama · Nov 21, 2013

Allergies do appear throughout life, but I believe waiting till two gives a better indication

GirlGuardian · Mar 1, 2016

We wipe their paws with sensitive skin baby wipes whenever they come inside. We also started bathing them every two weeks while soaking their feet in water and apple cider vinegar. I usually know it's time for a bath when the licking starts again.

Jordanmyles · Mar 2, 2016

It may be of some interest to anyone who is thinking about allergy testing to try Nutriscan first. I was told about it not to long ago as I have been having issues with Bella.

She was losing hair in patches, like balding. No bad smells, itchiness, or excessive licking though, so I am still not sure if it was allergy or intolerance related or neither. But we have ruled out mange. I've since switched to Raw complete two weeks ago and I am already seeing numerous improvements. I didn't end up doing the Nutriscan, but from the information I've received, it is much more accurate, and much more cost effective.

Cbrugs · Mar 2, 2016

I started this thread and I did end up doing the allergy testing and Jax is allergic to everything green outside (grass, trees, shrubs, weeds, etc.) as well as dust mites. He receives biweekly allergy shots and daily Apoquel. I switched him to raw a couple months ago and he has shown a huge improvement but he still needs the Apoquel every day. I also give him a bath once a week and paw soaks as needed as well as wipe downs.

Squishy Walnuts · Mar 2, 2016

Jordanmyles said:
It may be of some interest to anyone who is thinking about allergy testing to try Nutriscan first. I was told about it not to long ago as I have been having issues with Bella.

She was losing hair in patches, like balding. No bad smells, itchiness, or excessive licking though, so I am still not sure if it was allergy or intolerance related or neither. But we have ruled out mange. I've since switched to Raw complete two weeks ago and I am already seeing numerous improvements. I didn't end up doing the Nutriscan, but from the information I've received, it is much more accurate, and much more cost effective.

The same thing happened to my Boston Terrier and as soon as I took chicken out of her diet her fur grew back. I never had any tests done, I wanted to try changing up her food before I put any extra money into tests. I read that chicken is an issue with many dogs so that's the first thing I eliminated and luckily it worked.

Jordanmyles · Mar 2, 2016

Interesting. I am feeding her Raw Chicken made from Primal right now actually. I plan to switch eventually I think, I just went with this as it was suggested because its easy to digest. But so far great. Only issue right now is she has been quite yeasty, so next step is to work on that.

Squishy Walnuts said:
The same thing happened to my Boston Terrier and as soon as I took chicken out of her diet her fur grew back. I never had any tests done, I wanted to try changing up her food before I put any extra money into tests. I read that chicken is an issue with many dogs so that's the first thing I eliminated and luckily it worked.

Squishy Walnuts · Mar 2, 2016

Jordanmyles said:
Interesting. I am feeding her Raw Chicken made from Primal right now actually. I plan to switch eventually I think, I just went with this as it was suggested because its easy to digest. But so far great. Only issue right now is she has been quite yeasty, so next step is to work on that.

I feed only kibble. At the time it was Orijen but I switched to Acana Pacifica, all fish. Maybe it was something else in the Orijen but she hasn't had an issue since so I'll stick with the fish kibble.

Cbrugs · Mar 2, 2016

Jordanmyles said:
Interesting. I am feeding her Raw Chicken made from Primal right now actually. I plan to switch eventually I think, I just went with this as it was suggested because its easy to digest. But so far great. Only issue right now is she has been quite yeasty, so next step is to work on that.

She might be having a reaction to the chicken if she is yeasty. If there is fruits and/or veggies in her food, it could be one of those ingredients as well.

Jakeyjake · Mar 2, 2016

Jordanmyles said:
It may be of some interest to anyone who is thinking about allergy testing to try Nutriscan first. I was told about it not to long ago as I have been having issues with Bella.

She was losing hair in patches, like balding. No bad smells, itchiness, or excessive licking though, so I am still not sure if it was allergy or intolerance related or neither. But we have ruled out mange. I've since switched to Raw complete two weeks ago and I am already seeing numerous improvements. I didn't end up doing the Nutriscan, but from the information I've received, it is much more accurate, and much more cost effective.

Nutriscan is for food intolerances only so it will not determine if your dog has environmental allergies.
Glad to hear your Bella is doing good on the raw.