Looks like we have allergies

anns4boys · Mar 24, 2015

Well, I was hoping we were going to be able to avoid the frenchie allergies, but my poor T has been scratching terribly! It started about a month or so ago, but wasn't really bad. I thought it was dry skin from the cold winter and the fact that she parks herself in front of the fireplace and "bakes". It wasn't a lot at first but the last 2 weeks she's been scratching a lot - so much so that we had to keep shirts on her to stop her from scratching herself raw. I also noticed what look liked hives or on her underbelly. She's been doing her " going round in circle thing" at my husbands office to scratch her belly and her face, and yesterday I noticed slight hair loss around one eye from rubbing her face on the carpet. Took her to the vet today and he gave her a shot - an antibiotic and Temaril . Hoping that it helps. He said to give her the medications, see if it helps and if it doesn't seem to get better we need to do allergy testing. I know so many of you have the same issues with your babies. It's so frustrating! I hope it stays mild and doesn't start controlling our lives - uggghhh

Anyway, she'll be 1 year old on Saturday and my little runt stayed pretty little - weighed in at 16 pounds. I was washing her shirts and had nothing else to put on her today so she went to the vet wearing a skeleton costume we had from Halloween from my other dog. The vet and his staff got a kick out of it, lol

eeturk · Mar 24, 2015

Oh no T!! I'm sorry to hear that she's having problems. Here's hoping that they're winter specific allergies and on their way out -- winter is Hudson's itchy season! The skeleton costume cracked me up! She is so cute.

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ntrinsik · Mar 24, 2015

Sorry to hear!

Gaston just had his first case of allergies I think. He was licking/chewing his paws for the first time yesterday.. which happened after we gave him his first ever carrot to eat. The licking/chewing extended into the night and he was whining all night in his crate so I ended up sleeping with him on the couch as he didn't do anything when I held him. Easy enough to eliminate carrots if that was the cause.. but now I'm paranoid and think everything is a potential allergen.

Cbrugs · Mar 24, 2015

Trust me when I say I'm so sorry to hear as I have been dealing with this for almost a year now. Environmental allergies got to Jax before he turned 1 (he will be 2 on April 8). He was constantly scratching himself raw and licking/chewing his paws. The regular vet put him on Temeril P which definitely helped. Unfortunately, steroids are not recommended for long term use. He was on it for a couple of months and I decided I wanted to get to the bottom of the problem and find out exactly what Jax was allergic to so last April I took him to a dermatologist and had the allergy test done. In my area, they only test for environmental allergies, not food allergies. It turned out that Jax is allergic to pretty much everything outside that is green (several types of grass, trees, shrubs, weeds, etc.) as well as dust mites.

I opted to do the allergy shots and Apoquel. Unfortunately, he is on Temeril P right now because I had the bright idea to change his food and all hell broke loose (I think he is allergic to turkey which is what I changed him to) so now I am dealing with trying to get him back to the way he was and then he will go back on the Apoquel.

In my personal opinion, I highly recommend you get an allergy test done. It is much easier to deal with the issue when you know what the issue actually is.

I now do paw soaks a few times a week as well as weekly baths with a medicated shampoo.

Jakeyjake · Mar 24, 2015

I feel your pain. I'm so sorry for the news. According to my vet, If she responds quickly from the steroid shot (I'm assuming it was a steroid shot) it is most likely environmental allergies. If not, it is most likely food allergies. So even if she feels better, I would still have the allergy testing done for environmental allergies because it will just be a matter of time before the itching returns. It can also be a combo of both food and environmental. I've been down this road with both of mine. It is quite frustrating for all parties involved. This is Jake's bad season right now constantly licking/sucking his paws, scratching his neck and he is on allergy shots, zyrtec and benadryl. He is a little better as he used to get hives and now he doesn't. I have yet to figure out what Stella is allergic to as her test really came back inconclusive and we have also tried various foods with her. She is currently on a food trial of Pork and Butternut squash. It has been one month and so far, no improvement. She is on Atopica and I am finding that it is not really working...she lives in a shirt. The vet suggested steroids, but I refused because they can cause some long term bad stuff. Good luck and I hope she feels better soon! Keep us posted.

Jakeyjake · Mar 24, 2015

Cbrugs said:
Trust me when I say I'm so sorry to hear as I have been dealing with this for almost a year now. Environmental allergies got to Jax before he turned 1 (he will be 2 on April 8). He was constantly scratching himself raw and licking/chewing his paws. The regular vet put him on Temeril P which definitely helped. Unfortunately, steroids are not recommended for long term use. He was on it for a couple of months and I decided I wanted to get to the bottom of the problem and find out exactly what Jax was allergic to so last April I took him to a dermatologist and had the allergy test done. In my area, they only test for environmental allergies, not food allergies. It turned out that Jax is allergic to pretty much everything outside that is green (several types of grass, trees, shrubs, weeds, etc.) as well as dust mites.

I opted to do the allergy shots and Apoquel. Unfortunately, he is on Temeril P right now because I had the bright idea to change his food and all hell broke loose (I think he is allergic to turkey which is what I changed him to) so now I am dealing with trying to get him back to the way he was and then he will go back on the Apoquel.

In my personal opinion, I highly recommend you get an allergy test done. It is much easier to deal with the issue when you know what the issue actually is.

I now do paw soaks a few times a week as well as weekly baths with a medicated shampoo.

Are you trying the NaurVet Aller-911 powder? I have been giving it to mine and it is kind of giving them loose stools, so I decreased the amount and hopefully they will get used to it.

2bullymama · Mar 24, 2015

OH NO.... not out pretty little princess, she can't have allergies!! Let's hope it does not get any worse

Cbrugs · Mar 24, 2015

[MENTION=600]Jakeyjake[/MENTION] yes at 2 teaspoons per day (1 in the am, 1 in the pm) but after a few days Jax had HORRIFIC gas so I decreased to 1 teaspoon per day and the gas got a little better. Yesterday I did a test and didn't give him any and he had no gas. So today I started with 1/4 teaspoon in the am and again in the pm to give him a gradual introduction and will work his way up. If the gas continues, I'm going to stop it all together as I don't want his tummu to be upset on top of everything else.