# prednisone for allergies



## biancasmom (Jun 24, 2008)

Hi everyone.. long time no post!

So i took Bianca in for her rabies shot in august and i asked him about allergies. The ve says she definitely has allergies and gave me prednisone to give her. Im supposed to give her 1/4 a table twice a day (my baby weighs 4 lbs 12 oz!) He told me to just give it to her until she stops scratching.. SO i had her on them for about a week and a half or so and i noticed that her eyes stopped running and she wasnt scratching as much...

so i decided yesterday to stop giving it to her... by yesterday evening her eyes were runny again...

So here is my quesiton.. he doesnt want her on prednisone forever.. but will prednisone clear up the allergies so much so that when i stop giving it to her she wont have them anymore? he also told me to make sure i wipe her feet off every day to get rid of the pollen.. well.. what he doesnt know is that she doesnt really go outside. Whn she does, i do wipe her feet off. 

I dont know if her allergies are seasonal (like pollen) either because when i got her from the breeder she already had tear stains (small ones) and as she grew bigger, so did her tear stains.. and since ive had her over a year now, i dont think its seasonal.. I dont think its anything like dust either since she was in the breeders house and then mine with same issues.. also my mom is a neat freak and she was at her house for a week in july and still had the allergies.. 

I dont think its food because she has been on different foods since she was a baby.. the only other thing it could be is the tap water because the breeder lives close to me and so does my mom.. 

BUT I am hoping that is the last resort because i dont think i could afford to buy bottled water for bianca... does anyone know if something like a britta pitcher filters out the bad things for dogs in the tap water?


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

WHOA WHOA do not just start and stop steroids that is dangerous as it affects the adrenal glands !!!!!! and that dose is TOO HIGH for a 4lb dog if it is a 5mg tablet - how many mg does it say- also your first step should not be to do steroids with an allergy dog as there are some process of elimination first that is just masking the problem -- alot of vets hand this stuff out like it is candy and that is very dangerous! Do you have a dermatologist near you?


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

ok first have you stuck to a limited ingredient food like natural balance venison and sweet potato for 12 weeks with NOTHING ELSE! Spring bottled water is good and you can see if that works - they do not drink alot of water and that is cheaper than vet bills you will have from long term use of steroids and side effects -- Steroids are your LAST resort - unfortunately i am at my last resort after 5 years but you really need to do some baby steps first before going to the big whamy in my opinion. The first step is to do a true elimination diet and jumping around on food is not going to help only confuse the situation more so has she ever had venison and sweet potato if not do the change over -- 

I am confused is it the tear staining or is she itching excessively? If itching is it year round?


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

even if a dog does not go outside there are dust mites which is in the house and pollens and such come in through the windows and doors so it is still air born. Do you change your filters often in the house? 

Another thing i recommend with allergy dogs is bathing weekly with hypoallergenic shampo NOT OATMEAL. 

If cost is an issue raw food diet will be too expensive it sounds like. 

If you want a cheap shampoo that works I use dr bronners mild unscented baby shampoo and it is all organic and works well for allergy dogs 

First you rule out FOOD and mites and thyroid should be checked on allergy dogs as well so next blood work up do thyroid panel 6 panel through jean dodds or michigan state - HAS TO BE 6 PANEL not just T4 and it is not that expensive. 

10% of allergies is food BUT all allergy dogs should be on a limited ingredient food still to help their system to not over react from environmental allergies 

If not food and environmental allergies you can try mixing fish oil and antihistamines - if this does not work you are down to a choice of hyposensitization shots, atopica or temarilp ( which is prednisolone and tavist less harsh on liver than prednisone) 

If your dog stops itching while on atopica or steroids most likely not food allergy and environmental but you can at least start with less as less is more if you can get away with it 

There is sadly no real cure with allergies it is about keeping the dog comfortable so it has a quality of life as you come to the conclusion such as i have they live a short happy life or a long miserable one and i chose the former for my dd but i did do all the baby steps to get to that point. 

If doing steroids best and safest to do every other day not every day except for in beginning to get them comfortable then you taper to every other day 

If this vet did not take the baby steps with your dog and just went to steroids then that is not good as he is just trying to mask the problem and give your dog short term relief. You need to cover all basis first as steroids have long term affects and you want the minimal therapeutic dose to get them comfortable not a large dose -- my dd is very severe and she is hypothyroid and she does well on 1/2 temarilp every other day which is 1 mg of prednisolone every other day as one tablet of temarilp is 2 mg of prednisolone and tavist an antihistamine mixed in and she is managed -- is she perfect NO but she rarely itches 

Allergies are the worst think i have dealt with sadly and can be very frustrating but journal and take baby steps do not do a bunch at once or you will not know what is and what isn't working and you will be further frustrated if you do not do it this way


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## biancasmom (Jun 24, 2008)

QUOTE (dwerten @ Sep 3 2009, 04:58 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=825588


> I am confused is it the tear staining or is she itching excessively? If itching is it year round?[/B]


her symptoms are:
tearing of eyes (bigtime) with the tear staining
chewing on the feet and legs (you can see it in the pic in my signature.. its red where she has chewed)
itching/scratching around the bottom of the face and back.... the scratching is year round but it doesnt seem excessive. She doesnt have fleas. Just maybe 2 or 3 times an hour she will scratch herself.

as far as the food goes when she was born she was on Nutro natural chicken for puppies. she did not have any people food until she was about 7 months old. I changed her to Canidae for all stages of life Lamb when she was about probably 6 months old. (so from 0-6months she was on one kind of food and only that) The lamb she gobbled up at first but then seemed to not like it to so much i wanted to make sure she eats so i switched to Canidae Chicken probably at 9 months old. She loves that. Recently about 2 or 3 months ago (when she was little over a year) I saw they had Beef and fish Canidae which has more vitamins, etc (its a 5star food as opposed to the chicken and lamb being 4 star) so i tried that. It was too rich for her stomach and made her throw up a lot. so now sheis just on the chicken. I try not to give her too much people food. I give her the occasional baby carrot but I didnt do that until she almost a year because i didnt want her to choke on it.. My mom feeds her all kinds of stuff.. but she has been getting better since we had the scary throwing up experience after the beef and fish food.. 

as far as giving her the prednisone.. i dont think they are 5mg tablets.. I will have to look at them when i get home but it seems they were smaller than that.


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

ok chicken and beef are the top two allergic proteins so that is probably your prob as dogs with food allergy itch their face mostly and chew their front paws so I would recommend you going to fish and sweet potato natural balance or venison and sweet potato for 12 weeks NOTHING ELSE or you will not know if it is food or not. 

Was she less itchy with steroids? Yes please let us know the mg on the pill. 

I do see the red on paws and face and tear staining is bacteria and she could have yeast going on as well 

I would wash her paws daily with hypoallergenic shampoo and dry them afterwards 

I would not supplement anything yet and see how she does on food then once food elimination is done i would add in probiotics and coconut oil to combat bacteria and yeast 

It does not sound like she is that itchy so you should be ok without steroids to figure this out but she has to be weaned off steroids you cannot just go cold turkey or you can mess up her adrenals 





QUOTE (biancasmom @ Sep 3 2009, 04:10 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=825597


> QUOTE (dwerten @ Sep 3 2009, 04:58 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=825588





> I am confused is it the tear staining or is she itching excessively? If itching is it year round?[/B]


her symptoms are:
tearing of eyes (bigtime) with the tear staining
chewing on the feet and legs (you can see it in the pic in my signature.. its red where she has chewed)
itching/scratching around the bottom of the face and back.... the scratching is year round but it doesnt seem excessive. She doesnt have fleas. Just maybe 2 or 3 times an hour she will scratch herself.

as far as the food goes when she was born she was on Nutro natural chicken for puppies. she did not have any people food until she was about 7 months old. I changed her to Canidae for all stages of life Lamb when she was about probably 6 months old. (so from 0-6months she was on one kind of food and only that) The lamb she gobbled up at first but then seemed to not like it to so much i wanted to make sure she eats so i switched to Canidae Chicken probably at 9 months old. She loves that. Recently about 2 or 3 months ago (when she was little over a year) I saw they had Beef and fish Canidae which has more vitamins, etc (its a 5star food as opposed to the chicken and lamb being 4 star) so i tried that. It was too rich for her stomach and made her throw up a lot. so now sheis just on the chicken. I try not to give her too much people food. I give her the occasional baby carrot but I didnt do that until she almost a year because i didnt want her to choke on it.. My mom feeds her all kinds of stuff.. but she has been getting better since we had the scary throwing up experience after the beef and fish food.. 

as far as giving her the prednisone.. i dont think they are 5mg tablets.. I will have to look at them when i get home but it seems they were smaller than that.
[/B][/QUOTE]


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

Possible allergy relief for dogs and people.

Home cooking

Probiotics

Using Dr. Bronner's soap products for EVERYTHING

Using all unscented products in the home. No scented candles, no plug-ins. These things are TOXIC.

Using only baking soda, vinegar and peroxide to clean the house. 

Wiping dog's feet with soap and water every time she comes in from outside. 

Using a good air purifier in the home. 

Washing her toys, bedding, any and everything she sleeps on, at least once a week with an unscented detergent or Dr. Bronner's.

Folks, stop using medications to hide supress allergy symptoms. That is not a cure for anything. Find the cause, and you have the cure.

Find out what the allergen is and remove it. Why are we killing ours and our dogs immune system and adrenal glands with steroids and OTC allergy meds? Cleanse your homes and your foods of chemical toxins as best you can, and you will find relief!!

Ok, off my soapbox. 

I really feel bad for your doggie, and I hope that some of the things I've suggested helps you find the cause. 

I don't mean to sound cranky, but it seems like EVERY DAY there is another post here about dogs or people with allergies.

We are allergic to all of the toxic stuff we surround ourselves with. The sooner we understand this and do something about it, the sooner we and our dogs will feel much better and get off the meds.


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

Been on this journey 5 years gf and done it all and due to our dogs being inbred and having poor immune systems as mine is a yorkie and they have alot of health issues sadly due to being one of the top 3 breeds and inbred to death literally - trust me wish i could go no drugs but just not an option sadly in some cases but I have done everything below and she still itches herself bloody so while it sounds great to go all natural sometimes it is just not always possible as trust me I wish I could - done the raw , done the home cook , done it ALL - holistic vet, dermatologist, internal medicine, dr dodds, several regular vets 8k gf and still itching so at some point you have to give the dog and yourself relief or you will go crazy - California is HORRIBLE for allergies as it is year round NO relief at all - so not everyone can go the no drug route BUT you should definitely try it first like i did until my family was going to disown me for letting my dog suffer  


QUOTE (Nikki's Mom @ Sep 3 2009, 04:57 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=825624


> Possible allergy relief for dogs and people.
> 
> Home cooking
> 
> ...


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## gopotsgo (May 21, 2009)

Hello, another Californian here. Yup, beautiful place but bad for allergies. As a people doc I have to say that every case is unique but I DEFINITELY agree with trying to eliminate the cause first before trying meds. This is what worked for me and there are always ups and downs depending on the season. First, the pups are on Pawnaturaw organic, raw food, bison only. They get organic fruits and veggies as well as filtered water. They also get salmon oil and Kefir daily. I clean their eye areas with 10 ppm colloidal silver water. It took months but I have white faces now. I also don't immunize anymore, I check blood titers instead. Good luck everyone.


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

yep we have even thought of moving for dee dee lol -- my grandma lives in arizona and even thought of sending her there for a month to see but i would miss her too much  and there are allergy dogs on my allerdog group in arizona too so not sure it will help but who knows  you just never know with the allergy babies. I have titered her since she was 6 mos so no vaccines - this all started when she was 6 mos old after her vaccines  I use the colloidal silver also but it has not really helped with her staph infection  it is 45ppm and distilled water and cc has peace and kindness which is 35ppm -- the owner of eye envy gave me 10ppm to mix in distilled water as well she is really nice. It really wasn't helping much -- the coconut oil rub down seem to work better. - I have never heard of pawnaturaw organic - I will google it and pass on to allergy group I am on with yahoogroups.com -- she is on spring water from whole foods. There is a local pet store that recommended local raw honey from local hives and to slowly desensitize them and it is like a natural hyposensitization approach as he said everyone that moves to our area from out of state has problems with their dogs ;( and a vet said the same thing so this is what he recommends and he said it has been working - you get it from the local farmers market and i bought it was afraid it would make her worse as dermatologist told me not to do it and it would make her worse so i got scared 


QUOTE (gopotsgo @ Sep 3 2009, 05:45 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=825652


> Hello, another Californian here. Yup, beautiful place but bad for allergies. As a people doc I have to say that every case is unique but I DEFINITELY agree with trying to eliminate the cause first before trying meds. This is what worked for me and there are always ups and downs depending on the season. First, the pups are on Pawnaturaw organic, raw food, bison only. They get organic fruits and veggies as well as filtered water. They also get salmon oil and Kefir daily. I clean their eye areas with 10 ppm colloidal silver water. It took months but I have white faces now. I also don't immunize anymore, I check blood titers instead. Good luck everyone.[/B]


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

I am not saying that ridding your home/life of toxins will cure everyone and everything. Nikki has tearstains, and my home is ridiculously absent of toxins, she eats home cooked food, and we use purified water. She doesn't go outside. So what is causing it? I have no idea. But I keep trying to figure it out. 

My own husband has chronic eczema, mostly from the paint he uses for his work and sometimes he has to use steroids for it. IF he could change his line of work, believe me, he would. But our circumstances won't allow for that right now, but someday... 

There are no magic cures, but I encourage those of you who haven't, at least try and give the immune system a fighting chance to work properly by removing toxins from your environment. It seems like there are so many people/animals suffering from allergies these days. Everyone you talk to. My neighbor has chronic, asthmatic bronchitis and allergies. She can hardly breathe, yet her home is full of scented candles, and she bathes herself in perfume. I've tried to tell her, but she doesn't want to know. She likes her candles and her perfume, even though they are making her sicker. 
It's frustrating because so many people simply will not make the connection between how they feel, and what they eat and breathe, and don't want to change their lifestyle, but yet they complain about all the medication they have to take, and how much all the doc visits are costing them. And lament at how our poor dogs are suffering terribly with itching and ear/eye infections. 

Think about how common allergies are today. 100 years ago, it was quite a different thing. No, I don't advocate living 1909 style. But do some research and rid your life of the junk that is making you sick. Drink clean, purified water. Eat better. Breathe clean air in your home. 

Yes, you can change. No it isn't easy. Yes, it takes time. Yes, at first it is expensive, But in the long run, it is a worthy investment and think about how much better you and your dogs might just feel.


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

I didn't mention vaccinations because I was afraid that everyone would get mad at me. Glad someone else brought it up.

Vaccinations cause allergic problems and other health problems both in humans and in animals. Do the research and weigh the risks/benefits before you vaccinate yourself or your dog. Consider whether you want to risk lifelong allergy suffering, for yourself or your dog. If the damage is already done, then it's done. Now is the time to help heal your dog's immune system by removing other toxins.

BTW, California is bad for allergies, and so is Georgia. If we could, we would move west in a New York minute. Maybe someday...


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

I agree- we even had a guy come out to test the air in our house as we had a water leak and he came out twice and the first time it was when dd started with this and he said hey lady this house is worse inside than outside lol due to air fresheners so we removed everything and wash in perfume and dye free you name it and my dad calls our house the white room  for dee dee. When the guy came out the second time he said much better  and our dogs are on wee wee pads so dd is inside almost always as do not want a flea bite or allergy issue - we bought oreck air purification system for out house, hypoallergenic filters you name it we have done it. None seem to help much  

the dermatologist said it is an epidemic of allergy dogs and humans and she thinks it is because when we were kids we played outside in the dirt and we built up alot of immunities where as kids now are inside playing video games and dogs are kept indoors more, etc and she thinks we are not building up immunities to things and it is transfering into more allergies in both humans and dogs. I thought her perception was interesting. 


QUOTE (Nikki's Mom @ Sep 3 2009, 06:07 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=825665


> I am not saying that ridding your home/life of toxins will cure everyone and everything. Nikki has tearstains, and my home is ridiculously absent of toxins, she eats home cooked food, and we use purified water. She doesn't go outside. So what is causing it? I have no idea. But I keep trying to figure it out.
> 
> My own husband has chronic eczema, mostly from the paint he uses for his work and sometimes he has to use steroids for it. IF he could change his line of work, believe me, he would. But our circumstances won't allow for that right now, but someday...
> 
> ...


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

lol I am right there with you but i do believe they need their puppy shots and that is all dd got and she is titered every time we do blood and she is doing fine with just puppy shots. jean dodds does our titers. I personally think dd just had poor breeding and she is from a backyard breeder which attributes to alot of this as she is hypothyroid and atopic dermatitis both auto-immune diseases and both diagnosed prior to steroids. It is sad because i wish i did my homework and knew more and bought from a good breeder but sadly i was new to all this and did not but then i think what would have happened to dd if she was not with us and think she may not be here today as she is a very tough case and she probably would have ended up in rescue or put down  as sadly alot of pet owners cannot afford the cost it takes with a sick dog and do not have the patients to care for them  so sometimes I think they are in our life for a reason and I have learned so much from them and hopefully it has allowed me to help others in the process of caring for them as that is what it is all about is helping each other to give them the best care we can and why i am so thankful for groups such as this as not everyone understands when you love your dog so much and are trying so hard to do your best to care for them. So many just say it is only a dog but to me that is not the case  so glad i found people that feel the same way and who understand as it is hard to care for the ones with health issues 


QUOTE (Nikki's Mom @ Sep 3 2009, 06:18 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=825669


> I didn't mention vaccinations because I was afraid that everyone would get mad at me. Glad someone else brought it up.
> 
> Vaccinations cause allergic problems and other health problems both in humans and in animals. Do the research and weigh the risks/benefits before you vaccinate yourself or your dog. Consider whether you want to risk lifelong allergy suffering, for yourself or your dog. If the damage is already done, then it's done. Now is the time to help heal your dog's immune system by removing other toxins.
> 
> BTW, California is bad for allergies, and so is Georgia. If we could, we would move west in a New York minute. Maybe someday...[/B]


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## puppy lover (Dec 25, 2007)

This thread has amazing information - I'm hoping it will be pinned


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## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

I wish I had all that information with my last dog. Believe me I know what it is to take care about an allergic dog. It is frustrating to watch them scratch themself to the flesh and not being able to do something about it. I had mine tested by a dermatologist. Costed me 500$ 20 years ago. He was allergic to everything under the sun. We tried desensitizing but instead of getting better it got worse. But still we managed to keep him for almost 12 years. Can you imaging itching constantly every day ?


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

yeah that is what i say imagine having chicken pox your whole life  so sometimes you just got to go with relief and hope for the best. I have heard the hyposensitization shots sometimes can make them worse as holistic vet told me this and why i did not do it with dd as he scared me. It is only 85% accurate in dogs and the reason why is they test them and skin testing is most accurate more so than blood and they try to get as many allergents into one vile but they cannot get everything they are allergic to in there and then they may not get the stuff that is closest to your home but just what they test for on tests. Also they cannot possibly test for every possible allergent so it is a best guess estimate and does not always work sadly  This is why i like the idea of the loca raw honey as it is the local bees gathering all the local pollen and going to local hives so you are hitting the allergents in your specific area and then you put a tiny bit on finger every day and build their immune system to it for your area. A few have had great success on our allergy group with this for themselves as they put it in their morning tea or coffee for themselves and on finger for their dogs. 

QUOTE (MalteseJane @ Sep 3 2009, 10:57 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=825738


> I wish I had all that information with my last dog. Believe me I know what it is to take care about an allergic dog. It is frustrating to watch them scratch themself to the flesh and not being able to do something about it. I had mine tested by a dermatologist. Costed me 500$ 20 years ago. He was allergic to everything under the sun. We tried desensitizing but instead of getting better it got worse. But still we managed to keep him for almost 12 years. Can you imaging itching constantly every day ?[/B]


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## Harley & Dakotas Mum (Jun 11, 2005)

QUOTE (MalteseJane @ Sep 4 2009, 12:57 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=825738


> I wish I had all that information with my last dog. Believe me I know what it is to take care about an allergic dog. It is frustrating to watch them scratch themself to the flesh and not being able to do something about it. I had mine tested by a dermatologist. Costed me 500$ 20 years ago. He was allergic to everything under the sun. We tried desensitizing but instead of getting better it got worse. But still we managed to keep him for almost 12 years. Can you imaging itching constantly every day ?[/B]


Yep, I am in the same boat, caring for an allergic pup is no fun at all! Harley is also allergic to all things under the sun ... we are coming up 2 years desensitisation treatment in November and he has been doing great ... his Derm said we would desensitise for 2 - 3 years, so we will see.... Harley was also tested by a dermatologist, I wish I had him tested sooner .. He also had 2 lots of prednisone before I searched further for a better/different treatment. Of course the pred worked ... its NOT a BAD drug, its just something I didn't want to use long term for Harley.


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

that is great that he is in the 85% bracket as it is much safer than steroids. We had two blood allergy tests by two different labs biotech and spectrum labs to compare not cheap  Did you do skin testing? I think you posted you did before but drawing a blank 

on allergy group they said best blood lab for this is VARL so if you are going to do blood version do the VARL lab with your vet but skin testing is most accurate

QUOTE (Harley & Dakotas Mum @ Sep 4 2009, 12:04 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=825776


> QUOTE (MalteseJane @ Sep 4 2009, 12:57 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=825738





> I wish I had all that information with my last dog. Believe me I know what it is to take care about an allergic dog. It is frustrating to watch them scratch themself to the flesh and not being able to do something about it. I had mine tested by a dermatologist. Costed me 500$ 20 years ago. He was allergic to everything under the sun. We tried desensitizing but instead of getting better it got worse. But still we managed to keep him for almost 12 years. Can you imaging itching constantly every day ?[/B]


Yep, I am in the same boat, caring for an allergic pup is no fun at all! Harley is also allergic to all things under the sun ... we are coming up 2 years desensitisation treatment in November and he has been doing great ... his Derm said we would desensitise for 2 - 3 years, so we will see.... Harley was also tested by a dermatologist, I wish I had him tested sooner .. He also had 2 lots of prednisone before I searched further for a better/different treatment. Of course the pred worked ... its NOT a BAD drug, its just something I didn't want to use long term for Harley.
[/B][/QUOTE]


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## Harley & Dakotas Mum (Jun 11, 2005)

QUOTE (dwerten @ Sep 4 2009, 02:36 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=825785


> that is great that he is in the 85% bracket as it is much safer than steroids. We had two blood allergy tests by two different labs biotech and spectrum labs to compare not cheap  Did you do skin testing? I think you posted you did before but drawing a blank
> 
> on allergy group they said best blood lab for this is VARL so if you are going to do blood version do the VARL lab with your vet but skin testing is most accurate[/B]


Yes, Harley was skin tested. We know there are no guarantees, but I am hopeful.


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

sounds like it is working great which is wonderful - there is another lady on my allerdog group that had great success with it and she goes to our same dermatologist so i always regret not trying this 

QUOTE (Harley & Dakotas Mum @ Sep 4 2009, 01:16 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=825790


> QUOTE (dwerten @ Sep 4 2009, 02:36 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=825785





> that is great that he is in the 85% bracket as it is much safer than steroids. We had two blood allergy tests by two different labs biotech and spectrum labs to compare not cheap  Did you do skin testing? I think you posted you did before but drawing a blank
> 
> on allergy group they said best blood lab for this is VARL so if you are going to do blood version do the VARL lab with your vet but skin testing is most accurate[/B]


Yes, Harley was skin tested. We know there are no guarantees, but I am hopeful.
[/B][/QUOTE]


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## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

My lhasa was skin tested. Prednisone is bad. But at the end I did not care anymore, I just wanted him to be comfortable. He developed diabetes from the prednisone. It kills the immune system. But I knew that sooner or later I will have to put him down. He was at a very high dosage at the end. But at least he didn't suffer as much for what was left of his life.


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

yeah some times you get to the end of your rope and just want the dog comfortable -- i have had many so frustrated they email me saying they are putting the dog to sleep and i have to talk them out of it and say either give to a rescue or let's try a few things first so I have seen so many so frustrated and sadly some of these animals are abused when an owner gets so frustrated and you do not want that to happen so we try to walk them through it or beg them to give to a rescue. Many people do not have the patience, time or money to care for these dogs and sadly there are alot of them in the yorkie breed as i read about it every day and it makes me so angry as alot of it is due to poor breeding 

QUOTE (MalteseJane @ Sep 4 2009, 01:49 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=825797


> My lhasa was skin tested. Prednisone is bad. But at the end I did not care anymore, I just wanted him to be comfortable. He developed diabetes from the prednisone. It kills the immune system. But I knew that sooner or later I will have to put him down. He was at a very high dosage at the end. But at least he didn't suffer as much for what was left of his life.[/B]


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## Starsmom (Jan 31, 2009)

Prednisone - I think it may have a place in medicine, but I think vets, and physicians alike over use it. When my Scruff was dx with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma the vet gave him prednisone. He went blind from it within 3 days of use. That lasted about a week, and slowly his sight returned. Poor thing was frightened, and refused to walk during this time. I told the vet about the blindness - he had never known it to be a side effect of prednisone. For me, the bottom line is it's scary stuff. 

It's better to find the _cause_ of the itching rather then treat the symptom. I'd do one thing at a time - wash the bedding, then re-mop the floors, etc. If you do everything at once and the scratching stops, you won't know which one was the culprit.


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

wow that must have been a really strong dose as i have never heard of that and been dealing with steroids for almost two years now. I know it is not good stuff though  but sometimes it is the last resort. 

I agree allergies you have to take alot of notes and do one thing at a time and it can take a while to figure out the cause but 90% of the time it is environmental pollens and dust mites, etc and that cannot simply be removed from ourlives sadly so it comes down to one of three things - steroids, atopica or hyposensitization and why it makes this auto-immune disease so frustrating as hyposensitization is the most natural but only works in 85% of the dogs and takes a year to know if it even works -- food which is 10% of the time is if you are REALLY LUCKY but most allergy cases it is not food so unless you move to another state and hope there are no allergens in the new state you are pretty much stuck , frustrated and trying to keep your dog from being a bloody mess which then leads to bacteria infections and then that is a whole other mess - building the immune system is not as easy as it sounds so you are either building the immune system with supplements and diet or you are tearind down the immune system to not respond to allergents with drugs. It really is a double edge sword and in dealing with it and trying both natural and drugs it is really hard to fault an owner for going with the drugs after they have tried everything as it is no fun watching a dog itch all day long and be miserable as i sure would not want that for myself I would say hey give me the drugs people I do not care if i do not live forever i want to be happy now lol so i do understand now why owners go this route as many people work full time, have kids, and have alot of responsibilities and most do not home cook sadly for themselves so home cooking for their dog every day seems over whelming and then they do it and it does not help the dog as it is mostly environmental so it gets pretty exhausting and you are so torn between wanting to do the best for your dog and wanting them comfortable so each person has to make that decision for their own dog and not feel guilty about it as we would not be on here if we did not really care for our dogs or on the allergy group on yahoo. Many are at their wits end sadly by the time they get to these sites  

I know there are other health issues that are frustrating but this one there really is no cure for sadly in many dogs and comfort is what it comes down to. This is why breeding healthy dogs is so important as then they have a healthy immune system and have a fighting chance and why not over vaccinating dogs is important so the immune system is not affected thus triggering auto immune disease in dogs. Imagine what would happen to humans if we were inbred it would not be pretty 

QUOTE (Starsmom @ Sep 4 2009, 12:04 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=825920


> Prednisone - I think it may have a place in medicine, but I think vets, and physicians alike over use it. When my Scruff was dx with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma the vet gave him prednisone. He went blind from it within 3 days of use. That lasted about a week, and slowly his sight returned. Poor thing was frightened, and refused to walk during this time. I told the vet about the blindness - he had never known it to be a side effect of prednisone. For me, the bottom line is it's scary stuff.
> 
> It's better to find the _cause_ of the itching rather then treat the symptom. I'd do one thing at a time - wash the bedding, then re-mop the floors, etc. If you do everything at once and the scratching stops, you won't know which one was the culprit.[/B]


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## misti9er (Mar 24, 2009)

:biggrin: love this thread.


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