Dealing with severe allergies in a rescue dog

[Oreo]

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Ive come to the conclution that i may not get to the bottom of oreo's allergy problems

Last year we adopted Oreo. She settled in great and has had no issues with her what so ever in terms of behaviour. She was a little strong on the lead but that was to be expected as she wasn’t walked a great deal by her previous owner.

Within a few weeks we noticed ‘wet patches’ on the sofa where she would sleep and thought (wrongly) that she dribbled while she was sleeping. We thought nothing of it as she seemed healthy and happy.

A few weeks later my girlfriend walked into the room after cooking some food and noticed that Oreo had been biting her back paws to the point they were bleeding, the wet patches had been from the constant licking.

We were given some antibiotics and a special sock and also a buster collar. She was also given a shot of ‘steroids’ as they felt that it was an allergy.

Her back paws cleared up however she still was hell bent on chewing them, so she has spent the times when we aren’t around either in a sock or with a buster collar.

We have tried various food trials (under the guidance of the vet) with no effect; she has been given priton by the vet also. We have tried melisab shampoo for her feat and she has had a number of tests with no success. We have been through two vets and also a specialised vet and neither could shed any light on the issues.

We have even ruled out problems with her back end as I though she maybe in slight pain given that she was chewing her back paws only.

We care for Oreo so much and it’s only now we understand why she was put up for adoption. The vet believes that she has been chewing on her paws for a few years given the damage that has been caused.

She hasn’t chewed her feet in a while now and they are look so much better but we have only done this by using buster collars, socks, shampoos and other bits just to ‘get by’.

She is currently on Chappie wet, and really enjoying her food as before she would hardly eat anything. She has put on a little weight but the vets are happy with that because they felt she was a little underweight.

Giving her up is not an option and I am determined to do whatever it takes to make her comfortable.

We heard of a holistic vets down south that is able to test hair samples for allergens and we were told that she could be allergic to a few things, like Lamb, salmon, tuna, Silicone and also Gluten.

So we have removed her toys that contain silicone and are in the process of looking for a none lamb based gluten free food for her as I am sure her food trials were all lamb based.

Does anyone have any experience with allergies in dogs that perhaps could suggest a few things to help?

I am getting so down about this because I love Oreo so much but feel like I am letting her down.

Thank you.

Thanks

 

[banana]

I have no experience of such a severe allergy, but it sounds really awful...

Poor Oreo and poor you xx

 

[hanneroon]

hello cadac, chin up, you really are doing all you can, it seems, to help, you definitely are not letting her down.

I get allergies to allsorts, and excema, but i can't imagine how hard it would be to work out what is causing these symptoms in a pet, especially if she has the habit of chewing deeply ingrained.

I may be going over old ground here, and you say you've had lots of tests, so apologies if you have already checked, but you thought about a possible yeast/candida problem? I say this because a friend of my mum, had what was thought to be a severe skin allergy on her hands, that progressed to all over. She was wearing nonlatex gloves in the end because it was thought to be an allergy to something in the environment. Turns out it was a yeast problem that caused an inbalance in the skin of her whole body, allowing other localised infections to occurr, presenting as an excema type response. Steroids, anitbiotics and covering the areas, made the problem go on and on rather than cure it.

I know that a full body yeast infection can cause other symptoms such as difficulty in gaining weight, recurrent infections etc etc. And i would wonder why if it was a contact or food allergy, it is just presenting in one area, not all her paws, or as a rash on her body? Yeasty things like to live in damp places so with constant licking there might be the ideal conditions?

I'm really sorry if you've gone down this avenue already, and i really hope you can find something to help her, it must be such a worry,

 

[murphyrules]

I saw you said you have been to a specialist already, has Oreo been fully allergy tested with skin scrapes and allergens injected under the skin to see what she reacts to? Thats the route I am probably going to go down with my youngster if his skin flares up red and angry this summer again. Ive seen it done with dogs and horses where immunological vaccines are specifically mixed and given to your animal, with very good results. It is an expensive route tho and may require lifetime treatment.

Im sorry to say this but the scientifically trained part of me doesnt understand how a hair sample via the post can explain the allergy causes, I could be wrong but I'm sceptical. (personal opinion)

I took my boy off 'normal' commercial food to try and settle his digestive allergies firstly I tried Burns pork and potato as its a novel protein which most dogs have not been exposed to, and its grain and gluten free, Its expensive and had to be done on a complete elimination trial (no other food, treats etc) I stuck it out for 8 months and the difference was amazing within 4 days the constant diarrhoea had stopped and he was a happy dog. Problem for me was he dropped 2kgs which is alot when he went down to 12kgs and looked like a welfare case! After mucho investigating I switched him slowly on to Wafcol Salmon and Potato and we have never looked back, up to 14kgs, boundless energy and firm poo, although I still have skin to deal with in him as I dont think it is food related in his case.

Good Luck I know how helpless you feel when you cant do anything to help them. :flowers:

 

[Kirawan]

Forgive me butting in here. My ears pricked up when I read your message.

It seems to me that if the symptom is solely chewing back paws... this must be a contact allergy, so unlikely that food would have any effect. I take it you do mean the actual PADS?

I have had whippets for many many years and have experienced a common theme which I feel is worth a mention. When they have walked through nettles.... about half an hour or so after arriving home, they will incessantly chew the pads which have been stung. Sometimes I can alleviate this by using wasp-eze but other times I have had to give Phenergan (antihistamine) 25mg tablets - half to one tablet per 21lb maybe twice in the day. It can make them sleepy, but if they have reached the 'frantic' mode when they are panting, chewing, and unable to sit still - those tablets really help and sleep is actually a good thing.

I now keep alert and avoid nettles like the plague - but it's not easy.

I do realise that during the winter there have not been many nettles, but they ARE sprouting now! If Oreo had nettle allergy in the autumn, and then chewed her pads raw and would not stop.... the problem of course persists because they are never given a chance to heal properly.

Have you used any healing/soothing cream for the pads before putting on the socks?

I hope very much that continued covering until they are properly healed will help (it should!)

Just one other thing.... do you ever use febreze on carpets etc? - it is known that this can cause a contact allergy in dogs/cats - just a thought.

One other thing... sometimes when dogs are stressed (as in moving home etc) - constant licking can be a habit they develop. Does Oreo chew feet when you are there?

You are exploring all avenues and doing all you can - you will win in the end I am sure!

Hope things improve very soon.

With best wishes,

 

[hanneroon]

hi murphyrules, you are a vet tech right, did i remember that right? Have you come across this yeasty thing that i was talking about, in your job? I had good old google search yesterday, and found lots of information, some of it pretty detailed and complicated, but wanted to be sure i wasn't suggesting something that was complete clap-trap!! The articles did have some really relevant points, but i don't want to be sharing something that might be untrue (or, you know, hippy, internet nonsense).

 

[hanneroon]

Kirawan! My whippet too, it took me a while to work out what it was, oh dear, when i think of all the nettles i made him walk through! I thought he was being reticent as he's a bit blind, but no, nettles! Found out after making him cross a dry dyke, he got stung on his face too. Bless him... I use a hot flannel..

 

[lurcherman]

i wish you all the best in finding the cure, it really could be anythink some of the stuff we put in our house could be the problem, but i know you have done your research and your very best but best of luck in your pursuit.

 

[Oreo]

Yes she chews her back pads but also between the pads too, to the extent that all the hair/fur was gone. But my confusion is that if it was a contact allergy surely it would be on all four paws and not just two?

There was a period where the vet suggested that she was only to be let outside for the toilet and not to walk her to let her paws heal. That was a period of about two weeks and she still tried to chew so I guess it could be some kind of grass allergy perhaps.

Oreo in August was on Piriton for about a month as the vet thought this would help. She was increased to four tablets a day under the guidance of the vet and this had no effect on her chewing, although it did make her drowsy.

We have been given various creams to use to help the recovery and they helped for a while, the difficulty of course was trying to keep Oreo from liking it off, hence why we started using a buster collar as that seemed to be the only was to stop her getting to her feet.

We don't use any air fresherners in the house as we have budgies and guinea pigs so we don't have any in the house. In this house now it is all carpet however the previous house was all laminate flooring down stairs.

I did ask the vet if Oreo could be allergic to the guinea pigs or budgies and I was told that this was very unlikely. Oreo doesn't have any contact with the Guinea pigs but the budgies are in the living room where Oreo spends lots of time. Could this be a cause, as we had the budgies before we had Oreo?

She does chew her feet at any chance she gets, whether we are there or not. She has learnt now that we 'tell her off' so she will look for a quiet corner to try and do it in secret. I am pretty sure it isn't related to seperation stress or anything like that but I cannot be 100% with that.

Thanks for your help with this.

 

[Oreo]

The more I think about it, the more the budgie thing makes sense.

Going back to the hair sample test there was a line on there that said Oreo was allergic to Bird Danders.

Now being a hair test I took it with a pinch of salt because I didn't know how accurate they were.

If she is allergic to Birds or the feathers my question would be, would it not affect all four paws and not just two, or could it be that she could be potentially just biting the most itchy ones?

 

[banana]

Is there anywhere Oreo doesn't go?

Could someone look after the birds for you for a little while so you can see if you can eliminate that as a cause?

 

[Oreo]

She isn't allowed in the spare rooms.

One is a guest bedroom which has cream bedsheets and I don't want black hairs everywhere and the other is the study come dvd room come guinea pig room.

I guess they could go in the guinea pig room for a trial.

Come to think of it, when mom had the dog for two weeks in September while we went away, the birds stopped at my in laws house as they already had a budgie. Mom did comment that she had no issues with the biting. Does seem to be the likely cause perhaps?

BTW I've just re-read what I written, and I'd like to say I don't live in a mansion with loads of rooms it's just that we don't have any kids yet so hence why we have spare rooms lol

 

[banana]

:lol:

 

[Oreo]

The birds are going upstairs to share a room with the Guinea pigs this evening.

Then I shall hoover/vacume downstairs again to ensure the best possible results.

Hopefully, it'll stop the itching as it is the only 'constant' I can think of in this whole thing.

 

[banana]

It may take a while to get rid of it all but its worth a go..

I have heard of humans having bird dander allergies before....

 

[lurcherman]

keep us updated , we want it sorted lol :thumbsup:

 

[Oreo]

Thanks.

I am greatful for the support as i've mentioned this a couple of times in the past and some of the responses were to take her back to the rescue and adopt another dog!!!

Someone said to me that adopting a dog is totally different to adopting a puppy. You will love both the same except in most cases you choose the puppy, and with a rescue the dog chooses you. Oreo did choose us and we have a responsibility of looking after her.

I just wish we had a certain answer as to what it is so that we can sort it for her!