Dogs with Allergies...Seeking Remedy Advice

[Sophie]

Hi all,
In addition to having a dog with Cushings Disease (Biscuit) I also have a dog with seasonal allergies (Louie) and was wondering what remedies, natural/conventional, you use for your allergy prone pets?

Luckily Louie's allergies only last from August to October. He is allergic to some kind of weed. Right now I have Louie on TemarilP which is an antihistamine with prednisone in it. I really hate using it because of the Cushing's like side-effects. Drinking tons of water and eating twice as much food and everything else that goes with high cortisol levels.

This year I tried Yucca intensive drops and they really seemed to help, though not enough to go off the TemarilP completely. Though I was able to reduce his dosage.

I know allergies are one of the most frustrating diseases to treat. I'd really like to find something that really works other than the prednisone.

Sophie

[bkdice]

Sophie - Sorry to hear about the allergies. I have a cat with food allergies, and it was so frustrating until we got it under control.

Are you giving Biscuit fish oil? That is a natural anti inflammatory, so can help ease the itchies.

Also, I would suggest talking to an acupuncturist. Holistic vets sometimes have great little tricks. :)

Good luck! I feel your pain. At least it's only seasonal! :p

[Sophie]

Hi Bettina,
Louie has allergies, he's a 40lb Husky mix. I give him 2- 1200mg fish oil pills a day. It does seem to help, but at the height of allergy season nothing works except the prednisone.
Sophie

[Polkaroo]

Farfalle has severe allergies, both seasonal and food. They are so bad, he has anaphylactic reactions if he is exposed to an allergen. He also has Cushings and the allergies got much worse once we started the Trilostene. The steroids he was producing were actually masking how bad the allergies were!

We treat him with the following (he is 19lbs):
Chlortripolon 2.5mg twice a day
Cyclosporine 20mg once a day (prescription immune-suppressant)
Benadryl 12.5mg twice a day only if needed (i.e. if he is super wheezy)
Omega 3 oil added to his food once a day
Homemade diet of lamb or beef, couscous, flax, green veg such as beans or broccoli, and baby carrots. He is also allowed Orijen 6 Fish kibble or Wellness Lamb or Beef Stew or Wellness Simple Solutions Lamb and Rice if he is tired of the home diet (basically any limited ingredient, low grain food with only natural ingredients. These were the best poultry free ones I could find in Canada).

Now the diet is due to his food allergies, but the flax would have been added whether he needed the special diet or not. Our IMS told us that sometimes these allergic pups require double the normal amount of Omega 3 to keep them comfortable.

We also bath him monthly in a hypoallergenic, fragrance-free oatmeal shampoo as per our IMS.

For the seasonal allergies, he is allergic to grass, pollen etc so for him they are pretty much year round. Other than keeping him well medicated and ensuring he gets his baths monthly, there isn't much else we can do. We limit his outside time on high pollen days and make sure we don't let him out on fresh cut grass etc. The seasonal allergies are hard as they are so hard to avoid.