Help: Yellow lab with sever allergies

External Since: Jun 24, 2007 Posts: 3

I have this wonderful 7 year old Yellow Lab. I could not ask for a better god.
This is my child. When he was 3 (in 2003) we relocated from Woodbridge, NJ, to
Swedesboro, NJ. Woodbridge was suburban and crowed. Swedesboro is farms. Looke
more like Iowa than NJ. It was at this point that my dog started to itch, and
bite his hair off. It has only gotten worse. He looks at an all-time worse. It
pains me greatly to see him this way.

Here is what I have done:

1. In 2003, he had 2 steroid shots, 6 months apart. First one worked great,
second one not as good. I refused to get him anymore, because of long term harm.

2. 2 years ago, I got him the SPOT blood test to detemine allergans, followed by
the allergan shots to build immunity. No effect. Vet stole $500 for this. His
answer was, "sometime it doesn't work".

3. Last year, I took hom to a vet dermatologist, and had him get the pin-prick
allergey test, where they shave off a patch of hair, and prick him with pins to
see what he is allergic to. This included anasthesia, and a ton more immunity
building shots. If anything, he got worse, and this cost me $1,500. Money stolen
again.

4. Benadryl. Just not seem to have any effect anymore.

5. Atarax somewhat works, but not all that great. It's better than Benadryl.

6. As far as foods go, I have tried everything. Nothing changed it. Last winter,
my friend got a deer, and gave it to me. I gave him this venison with brown rice
and canola oil. Worked great. Hair was growing back and he looked great. After
venison ran out, I found a similar food in Solid Gold Beef and Barley. This had
similar ingredients of the venison and brown rice. Worked great. He was allergic
to most poultry and grain base food, and this Solid Gold was fantastic. I
finally found a food.

Then came spring and the warm weather, and the switch flipped. He itches
throught the night, and doesn't seem to sleep at night. He looks so bad, I
cannot walk him in public, and everytime someone sees him, I have to make a
speech as to what's wrong with him.

Last winter, I also had about 60% of my rugs removed, and installed hardwood
flooring in an effort to help him.

I also put one of those allergan catching filters in my furnace.

At this point, would take any advice, including holistic remedies. I tried some
licorice root once. I might even send a picture of him to St. Francis of Assisi
in Italy. What else can I do? I had this dog since he was 7 weeks, and is
essentially my child. I am thinking of seeing how he does this winter. If there
is no improvement, I might have to put him down. This is killing him, and it's
killing me.

Vinnie S.

External Since: Sep 21, 2005 Posts: 460

You know it's a food allergie you already saw that when he improved on the
venison. Did you check to see if the commercial food you were feeding has
changed? Did you call the company to find out? I'm betting something
changed in the food and it's not all environmental. I would go back to the
food trial and find a suitable food for him.

Lots of people find than when a dog has allergies this severe that a raw
diet is the best choise. In this case I think I would seriously look into
it.

Celeste

"Vinnie S." wrote in message

>I have this wonderful 7 year old Yellow Lab. I could not ask for a better
>god.
> This is my child. When he was 3 (in 2003) we relocated from Woodbridge,
> NJ, to
> Swedesboro, NJ. Woodbridge was suburban and crowed. Swedesboro is farms.
> Looke
> more like Iowa than NJ. It was at this point that my dog started to itch,
> and
> bite his hair off. It has only gotten worse. He looks at an all-time
> worse. It
> pains me greatly to see him this way.
>
> Here is what I have done:
>
> 1. In 2003, he had 2 steroid shots, 6 months apart. First one worked
> great,
> second one not as good. I refused to get him anymore, because of long term
> harm.
>
> 2. 2 years ago, I got him the SPOT blood test to detemine allergans,
> followed by
> the allergan shots to build immunity. No effect. Vet stole $500 for this.
> His
> answer was, "sometime it doesn't work".
>
> 3. Last year, I took hom to a vet dermatologist, and had him get the
> pin-prick
> allergey test, where they shave off a patch of hair, and prick him with
> pins to
> see what he is allergic to. This included anasthesia, and a ton more
> immunity
> building shots. If anything, he got worse, and this cost me $1,500. Money
> stolen
> again.
>
> 4. Benadryl. Just not seem to have any effect anymore.
>
> 5. Atarax somewhat works, but not all that great. It's better than
> Benadryl.
>
> 6. As far as foods go, I have tried everything. Nothing changed it. Last
> winter,
> my friend got a deer, and gave it to me. I gave him this venison with
> brown rice
> and canola oil. Worked great. Hair was growing back and he looked great.
> After
> venison ran out, I found a similar food in Solid Gold Beef and Barley.
> This had
> similar ingredients of the venison and brown rice. Worked great. He was
> allergic
> to most poultry and grain base food, and this Solid Gold was fantastic. I
> finally found a food.
>
> Then came spring and the warm weather, and the switch flipped. He itches
> throught the night, and doesn't seem to sleep at night. He looks so bad, I
> cannot walk him in public, and everytime someone sees him, I have to make
> a
> speech as to what's wrong with him.
>
> Last winter, I also had about 60% of my rugs removed, and installed
> hardwood
> flooring in an effort to help him.
>
> I also put one of those allergan catching filters in my furnace.
>
> At this point, would take any advice, including holistic remedies. I tried
> some
> licorice root once. I might even send a picture of him to St. Francis of
> Assisi
> in Italy. What else can I do? I had this dog since he was 7 weeks, and is
> essentially my child. I am thinking of seeing how he does this winter. If
> there
> is no improvement, I might have to put him down. This is killing him, and
> it's
> killing me.
>
>
>
> Vinnie S.