Allergies

[Bexter]

I have a GSP with allergies. Last fall the vet put her on prednisone and it helped - but there were such horrible side effects and we ended up pulling her off the prednisone in October. She had been doing just fine the last two months, but now is starting to show signs of allergies again (itching, scratching, watery eyes, etc).

Does anyone have any experience of dealing with dog allergies with something other than prednisone?

Thanks :-)

[Goldy]

Bexter,

Did your vet run tests to see what she is allergic to? (grass, dust, by-product in some types of dog foods).I have a golden that is seven years old that would itch her ears until they bleed and chew on her feet non stop when she was one. The vet ran a test for 80 different things and she had a positive result for 42 of them. We changed her food from Iams to a vet only Purina HA. Yes the food is expensive, around forty dollars for eighteen pounds but you don't have any by-products so the pick-up is the size of a poodle. The vet also gave a perscription for Benadryl that I only have to give her when she eats raw hides or too much human food. I would suggest keep talking to your vet to find the right solution. I could only imagine what it feels like to have poison Ivy all the time.

Hope things get better.

Goldy

[labdad]

I have a 10 year old lab that never had allergies until we moved to NC. Thought he was going to scratch his hide off, the vet gave him a 20 mg shot of Methylprednisolone and it worked great. Hope this helps

[bigdog]

My lab pup got allergies last December (scratching hair off) and we treated him at the U through the winter. Cannot remember the drug but it was not prednisone. He was on the Purina HA as well.

I ended up stopping the medication and switching to Solid Gold food. Expensive but cheaper than HA. He was good from spring though this December when he started scratching again. Less than last year though. Seems to be a seasonal allergy and we are getting by with the Solid Gold and a topical anti-itch I got from Fleet Farm.

[Jager]

I have a 18 month old GSP with the same itching problem.

My vet had her on prednesone as well but I was concerned with the long term affect as it can damage the liver as it will in humans.

He has her on a maintenance dose of Temarial-P and I keep a bottle of Genesis topical spray handy as well.

Both can be used long term.

What kennel is your GSP out of??

[Tripleplay]

Funny thing but my GSP in the past has had the same problems as well. She would actually lick her underside until the hair was off and the skin was red, warm and damp with some raised areas. Especially bad in the front armpits with got to be like touching an alligator.

We ended up having to use a few courses of prednisone and Benadryl when needed. So far this season we haven't had any issues.

I'm a pharmacist by day and honestly if the prednisone worked but the longer course of treatment by mouth led to the side effects you mentioned, in one of the other posts the poster mentioned an injection of methylprednisolone which is a pretty good replacement. Same basic drug class and effect but a one time deal or top end maybe a second dose later.

I'm not a vet so I don't know what other options might be out there for dogs, but if the steroids (prednisone) worked I'd be heading there again but looking at ways to avoid the side effects. There are other oral steroids similar to prednisone for humans so there may be some other oral options for dogs that might have a shorter course of therapy and fewer side effects. Honest truth is short term (10 days or less) of treatment with prednisone or a similar product usually doesn't cause bad side effects in humans but long term use has some real downers possible so it is a bummer that they got so bad in your dog that you need to avoid if possible again.

[Bexter]

Thank you guys for responding. I really appreciate everyone's input on what has worked for you guys in the past. I've jotted down what you guys have said and am anxious to get in to talk with the vet about trying something new.

Thank you.

:-)