If your dog has allergies

[RoxMonster]

What do you have them on or do to help them feel less itchy?

We have an appointment at the vet tomorrow evening because I feel like what she is on now is not working well enough. We have tried prednisone (which neither I nor the vet want her on long-term), steroid shots, Benadryl (she went craaaaaazy hyper and did not react well to it) and finally have her on a hydrocortisone that seems to work for the most part. I know it is not food allergies because she only gets this way in spring and fall and usually worse in the fall. The pollen is bad right now. We go on walks in the grass and my tennis shoes are bright orange by the time we're done.

The problem is, even though we give her the hydrocortisone twice a day and bathe her every couple weeks with a special shampoo from the vet and wipe her down when she has been outside for awhile, she still licks her poor paws all the time. It's gotten to the point her back paws are getting sparser on fur, and are bright bright red with a scab on one of them. So we got her in tomorrow.They said they will maybe try something stronger to get her through this season. But I don't want anything too strong long-term and I worry about medicine that will make her pee a lot because she is alone all day and we don't really have an option to come home during the day from work.

Anyways, all that back story to ask: Is there something that has worked for your dog who has bad seasonal allergies that we have not tried? Maybe I could ask the vet about it and see what she thinks. 

[zelda25]

Have you tried different food? Preferably a limited ingredient diet?

[RoxMonster]

Sept 8, 2016 17:11:16 GMT -5 zelda25 said:

Have you tried different food? Preferably a limited ingredient diet?

She only gets this way in the fall (and to a lesser degree in the spring) when seasonal allergies are going on. She is fine all summer and winter. She's been on Taste of the Wild for four years and it hasn't caused her any problems.

[gummybear]

My dog does not have seasonal allergies but she was having a very allergic reaction to something in our new house. Benedryl didn't work at all and the vet said Zyrtec (in her opinion) world much better. So now she gets a Zyrtec each day and it's really helped. Maybe ask about that?

[chedifuen]

Zyrtec works well. Also, sounds weird but a vinegar bath can help to break the scratching and chewing cycle. We give her a good bath with oatmeal soap and then drench her in apple cider vinegar and then follow up with a good rinse. That, plus the meds, usually break the cycle for her.

[RoxMonster]

Thanks! I will ask about Zyrtec and try the vinegar bath too.

[Deleted]

We do Zyrtec (generic from Walmart) and it has done wonders. I also rinse her feet a few times a week. If she is really bad I just pop a cone on her. I hate to do it to her but sometimes it is the only thing that will get her to stop licking her paws until the zyrtec has time to work.

[looseseal]

We just started our dog on Apoquel three weeks ago, and have seen positive results so far for her. It's a daily pill, but our vet said we could give it in just the months we needed. We live in the Midwest, and will likely give it April through October.

[osulori]

Sept 8, 2016 17:58:48 GMT -5 looseseal said:

We just started our dog on Apoquel three weeks ago, and have seen positive results so far for her. It's a daily pill, but our vet said we could give it in just the months we needed. We live in the Midwest, and will likely give it April through October.

My super allergic pit mix is on Apoquel too and it's really helped his itching. It's not cheap, but worth it IMO. We also cycle through different OTC allergy mess (because the little shit head builds up a tolerance)....We've done Allegra and Zyrtec with good results and are now on Claritin.

[penguintamer]

Apoquel is amazing. Nothing else worked for our dog. She has fur in summer for the first time in ages.

[FastHands]

Ugh I'm sorry. We were there with our last dog. It was so pathetic (and if I'm being honest, the noise of the licking drove me batty). We would do Temaril-P (i may have the first part wrong) -- the P is a spike of prednisone. It was the only thing that truly worked. We didn't wanr him to be on a steroid all the time, so we just used it for a few days when things flared up really badly. It took the edge off enough that he could at least heal a bit between rough patches.

We did the elimination diets to be sure, but we were pretty certain it was grass/pollen. We considered the shots, but apparently the grass allergy in our area rarely responds well to the shots, and they were $$.

[charlatti]

Chlorpheniramine -- generic of chlor-trimeton-- has been wonderful for my dog. Benadryl didn't do much, prednisone makes him crazy and isn't good long term, but this stuff has been great. He takes it twice daily year round, three times a day during the high allergy months. Bonus: it's cheap. I ask for it at the Target/CVS pharmacy counter.

[pacificrules]

Apoquel is the only thing that has worked for our dog.

[RoxMonster]

THANK YOU THANK YOU! I will see what the vet suggests and then ask about some of these you all have mentioned.

And I agree with the licking noise driving me batty at times. I feel so bad for her and never get mad at her for licking, but it is the most annoying thing to be woken up by at 2 am lol. Poor little nugget. I Just want her to feel better and not itch so much. Fingers crossed!

[fumbalina]

My allergic dog scratched himself raw until I started spraying his back. The spray is Burts Bees for dogs and the scent is honeysuckle. It has worked better than steroids and hydrocortisone.

[So_Fetch]

My Meatloaf has seasonal allergies and a flea allergy. I got the malaseb prescription shampoo and that works well.

[Elsa]

Our dog is on Apoquel too. He has lots of skin issues. We've tried steroid shots, allergy shots (to the tune of about $5k and no improvements), Benadryl, prednisone, etc. Apoquel is doing a good job and keeping him comfortable. I think it isn't the gentlest medicine, but I care more about quality of life over quantity of years. So we treat and if that shortens the years he is with us, so be it. At least they will be happy years.