Jasper alergies update-Good news!!

[DogLover9501]

Jasper had an alergy test done on Wednesday morning....

It was a test that tested 48 things in the environment(dust, grass, carpet..etc) but it didn't tell us what he was alergic to, all it told us was if there were any positives(positive means theres something(s) in the environment he's alergic to) and if there were any positives he'd need to move onto a more specific test.

Well, he's not alergic to anything in the environment, so on Tuesday he is getting the food test, but it only tests 18 foods, so I am hoping(so bad) that its one of them!! So hopefully by next Friday-Monday, we'll know what Jasper is alergic to.

Wish us luck :)

[veegan]

My dad is a veterinary dermatologist, and I work for him, so we deal with allergy dogs all day! lol So naturally I am curious......... Are you working with your regular vet or a dermatologist? I highly recommend going to a dermatologist since they specialize in skin disease. Going to a specialist from the start will end up saving you a lot of time and money. Unfortunately there are not many dermatologists here in the U.S., (less than 50 I believe; there are just 2 here in washington) so finding one could be difficult. We have several clients that come from other states, and even Canada.

What kind of test did he have done?? We do intradermal skin testing, where we inject 60 different allergens under the skin and see how the dogs react to each. It tells exactly what they are allergic to, and how extreme the allergy is. The results are immediate. If Jasper had a blood test done I advice you to seek out a dermatologist (if you arent dealing with one already) because allergy blood tests are extremely inaccurate. Although, Im pretty sure they will at least tell you if allergies are present, so as you said, since he had no positives at all then he probably doesnt have inhallent allergies.

As for food allergies, the only way that I have ever heard to test that is by doing whats called a food trial. There are special foods you can only get from a veterinarian that are made for testing food allergies. They contain ingredients that are not found in regular pet food. (For example there is one food with kangaroo meat). Food trials generally last 3 weeks (some vets go longer but its not necessary) and if the dogs symptoms/itching dramatically reduce then you know they have a food allergy and the next step would be to slowly test different foods to find exactly what foods they are allergic to. What method are you using???

Good luck with Jasper! Hopefully it is just some food he is allergic to- inhalent allergies can be a major pain in the butt to control/treat! :P

[DogLover9501]

Wow I wish we had one of them, but I very-very highly doubt that we do :(

Thats the kind of alergy test I always wanted him to get, and I had asked my vet about it, and she said that test was not available to us here.

Also, we've been doing food trails, hes been eating lamb and rice food, now hes eating fish and potato, nothing makes a difference(which is why we thought it would be something in the environment)

So this one only tests 18 foods, I am hoping the one he's alergic to is in there because this has already been a hard battle for him and he's only almost 9 months old.

He has had a ton of skin-scrapes done, testing skin diseases because boxers are prone to them, but he didn't have any, they also treated him for scabies, but he never had that.

So I am hoping this will be it!

[cloverfdx]

I am sending positive thoughts your way. :)

I hope the Vets can finally figure out what poor Jasper is allergic to. Give your sweet boy lots of hugs from me and i will be keeping you both in my thoughts and prayers.

Good luck.

[veegan]

Yeah that is frustrating. :( I wish specialists were more accessable. It is even more frustrating when we have clients that live close to us and come in having gone to several different vets, been on all kinds of meds, and have been suffering for years simply because their irresponsible vets never told them there was a dermatologist avaliable! Well anyhoo.. I hope you are able to solve the mystery soon!! Good luck