Anxious about Tasha: severe allergies (update post 16 with pic)

[K9soul]

Tash has never had allergies or any skin problems in her life. She hasn't so much as had a real hot spot before. Within the last couple weeks though she has been showing signs of being allergic or having allergies that have just gotten worse and worse to the point now I am really upset and anxious about it. At first I was sure it had to do with food because I ended up getting them a different food last time because I was having trouble finding where EVO was sold. I did find a place later but by then wanted to finish what I had. I had gotten them Solid Gold and they seemed to do okay on it, but then I noticed Tasha getting itchy and scratchy and chewing on her feet some. I took her off the food, the last time she had some was Tuesday morning this week. I also started giving her Benadryl and spraying the irritated hot spots she was creating with Dermacool that I had on hand.

She has just seemed to get more and more miserable, rubbing and scratching her face until her whisker area bleeds, chewing her feet, and then today I saw her ears getting more red and her belly seemed to get little bumps on it. I could scratch anywhere on her body and she would go nuts thumping her leg and trying to scratch too. She hasn't been interested in running and playing at all. I had had enough and took her to the vet today. He seemed more inclined to think it was environmental than the food, although he said it's possible she could have developed a food allergy. She also had weepy eyes and her face seemed a bit puffy. He gave her a prednisolone shot and a prescription for oral prednisolone and I picked up some diphenhydramine shampoo there too (basically benadryl shampoo). I gave her a bath with that and I'm supposed to start the oral pred tomorrow and give it every other day.

I don't know how quickly the shot is supposed to work but 4 hours later she doesn't seem any less miserable and itchy. Has anyone experienced this before that could tell me when I might look for improvement? Also her ears seem even redder tonight to the point I'm worried about ear infections now. If they still look as bad in the morning I may run her back in...

I took a few pictures. I don't know who is more miserable, her or me. I just want her to start feeling better. I feel almost in tears seeing her this way. (As an aside, I know her nails are due for a trimming)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha/paw4.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha/paw3.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha/paw2.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha/paw1.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha/tummy1.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha/ear1.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha/face.jpg

[lizbud]

Poor Tasha :( Looks like a lot of itchy spots. :( I'd for sure call the
Vet by tomorrow, if she is still that uncomfortable. I thought the shot of
Pred worked quicker than 4 hours. I hope she starts to feel better soon.

[dukedogsmom]

Poor girl. Seeing her so miserable makes me sad, as well :( I hope you can find a solution to her feeling better soon. Kiss those little feet for me and give her a big hug. You might want to check out holistic methods, as well.

[K9soul]

She ate her dinner and is sleeping now. Her appetite and digestive functions seem normal at least. I think part of what is driving me crazy is not knowing what is causing it too. About the same time as the different food, the neighbor's tree dumped a load of leaves that has just covered my back yard including the deck, and I did notice today she seemed really exacerbated when she came in from outside. This is a different area and it's conceivable that there are pollens and irritants in the air that we didn't have in Minnesota or at least in the area I lived.

I am really hoping I see some noticeable improvement by morning. It does seem like it started out with just her licking and chewing her feet some and progressed more and more which would probably fit the environmental allergy picture more.. I just don't know. I can't seem to stop obsessing over it at this point either.

[chocolatepuppy]

I don't know who is more miserable, her or me.

I feel your pain Jessica. :( Those pictures could have been Lacey back in the summer.(with the exception of rubbing her face) It started last summer with just her feet. She took Hydroxyzine,an antihistamine. This past summer she also started chewing and licking on her tummy, personal area and butt. I ended up putting her on Temaril-P,which is a type of predisone. We just now got her off of it, waiting to see how she does. I started her on omega 3 and 6 pills a few months ago. If she still has problems we will try to make it through the winter with just an antihistamine. It seems to be a summer allergy, my Mandy had them also and she did rub her face.
I hope Tasha is feeling better soon, poor girl.

[shais_mom]

aawwww! poor baby!!!
big hugs to both of you!

[cloverfdx]

Ouch :(...sending lots of healing vibes Tasha's way. Hopefully the meds will kick in soon and the poor girl will start feeling better.

[pitc9]

Ouch, Ouch, OUCH!!

I just went though this with Bud last month. I switched the pups to Wellness and it didn't agree with him. Ear infections and his feet looked HORRIBLE!!
After a trip to the vet we had pills, ointment and eas wash. He's back to normal now except for the fur on his feet is growing back VERY slowly!!!

But nothing like your poor little Tasha... ouch those whiskers!! :eek:
I hope she's feeling better soon!!

{{{hugs}}} to you both!

[Freedom]

Ouch, poor Tasha! I know how you are feeling, if you don't know the cause you can't begin to address the problem. My cat, Bobby, had dreadful allergies and had to wear an e collar for 4 months while I was trying to figure it all out. (Just removed the e coolar last week.)

Here some things I learned. First, IF it is an allergy:
- prednisone will also depress the immune system; if an antihistamine will work, that would be better. Get the dose based on weight and try Chlor Tri Meton 12 hour; Benedryl (does make them sleepy), Claritin. Straight antihistamine, no cough or cold ingredients formulas.
- warm water makes it itch more; cool water has a calming effect, but doesn't last
- if it is a food allergy, there is no reliable allergy panel. You just have to go through different foods doing trials, to figure it all out
- if it is environmental, a vet dermatologist can run the allergy panel to try and figure it all out (very expensive, about $200) Panel includes mold, mites, etc.
- you have to tackle this on 2 levels: with the antihistamine / prednisone to treat current symptoms, and with removing the food or allergen source, to cure the underlying problem.

And if it is not an allergy, it could be a few things, including:
- eosinophilic granuloma (just do a google search)
- a form of mites (her scratching spreads it to various parts of the body over time)
- a fungus ( ditto re spreading)
- other stuff

Over time, all that scratching can result in a bacterial infection on certain sites; Bobby had to have an oral antibiotic at one point during that 4 months.

My cat's appears to be food related. The common food allergies for cats are: grains; fish; chicken. He is allergic to ALL these and is currently on a prescription cat food, venison and green peas. We ARE making progress.

If a food: once you stop the food, the itchy places still take time to heal. Meantime they still itch and the pet still scratches. Which is why they tell you to do a food trial for 8 weeks. When I hit on a food which was working, I saw less inflammation and itching in a week, but it did keep on for a time after that.

So if Tasha's problem is the food, you only just stopped that less than a week back, and it is going to take time to see an improvement.

I hope this info is helpful.

[K9soul]

Thank you so very much for all the insights and of course for the words of comfort too. I guess there's just no way to know right now the cause, whether it could have been the food or environmental. I'm not taking a chance on giving her any more of the food though just in case. Today I'm going to grab some EVO and perhaps some Omega 3 supplements. She has just had rice and yogurt, eggs, broth and her raw in the evening the past few days.

This morning she still seemed pretty uncomfortable, wanting to rub and scratch her face especially. I called the vet's office to ask if I should bring her in again and they told me to go ahead and let the shot have 24 hours in her system and see if she is showing improvement, and if not to go ahead and call and they will see her after hours.

I gave her her breakfast and her pill and she has been laying and resting since then, not trying to scratch and chew herself too much for now. I am hoping it's the beginning of improvement for her. I had been giving Benadryl before I took her to the vet, but it didn't seem to even touch her misery. If anything she seemed to be deteriorating so much despite the Benadryl that I got nervous she was allergic to the dye on the tablet too and stopped giving it yesterday. Her ears are still red though don't seem quite as red as last night so I will just watch that too for now.

Well, I will keep updating here. It helps me keep my sanity.

[pitc9]

Benadryl didn't help Buddy at all either. :(

I hope she feels better soon!

[K9soul]

Well it is approaching noon here and Tasha definitely seems to finally be feeling better. She is more relaxed and her face seems less puffy and her expression just seem more drowsy and relaxed instead of upset and miserable. She gets up to follow me around and see what I'm doing in the house again and she's stopped her constant trembling (something she does when she is miserable). I can't say how relieved I feel to see her acting more herself finally, for the first time in several days. Now to get her ouchies healed up and hopefully not have any more episodes after she is off the steroid.

[Freedom]

Good news! Keep on healing, Tasha.

[wolf_Q]

Awww poor Tash, she looks so miserable. :( I hope you'll be able to figure out the cause of this and she'll get feeling better. Cisco's paws get looking like that too, sometimes he won't stop licking them, nothing my friend has tried has helped much either (it has never been as bad as Tasha's though, poor sweet girl!).

[dukedogsmom]

So glad you've seen an improvement and she's feeling better! Hopefully, she'll continue to get better. Give her a hug for me.

[K9soul]

Today she is still seeming okay comfort wise although she is still not completely back to herself. She still tries to rub her face but she is mostly leaving her face and feet alone and they are looking better. She still is not interested in playing and mostly wants to lay around.

However her ears still look red and the rash/hives whatever look worse to me. They look like tiny pimples and they cover her body, especially in the creases of her front and back legs. She does not seem particularly itchy with it so I am wondering if it is showing up more now that the scratching and swelling has stopped or if something else is going on? I am thinking of just running her in for a recheck tomorrow morning as soon as the vet's office opens, unless it looks to be fading or going away by then. Has anyone seen something like this before?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha/rash.jpg

Still anxious and worried.

[chocolatepuppy]

I don't think my dogs ever had pimple type things like that. I would take her in to be safe, RB Mandy ended up with a skin infection once from her allergies. I know you're probably worried sick, but I'm sure they can get Tasha healed up.

[Giselle]

OH poor Tasha! To be honest, those look something like bed bug bites to me. I don't know if bed bugs attack pups the way they do us, but is there any old furniture that might host infestation?

Maybe she's going through adolescence :p Just kidding. I really hope Tasha gets better quickly, and maybe you could do a skin prick test just to clear away the muck!

[Freedom]

Looks like what Bobby had, as well. Related to the licking and scratching to do with the allergy. These photos are from back in Sept; this is all healed up now:
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q57/sfsamm/Spet%2019%202007/IMG_0678.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q57/sfsamm/Spet%2019%202007/IMG_0676.jpg

BTW, I was thinking about this last evening. If you really think this is due to the food switch, save the ingredients list from that food. Or look it up on line and print it out. (You want a hard copy, as they are always tinkering with the formulas, coming up with "new and improved" ones.)

You may never need it; or it may not be useful. But if you have it, you can look at; the first 3 ingredients (which make up most of the food), and at the list of preservatives and such (if any). It may give some indication what she is allergic TO. You may need this sometime in the future as a reference; then again, you may not. But what's one extra slip of paper in her file folder, right? Wouldn't hurt to also put in the same for the food which seems to be OK for her. You just never know what the pets are going to do to make us nuts in future! Just a thought, anyway.

[wolfsoul]

Poor Tasha! :(

It's too bad that the food switch and the leaf incedent all seemed to happen at the same time. I would place my bets on the leaves though. They say 85% of dog allergies are environmental. I don't know if I'd keep her on the prednione -- but I am not a fan of prednisone.

I'd put her back on her regular food, and see what you can do about cleaning up the leaves in your yard -- and maybe just limit backyard visits and take her pee in the front yard instead? Diphenhydramine is a component of heroin and can cause similar symptoms as the drug -- mostly it causes drowsiness though. It's least likely to cause anything in shampoo form, but to keep those chances low make sure she doesn't lick it. :)

We're treating a dog at work (with a terrible staff infection all over) by bathing her in vinegar, force drying her, and first spraying her with colloidal silver before rubbing tea tree oil and oil of oregano into her skin. It's working very well. She is also taking the oil of oregano orally, and the silver is being added to her water. It might be worth a try. My rat is itching himself raw (he has bald patches and scabs all over his body -- I believe the mold in my house is the culprit), and since I started bathing him with my own mixture of shampoos (oatmeal, peppermint, mango, papaya, coconut, lavendar, aloe, comfrey, callendula, etc) every day, and adding colloidal silver to his water, he has really improved. :)

Good luck with Tasha, keep us updated on her improvement.

[cassiesmom]

Dear Tasha, how is your skin today? I hope you are feeling better and not as itchy. Thinking of you! -- elyse

[anna_66]

Poor Tasha, and Poor You!

I'm just now seeing this so it's nice to hear that she's feeling at least a little better. I hope this moring she's doing fine.
Just breaks your heart to see them not feeling good doesn't it?

Lots of hugs and prayers headed your way Jess.

[K9soul]

I meant to update this last night but ended up having to get my car to the shop ... yes when it rains it pours and I'm tired of it pouring on me.

Anyway, the rash/hives are really fading now. I did take her for a recheck yesterday morning and the vet said they would probably be gone in a couple more days. She still likes to rub her face more than usual but it could be the healing whisker area is itchy or just the healing rash. Her ears are still a bit red and moist but the vet said they don't seem to be infected right now. He did give me some medicine for them to stop a yeast infection since that is somewhat common with an allergy flare. She seems a bit mellow and subdued but I guess that could be the prednisone.

I am not too worried about her being on the prednisone temporarily. She has never been treated with it in her life and this is only a short burst treatment to get her over her reaction. I just didn't have time or inclination to look into alternatives because she was at the point of just writhing and moaning in misery, trembling so hard her teeth were chattering, her skin hot and swollen. I think she really needed the steroid to stop the acute progression of the reaction. If this is to be a more chronic situation with her (I'm praying with all my heart it is not) I will be looking into more holistic and alternative measures. I just have never seen such a quickly progressing and intense reaction.

Thank you so much for all your support and words of advice and insight. It has really helped me a great deal.

ETA: I have never heard of diphenhydramine being a derivative of heroin. Heroin is an opiate and diphenhydramine is an antihistamine. The most common trade name for it is Benadryl, but it is also in Unasom and Nytol (sleeping pills). They would not sell an opiate over the counter and in Children's form I don't believe. I have given her Benadryl too but it was ineffective. The shampoo was mostly to help give some topical relief for the rash/hives.

[pitc9]

I'm SO glad to hear she's doing better!!

[chocolatepuppy]

Glad to hear Tasha is doing better. :)

[dukedogsmom]

I'm so glad she's improving! I hope she'll be back to her old self in no time. I'm sorry about your car. You are right about the rain. I hope my surprise will bring you a little sunshine and I hope your rain goes away.

[ramanth]

Poor Tasha. :( Those photos are reminiscent of what Kia will go through throughout the winter (and why her ears are floppy). It's so painful and heartbreaking to see them like this. I hope you find something to ease Tasha's itchiness. *hugs*

[sammy101]

Kodie had those "pimples" for a while until we realized that it was food AND flea allergies so we had to do some changes with both of those.
He hasn't had them since we've changed his food and gotten rid of the fleas 100%.

Glad to hear Tasha is improving! :)

[Curiousdish]

Read on one of the other posts here, re: prednisone......
My Casey was given prednisone and that ruined the adrenal glands on his kidneys giving him Cushings Disease! Nasty stuff

the rash on the back looks quite like when my Digby used to get inflamed hair follicles. Antibiotic helped along with a creme that had topical steroid to settle the itching.

the underside looks quite like what I experienced recently with Scrappy....
after extensive testing allergies were suspected. Yes most times environmental allergies are the culprit but in Scrappy's case it turns out she has a grain allergy..........Wheat ( which makes the eyes run). On the vets recommendation I switched her food to ORIJEN which is mainly meat, fish, vegetables and potato.............

:) Happy to say that she is feeling much better and her temperment is amazing....she is more sociable as she used to snarl at everyone and was grumpy...........

Anyhow, stay off the steroid tablets......
In humans it can create Diabetes, Cushings Disease and in some cases even blindness............Our illnesses are not much different to animal ailments...

Give Orijen food a try........

Good luck to you and hope your pet is getting better.....

PS....one other thing.......have you changed any laundry detergent, used any carpet cleaners or freshners? that could be an irritant......

Even the lady in the Pet Store who is very knowledgeable said if eyes are runny its a wheat allergy.........

Oh, Also one other thing.....Scrappy would lose an awful lot of hair continually to the point of a couple times totally lost all hair on her ears and underside.............since switching food.....her hair has grown back and shedding stopped........vet confirmed allergy to grains......


Today she is still seeming okay comfort wise although she is still not completely back to herself. She still tries to rub her face but she is mostly leaving her face and feet alone and they are looking better. She still is not interested in playing and mostly wants to lay around.

However her ears still look red and the rash/hives whatever look worse to me. They look like tiny pimples and they cover her body, especially in the creases of her front and back legs. She does not seem particularly itchy with it so I am wondering if it is showing up more now that the scratching and swelling has stopped or if something else is going on? I am thinking of just running her in for a recheck tomorrow morning as soon as the vet's office opens, unless it looks to be fading or going away by then. Has anyone seen something like this before?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha/rash.jpg

Still anxious and worried.

[K9soul]

Thanks for your concern, but I feel the short course of steroid was best for her while she was having such a horribly acute reaction to the point she was at risk of her wounds developing infection. She was on a short burst of low dose steroid every 48 hrs, only 4 mg. The awful things you hear of on pred are generally with long-term and constant use and usually higher doses as well. I am sure Tash will be fine.

[Vela]

Read on one of the other posts here, re: prednisone......
My Casey was given prednisone and that ruined the adrenal glands on his kidneys giving him Cushings Disease! Nasty stuff

the rash on the back looks quite like when my Digby used to get inflamed hair follicles. Antibiotic helped along with a creme that had topical steroid to settle the itching.

the underside looks quite like what I experienced recently with Scrappy....
after extensive testing allergies were suspected. Yes most times environmental allergies are the culprit but in Scrappy's case it turns out she has a grain allergy..........Wheat ( which makes the eyes run). On the vets recommendation I switched her food to ORIJEN which is mainly meat, fish, vegetables and potato.............

:) Happy to say that she is feeling much better and her temperment is amazing....she is more sociable as she used to snarl at everyone and was grumpy...........

Anyhow, stay off the steroid tablets......
In humans it can create Diabetes, Cushings Disease and in some cases even blindness............Our illnesses are not much different to animal ailments...

Give Orijen food a try........

Good luck to you and hope your pet is getting better.....

PS....one other thing.......have you changed any laundry detergent, used any carpet cleaners or freshners? that could be an irritant......

Even the lady in the Pet Store who is very knowledgeable said if eyes are runny its a wheat allergy.........

Oh, Also one other thing.....Scrappy would lose an awful lot of hair continually to the point of a couple times totally lost all hair on her ears and underside.............since switching food.....her hair has grown back and shedding stopped........vet confirmed allergy to grains......

She's giving one short burst of steroid to get over this incident, the dog is not chronically allergic. She eats raw food and a no grain diet 99% of the time. The only reason the dog was given a different food is because K9 just moved tto a new location and had not been able to find the store that sold EVO yet.

Steroids are generally not harmful in short bursts for a single incident. Yes long term use CAN cause issues, but she will be just fine on this one dose. She has no underlying health issues and is a very healthy dog. K9 has a strong medical background so she is quite familiar with the use of steroids.

Also, my dogs have runny eyes....but they don't ever eat wheat or grain of any sort. They are on a raw diet or EVO for kibble, no grain at all. So runny eyes is not just a wheat allergy. They also have no allergies to the environment so it's not that either.

[dragondawg]

I meant to update this last night but ended up having to get my car to the shop ... yes when it rains it pours and I'm tired of it pouring on me.

Anyway, the rash/hives are really fading now. I did take her for a recheck yesterday morning and the vet said they would probably be gone in a couple more days. She still likes to rub her face more than usual but it could be the healing whisker area is itchy or just the healing rash. Her ears are still a bit red and moist but the vet said they don't seem to be infected right now. He did give me some medicine for them to stop a yeast infection since that is somewhat common with an allergy flare. She seems a bit mellow and subdued but I guess that could be the prednisone.

I am not too worried about her being on the prednisone temporarily. She has never been treated with it in her life and this is only a short burst treatment to get her over her reaction. I just didn't have time or inclination to look into alternatives because she was at the point of just writhing and moaning in misery, trembling so hard her teeth were chattering, her skin hot and swollen. I think she really needed the steroid to stop the acute progression of the reaction. If this is to be a more chronic situation with her (I'm praying with all my heart it is not) I will be looking into more holistic and alternative measures. I just have never seen such a quickly progressing and intense reaction.

Thank you so much for all your support and words of advice and insight. It has really helped me a great deal.

ETA: I have never heard of diphenhydramine being a derivative of heroin. Heroin is an opiate and diphenhydramine is an antihistamine. The most common trade name for it is Benadryl, but it is also in Unasom and Nytol (sleeping pills). They would not sell an opiate over the counter and in Children's form I don't believe. I have given her Benadryl too but it was ineffective. The shampoo was mostly to help give some topical relief for the rash/hives.

You are correct when you say diphenhydramine has no chemical relationship to herioin. If you do a search on a combination of the two words you'll come up with Cheese - latest fad in the illicit drug market is to apparently mix the two.

There is no need to worry about short term Prednisone treatment. If the dog has been on Prednisone for a week or more then it should be gradually withdrawn to give the dog's body a chance to crank up its own corticosteroid production again. Ask your Vet for a withdrawal schedule. Usually it's just a simple step down in dosage by 50% every few days.

Presumably your Vet gave you an antibiotic such as Cephalexin or Clavamox to eliminate the skin infection associated with the allergy.

Hydroxyzine prescribed by a Vet is usually more effective than Benedryl for suppressing the anti-histamine. Although continued need for an anti-histamine to keep the symptoms under control usually indicates exposure is continuous. Histamine release is about the first event in an allergic reaction. If after you stop giving an anti-histamine the allergy comes back, you'll know the environmental antigen causing the allergy is still present.

It's not uncommon for puppies to have allergic reations to leaf mold this time of year. My previous dog always had paw chewing this time of year, but nothing as severe as your dog experienced. If your dog is primarly an indoor puppy, then you need to think if you recently bought a different room refreshener, or started using a new cleaner in the bathroom or kitchen. Simple compounds like formaldehyde in Lysol can cause allergic reactions. Think of anything that might be new in the dog's environment. You might want to take advantage of this opportunity to shampoo your carpets to cut down on dust mites, or some other item in the carpet that the dog may be reacting to.

If all else fails ask for a referral to a doggy dermatologist. Besides allergies there are other skin disorders such as Pemphigus which is an autoimmune disease. If after withdrawing from all medications it immediately flairs back up, then you'll need a specialist.

[shais_mom]

I'm not a fan of steroids either but sometimes there is no other 'help' left. A short burst like Tasha got - should be fine, she's otherwise healthy...

[Curiousdish]

I'm glad to hear she'll be fine..........

My friend Leanne has a dog with severe allergies and her vet instructed her to give Scooby one Benadryl allergy tablet daily........his eyes get so red and swollen.........but they determined it was the spray used on lawns.........

Casey was an isolated case of just one treatment.....but I guess that's the luck of the draw!

Keep up the good care and Scrappy and Daisy send licks!

[pitc9]

How's Tasha doing??

[Kfamr]

I'm just now seeing this thread for the first time, I'm sorry. :(

I hope Tasha is feeling better these days. Poor itchy girl! Give her some gentle hugs from me. :)

[K9soul]

Sorry I have not answered before now. She is starting day 3 after being tapered off the pred and seems ok. Her hair has mostly all grown back already, the scabs fell off her whiskers and the rash is completely gone. Her ears look better as well. If she keeps doing well and has no more problems I am pretty settled on the food as the culprit.

She does seem to have lost some weight the past 2-3 weeks though so I am increasing her meals a bit..

[cassiesmom]

Oh, Tasha, I am so glad to read that you're better! I don't guess you will be eating that particular food again, though. *pet *pet *pet

[Freedom]

Please deliver some pets, hugs and loving from me!