Originally posted by Albea
My first Golden also had allergies. The vet gave her 19 shots in her belly (all numbered) to find out what she was allergic to. The result was that she was allergic to just about everything: grass, newspapers, dust, and many other things. It was very difficult to control, but this happened in the late 70's and I'm sure that by now there are many better treatments than over 20 years ago.
Best wishes for Cincy's quick recovery and a big hug to her.
Already it seems as though things allergies are easier to deal with then with your first golden. Cincy only had to have a small amount of blood drawn (a little more then for a heartworm test) and that was enough to find out what she is allergic to.

We have an appointment tomorrow evening to begin her immunotherapy. The vet will teach us how to give her shots. She will get one every 4 days for 40 days, and then the frequency will decrease, to opnce a week, and finally to the point where she has one shot every 4-6 weeks. The vet told us that previously they stopped the shots once the dog stopped showing signs of the allergy, but found that when this was done, the allergies came back stronger then ever a few years later. This means Cincy will be on allergy shots for the rest of her life, but in the long run it will be cheaper and hopefully more effective then the Benedryl/Claritin she has been taking everyday for the past two years.