Here's one...

[sixx]

I finally had Seek tested for allergies. After lots of food changes, flea treaments, etc. we found the sources.

 

I can't believe this!!!! Seek is allergic to sheep wool, cats, dust mites, 5 different trees, grass, some weeds and fleas.

 

I am trying to figure out what to do about the sheep thing. That is absolutely insane to me, a sheep herding dog allergic to sheep. She also practices agility at the farm that keeps sheep in the arena when there isn't agility. The only agility around that is indoors (gym type setting) is very far away, more expensive, and not as good/fun. My favorite sheepskin rug can no longer be in the house. It was my favorite place to lounge. I also have to remove all wool from my house. She is severly allergic. Argh

 

We have 2 cats, apparently I have to wipe them down daily to keep the dander to a minimum... I hope it helps.

 

As far as dust mites, changing bedding every other day.

 

Grass, trees?? There is no way to keep her away from nature, nor would I, that seems obsurd. Almost abussive in a sense to keep her away from her natural setting. She flourishes in the wilderness. She gets hyper and has zoomies when we are in the woods.

 

 

Does anyone else have these problems? What have you done to help with relief? I am up for suggestions. I can give her shots, but they are very expensive and have to be injected every other day for the first few months. EEK! And unlike humans, the shots won't make her immune after a couple of years, they have to be given for the rest of her life.

 

I have removed almost all wool products, vaccum daily and changing bedding. I will do this for a couple of weeks and see if it helps.

 

Oh, I forgot to say that her reaction is scratching.

Her hair is shorter and less thick than it used to be. It is beautiful and shiny still, and if you didn't know her, you would never know she had longer hair. Her hair looks like normal bc hair, I just notice it's shorter.

 

Thanks for any suggestions.

[martySQ]

do they do allergy shots for dogs?

[bcnewe2]

Do you know if it's wool that's been processed or all wool, even on the sheep? I would think it's different but ya never know. My sis was allergic to hay but not grass growing out in the field, only after it was cut. Just wondering....

What a bummer.

Giving injections is really not a big deal, for either the giver or getter but I would think it'd be quite expensive. After the first few it really isn't a big deal.

 

Do you treat her now with anything?

 

I've said it before but again...what we do for our loved ones.....

[urge to herd]

Welcome to our world. Yes, I too have a border collie who is allergic to wool. In addition, Johnson grass, mosquitos, and dust mites. I have strong suspicions that Shonie is allergic to some other environmental stuff, as well as dairy and wheat.

 

I had to give up wool blankets as well. I tried everything under the sun to get her to stop scratching. Raw, meat only diet, on which she lost a dangerous amount of weight, and didn't look well. Her coat was awful and her breath worse. Put her back on CA Natural chicken/rice kibble, and she gained back the weight she needed and her coat got much better. We tried accupuncture - no change at all after about 6 visits, and I wasn't willing to keep paying for something that was having no effect.

 

Oddly enough, one of the best kibbles for her for a while was Avoderm vegetarian. Worked like a dream for about 2 yrs, then she went back to her itchy ways.

 

For about 4 yrs, she was on a daily steroid, a fairly moderate dose. The summer of 2008, she started having some bad things come up in her blood work, and we took her off the oral steroids, and put her on a prescription antihistimane - hydrozine, I think it is - and a topical liquid that I put on her paws, always her itchiest spot. I also bathe her weekly with Sebozole, a prescription shampoo. Salmon oil + vit e also has helped a lot.

 

Allergies are a cumulative thing. I notice that at certain times of the year, Shonie is less itchy, at other times more. And right now, she's fairly itchy after not being itchy for a couple months. I'm thinking about getting an air filter for my bedroom.

 

I've heard of many dogs that got much better with dietary changes and/or accupuncture, it just didn't work for us. Hopefully, the measures you're taking will help. It might take more than a couple weeks, though, especially as Seek is still being exposed to stuff that you can't control.

 

Good luck, it's a royal pain in the you know where, but manageable.

 

Ruth

[Ooky]

Does anyone else have these problems? What have you done to help with relief? I am up for suggestions. I can give her shots, but they are very expensive and have to be injected every other day for the first few months. EEK! And unlike humans, the shots won't make her immune after a couple of years, they have to be given for the rest of her life.

 

I am severely allergic to grass pollen, tree pollen, dust mites, livestock, and dogs, and less so to cats. So what did I do personally? Become a plant biologist and get a dog and lots of cats!! I agree you are on the right track - keep her away from what you can but also don't restrict her access to things she loves and that will severely impact her quality of life unless you have a good medical reason to (severe reactions beyond what you're describing here). In a way, continuing to expose her to her allergens performs some of the same functions as the shots. In humans, even, the shots must be given over the whole life too in some individuals; sometimes they increase sensitivity or cause severe reactions, sometimes you just become allergic to other triggers. Sometimes they work great. I personally have stuck with inhaled steroids and antihistamines, with brief courses of systemic steroids when necessary.

 

A number of my pets over the years have had allergy symptoms each spring when the pollen really gets going. Mostly I do nothing unless it is getting particularly bad, then I might give benedryl for a few days. For example, Odin gets itchy too and has eye gunk in the spring, wrse after running through fields of grass letting off pollen. I am sure to keep his eyes clean and sometimes give oatmeal baths.

 

Before trying a long term systemic steriod, which can have bad health effects, I would see if there's any histamine you could give daily. Benedryl may or may not be the best choice for this in dogs; I don't know how they react to the newer class of non-drowsy antihists like claritin, zyrtec, and allegra. But that might be worth your while to look into.

 

Poor Seek! good luck!

[Bordercentrics]

Yes, there are allergy shots for dogs. I gave them to one of my dogs for many years. Check with your vet.

 

Kathy Robbins

[Krambambuli]

I feel for you!

 

I have allergies to numerous kinds of plants and dust mites, wool too, and cats, horses, and dogs. And who knows what else, we stopped testing as the list got longer ... I did allergy shots for 5 years, weekly, 2 shots, 1 per arm. Just against the worst offenders. Did diddle squat in the end, and I was tired of it. So based on my experience I wouldn't put too much trust in immunotherapy treatment. It might work well if the dog only has one or two specific allergies. The more substances one is allergic to, the harder it is to treat. I am controlling my allergies with Claritin and Flonase nasal spray relatively well. I've read that Claritin doesn't work for animals and is not recommended. Benadryl is one of the drugs suggested, but make sure to check with your vet always!

 

Our cat Lene was allergic to the proteins in flea saliva. She would scratch herself to pieces if she was bitten by even one flea. She was an indoor cat, so most of the time we were able to keep the fleas out. She had to be on steroids and wear the cone of shame for the few times a flea made his way inside. Steroids wouldn't be my first choice, but they do help when problems really flare up!

 

You're right, it would be impossible to keep your dog of grass or away from trees. Most of those allergies appear during bloom time, though. So maybe wash her feet after an outing, and a regular quick bath/shower rinse might help at those times. Unless she licks the sheep or spends hours really close to them, I don't think that would be too bad of a problem. As soon as she is away from that source the symptoms should stop. Dust mites are the worst. Vaccuuming does help, but it's virtually impossible to get rid of them that way. You might have to encase the bedding in dust mite proof covers, and wash them often. Keeping windows closed during pollen time, and using air conditioning (with a good filter) does help, but I'm not fond of doing that personally. Might be worth a try though ... Maybe if you make her wear socks at home, she can't scratch as hard. But she might not like that ...

 

It's usually a combination of things that help with allergies. I sure wished there was a miracle cure, but I'm afraid there isn't one (yet). Hang in there and don't let it keep you and your dog from enjoying the things you like. A positive attitude goes a long way too.

[2 Devils]

I have allergies and so do a couple of my dogs. I am allergic to dogs, cats, many trees, grasses, dust mites (more than 40 things and testing was stopped because of my reactions) and allergic to narcotics and steriods. My reactions are also cumulative - I can be around my allergen(s) but a day or 2 later is when my severe reactions would happen. Last April I broke out with a rash all over my torso and after going to the drs and them doing testing I was basically told that I was just having a severe reaction to something but not sure what - most likely a cumulative effect and my immune was attacking itself because of it. Couldn't have steriods to help the itching because well I am allergic to it. I am now on 2 different allergy meds to try and control it.

 

Now for my dogs.

 

My borderjack has severe food allergies and from what we can tell mold (leaf mold). After getting constant ear infections, yeasty feet and yes yeast in his privates and some hot spots, we finally ended up putting him on anti-fungal for a month, ear meds for a month and a grain-free diet. He will get nasty ears once or twice a year now and this usually is because either he was given something with grains and more than his body can handle and/or there is lots of mold outside. Some days he gets benadryl to help or as a preventative if I think he will have some issues.

 

My acd has some environmental allergies and gets eye infections. She spends months on benadryl and sometimes we need prescription stuff if she needs extra help.

 

My toy poodle can't have gluten and we think he is now sensitive to grains too. We have to watch what he gets because he gets nasty ear infections and luckily they are normally controlled with diet and has only had 10-15 or so in the last 7 years instead of 10 a year.

 

Basically all you can do is try allergy meds, try to limit exposure to the allergen and bath/wipe down them down daily (which I am bad about). If the feet are a huge problem and don't clear up on their own, find out if they are yeasty. You may need an anti-fungal to really get it wiped out before you notice a difference.

[BustopherJones]

...a sheep herding dog allergic to sheep.

I'm sorry; I know it isn't funny, but I can't stop laughing...

[sixx]

Well, I think having the wool out of the house has helped a lot. I also wipe down my cats, vaccum daily, and bought all hypoallergenic washing/cleaning supplies. I'm even going to get a hypoallergenic bed cover/matress pad. The vaccum cleaner is hypoallergenic and says it kills 99% of dust mites and eggs, doubt that's true, but it's worth a try. I am willing to drop some big bucks in hopes that we won't have to do shots. I can't convince myself to give her shots, so we are trying other methods. I am also getting in contact with a allergen therapist who practices homeopathic methods.

 

The good news, with all the new ways of the household, Seek has stopped scratching as much! So far so good. I think we are on our way to keeping her reactions under control. Her allergy level to trees and grass are 3 out of 6. Not as high up on the list. Sheep is 5 out of 6.

 

I also have lots of allergies, so I think the new cleaning schedule will help with mine.

 

Thanks for all the responses!