Hi, five months after allergy testing, which were done for Molly and Barney, I am still struggling to control their itching, they both have environmental and food allergies
We changed diets to raw, after two months both  continued to itch, on advice from my vetI changed their diet to royal canin tapioca and capelin, which was fed in the morning, with raw chicken wings in the evening (due to cost of dried food) also five weeks ago they had to be put on steroids.

Barney  showed improvement in the first month, while on a raw diet, then he started to itch again (prior to the tests he was on atopica so wether this was still in his system for a while I don't know)
We have tried various antihistamines and supplements, since the tests, but NO joy.

Two weeks ago, I decided to just feed the tapioca and capelin , no other food or treats to see if their was any difference, also reducing the steroids, still itched.

After reading on one of the allergy sites, that food trials are better  done in the winter months, easier to detect, and by giving only one source of food for 7 days, one should see a improvement in the itching, if it decreases, then introduce one item at a time over a 7 day peroid, and see how things go.
They are now off steroids, last one last Thursday, and on Monday, I put them on amp raw chicken and ground bone, along with Atarax antihistamine, with no supplements, Molly was having probiotics and digestive enzymes, both having fishoils vit e garlic. I don't know if its wishful thinking or not but I think they are itching less already ;;;
One the other site they mentioned that dogs can be allergic to certain veg if they have grass or tree allergies, I have never heard of this  before, but as they were not tested for veg, I will introduce something different when the 7days are up.
I thought with the royal canin food, not having any of the ingredients in it that  they were allergic to that , I would have seen a improvement.
Barney is only allergic to two ash trees, so I thought that I would definately , see a improvement in him now that the seasons have changed. Molly has dustmite allergies, but I have sprayed the house.
Anyone have any suggestion;;;;
Has anyone else came across these problems, even after testing ?
look forward to any help eleanor

Are these dogs related?

What foods did they test positive for?

Wendy

Hi Wendy, thanks for your replies, No they are not related, Molly is a Breaded collie 5yrs started itching last year. Barney is a Tibetan Terrier, he started scratching three months after his Booster Vacc, his heart stopped twice, No longer Vaccinate any of my dogs,he is 4yrs. I have tried loads and loads of different thing too many to mention,  Joined the list back in summer, and it was suggested I get them allergy tested by York test, I never knew there was such a thing.
Mlolly's results were  all grasses, ash trees green and white, dustmites.
Food IgE Beef score of 1 (the scoring is 1-5) IgG lamb-1 wheat-3 soyabean-3 rice-2 corn-1 cows milk-1

Barney ash trees green and white, thats all.
Food IgE, Beef-4 lamb-1 cow'smilk-4     IgG turkey-1 wheat-3 soybean-3 rice-2 patato-1 corn-1 whole eggs-1.

Both dogs had been fed on Burns since they were three months old, changing to raw last summer, which seem to trigger Molly off she was fine up untill then, The bones caused the runs, but I was encouraged, on another list to keep going, she would settle, then the itching started. Further down the line I now know that she can not tollerate Bones, apart from chicken wings, or meat with ground bones.
sorry this is a bit long, if you need any other info, pls let me know, thanks for your help, greatly appreciated eleanor.
P.S., Molly has started nibbling her back again, see the start of a few spots, back to the vets again.

I sympathise as one of ours has a food sensitivity -but for months before he was constantly licking etc and his feet would get infected through it all.
We tested positive to housedust mites (which seems really common) and a slight reaction to fleas. We were advised to do a food trial also and this stopped the itching - he was on Royal canin Hypoallergenic also- expensive but worth it. When pup came along we wanted to feed them the same and not have to worry about him getting to pups leftovers and so starting up reactions again. Anyway to cut a long story short we changed to raw and the difference is unbelievable- we still have to watch certain foods as chicken and we suspect eggs tend to get him licking afterwards. We started the trial in March if thats any use?
With regard to dust mites you need to keep the temperature down if possible as they favour these conditions and also constant hoovering. Havent really helped much sorry but I can imagine how you feel in this -
hope you get it sorted out soon for you and your dogs :)

Hi lel, thanks for your reply, How wonderful it must be to find out what your dog is allergic to.
I have done so many food trials, that my vet , thinks that they must be allergic to something, in the environment or my home that is not tested for, by the labs. (I have stopped using all chemicals in the house, also changed to wooden floors in parts of the house this year) Both of them itch in different ways, Molly who has all the grass allergies, her feet don't itch at all, never have done, its always, been the middle of her back, then it works its way along. Where as Barney has no grass allergies, but his feet itch, ears, and shoulders., barney is not itching quite as much as molly, at the moment, so I am going to persevere, with the antihistamines, for a while longer, he is nibbling his feet, scratching his ears from time to time.

I had to put Molly back on steroids, had her at the vets, and her skin has starting coming out in spots, again.
How soon after you changing your dogs diet did you notice a difference in scratching ? ie with the royal canin,  and then what changes did you see when you went onto raw ? what was your dog fed on before , you did the food elimination diet ? how long did it suffer from itchy skin ? Do you give or use anything for the dustmite allergy ? I  spray the house every six months with dustmite spray.
thanks for getting in touch regards eleanor

Hi Elenour
when you say the vet thinks it may be something in the environment have you done any sample testing of things in the home ? Our specialist mentioned that this would be the next step if there was no difference with the food trial- he wanted us to bring samples of carpets, their bedding etc for testing.... luckily we didnt have to
Will try to answer all your questions as best I can-
When Gus was tried on the Royal Canin diet I think the improvement took 6-8 weeks which is the timescale  we were advised. I must admit I was sceptical at the time that it would be the food.As I say the only reason we opted for the raw diet was because of pup- we didnt want her on hypoallergenic food and didnt want to risk Gus eating her leftovers etc. He has been fine on this but as I say we still need to keep an eye on what he eats. Chicken seems to bring on the itching and we "think" eggs. We also cut right back on treats due to all the additives etc in them.
Beforehand he was constantly itching and licking (always the feet). Treatment would clear it up and then when finished it would return as before. It was just a constant cycle which is why I can understand your dilemma. its extremely frustrating.
Before changing foods he was originally on Hills Science Plan which is supposed to be a good quality food- its certainly not cheap compared to some other foods.
It took six months of going back and forth to the vets before a specialist was advised. Luckily we are insured so this was all paid for by the insurance - which is fortunate as a days stay cost over £350!
With regard to dustmites we were advised to spray everywhere with indorex ( incase of fleas), and to keep the place aired and the temperature lower- which in hindsight we did use to keep the central heating on almost 24/7 when it was cold.
Have you done the elimination feeding ? Was there no positive results from that ?
I presume you've looked at all the usual stuff like washing powders,  fabric softeners, air fresheners etc

Good luck :)

eleanor have you tried mixed vegetable tablets and garlic and fenugreek tablets from dorwest herbs? they worked wonders for my allergic dog(grasses,dust mites etc)

Another thing that has worked even better are "tissue salts" available from health shops,homeopaths and naturopaths.I have a product called "comb D-skin disorders"  which contains kali mur 6x,kali sulph 6x,calc sulph 6x and silica 6x. If you cant find this exact product you can get the tabs made up for you,they are really cheap.

I feel so bad for you and your dogs,what are the odds of having TWO dogs with allergies,sheesh one is bad enough!

You may never rid your dogs completely from the itchies but you may be able to make them comfortably itchy.

Hi Lel & Rose, thanks for your advice, its good to hear how other people, have managed there dogs itchies, you just never know when, you might come across the right combination of treatment that works for your dog. I have tried so many in the past.
Lel, I have done various food trials for 8wk peroids, itching still continued, I always just fed the food and no treats whats so ever.
The thing now is that they have had most foods, and if the Blood tests are anything to go by then the foods that I have been feeding lately, should be doing the trick, which makes my vet  think, after various trials, it must be something else. the tests that they had done were Bloods for food and outside allergies, then one for dustmites, but I never knew you could have one done for carpets  and bedding so forth, which lab did your testing, can you tell me anymore about this test? My skin insurrance runs out next April(long story, bloody insurrance company changed there poilicy) so skin will only be covered till then, so unfortunately, I have only that amount of time to try and get a handle on this (I have been trying for over two years).

Rose, how lucky your are to be able to manage your dogs itchies, how long has it been since you found out what your dog was allergic to ? Have you been able to control the itchiness without using steroids at all in the summer months I would love to hear more, of how you manage your dog in the summer months, do you bath feet etc  after walking ? also what do you feed and do you give the supplements daily all year round ?
I usually give fresh garlic to the dogs, but not if I am on a food trial , but have not tried it with funugreek,  have not tried tissue salts, do you get that in Holland and Barrett ? where do you get yours ? I have tried sulpher 6c in the past.  thanks again for sharing your experiences with me regards eleanor  my e.mail is eleanorselfrdige@yahoo.co.uk

Hi Eleanor :)

<<I never knew you could have one done for carpets  and bedding so forth, which lab did your testing, can you tell me anymore about this test? >>

we went to Small Animal Hospital at -University of Liverpool- specialist was Tim Nuttall. It is via vet referral only

link

Might be worth a try emailing him :)

Hi again eleanor,
I hope i can answer all of your questions :)
I found out around 12 mths. ago,i discontinued more tests as like you my insurance stopped paying!

I have never used steroids.

Molly(the allergic one) gets bathed in an oatmeal shampoo every 2-3 days in the summer months to keep her itching under control.

I feed a little Aurtarky with yogurt or cottage cheese in the morning and raw for tea.

I give supplements all year round,specifically: fish oil,vitaminE,evening primrose oil and vitaminC,as well as the above mentioned supps..

The fenugreek clears up any infection before it can start.

I cannot for the life of me remember where i bought the tissue salts from but B&H should be able to point you in the righ direction.

I have finally got Molly's itching under control and now my 12mth. old bull mastiff is starting to show the same symptoms,it's dejavu :( But not quite so bad....yet! It seems females are more affected than males,i have 2 girls(tibetan spaniel,mastiff) and 2 boys(spaniel,mastiff),the males are o.k but the females are always that bit more itchier??????

Some dermatologists find skin patch testing more accurate than blood tests