Hi All

Just wondered if anyone has had any experience with blood tests to determine what allergies their dogs suffer from.
I have a 16 month old Gordon and finally we have been offered blood tests to see what is causing all her ear problems and foot chewing. My vet is very good, but he has never mentioned this blood test, he talked about widening her ear canals. This didn't impress me very much as we felt that it wouldn't solve the problem. I had her at the vet the other day again and was prepared to tell him that I wanted something other than the obligatory antibiotics and ear drops as this was good for about a fortnight then the constant pain started again. I arrived to find that my regular vet had gone on hols and a locum in his place. He looked at her ears and the first thing he mentioned was that he specialised in allergy problems and decided that blood tests were needed as he said she was far too young to have such terrible ear problems and that there must be something wrong. The locum gave her the antibiotics and ear drops and told me to bring her back in a fortnight and that he was leaving a note for my regular vet to get onto it as soon as possible. I just wonder what we are giving her that she is allergic to. Any info would be gratefully received. I'll stop rambling now
Thanks for any help
Alli

Yes i have had experience with allergy testing; a blood sample was taken from the dog and sent off to yorktest; the results demonstrating that he was allergic to many different foods and this was showing up as chronic ear infections; when these foods were eliminated from the diet he never had another ear infection.

You will find that others have had this done too.

It can also show up environmental allergies which are harder to treat.

If you can identify the cause and remove it this must be much better than merely treating symptoms, yes?

It is expensive in the short run but cheaper in the long run, is generally covered by good insurance and will optimise your dog's health.

HTH

Thanks very much for the information. I'll just be glad when we can finally eliminate what is causing her so much pain. She is such a sorry sight when she is unwell and I hate the fact that I am probably causing this. A while ago someone suggested we put her on Burns food, that didn't help either she continued to be unwell. I was getting very close to breaking point when the Locum suggested this, probably a good thing as I would most likely have lost my temper out of sheer frustration for my wee girl. Hopefully this will sort all her problems out.

Thanks again
Alli

You may find, as one poster did, that following vet recommendations may be a complete waste of time re diet; most of them tell you to put them on something and rice; this dog was allergic to rice so was NEVER going to improve.

Good luck

I have had the allergy testing done for one of my cockers as he suffered constant diarrhoea regardless of what food he was put on. tried all the usual hypoallergenic ones along with things like pasta, boiled fish etc. Results came back that he was allergic to an awful lot of foods such as wheat, oats, white fish, soyabean, pork, lamb, cows milk.....the list goes on. I now alternate feeding him with a veterinary prescription diet and the AMP packets of minced chicken. I think it was the best thing I ever did...and the insurance company paid for it.

Hi,  I had my two dogs tested,  got the results just last week, best thing I have ever done, I have been struggling for the past 21/2 yrs, my vet was not too keen on having the tests done, and was amazed at the results. If you search my past messages you can read my story to date. regards eleanor

Hi all
Well Mads went for her blood test this morning, so I'm hoping we can eventually get this sorted. My vet had never used Yorktest and he was going to send the tests off to another lab, but I persauded him by taking all the forms and getting him to phone them. So hopefully the test will be winging it's way there shortly. They are doing a complete food and allergy screen and Malassezia screen. So hopefully we will get her healthy soon.

Alli

Do let us know the results; I wish more people would do this instead of putting their dogs on all sorts of steroids, skin dips etc which can be very damaging to long term health and only treat symptoms which will remain until and unless the cause is removed.

Best of luck

Hi there

I'll let you know as soon as we get the results back. I will be sitting like a cat on a hot tin roof for the next 10 days. I'll just be glad if we can find out what it is that is causing her to be so miserable. When I was at the Vet this morning I was in tears, because it's just getting to the stage I really can't take much more of this. I hate seeing her in pain.

Alli

ALso don't forget Thornit and homeopathic treatment can be very useful in the interim.

If you don't mind me asking, how much is it to get allergy testing done?

http://www.animal-allergy.com/index.php4

contact them for details

Hi all
Madiie's test results came back today, the list isn't too long though so we can hopefully get her on top form before long.

Here goes

Soya Bean
Duck (this made me have a wry smile as she is a gundog lol)
Corn

Ash
Hazel
House dust mites
Malasezzia

I'll be scrutinizing her food very carefully to make sure there are no traces of the above mentioned foods added.
We have been advised that it is probably better for her to stay outside in a kennel as this should dramatically reduce the house dustmite allergy.
I'll have to go for a good look around the routes I walk her and check where is safe for her to go. I have also been given a shampoo, with which to bath her 3 times a week to clear up the yeast infection.
The relief I feel is immense as I now know that we can hopefully get her on the long road to recovery and that hopefully she'll not be ill anymore.

Alli

The food allergies are easily avoided but beware hidden soya and corn.

A lot of items have modified maize starch in them eg fish in tomato sauce, and some foods don't SAY soya but vegetable protein.............

most vitamins and supplements nowadays can be bought maize and soya free.

With regard to yeast, make sure you remove sugar, grains and cheese from the diet.

Feeding probiotics daily eg some good ones from the health food shop will also inhibit yeast production and as sugar feeds yeast hence the reason to make sure no sugary fruits or grains.

Indorex spray has had some good results with friends of mine who have dogs allergic to house dust mites.

Hi there

Thankyou very much for the advice about hidden soya and corn. Can I just buy probiotics for humans and give them to her? I'll have to watch her very carefully as she loves apples and would steal them from the fruit bowl lol. I think we will find a food that suits her and that will be it no wavering, and hope we keep on top of it that way. I have also heard about desensitising vaccines and wonder if we should maybe give this a go too. Does Indorex spray enable the dogs to stay inside? I would much rather that she did as I feel it wouldn't be fair on her at this age to be put out in a kennel.

Thankyou again
I'll keep you posted as to how we get on with everything.
Alli

Yes you can just buy regular human probiotics; I think they work out cheaper than dog ones! Multi strain one with billions of bacteria eg bifidus, acidophilus, etc micro encapsulated so the effects are not lost in the stomach; live yoghurt every day is good but in your case I would start off with heavy doses of non dairy probiotics for a month for therapeutic purposes and then if you want move over to live yoghurt.

A homoeopathic vet could make up a specific remedy for you (oral) which would help with the tree thing and my friends' dogs are kept indoors with mega hoovering, reduced upholstery which is sprayed with Indorex twice a year.

HTH

Hi

Yes you have been a great help and I really appreciate your replies. Can I pick Indorex up from pet shops or is it a specialist thing?  Would I be better with a leather suite as oppsed to a fabric suite. We already have laminate flooring (I'll remove the rug from the middle of the floor as well) and her vet bed is changed and washed every other day (I'll do it daily from now on).
Thankyou ever so much you have been a great help as I didn't have the first idea of where to start in all this.

Alli

I think you have to get Indorex via your vet, not sure though.  Yes a leather suite would be better than cloth.

Keep us posted on if her ears are doing better; are you using the Thornit?

We were using Thornit, but stopped after the last really bad bout of sore ears, she had such a bad infection I felt it was irritating her rather than making them better at that point.  I'll keep an eye on how things go from now on and if we have dirty ears at all I will go back to using it, as it did help with the ear wax problem.
After much discussion I think she will be moving outside as it seems the best option all round. I was intending on getting a kennel up anyway especially as I want to go back to work and I don't like the thought of them in the house on their own without them being able to go to the loo.

I am looking into different foods for her at the moment and my breeder uses a homeopathic vet so I will ask about something to help with the tree allergies.

Alli

Hi alli, i did a search on malassezia and found your poisting. My baby basset has this and i have been trating her with malseb shampoo twice weekly. I was confused when reading your stuff does your dog have to avid food with ash? also does she have tablets for her malassezia or do you just shampoo like me? im wondering tho do we have to do this for life or does it go away? im not due back at eh vets with her until a few weeks so was just wondering

Any info would be fantastic thanks
Deb