I am posting this for my sister who has a Shar pei who has developed what the vet has described as atopic skin  allergy. She has has various tests at the vets and the conclusion was that she was allergic to non specific household things like the house dust mite. The vet initially prescribed steroids when she was biting her legs which did help but the itching came back as soon as the steroids stopped. Since the allergy tests he has put her onto a drug called cyclosporin? which is meant to severely reduce her immune system but it is making her really sick and she is really miserable. Has anyone come across this allergy before and if so any suggestions?

Does your sister have carpets in the house.  No carpets is better where house dust mite is concerned and steam cleaning also minimises them.

she has a mixture of carpets and hard floors and is doing what she can to eliminate dust but nothing seems to help poor Jess

Hi get in touch with karisto sharpei, they`ll be able to help :)

http://www.karistosharpei.co.uk/

Hi.
My Boxer (3yrs now) has the same kind of allergy. She is allergic to dust mites, wool and grass (yes grass would you believe it?). She would drive us made itching everytime she stood still.
We have spent thousands on trying to fix it (she is insured thank god!).

In the short term she had to go on steriods until her allergy tests came back. these seemed to stop her itching dramatically.

When the results came back the dermotologist told me she was going to start her on a course of vaccines.
For about a year we had allergy vaccines shipped over from Holland and she had to get these specially made for her allergies. She had one injection every month and at the end of the year there was no improvment.

After the injections I told the vet I wanted to try something else as she must have been going through it all the itching she was doing! We went through just about every option possible and nothing would stop the itching.

At the end I asked every breeder I could find their advice and just about every one of them said that steriods are the only thing they know works.

Cassy is on 1 prednicare steroid everyday for the rest of her life. She has no signs of her allergy and is a regular happy Boxer.
Vets do say that steroids shorten a dogs life but from a breeder friend of mine she told me she has had dogs on steroids everday and they have lived long happy lives. I think that is the main thing for the dog to be comfortable and happy.

I would suggest to ask the vet for the steroids and try to give your dog as few as possible. Start on 2 a day for 4 days then 1 a day for a while then try 1 every other day. But I'm sure if you ask you vet will explain this to you.

Hope this Helps

MD.

I definitley wouldn't recommend something like cyclosporin on a shar-pei. They can have strange immune systems as it is and I'm loath to give sterois because of this. Cyclosporin is a poten anti-rejection drug used in transplants etc... and totally supresses the immune system. No wonder she's very ill on these drugs!

To be honest, I've known several shar-pei and my own collie cross with atopic skin problems and the only that worked for them all was a small daily dose of steroids (as little as possible to control the scratching and this may take a bit of experimentation). I'm loath to give steroids at all, let alone almost daily for probably the rest of the dog's life, but it's far better than the dog being miserable and itchy. Your sister needs to make sure she's not using anything like shake-n-vac, biological washing powder, dog food with lots of colourings etc... and also keep the house and dog flea free as many atopic dogs only need one flea bite to end up going bananas scratching.

>Vets do say that steroids shorten a dogs life but from a breeder friend of mine she told me she has had dogs on steroids everday and they have lived long happy lives. I think that is the main thing for the dog to be comfortable and happy.<

This is very true - my collie cross was on steroids every day from being about 3 years old. She reached 13 years old and was very fit and healthy all her life as long as she had her tablets or she'd be red raw scratching within 3 days. Also what is better, a dog that leads a happy life for 8 years instead of maybe 10, or one that leads a totally miserable life itching and scratching, getting skin infections and ends up probably being put to sleep at the same age or younger due to how much it's suffering?

Shar-pei are not my breed BUT I totally agree - Cyclosporine is one of the "big guns" in the immune suppressant family and would be close on my last port of call even for more serious conditions :(

Initial low-moderate dosage of steroids such as Pred (if necessary, and only after ruling out environmental and dietary causes) can be given with good effect and then gradually reduced to minimum dosage, then every other day to a maintenance level only.  I'm no fan of steroids but accept they do have their place in certain circumstances some of which mean they are literally life saving.  Cyclosporin and similarly strong meds with potentially much more serious side affects OTH have IME a more limited and specialised use.

Good luck - I hope that with pro active communication between owner and vet this poor dog's symptoms can be alleviated without resorting to heavy duty drugs.

Best wishes, Teri :)

Steroids are not the only things that work & of course by using them you`ll never find the cause. Even steroids won`t control what could end up as a severe reaction.

Antihistamines can work, if the first doesn`t there are others that can be tried. Also minimum exposure to chemicals & vaccines/boosters will help plus feeding as much organic, high quality food as possible :)