Any Vet's out there? (Allergies)

[LareP]

You're right LEDOC.

I know you aren't surprised by the number of people who
think food is the allergy problem, but you might be to know
that many of the so called "experts" at well known pet stores
say and think what you're feeding your dog is causing the
allergy.

Here's a small portion of a post I recently made to my blog
that says the same thing...

Dog Allergies are very frequently misdiagnosed by those
who have no actual medical training. This is especially true
of dietary allergies, which are relatively uncommon, but
very frequently "diagnosed" by sales people in pet stores.

These sales people are taught that dietary allergies are
common by their sales managers because that makes it
easier to sell pet foods. They are sincere, but are often
poorly informed.

The facts about allergies in dogs and cats are that about
15 percent of them may have seasonal allergies, with an
intermittent occurrence similar to hay fever.
Dietary sensitivities and allergies probably only occur
in about 2 or 3 percent of these pets and are characterized
by nonstop, year-round problems...

[nica]

Yes u are right lare, totally agree with you. Before even considering paying the vet hafty amounts for food allergy tests on your dogs, test for seasonal and environmental allergens that your pet may be susceptible to first, this you can simply keep your pets off these possible allergens and observe any improvements.
Only when we have ruled out environmental causes can we consider dietary allergy as possible causes.....

Check out my blog, i shared about environmental allergy here.

www.dogcarezone.com/blog

[adoptacanine]

If your dog has symptoms that are abnormal for a healthy dog, one of the most common causes may be dog food allergies..

Allergies in dogs are often associated with the following symptoms

Hair loss
Dry skin
Loss of appetite
Itchy skin
Inflammations of the ear
Hot spots that are persistent
Chewing on paws, legs or other parts of the dogs body
Lack luster, dull coat
Upset tummy and or diarrhea
Itchy Anus
Rubbing Face

There are in fact many different kinds of allergies such as those caused by fleas, bacteria, inhalant and contact allergies. But the most common allergy is a dog food allergy ....

You can get more information on this at :
http://www.dogs-4life.com/dog-food-allergies.html

Hope this helps

[dogs_rox]

to keepyour dog allergy free, its good to bathe him often with a good conditioner and shampoo. also make sure your dog doesn't have an allergy to something he is eating coz that can be pretty tough to diagnose. to find out which food he has an allergy to, you'll need to eliminate particular items from his meal one at a time and eliminate possibilities.

get more info on treatment of allergies at:
http://largedogbreedz.com/your-large...treatment.html

[sundog]

My dog has had hair loss. Quite a bit. Poor baby. She's just a pup. I've noticed that she does scratch some, chews on her back paws some, rubs her face some, but not a lot. Her fur is kind-of course. She doesn't have a whole lot of fur left on her tummy. My girl is a 17 week old Westie. Super, super precious!!! I took her to the vet earlier today and he gave her an allergy med. The vet has asked for my pup to return in a couple of weeks to check her coat. I think the allergy meds. will tell us if she does indeed have an allergy. If my dogs coat has not improved, I guess we'll do some tests to see if perhaps there is something else going on.

I guess if it is an allergy, I will start by switching her dog food. I don't want to keep her on meds. I want to get to the root of the problem! I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's nothing serious. I sure love my dog!

[K9Obedience.com]

I have been reading these posts on allergies with great interest. My Border Collie suffered with terriable allergies, itchy skin and constant scratching, hair loss, vomiting, weeping eyes and so on. I cannot tell you how many times his food was changed at the vets recommendation or how many creams and potions were prescribed. I drew a line at the vets insistance that my poor dog should take prednislone and instead I decided to switch his diet to a BARF (bones and raw food) one. I can honestly say that I noticed a difference within three days. The first was that he didn't pant as much, then his eyes cleared up and after a few weeks he stopped scratching and his coat ceased moulting.

We have never looked back and now all of my dogs are fed as naturally as possible. At first I was unsure as to what and how much I should feed them so it was a bit trial and error. I have learned to balance their diet to include the whole range of nutrients that they need and to vary the diet. I buy blocks of frozen raw tripe, (fresh tripe stinks to high heaven) chicken or lamb. I purchased a second hand freezer which is kept in the shed as this enables me to buy in bulk. I supplement the meat with grated or chopped vegetables and kitchen scraps. My butcher saves me meaty bones and all of this combined with plenty of fresh water has resulted in all the dogs, even the border collie full of health and vitality.

Of course there are times when there are not enough hours in the day for me to feed them a natural diet and I do resort to feeding commercial food so I only buy organic kibble with no additives or preservatives. I am often complimented on the condition of the dogs especially the Doberman whose black coat is like sheer gloss.

For anyone whose dog has allergies I would say try and change the diet as much as possible to avoid commercial food even if this is only done by substituting one meal a day with raw food.

marion

[john and sam]

Originally Posted by adoptacanine

If your dog has symptoms that are abnormal for a healthy dog, one of the most common causes may be dog food allergies..

Allergies in dogs are often associated with the following symptoms

Hair loss
Dry skin
Loss of appetite
Itchy skin
Inflammations of the ear
Hot spots that are persistent
Chewing on paws, legs or other parts of the dogs body
Lack luster, dull coat
Upset tummy and or diarrhea
Itchy Anus
Rubbing Face

There are in fact many different kinds of allergies such as those caused by fleas, bacteria, inhalant and contact allergies. But the most common allergy is a dog food allergy ....

You can get more information on this at :
http://www.dogs-4life.com/dog-food-allergies.html

Hope this helps

Thank ^_^

[DaveF]

My dog Tucker had a rash kind of like hives and the vet told us to use Benadryl and it worked id call your vet first before doing this. Hope this helps

[Renee750il]

Man, looking back at this old thread . . . it's amazing how many spammers we had using this one thread to post links to their not terribly reliable info sites

Before you give any credibility to some of these posters, check out their post count . . . You can feel safe disregarding the ones with only a few posts. They are only here to hit and run spam with their sites.

[Buddy'sParents]

Can those be deleted? Or maybe a fresh thread can be made.... I'll gather all of the info if need be.