Axel is suffering pretty badly this spring. It just sort of came on suddenly over the weekend. He has been licking his paws non stop, his eyes are extra goopy, and he has these bumps around his eyes that are irritated. I have been giving him Benadryl which does help take the edge off and then he sleeps. I washed his paws this morning and his face but it did nothing. I was hoping I wouldn't have to go to the vet for steroids but I'm going to have too because of how uncomfortable he is. Anyone else have any home remedies to help this or am I being silly for not wanting steroids. Now that he's 16 months old, are steroids ok? I was wary of them when he was a puppy.
I think steroids are ok in shortish doses , so for less than three or four months at a time , and they are fantastic in dealing with the itching . Sam used to suffer from pollen allergy , I just made sure I washed him right down, usually in the river, after a woody walk . I also tried giving local honey , it must be local to your area to be effective , the same pollen , whether is did any good I don't really know , it might have just been the steroids , but he liked it anyway . There is also a drug called Apoquel , which is very effective against severe itching , excellent reviews .
I would be making an appointment for the vet. Although none of us like using steroids, or drugs in generally, if they make your dog comfortable without any side effects (some dogs tolerate better than others ) it had to be worth it. Hope Axel feels better soon
I was just thinking of writing a post to say I'm sure H is suffering from Hayfeaver. His eyes are runny and he was coughing and sneezing a bit on our walk. So was I!
After one season on Prednisone we went to Atopica. It's considered to be a "lesser evil." Now that Oban's gut issues are cleared up he is no longer itchy and not on any meds for itch for three years. In hindsight an early clue might have been his low albumin count but the Vet we had then wasn't aware. You might want to see about bloodwork and ask about possible connections between gut and allergy. Oban's allergies were seasonal environmental. No matter what food he ate out of his rotation of three kibbles he never itched in winter.
@Snowshoe i mentioned to my vet about Oban's gut issue and low blood albumin and the resultant clearing up the itchiness. She wondered if you were feeding a hydrolysed protein and being very careful about what he eats, and that he might've had a food allergy that you've removed. Because Snowie is sadly on more prednisone again cos his itchiness was unbearable.
Oban is eating Rayne Low Fat Kangaroo Maintenance kibble. I said No to a hydrolysed protein food that was offered as my other option. Yes, I am careful of what he eats but post recent complete bloodwork with all levels of everything that was out of whack (it was more than just the albumin for a while) back to where it should be our regular Holistic/Integrative Vet feels we can feed a raw meal once or twice a week. She was wanting us to go back to full raw. Oban has Lymphangiectasia and low fat is thought to be the way to go and it's hard to control fat on full raw. Plus, Oban's Nutriscan showed intolerance to turkey and whitefish, wiping out two low fat proteins. We did not think Oban had a food allergy because of the business of not itching in winter no matter what he ate. Of course the whole thing is a conundrum. If it was gut then why did it only act up in summer? There is no way to tell for sure but post gut issue, no itiching for Oban. Can you try Atopica or the newer Apoquel? Both are serious meds but every website I checked thought they were a lesser evil than the Pred. Our ESS was on PRed for years post dog attack by two teams of huskies, she was on it for pain. We could not wean her off it, every time we tried she was crying out in pain again. She had no bad symptoms from it as far as we could see. Still, for Oban, now there was an alternative.
Obi has been on a low dose of steroids for about 4 years. We use Prednil, which has an antihistamine in it too. It's effective, cheap and safe once you settle on a maintenance dose. There's no need to be wary of steroids. You basically start with a higher dose to knock the itching on its head and then taper it off to find the lowest dose that works to relieve the dog's discomfort. You don't continue with a high dose. You don't have to give even a low dose continuously - just when symptoms appear. Obi's itching is managed with approx 1 tablet a week in the itchy seasons, which is really very, very little (most dogs will need a bit more than that though). We also use a human antihistamine without the steroids for mild itching - we've found that Zyrtec works for Obi (not all human antihistamines work for all dogs, so it's kinda trial and error). We recently discussed with our vet the idea of moving to Apoquel. He recommended not doing that. Apoquel does need to be given continuously and it's an immune suppressant (so are steroids but you don't need to give them every day). It's also expensive. The vet said Apoquel wasn't living up to its promise, unfortunately. We found this disappointing because we'd thought it was a perhaps an even better option than steroids, but it doesn't seem to be.
Thanks for the replies. After phoning the vet several times this AM I finally got in. they were booking into Monday next week, I couldn't have him suffer for a week so we went down and waited for 2 hours to be snuck in between patients. Long afternoon but we are home now. Was given a whole bunch of things. His paws and ears are infected. So he was given antibiotics, steroids, some cleaner to clean his paws every time he comes in and a topical cream to use when he has a for future use. Just so unfortunate that it seems this will be an ongoing issue for Axel. I'm thinking maybe a visit with a dermatologist will be the next step.
We had Vanilla on Apoquel summer just gone (yes they are very expensive). In the end after further reviews and investigations, given some of the side effects we stoped giving it to her. Partly she also refused them after a period. I took that as a sign. We will now give her antihistamines at the start of the pollen season and she fish oil tablets. Plus we wash her paws etc. after each walk. A pain, but a small price to pay. Vet said that this should all help. So far so good.
You only need to give Atopica and Apoquel every day for a break in period. We used Atopica and were able to go to every third day. WE only needed it in summer so we did have to do the month long loading dose of once a day every summer to start. It's individual how many days apart your dog can go. Zyrtec is called Reactine here and that's what Oban stared on, VEt liked it best. He said it was better for allergies but he liked Benadryl for insect bites. When that failed we went to Vanectyl-P, the "P" stands for Prednisone. It worked. Then we went to Atopica, it being marginally less frightening than the Van-P.
Just one dose of meds made it so he could sleep through the night without constant licking (which meant we all slept through the night). Poor boy also had a bit of a temperature while at the vets yesterday. He was pretty miserable. But today he's back to his usual self. We saw the emergency vet yesterday so I don't have much confidence in what she was saying. Said that I wouldn't want Axel on steroids for more than a couple weeks and when I asked if there was something such as reactine (what I use for seasonal allergies) she said no not really. So I'll book in for a follow up with his regular vet. Unfortunately his puppy insurance does not cover any allergies as it is 'pre exisiting'
This happened to Quinn in the Fall and we had the same outcome - allergies with infections of the skin and eyes. Our big clue was she had significant hair loss on her chest and belly before the infections were noticeable. We were give antibiotics, steroids for the itch/pain and eye drops. Since it cleared up when the cold weather came, it's likely seasonal so we are on the lookout this year. She was on steroids and the dose was too high so she kept having accidents in the house...(she was also kind of dopey) vet lowered her dosage after that and she was fine. I can't remember how long she was on them - only a few weeks and then to go off the steroids completely, we tapered off slowly. It definitely helped with her itching and she stopped biting her paws.
Did the fur around her eyes grow back? I'm worried Axel's won't I hope her allergies don't come back!
Yes, all the areas with hair loss grew back, including around her eyes and her muzzle. Actually, her coat became thicker and shinier than it ever had been, but that could also be in part to losing her puppy fur and becoming a grown up!
The vet told us it would take time (she lost a lot of fur - very noticeable on her belly, knees and chest) and we had to get her a coat for the winter! It took a couple months to come back completely, but the hair on her face took less time.
@Kelsey&Axel how is Axel now that it's summer? Quinn's hair loss and itching is back, so definitely seasonal allergies. I was bathing her once a week but it only helped for a day. We were just at the vet, as I thought her ears were bothering her and was prescribed apoquel. If it manages the allergies then her fur should grow back soon!
I hope that works for her! I have run into a few people at the dog park who swear by apoquel. They are definitely worse on his tummy now, and he seems to be losing hair on his chest which is weird. But the silver spray works amazing for his paws and around his eyes. I only just started spraying his tummy with it. But i have a feeling that the silver spray won't be enough for his tummy area so I may be back at the vet shortly. My vet warned me that apoquel is very expensive (but worth it) and unfortunately Axel's insurance won't cover allergies. So I was really hoping I would be able to keep his allergies calm this season until next year, as his insurance has it as a one year exclusion, sadly not looking that way.
