we got our lab 6 months ago & were advised by the dog charity he was healthy with no behaviou problems, just young & boisterous! In the 6 months we've had him, we have spent over a thousand ponds on vet fees. He has had several ear infections where he tears his ears & sprays blood up the walls. We had him on wheat free food as he came with some from his previous home. We have had an allergy test done & he's ok with wheat but has severe reaction to most meats including fish. Before we knew this he was on a fish oil supplement on our vet advice, this gave him itchy weeping eyes! The vet has suggested carrot sticks instead of dog chews for treats & prescription lamb dog food. He's on his new diet now and we are going to start reducing the apoquel he has been on. Our pet insurers are refusing to pay for his treatment as they say it's pre-existing, although we didn't know when we got him. He's very loving but tends to lunge at other dogs and is overly playful eg.he likes rough play. So if we see another dog we put him on the lead. Any advise please would be great. We are first time dog owners and it's all a bit overwhelming!
Welcome to the forum. I am so sorry you are having problems with your Lab's allergies and being faced with such expense. I sadly don't have any advice but can say that a friend's rescue dog came with skin problems, red underneath and continually scratching. She is now on a medication which may well be apoquel which has helped enormously. If your dog is allergic to all meats, have you thought of putting him on a vegetarian kibble?
Hello and welcome to the forum. Sorry I have no advice to give you, has my dogs have never had that problem, just wanted to welcome you to the forum. Is the diet that your vet said to use working? What is your dogs name?
Thank you for your warm welcome Cath. Apollo is his name and the diet is working thank you. It's early days but if you saw him now you wouldn't think he had allergies. We have to be so careful he doesn't eat the cats leftovers! Carrot sticks instead of chews is working too.
Hi Stacia, Thanks for welcoming me to the forum. Apollo isn't allergic to lamb thankfully. So he is on lamb & veg hypoallergenic kibble. This is working though it's early days and we are reducing the apoquel. We have a supply in reserve in case he eats something we don't know about and the symptoms return.
Welcome @Lucye and Apollo from Hattie 10 years and our rescue boy Charlie 6 years. It's a great thing to rescue a dog and Apollo is a lucky boy I can't help with the allergies, Charlie only has a terrible reaction to Lamb and Goat ear chews so he doesn't get them. I am glad you are seeing results so soon, fingers crossed it continues x
I've got dried lamb's faces for mine. Its a bit gruesome but they love em.I can't tell if they smell.
Hi and welcome. Sorry to hear Apollo is suffering with allergies. I know what you're going through as Bracken my Pointer suffered too, he was allergic to many, many foods. Funnily enough lamb was the only meat he could tolerate too, but the carrot would have been a big no no. Don't be too disheartened, once a suitable diet is found it's fairly easy to keep things under control and mainly medication free. There's bound to be the odd blip here and there but you soon learn how to cope. One of my current Labs has been diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, he's been put on a meat free diet (Royal Canin Hypoallergenic DR21) with hydrolized protein so his body doesn't react. It seems to be helping.
Hi Hattie, Thanks for your lovely welcome. I didn't know you could get Lamb ear chews, i'll have a look. How long have you had Charlie for? He's a lucky dog too.
Hi Mandyb, Thanks for your welcome Ho Mandyb, Thanks for your advice. I haven't found anyone else that has had a dog with food allergy, so it's good to know it's possible to mainly manage without medication. It's early days but he's off medication and seems full of life with no scratching, weeping or tearing, which is great. The diet is working. Like Bracken, he is allergic to many foods, though we didn't know that when we got him. It was worth having the allergy blood test done as it pin- pointed all the foods he is allergic to. I hope your lab's diet works too.
Hi, you can get lamb, goat, pig, cow etc. ears We have had Charlie for very nearly 6 years now, he was 9/10 months when we rescued him. He was a real handful, crazy, lunatic dog, still is SOMETIMES XX
