How to help my dog with his allergies?

Question

My poor Chesapeake Bay Retriever is having a horrible time with allergies. I took him in to the vet a week ago and they gave him a steroid shot, which usually works. Whatever he is allergic to must be out in force, because he has not stopped scratching himself raw, chewing on his feet and legs, and generally being miserable. His eyes are all goobery so I've been putting antibiotic cream in them, his ears are all yeasty and he's been happily letting me put medicine in them, and he's clearly not having a good doggie day. He's been getting a bath with colloidal oatmeal shampoo once a week as the vet suggested. He's been taking a pretty stiff dose of Benadryl twice a day. None of this is helping.

Anyone else's dogs having BIG skin allergy problems? What are you doing for them?

Answer 1

My dog was diagnosed with a yeast infection recently. It affected her skin turning it the color of dirt. She was biting and scratching like crazy and her ears were infected.The vet said it was an allergic reaction to something, probably food with grain base. I was given a prescription shampoo and spray for two weeks, and ear drops. She had the injection and a four week supply of prednisone given every other day. She did stop the scratching and biting after a couple of weeks. And I changed her food to lamb and rice. there are still some areas of skin that just look dirty but I hope the shampoo will clear that up.

Answer 2

What exactly is he allergic to?  Are you sure it's external forces at work and not food allergies?  Does he only have this reaction during the summer or is it all year round?

If it's food related you might want to look into a food brand that is corn and wheat free.  Try Pinnacle Holistic food it's 100% allergen free and is great for dogs that have allergies to corn and wheat.

If it's seasonal allergies we got in a rescue dog that was in appalling condition he had lost 90% of his hair due to allergies to help him he is bathed him 2xs a day with Epi-Soothe shampoo and in between treatments with apple cider vinegar to help break down the bacteria on his skin he's also fed good food (holistic) with supplements of Gluta-DMG, Eicosa Caps and Psorinum but I believe that's due to the fact he was fed Ol' Roy and YourPet Cat food so she's probably trying to give him supplements for his lack of nutrition.  

So worse comes to worse try that.

Answer 3

What kind of dog food are you feeding him, it could be something in his food?

Answer 4

My dog also has seasonal allergies, and we found that the best way to deal with them is to give him vitamin C which is a natural antihistamine twice a day.  There are ones sold specifically for dogs.  Starting this before allergy season starts is easiest because once a dog starts scratching and chewing they start to irritate the spot and it is hard for them to stop (they unfortunately don't understand that scratching and chewing will actually make it worse).  So that may help you next year, but for this year continue with what you are doing.  Bathing fairly frequently is good because the oatmeal shampoo does soothe the skin.  I also try to keep my active dog busy.  The busier they are (walking, playing etc) the more tired they get and the less energy they have to chew and hurt themselves more.  Other than that, the only other way to stop a dog from chewing is to get an elizabethan collar from your vet.  They are plastic cones that go over your dogs head and the length should be just long enough that your dog can't chew his paws or any other part of his body.  This can be more stressful for some dogs, but it works for others.

Good luck and I hope your dog is feeling better soon!