Help for Seasonal Allergies?

2824 Views 14 Replies 7 Participants Last post by chowder, Sep 25, 2009

chowder

Discussion Starter · Sep 24, 2009

My 12 year old Lhasa (Chelsy) has really bad seasonal allergies and this year they are the worst they've ever been. She shakes her head constantly until there are scabs on the tips of her ears. chews her feet, and rubs her face on the floor so hard that her neck and face are bright pink. This year she is actually whimpering while she rubs her face on the floor.

She can't have prednisone because she may have Cushings, plus I don't want to put her on anything that strong at her age. I've been giving her Benadryl and it helps a little bit. She only eats Innova Senior, Wellness Vension canned, and Innova adult canned. I know she has food allergies but she was fine on the Innova all year long until the beginning of September.

I hate to give her too many medicines and I've tried washing her in hypoallergenic shampoo but it doesn't help. The new vet just said it would go away as soon as allergy season was over and didn't want to do anything about it. I had to MAKE him give me some eye ointment for her poor little caked up eyes (They are all better now with the medicine). (He's the one I'm not going back to anymore!)

So, does anyone have any magic way to help the poor little dog? Has anyone tried Chlor-trimeton? I have heard that it may work better then Benadryl, especially if you combine it with extra Omega-3. I would love to hear of a natural alternative to drugging her for two months.

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1605

· #2 · Sep 24, 2009

chowder said:
My 12 year old Lhasa (Chelsy) has really bad seasonal allergies and this year they are the worst they've ever been. She shakes her head constantly until there are scabs on the tips of her ears. chews her feet, and rubs her face on the floor so hard that her neck and face are bright pink. This year she is actually whimpering while she rubs her face on the floor.

She can't have prednisone because she may have Cushings, plus I don't want to put her on anything that strong at her age. I've been giving her Benadryl and it helps a little bit. She only eats Innova Senior, Wellness Vension canned, and Innova adult canned. I know she has food allergies but she was fine on the Innova all year long until the beginning of September.

I hate to give her too many medicines and I've tried washing her in hypoallergenic shampoo but it doesn't help. The new vet just said it would go away as soon as allergy season was over and didn't want to do anything about it. I had to MAKE him give me some eye ointment for her poor little caked up eyes (They are all better now with the medicine). (He's the one I'm not going back to anymore!)

So, does anyone have any magic way to help the poor little dog? Has anyone tried Chlor-trimeton? I have heard that it may work better then Benadryl, especially if you combine it with extra Omega-3. I would love to hear of a natural alternative to drugging her for two months.

Zio has seasonal allergies and we give him the generic version of benedryl: 25mg 2x daily. Otherwise he makes weird coughing/snorking noises & his eyes are red. Fortunately, after Summer is over & it gets cooler here, he doesn't have to take it.

How often & how much are you giving your dog? It might be worthwhile discussing dosage with your vet to see if you can safely up what you are currently giving her.

To be honest, it really sounds like she has seasonal allergies just like Zio has, so fiddling with her food isn't the answer.

Bonne chance,

Unosmom

· #3 · Sep 24, 2009 (Edited)

I posted this in raw forum, I use this thing called maximum allergy kit from drs foster % smith, it works pretty well for Uno and I actually havent used it in a year since he hasnt had any episodes, but he'll get this horrible rash all over his body, sometimes they're like pimples with pus and sometimes theyre quarter sized lumps, they usually pass on their own after 3-4 days, depending on severity, but the kit helps to reduce the inflamation.

Dog Healthy Skin: Maximum Healthy Skin Kit by Drs. Foster & Smith

Also, does she have a yeasty smell to the hot spots? its very common with allergies and I highly reccomend a shampoo called malaseb, its antimicrobial and has been a godsend for Uno when he was little and had reccuring episodes, you can read all the positive reviews on it on amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Malaseb-Shampoo-12oz/dp/B00061MP5G

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lorih1770

· #4 · Sep 24, 2009

I just read somewhere yesterday (& I can't remember where) that is OK to give dogs Claritin or Zyrtec, both work better than Benedryl. Please double check on this if you're thinking of trying it!

chowder

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 24, 2009

She does get a senior plus vitamin from Doctors Foster and Smith and that has done wonders for her back legs and the nerve damage in her back so I will try their allergy medicine. I went to Petsmart today and got some omega-3 vitamins and a bottle of shampoo that has lidocaine and aloe in it so I will try those.

Right now I give her a 25mg Benadryl in the morning and at bedtime. The dose for benadryl is suppose to be 1-2mg per pound and she is about 18 pounds. It does knock her out but at least she's not itching so bad while she's asleep. She can't scratch herself because her back legs don't work well enough since her back surgery so at least she can't tear herself up with her toenails. But she rubs her face so hard on the carpet that I had to crate her this morning on a soft blanket just to give her face a rest.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check out the shampoo, too.

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chowder

Discussion Starter · #6 · Sep 24, 2009

lorih1770 said:
I just read somewhere yesterday (& I can't remember where) that is OK to give dogs Claritin or Zyrtec, both work better than Benedryl. Please double check on this if you're thinking of trying it!

I was wondering about Zyrtec. i'll have to look it up to see what dose she would get. I've taken it and I think it works better then Claritin (at least in humans). They make a 24 hour version, too, so I wouldnt' have to keep giving her pills.

EnglishBullTerriers

· #7 · Sep 24, 2009

Zyrtec also has liquid version and I think childrens version. I would ask the vet if you could do Zyrtec. We use that for some of the animals that I work with, but none of them are dogs, so I don't know how it would react in a dog. Please let us know if you find out so that others can also get in on that deal!

Good luck.

1605

· #8 · Sep 24, 2009

Unosmom said:
I posted this in raw forum, I use this thing called maximum allergy kit from drs foster % smith, it works pretty well for Uno and I actually havent used it in a year since he hasnt had any episodes, but he'll get this horrible rash all over his body, sometimes they're like pimples with pus and sometimes theyre quarter sized lumps, they usually pass on their own after 3-4 days, depending on severity, but the kit helps to reduce the inflamation.

Dog Healthy Skin: Maximum Healthy Skin Kit by Drs. Foster & Smith

Also, does she have a yeasty smell to the hot spots? its very common with allergies and I highly reccomend a shampoo called malaseb, its antimicrobial and has been a godsend for Uno when he was little and had reccuring episodes, you can read all the positive reviews on it on amazon.com

Amazon.com: Malaseb Shampoo 12oz: Kitchen & Dining

Wow.. their pricing is up there! You can get omega 3 from regular cod liver oil tabs at your local pharmacy for a lot less than that!

whiteleo

· #9 · Sep 24, 2009

Yes, but don't you really want to give your dogs Omega 3's that are based with anchovy and sardine oil, or salmon?

Unosmom

· #10 · Sep 24, 2009

Well, I mostly buy it for the allergy tabs, not the fish oil ( though its best if they are used in conjunction), but since the tabs cost $24, it kinda makes sense to just get both for $28

chowder

Discussion Starter · #11 · Sep 24, 2009

Okay, I've researched everything I could find about Zyrtec for dogs. One interesting thing I found was that Hydroxizine (which is an antihistamine routinely given to dogs and has been given to Chelsy a lot) is actually broken down to Cetirizine (Zrytec) once it is in the dogs body. So the dog is actually getting Zyrtec, it just has to be converted in the dogs body.

I found two papers on the subject that you can read here. It seems that there are some vets using it, but I can't find a standard dose anywhere. The only things I've found were people with big dogs (over 75 lbs) and they were giving 1-10 mg tablet twice a day. Everything else says "ask your vet". The articles also say that it's not as effective in dogs as it is in humans because they don't respond to antihistamines the same as humans do.

Benadryl is a lot cheaper but I have found generic Zyrtec pretty cheap at Target when they have a sale. I'm going to try the shampoo on Chelsy first and resort to Zyrtec if nothing else works. I'll keep looking for a dosage for dogs.

Treatment of canine atopic dermatitis with cetirizine, a second generation antihistamine: A single-blinded, placebo-controlled study

Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics - Google Books

Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics By Jim E. Riviere, Mark G. Papich - the book that the above link references.

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1605

· #12 · Sep 25, 2009

whiteleo said:
Yes, but don't you really want to give your dogs Omega 3's that are based with anchovy and sardine oil, or salmon?

Why? Is there some proof that Omega 3 from cod liver oil is any different from Omega 3 from the fish you mentioned? All other variables being the same (amount of Omega 3 per mg or whatever the standard measuring unit is) is there a measurable difference?

Furthermore, there's no reason why you can't compare these expensive brands against generics that you can find at your local pharmacy. I'm not advocating X against Y. It's just that sometimes people are swayed by name branding or marketing when the contents are what is important.

RawFedDogs

· #13 · Sep 25, 2009

SubMariner said:
Why? Is there some proof that Omega 3 from cod liver oil is any different from Omega 3 from the fish you mentioned?

Cod liver oil has a lot of Vit A in it. If you give a lot of cod liver oil and your dog has other sources of Vit A, it's possible to overdose on Vit A. Salmon oil is the best source of O3s, with fish body oil being next.

lorih1770

· #14 · Sep 25, 2009

Chowder- Thank you for all of the great research you did!

chowder

Discussion Starter · #15 · Sep 25, 2009

lorih1770 said:
Chowder- Thank you for all of the great research you did!

No problem. I just got a new laptop and I can actually see the print on this one so it made researching a lot easier. Plus it is too darn hot and muggy to go outside!

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