allergies?

ajneal30

ajneal30

New member
So this week while visiting family in Utah we discovered that our dog was losing hair. A lot of hair. After seeing pics of coyotes with mange on this site, that was the first conclusion I jumped to. The same day we noticed the hair loss, he got pretty agressive with a family member. At the vet's office we found out he has food allergies and he again had an agressive spell, this time going after the vet. I am giving him allergy meds and will buy some lamb and rice food this week. Hopefully this will clear him up and his temperment will return to normal. Has anyone else had a dog with allergies? Just curious how common it is.
 
It is fairly common in mostly purebred dogs. I had a dog years ago that had allergies that would come out on his ears and make them itch so he was always scratching them to the point of causing hematoma's. FUN. How old is the dog as sometimes they will outgrow them. It's also possible that there was just a specific ingredient in his food that caused the reaction.
 
He is a mountain cur/plott hound/redbone mix. He is 1 1/2. His hair loss is all over his underside and moving up his flanks and shoulders. The vet showed me some redness between his pads and his toes and said that was the best indication of a food allergy. I remember laughing at his feet when we first got him as a pup. Apparently he has had this condition since before I got him and it is just now causing the hair loss.
 
I have never heard that before. Good to know. Good luck, keep us posted. I would think maybe some of the dog runners here may have some help for you, or at least an idea or two
 
I had a bassett hound with food alergies and it sucked. Every summer(with heat) it would get worse. His allergy was with corn, sounds like maybe it's the same with yours. He'd lose all the hair on his belly and neck. He'd scratch so hard, it would be red and bloody. We bought food and treats without corn, we gave him omega 3 pills everyday and bought a special shampoo. It all helped but never really "fixed" the hair loss. He was very aggressive and that was his dimise, we never thought about it being cause by his allergy but maybe it was. The name of the shampoo is
epi-soothe, it's a great shampoo and have since used it on our other dog.
 
I think the reason he is acting agressive is that the allergies have caused blisters on his reproductive organs. I think that would make anyone a bit grouchy. I sure hope we can clear it up though. He has been so dopey and friendly untill now.
 
Our pit has food allergies - try either Taste of the Wild food, or Diamond Naturals. Both seem to work best for her, although Diamond is a tad easier on the budget than TOTW. She was extremely itchy and would scratch all of her hair off, until we switched her to Diamond. Don't always go the route that your vet says either, it pays to do a little reading and checking out the food ingredients. Science Diet or Purina or all the ones that vets seem to push are basically doggy junk food. Or, if you have the time and don't want to go with kibble, a raw diet has worked well for some of my friends.
 
I will look into those brands, thanks. I have been doing some research on my own but it's hard to know what to look for as we are not really sure what it is he is allergic to. I think it is going to be a miserable process of trial and error untill we find a formula that works for him. The lamb and rice is just a starting point. If he is still having problems then we can check the ingredients and go with something else. He hasn't scratched his fur off as all the hair loss is in places he can't scratch. He just seems irritable and miserable. He is getting prednisone twice a day untill Monday when I drop it down to once a day for a week and then every other day for a week. After all those treats, he will most likely be my dog rather than my husbands, lol. The way to a man's (and hounds) heart is always through the stomach.
 
Hi AJ,
There is a company in California that does food allergy testing for dogs using a blood sample. Not cheap but not super expensive...Might be worth it when you consider buying a bunch of specialty diets until you find one that agrees with him.....

If your interested let me know and I'll ask my vet the next time I get her in the sack
lol.gif
...Which will be tonight seeing as I live with her and I'll get you the specifics.

Brian
 
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i dont know about dogs but when its hot i get allergic to work, different feed helps me too, mostly popcicles or ice cream, if i eat enough i seem to get to the point where it doesnt bother me that i'm not doing anything, ha
 
Brian, I would really appreciate that. I am afraid the food alone is going to be much more expensive that we are used to.

Predburner, I have been told we dont get fleas here due to the winter climate and I check the dogs now again for flea dirt just to be sure, but I will check him again. It's been a while.

Trapper2, here, here.

Shortcake, from talking to others and my own research, I am suspecting the corn as well.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!
 
Hey ajneal, i'm not sure how much your paying now for food but check out vf complete. That's the food i was feeding my dog. He started to grow his hair back and the omega 3 pills also helped. It's made by arakat, in the u.s with no corn. We get it at the local IFA(feed store). It's a bit pricey but not as much as the premium foods.
 
Don't know if its the dogs , or the feed, but I have only fed one brand of meat base feed, and alot of "meat" to my dogs for almost 20 years.Not had any allergies.
 
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