Friday, March 26, 2010

Allergies?

Just wondering if others have experienced skin allergies with their Vizslas, and if so what was causing them and what solution you found. Captain has been having on-again off-again little bumps mostly on his back and now a few on his head- they are sort of white and small, and if scratched the fur comes off and leaves a little bald spot or scab. For the most part they go away with an antibiotic our vet gives us, but not very quickly and they've been coming back. This has been going on for about 8 months I think. At first our vet thought it was a bacterial infection but now she thinks it may be a food allergy and has Captain on a special food he doesn't seem to like very much. I know V's can be prone to skin allergies so thought I'd ask if anyone has had issues like this. I may take him to an allergist because I can't handle not knowing and want to be able to feed him more options! Some people have suggested it might be an allergy to pollen or fertilizer, which seems like it would be hard if not impossible to control exposure to...

Insight appreciated!

More hiking to come this weekend :-)

*Update: Captain's allergies went away completely. He had allergy issues for about 9 months, on and off, from about 1.5 years old or so. Looking back, I think the problem started when he was around a year old and not eating his breakfast consistently- so I began "bribing" him by mixing in different things. Sometimes it would be peanut butter, or cream cheese, but then I started giving him Primal brand raw nuggets fairly consistently. And then the bumps started. We took him to the vet, would get antibiotics, and the bumps would go away, but then they'd come back. Since I wasn't always giving him the raw food, it wasn't so simple to identify what the problem was. The vet suggested 2 different kibbles, each of which we tried and Captain would not eat- he was losing weight, and since he had never had issues with his usual kibble or with peanut butter from the time he was a puppy, I switched him back to the basics of what we knew worked for us from the start.  Ultimately, we found that the allergies went away and stayed away when we didn't give him the raw food nuggets. Now, I also try not to give him lots of different things all the time; he gets Iams with a little sweet potato (or sometimes pumpkin) mixed in for his meals, and some treats (peanut butter, frosty paws, homemade and store-bought biscuits, every now and then a raw hide or chew), but we don't give him raw meat anymore. I know this is contrary to what some others have experienced, but for us, the raw nuggets seemed to set off his allergies. Like people, different dogs have different allergies; it can be helpful to keep track of what exactly you're dog is eating and what has changed in order to help identify the problem. For severe issues that don't seem to go away, definitely go to a vet and/or allergist, but keep in mind your dog's history with different food items.

**SEE ALSO: Updated post on allergies & bumps.

21 comments:

  1. Urgh...I've been battling this with Zoe for the last 2 years. Various allergic reactions, then a skin staph infection. I tried cocktails of antihistamines and antibiotics. We went to a doggie dermatologist & then a holistic vet. We have switched to a single protein food source & alternate between duck/venison blends. We can get it at Petsmart, but need a prescription from the vet. She seems to be doing really well lately & skin looks great. We avoid most dog treats that contain blends/mixes of stuff- especially grains, chicken. We had some allergy blood work done. HTH- it's very frustrating to not know an exact answer. Just go to my blog and search for bumps and you will find a few posts about it. GL!

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  2. Thanks Amanda- Captain is on duck kibble now but it's so hard to not give him treats since he's a skinny guy and the special vet kibble requires so much more volume to get the nutritional equivalent of other kibbles. It is frustrating! I checked out your blog- helpful to know what you have tried.

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  3. Hi there - although I can't help specifically I thought you might find this link useful: http://groups.google.com/group/ukvizsla?hl=en
    It's a Vizsla discussion group that I belong to here in the UK & have found invaluable over the years. There's a wealth of experience amongst the members & I'm sure someone will be able to help.
    Just one thought from me - have you considered the Barf diet? It's totally natural &, obviously, avoids potentially allergenic stuff?!!
    Good luck
    Juliet

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  4. My vet switched me to a prescription antibacterial shampoo called Malaseb about a year ago, and it works wonders. I just use it instead of a normal shampoo for my baths.

    Kisses,
    Laila

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  5. Hi

    Did you ever find a solution to the bumps? Our 4 month old Vizsla seems to have a similar issue. It started with a single bump, then more, some went away, and then others popped up. Our vet suggested we could give him anti-biotics and a steroid but we didn't want to throw drugs at the problem without understanding the issue better.

    Todd

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    1. Hi Todd- I *think* the issue was feeding him raw food, or it may have been poultry (recently I heard that dogs are more likely to be allergy to poultry than other meats). We were mixing into his usual kibble some Primal dog food, chicken formula - the frozen nuggets (http://www.primalpetfoods.com/product/list/c/7), at the time his allergies were worst. The vet had us try a special kibble as well as some antibiotics to deal with the immediate infection, but he lost so much weight we didn't stick with it- instead I went back to basics, just kibble. He's done great on Iams and sweet potato, and we do feed him a range of treats now. But yeah, I'd try just selectively dealing with the diet first. Keep track of what you are feeding him/her so you can rule out things one by one. These kinds of allergies seem to be fairly common in Vizslas, but it seems like as long as you can identify the food that's causing the issue, it goes away no problem. I've also heard of people's dogs being allergic to wheat. Good luck and hope you identify the issue soon!

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    2. Thanks for your reply. I'm surprised that you'd believe the issue is/was raw food because I thought that would be as low allergy inducing as it gets. Originally we were considering the BARF diet thinking it would be the best possible option. We have been buying kibble from a local feed producer (http://www.annamaet.com/html/annamaet_grain_free_salcha_dog.html) that has grain free products thinking we'd avoid any allergy issues but perhaps not. His bumps have been coming and going but I think we're going to change his kibble to see what happens. We also got word that our dogs mother developed bumps after the puppies were gone after never having a health issue. I think we'll try removing chicken to see what happens. I think some supplimental oil is supposed to be good for skin too. Thanks again and I hope Captain's issue is resolved.

      Todd

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    3. Yes, may have been the chicken rather than the fact that it was raw, although, there is chicken in his kibble and he no longer has issues. For us, the problems stopped when we stopped the primal food. But I've heard other issues. Definitely helps to hear what others have done though!

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  6. Thanks for this post! My V has had bumps on her noggin for 3 months now and been back and forth to the vet. He says it's definitely allergies and not mites. Will try lamb or duck based food and see how we do. Looking back, it may have started when we began a bison/chicken formula.

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    1. We tried both a lamb and duck kibble from the vet... Captain didn't like them so we switched back to our usual kibble. Yeah, try and remember what you may have changed- and I hope you get it figured out quickly!

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  7. Hi - thanks for your posts everyone - it makes me feel much better. My V has been suffering with the white bumps on her noggin and neck too. The vet says it's definitely and allergy thing, but to what - we aren't sure. Will try a lamb or duck based food. She's on a chicken and bison mix now and maybe it's part of the problem. Her immune system has been in high gear since the summer when she rubbed on a dead seal on the beach and then found some stinging nettles (face first of course!). Things just haven't settled down and hoping a gradual food change may help.

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  8. Has anyone had any experience with red belly rashes. Our Wilson has been on multiple rounds of steroids/antibiotics which relieve the issue for a while but then the rash comes back. He has had it on his chest and front legs too. We have tried multiple different foods thinking it was a food allergy....currently he is on a salmon/sweet potato diet. I feel at a loss! Has anyone ever used topical steroids? Thanks for any advise!

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    1. We haven't had any issues with that, but Captain did take antibiotics for his allergies- it was the same situation, the meds helped but then the allergies came back. It can be so challenging to identify the problem! You might try posting this question on our Facebook pages, or one of the other Vizsla Facebook pages, to see if anyone else has some ideas. Good luck and I hope your Wilson gets better soon!!

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  9. Hello, just wondering what brand/food you feed Captain? Wilson's parent-My V Gabe gets has the same problem. He gets hives on belly, under arms, etc. bites them and it turns red. I have taken him to two vets and he currently goes to a dermatologist. I had him allergy tested there(very expensive). He is currently on weekly allergy shots. He's allergy to wool trees flea bites pollen dust mites plus more an has a food allergy. He still breaks out and it's sooo frustrating. We did stop feeding him sweet potatoes cause the dermatologist said that's a possible allergy. Please let me know if you figure out something that helps?

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    1. Hi- we just feed him IAMS Large breed, and I usually mix in a little sweet potato. The sweet potato hasn't ever caused him problems; I feel like every vet says something different! Luckily for us Captain's problems went away completely when I stopped feeding him the raw meat nuggets. It is so frustrating to not know though!! I might suggest posting on one of the Vizsla boards if you haven't already, to get more ideas, or possibly my Facebook page (link below, or just search for It's a Vizsla Thing on Facebook). I do think taking things out of diet one at a time can be helpful to eliminate different potential problems. We also had one vet suggest giving the flea prevention more than >1x/month, although I'm not really comfortable about that. If Captain's problems hadn't gone away I was ready to take him to an allergist- although if you've been to a dermatologists maybe that's just as good. Good luck and let us know what works for you!! Poor guy!!

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  10. When we adopted our 2nd viszla , Koda, she came with a lot of problems... Allergies. Her previous owner had been doing an elimination diet to reach some conclusions. It was determined that she had a serious allergy to lamb, sweet potato, eggs, chicken, and a grain intolerance. Geesh. He also had her on benadryl. I feel she still has environmental allergies, but I think I have controlled the food allergy. I feed them Zignature brand (found at Friends of Nature) kibble with turkey. This has greatly improved/eliminated the swelling, raw ears, and very loose stool. However, she still gets those bumps on her back and a rash on her front legs up to the "pit" area (I love how most of us say "their arms"). I have found that a typical cortisone cream helps the furless areas a bit. It is so frustrating! I feel so bad when she itches and itches! Any help is appreciated!

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  11. our vizla - jack - also has had issues with bumps on his back and the top of his head. at first we thought they were mosquito bites or some other kind of bite from being at the beach, but these have been present for 3 weeks now. some have turned white and scabbed over, and some have lost hair. we took him to the vet 2 days ago and he's now on an antibiotic for 3 weeks. just 3 days ago, he developed a red rash on his chest, forearms, and belly which seem to be itchy. so he's on Benadryl 2 x a day. we've suspected allergies for a while, but now we're even more certain. we had him on pro-plan chicken and rice, which he eats really well, but just switched to the skin and digestive health formula. we also have been adding a pouch of pedigree to each meal because he had been losing weight a few months ago. his weight is up, so maybe we should leave that off now. we've never given him raw food, so that isn't an issue. hopefully, we can see a difference soon. I'm getting frustrated at not being able to help him, and feel helpless when he itches and itches. any suggestions?

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    1. I know how you feel! So frustrating. Yes unfortunately it seems different Vs have different allergies. But it's really helpful to not make lots of changes at once, to go back to basics you knew he ate fine before allergies (we had the same weight loss issue with Captain when we switched to vet formula kibble, and had to go off of it bc he wouldn't eat it). I think weight loss is a major concern, so if he's continuing to lose weight, that's not right the solution. Unfortunately determining which thing your dog is allergic to is a bit of a process of elimination- take notes and pay attention. I may do an update to this post as well- some bumps can take a long time to get rid of.

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  12. We have a V/Boxer - when she was 10 months she developed bumps/rash on her belly (the hairless area). We treated it with medication then it would go away and come back about a week or two after we stopped the medication. We switched her to salmon/sweet potato food but we do give her smoked beef bones (NOT baked so they don't splinter) 1-2x a week. They are great for her teeth/gums and she LOVES them. They aren't raw meat but smoked, think that might be the problem?

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  13. Oh....and she's on her 4th course of anti-biotics for the rash/bumps. They go away then come back. They started in Aug/Sept, initially we thought it was environmental because it was getting into the fall but it's now into winter and she still has them (we live in NE Wisconsin). It was also when we started to switch her from puppy to big girl food. The food we were giving her was chicken based and corn free, now she is on grain & poultry free food. She gets Benedryl twice daily because she scratches so much and we now bathe her with a rx shampoo (which does help) but her fur is so thin. I don't want her to go through allergy testing (nor do I really want to pay for it)that probably won't be conclusive anyway. She's such a trooper and puts up with whatever but I'd love for us to be able to manage the skin issues....as we deal with her elbow displaysia and her limping. Poor Morgan.

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    1. Our boy Flynn-Roy is already 8 year old and we had started having multiple allergies problems when he had just turned 8 month old.
      Our findings:
      0. any allergy testings are too way expensive with no exact results, we were working using exclusion method...
      1. allergies to all meat proteins in any form including: poultry, lamb, turkey, beef, pork, goat, rabbit, venison, duck, and raw hide, any kind of bones....
      2. allergies to most grains, cut grass, old dry and moldy grass/leaves, some fertilizer, and I suspect the carpet in the house but only with another allergen present in his environment for the given time. ...strawberries, acid tangerines, acid oranges...
      3. Flynn-Roy allergies (and our nightmare dealing with this extremely costly issue) were brought by one of those irresponsible vet doctors - he had given our small 3 month old boy very strong 3-year rabies vaccine for the first time, for the second time he had given him the same strength rabies vaccine. After that the immune system was compromised completely and our sweet lovely boy started his long road being on medications, bactroban cream, antibiotics shots, and all the rest......
      4. What works:
      a) food - Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance® L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets® Sweet Potato & Fish Dry Formula plus a little bit of shredded cheese as he does not like the dry food, and sometime steamed frozen vegetables from Costco;
      b) snacks: sweet pepper, cottage cheese, sour cream, apples, pears, peaches, raspberries, blueberries, figs, banana, sweet Florida oranges and clementines, fresh corn on a cob, dried fish, french fries - rare treat...baked sweet potato - his favorite;
      5. Medications: Atopica - almost all year round, bactroban cream, antibiotics when Flynn-Roy allergies are on a high and his paws/fingers are all red/swollen to the degree that the blood starts to come...and antihistamines when not on atopica...
      6. All necessary vaccinations are done with two weeks in between, the best approach is to check first if he needs any vaccine.
      7. Best season is winter with a lot of snow...:-)...
      8. Good luck for you and your red four-legged family members...:-)...

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