Our Poor Hamilton turned 3 yesterday and has been battling allergy issues for probably at least 2 years. I will try to be as brief and descriptive as possible. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
He has probably every allergy symptom that is possible
1. Bumps between toes, and between pads
2. Pinkish/Red chin
3. Violent itching bouts of raking his face across the couch and anything he can find
4. Goopy eyes
5. General look of being miserable
6. Swollen face, from itching
7. hot spots on the stomach, which cleared up months ago.
Things we've tried
1. We went to an allergy specialist, she started him on prescription food Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Canine Selected Protein Adult PV Dry Dog Food
This has helped somewhat as far as his eyes being less goopy, but the itching and paws have never improved. He's been on the food for 8 months.
2. We daily wipe his face and pads with chlorhexidine pads. These have worked well for cleanliness.. but not itchiness
3. We are currently working through seemingly every allergy pill with the allergist. Benedryl, Claratin, Zyrtec, and now we are starting prescription ones (i love spending money...) He just started Clemastine 2 days ago.
3. He gets no treats or anything except the RX food.
4. I have been reading on here for a while and people have said good things about Nu-Pet Chewable wafers, so we started that This week as well. However I feel like perhaps they are having a negative effect on him, even though it's only been 36 hours. But... if he is allergic to grass, as I sometimes think then these wafers will not be good for him since they are made from different grasses. Or at least that's what my common sense is telling me.
5. We also started him on Yucca Extract this week in his food since I've heard this has helped other people as well. Once again, it's too early to say if there are any positive results
6. The only thing that has REALLY helped him is Prednisone. After he is on this for 2 days the results are unbelievable. We actually forget that he can look as good as he does when he's on the steroid. The swelling goes down, his eyes open up, and the itching stops. Not to mention he seems much happier. I hate that he goes on the steroids as I am more of a believer in natural remedies, that's why I have high hopes for the Yucca as I've read it can have the same effects as the steroid. He is only on the steroids for a week or so, and after that the itchiness resumes as normal.
So I believe he does have a food allergy, which it seems like was solved by the RX food, and he must also have environmental allergies, but we live in Connecticut and if he has a grass allergy I assume the fact that the grass is dormant now would slow his itchiness down, but it doesn't seem to be season related, so I really don't know.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I can't even imagine how much money we have spent on trying to make him better and he just seems so miserable still. I don't want the solution to be, don't let him outside on the grass, and keep him in a corner, inside all his life. That is no way for a dog to live! There must be something we are missing or haven't tried yet.
Thank you!
He has probably every allergy symptom that is possible
1. Bumps between toes, and between pads
2. Pinkish/Red chin
3. Violent itching bouts of raking his face across the couch and anything he can find
4. Goopy eyes
5. General look of being miserable
6. Swollen face, from itching
7. hot spots on the stomach, which cleared up months ago.
Things we've tried
1. We went to an allergy specialist, she started him on prescription food Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Canine Selected Protein Adult PV Dry Dog Food
This has helped somewhat as far as his eyes being less goopy, but the itching and paws have never improved. He's been on the food for 8 months.
2. We daily wipe his face and pads with chlorhexidine pads. These have worked well for cleanliness.. but not itchiness
3. We are currently working through seemingly every allergy pill with the allergist. Benedryl, Claratin, Zyrtec, and now we are starting prescription ones (i love spending money...) He just started Clemastine 2 days ago.
3. He gets no treats or anything except the RX food.
4. I have been reading on here for a while and people have said good things about Nu-Pet Chewable wafers, so we started that This week as well. However I feel like perhaps they are having a negative effect on him, even though it's only been 36 hours. But... if he is allergic to grass, as I sometimes think then these wafers will not be good for him since they are made from different grasses. Or at least that's what my common sense is telling me.
5. We also started him on Yucca Extract this week in his food since I've heard this has helped other people as well. Once again, it's too early to say if there are any positive results
6. The only thing that has REALLY helped him is Prednisone. After he is on this for 2 days the results are unbelievable. We actually forget that he can look as good as he does when he's on the steroid. The swelling goes down, his eyes open up, and the itching stops. Not to mention he seems much happier. I hate that he goes on the steroids as I am more of a believer in natural remedies, that's why I have high hopes for the Yucca as I've read it can have the same effects as the steroid. He is only on the steroids for a week or so, and after that the itchiness resumes as normal.
So I believe he does have a food allergy, which it seems like was solved by the RX food, and he must also have environmental allergies, but we live in Connecticut and if he has a grass allergy I assume the fact that the grass is dormant now would slow his itchiness down, but it doesn't seem to be season related, so I really don't know.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I can't even imagine how much money we have spent on trying to make him better and he just seems so miserable still. I don't want the solution to be, don't let him outside on the grass, and keep him in a corner, inside all his life. That is no way for a dog to live! There must be something we are missing or haven't tried yet.
Thank you!