my diva is having a hard time with her allergy injections

[Mugzilla]

my 4.5 year old english bulldog has had noticeable allergies since she was around 6 months old and received her first cortozone shot. since then, i've moved around, which means new vets, all of whom wanted to retry treatments that had already been tried and failed in the past.

i've finally lived somewhere long enough that my vet agreed that my eb needed to have the allergy testing done. she's allergic to sooooooooooooooo many things. foods, feathers, human hair, grass, tons of trees, dust, the list goes on.

she's on a special diet that is free from all of the food allergens. however, it is impossible to keep her free from ALL allergies. she's allergic to cat hair and feathers and i have a parrot and two cats!

so, we started her on a series of injections that are suppose to build up her immune system regarding the things she's allergic to. i guess the end hopeful result is that her immune system will build up enough of a defense that her allergies will not be noticeable or as severe. she has suffered too many things for me to list due to her allergies. suffice it is to say, it's been a looong and expensive road, but she is more than worth it. what's most important to me is her comfort and happiness.

right now, she's had to stop the injections bc the skin reactions she was having became so severe that she's lost all of the hair inbetween the creases on her face and she's all but chewed all the hair off of her front paws (i've tried booties, socks, bitter apple spray, anything i can think of to keep her from getting at her feet, but she's too smart for it all).

i've been using desynex (sp?-the diaper rash cream) to put in her creases after cleaning them every day. right now she's also on anti-biotics and a steroid pill while we've stopped injections until she gets back into better and less miserable shape. the whole purpose of starting injections was to improve her quality of life, not this!

the vet states it's a long process and once this skin outbreak and ear infection subsides, we'll resume injections. my question is, has anyone else gone through this, and if so, would you mind sharing your story?

also, desynex is too oil based. does anyone use something different-something water based or non-oil based-to put on their face skin folds when they need it?

she's my baby and my best friend. i hate seeing her feeling so bad. she's even started having potty accidents in the house due to a side affect of the steroid pills. the vet said she can't help it-that she must be very sensitive to the side affects. i don't mind cleaning up the messes. i KNOW she's not feeling great or that something is wrong if she's having accidents in the house bc she's 100% potty trained. she just gets embarrassed and feels bad about herself when she has accidents.

she's also started looking 'old' in the past few weeks and it's breaking my heart. i know she won't, but i want her to live forever. i can't even concieve of losing her-ever. she's my heart.

anyway, sorry for the rant. thanks for listening.

[Connie03062]

My male english bulldog also had severe allergies and he was also allergic to everthing. The allergy shots take between 7 to 9 months before you start to see results.

What I found that worked the best was weekly baths with Malaseb shampoo...if he was really itchy I would also use Resicort leave on conditioner. Both of these products are available online.

At first I would bath twice a week. This seems to provide the most relief from the allergies. Also Merlin's Dermatologist prescriped Hydroxyzine..it's like prescriptions strengh benedryl. They can have this every 6 hours and they need to take this 1/2 hour before their allergy injection.

For the folds in their face I was with a medicated acne pad for sensitive skin. This helps dry the folds out. Then I apply some Desiton ointment.

Connie

[Mugzilla]

thanks connie. i'm going to look up that shampoo and conditioner now. desynex. desyton. they might be the same thing? i can't remember. it's diaper rash cream and i know where the tube is at in the house. lol. i'm terrible with remembering the names of things.

i was using medicated pads for her face, but even the ones for sensitive skin seemed to have alcohol in them, which seemed to really hurt her. she's never been this bad before though--her face and paws i mean. ALL of the hair is just completely gone in her creases and it's so angry red and raw. it has improved in the past couple of days with the steriod pills and antibiotics.

thanks for letting me know it took a while to show improvement. i can't remember exactly when she started, but i think it was in january? i would have to check my calendar to know for sure. regardless, it hasn't been that long and even though we've only just stopped injections for a little while, she was stuck at .4 for the injection from the blue bottle for the past month bc she kept having such bad reactions. poor baby. i just need to know the misery she's going through now will lead to more comfort and a better quality of life later on. she's worth whatever it takes. it's just heartbreaking seeing her like this.

thank you again. i'll also ask my vet about the hydroxzine.

[Connie03062]

If the mediated pads bother her face you can also take some of the Malaseb shampoo and a wash cloth and use that for her face and once dry you can use the conditioner as well.

One of my other bulldogs also had severe allergies..I ended up taking him to a Dermatologist at Tufts for all kinds of tests...he was then put on Atopica (which I would NEVER do again). These pills are similar to Prednisone and they did help with his itching and his losing his hair but within 5 months of being on these pills he was diagnosed with Stage 5 Lymphoma...and died 9 days later.

Spring time is bad allergy time...so do bathe her with the Malaseb 2X a week...and the conditioner...it really does help. Also be sure to wash her bedding and blankets with an fragrance free detergent...like All Clear...

I found anything that has a strong smell bothered my allergy dogs...fabreze especially...also if you have carpeting in your home use an allergy free shampoo when they are cleaned.

You can also get some antibiotic ointment that you can put in the folds on her face...that way if it gets in her eye's it won't bother her...you can also get this from your vet.

Let me know if I can help.

Connie