Allergy Skin Test

nubonics

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We've had an up hill battle trying to figure out our frenchie mix's allergies. He is already on medication for allergies but he had a major hive outbreak about two weeks ago and lost a lot of his fur and was covered in pus filled bumps (turned out to be a bacterial infection plus the hives but all caused from allergies).

We decided to go ahead a proceed with getting a skin allergy test done on him at this point. He was already being treated by a vet dermatologist but we really wanted to find out what we needed to change in our environment to make him feel better.

The allergy test took about two hours and with the number of things he is allergic to I'm really glad we got the test done. The staff at the office said that he was one of the worse cases they've seen this month and had a lot of unusual allergies.

He are the primary culprits: he is severely allergic to dust, dust mites and cats. And guess what we have? Dust and cat.

While we do our best to keep the house dust free, we are going to start dusting a bit more during the week instead of just the weekends.

Now the cat stays not much we can do about that. He is 13 years old and sully (our frenchie mix) loves him lol. Our vet dermatologist said that they don't see many dogs allergic to cats. Surprisingly Sully is not allergic to fleas, which the vet said was unusual. We sure do have a special guy on our hands.

It's kind of funny when we think back to it - when we brought sully home we did not have a cat. My husband gave Mongo (the cat) to his Aunt when he went away to Iraq and then Korea. when he came back from Korea my husband (then boyfriend) and I moved in together. Later we got Sully. His aunt had a few problems and no longer could care for Mongo so she told my husband that she was going to take him to a shelter. Sully was about 2 years old when we introduced him to Mongo and his allergies did start after he came to our home but we never put two and two together. I've never heard of a dog allergic to cats before!

Anyone else ever hear of a dog allergic to cats? I was laughing about it all the way home.

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bullmama

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Yep I've heard of dogs being allergic to cats. Dust is pretty common I think. Did they test any foods?


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2BullyMama

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Really does amaze me how it is the most common thing they are most allergic too..... Banks is allergic to house flies :blink:, which by the way, she LOVES to try and catch.
 

ddnene

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That is the craziest thing I've ever heard :stars: I had skin testing 2 years ago, and out of 42 things I was allergic to 39 of them (including cats & dogs!!!). The shots have done wonders for me... are you guys going to start allergy shots?!!
 
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Allergy shots work. I had them done as a child too. I wasn't aware that they were available for animals.

Frustrating that 99% of the allergy tests are for environmental allergens.

Food is really what sets bully's allergies off.

There are food allergy tests for humans, but many doctors I've spoken to (even alternative ones) say they are not useful, and often contradict themselves when repeated in the same person.

Wish there were a reliable food allergy test. But its too difficult to do. Contact allergies on skin surface provide a very easy, quick way to see a reaction.

Dumping something down your throat is a whole other world.
 

s5nelson

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Holy cow! Dogs allergic to cats?! I've never heard of such a thing ha!

I also had allergy shots when I was younger and they helped a lot. It wasn't fun while getting them since they inject you with everything you're allergic to, but overall it has helped.

Maybe you could get an air purifier and see if that doesn't help? I'm allergic to lots of things and even with vacuuming and cleaning the house thoroughly, I find that sometimes I still have problems. I've noticed significant relief with an air purifier.
 
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nubonics

nubonics

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That is the craziest thing I've ever heard :stars: I had skin testing 2 years ago, and out of 42 things I was allergic to 39 of them (including cats & dogs!!!). The shots have done wonders for me... are you guys going to start allergy shots?!!

I'm not sure what the treatment plan is yet. Right now because his skin is so out of control the vet wants to get the issues under control before moving on to a permanent plan

He also said in concern to food allergies that since his environment allergies are so bad we aren't going to be able to figure out if he actually allergic to any foods because his breakouts are so unpredictable.

He has a food test too but I don't think I will go with that unless things don't improve.

His current medications are (some antibiotics are thrown in there because of his most recent bacterial infection)

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nubonics

nubonics

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Maybe you could get an air purifier and see if that doesn't help? I'm allergic to lots of things and even with vacuuming and cleaning the house thoroughly, I find that sometimes I still have problems. I've noticed significant relief with an air purifier.

The vet suggested that too. The place we are at right now is a real open loft type layout with really tall ceilings so I'm not sure how effective it will be here but we will try it in our next place (We PCS next summer)




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s5nelson

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The vet suggested that too. The place we are at right now is a real open loft type layout with really tall ceilings so I'm not sure how effective it will be here but we will try it in our next place (We PCS next summer)

Yeah, unfortunately, the only air purifiers that I've found that cover the large open areas are upwards of $500. Best of luck to you and I definitely feel for you!
 

ddnene

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I'm not sure what the treatment plan is yet. Right now because his skin is so out of control the vet wants to get the issues under control before moving on to a permanent plan

He also said in concern to food allergies that since his environment allergies are so bad we aren't going to be able to figure out if he actually allergic to any foods because his breakouts are so unpredictable.

He has a food test too but I don't think I will go with that unless things don't improve.

His current medications are (some antibiotics are thrown in there because of his most recent bacterial infection)

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I'm so sorry... :( Usually when they start the shots, it jumps starts the immune system so he won't develop more allergens. I hope they can figure out something soon... Keep us posted!!!
 

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