Atopic Dermatitis

[peigirl]

As some of you may know Rafael has been thru the ringer in the past 8 months with atopic allergies and food intolerances. His atopic allergies are quite severe (as diagnosed with intradermal skin testing) and he is allergic to almost every grass, weed and tree pollen you can imagine. He is so sensitive in fact he can not tolerate the immunotherapy to gradually increase his resistance to these allergies

Currently I have been controlling his atopic allergies with claratyne – one tablet morning and night as I am avoiding cortisone unless absolutely necessary. This dosage has been built up over a period of time. Rafael’s atopic dermatitis primarily manifests as very waxy ears which require constant cleaning. He has perfect skin and coat.

I was curious to know how other people manage very strong atopic dermatitis without cortisone, particularly at this time of year when all the pollens are in overdrive. Rafael unfortunately is slowly developing a resistance to claratyne so I am needing to look at other options.

[Guest magnum]

You may wish to ask your vet about "Atopica" a drug just for your dogs problem..

[Faolmor]

we have managed to control our dog's Atopy with diet and only use meds when he has a big flare up - which he has not had in over a year now. Every dog is different however, so what has worked for us, might not work for any other dog. Or it might. We stopped feeding everything except for roo meat and vegies. We fed that exclusively for a long time until he settled down, medicating very occasionally for one or two days only when we saw a flare-up. Now, we can even feed a cup of kibble each day, because he has had such a good response. But like I said...that's just one dog...

[peigirl]

Faolmor thanks for your reply. It's great to hear you can keep your boys atopy in check with diet.

Rafael also has food intolerances. That’s a whole other, very long story To make it brief he has been on an elimination diet for the past 8-9 months (the last 5 of which have been on a roo and vege diet). He is mostly stable on this diet but when the atopic allergies flare, it upsets his gut and bowel and everything just goes straight through him. He eats a ridiculous amount of food each day and he is still super skinny.

Magnum, I will look into Atopica. Thank you.

[Staff'n'Toller]

The makers of Atopica have reduced their prices a fair bit just recently. Cyclosporin has it's own pros and cons, so discuss it with your specialist.

Mel.

Edited March 16, 2007 by Staff'n'Toller

[*Avanti*]

The makers of Atopica have reduced their prices a fair bit just recently. Cyclosporin has it's own pros and cons, so discuss it with your specialist.

Mel.

That's good to hear.

Edited to ask if anyone knows the pros and cons of Cyclosporin? There doesn't seem to be much info available?

Edited August 3, 2009 by WhiteEagle

[Staff'n'Toller]

Yes it costs a small fortune. Even as a Vet Nurse I don't think I could afford it.

It has come down quite considerably- as it should have- we thought it was prohibitive.

Mel.

[Faolmor]

Faolmor thanks for your reply. It's great to hear you can keep your boys atopy in check with diet.

Rafael also has food intolerances. That’s a whole other, very long story To make it brief he has been on an elimination diet for the past 8-9 months (the last 5 of which have been on a roo and vege diet). He is mostly stable on this diet but when the atopic allergies flare, it upsets his gut and bowel and everything just goes straight through him. He eats a ridiculous amount of food each day and he is still super skinny.

Magnum, I will look into Atopica. Thank you.

Hi Peigirl

Yep, our dog is the same. If he has a flare up, it also affects the gut/bowel and we get spectacular amounts of poo - usually in the crate at 3am, which, you know, is just SO much fun...especially once it is trodden in, and squished, and then smeared across the floor while we try to get the poor dog outside...

But (touch wood) this has not happened in ages. We still have to be really careful what we feed him. We had a lot of trouble getting weight on him for a long time. Even now, he's probably 10kgs lighter than most other dogs of his breed. But he is starting to look healthy rather than emaciated. I guess the trick for us was perserving with the diet that worked for him, even when we had minor set-backs. I really hope your dog enjoys the same outcome as ours! Good luck, and give your dog a pat from me

[zayda_asher]

Hi... sorry to hear you and Raf are still having so many problems (sorry I never PMd you... problems at this end too <sigh>)...

Some of the things that have helped our guys (and I'm sure you're doing some of this):

1) Regular baths, even twice a week if needed. But not with medicated shampoo, colloidal oatmeal works better... However his skin is pretty good isn't it, so that might not apply.

2) Asher does excellent with a daily oral dose of 1000mg of Pau D'arco (is a natural antimacrobial) and then I use it as a tea rinse when he breaks out on his skin. This can be used in the ears.

3) Grapefruit Seed Extract in their food, 1 drop per 5 kilos. This is also an antimacrobial and can be diluted for use on the skin (prolly again no use for Raf). Its also an antiparasitical.

4) Dermotic and antibiotics for ears when they get really bad

5) Some homeopathic remedies like Sulfur really help with the itching (surely there would be something for ear infections)

Also if you can I'd get rid of all your grass and get it paved... even getting rid of most of your plants if you have any he is allergic to in the yard (understand this is problematic if you are renting).

Does he have mould allergies? I can't remember... Any ways for Zayda keeping her warm and dry with her mould allergies is a big improvement. Keeping the ears cleaned out too.

Oh for the poops we use the aloe vera caps (which I know you were doing) and probiotics. My guys get a digestive enzyme everyday as the allergies do stop them from absorbing all their nutrients (we had weight gain problems for a long time too!). You will prolly want to look for the plant based ones for Raf if he has any problems with pork and/or lactose.

I've also just started experimenting with adding olive leaf extract (for immune system) to their food and this seems to be helping some.

Sharon and I have talked about Atopica for Zayda, but me being me is not going to do this until I've tried everything else that I consdier less damaging than immunosupressants. But if he is this bad and nothing is helping then maybe its worth disucssing!

Vitamin C also helps with some dogs, but beware that this one needs to be taken to bowel tollerance so can cause more runs when trying to work that out!

Oh, definitely diet... but as you say that is another saga you are trying to sort out, so once you have that may well make a difference too!

Um, I'm trying to think of what else... If I do think of anything I'll let you know. :D

Good luck and to both of you!

Dan

Edited March 17, 2007 by zayda_asher

[chuckie500]

I found this article some time ago & through it was good.

http://allergies.about.com/gi/dynamic/offs...%2Fvetatop1.htm

[SoL]

My girl Zulu is a bugger for itchy scratchy skin. I started with Emu Oil, it cleared up but came back even though we're still slapping it on her. I've now started with Dermaveen cream as it is colloidal oatmeal so we will see how that goes but I'm very interested in the food additives.

She is pregnant so I am not going for the corticosteroid and antibiotic treatments. If there was one essential addition to help here, what would it be?

(Sorry to hijack)

Edited March 18, 2007 by emmark

[zayda_asher]

My girl Zulu is a bugger for itchy scratchy skin. I started with Emu Oil, it cleared up but came back even though we're still slapping it on her. I've now started with Dermaveen cream as it is colloidal oatmeal so we will see how that goes but I'm very interested in the food additives.

She is pregnant so I am not going for the corticosteroid and antibiotic treatments. If there was one essential addition to help here, what would it be?

(Sorry to hijack)

Have you established that she has allergies? I think the single most important thing you can do is see a dermatologist, establish that it is allergies (there are a lot of things that cause itchy skin) and then have the allergy testing done to find out what she is allergic to. You can't begin to successfully control allergies (there's no cure) if you don't know what is causing them. That can even be allergic to the things we use to try and improve their skin (such as the emu or fish oil). My boy is allergic to Tea tree, Daisies / Dandelions and Yellow Dock... all of these things are used in preparations for skin and other healing treatments... If I was using them unknowingly because they are "good for skin" I would be making his skin a lot worse! So if we don't know what the allergies are we can be making them unintentionally worse. There is no one essential treatment because each dog is individual in their symptoms, what they are allergic to and what will work for them.

ETA: You'd Probably know too that Staffords are prone to allergies (so its quite possible she is)? Atopic (air born) allergies (its thought all, but has only been proven with Atopic) are an inheritable condition... So that's another good reason to see a Derm and make sure it is or isn't allergies.

Good luck with her.

Edited March 18, 2007 by zayda_asher

[peigirl]

Dan you're an as always. Thank you for all the info. I will PM you.

Big loves to Zayda and Asher

[JulesP]

I get really bad hayfever myself and try to avoid going outside early morning (6-7ish) as the pollen rises then. It comes back down in the early evening (6-7pm!). You could try keeping your doggie inside then? Early morning is when I imagine even inside doggies go out for a wee! With the hayfever tablets I did have to constantly change them as they do stop working after a while. You could also try wiping doggy down with a damp cloth after he has been outside, to get any pollen off him.

[zayda_asher]

Dan you're an ;) as always. Thank you for all the info. I will PM you.

Big loves to Zayda and Asher

Awwww! No problems... I hope some of it helps... look forward to hearing from you...

Zayda and Asher send big kisses and waggly bully butt wiggles!

Hugs to you and Raf

[zayda_asher]

I get really bad hayfever myself and try to avoid going outside early morning (6-7ish) as the pollen rises then. It comes back down in the early evening (6-7pm!). You could try keeping your doggie inside then? Early morning is when I imagine even inside doggies go out for a wee! With the hayfever tablets I did have to constantly change them as they do stop working after a while. You could also try wiping doggy down with a damp cloth after he has been outside, to get any pollen off him.

Yeah, they are all great ideas! I've done various combinations of those with my guys... and this reminded me of another thing. Zayda gets REALLY gunky eyes with the mould allergy and we use antihistamine eye drops called Patanol (they are actually human ones and if any of you guys suffer these are THE BEST eye drops I have ever used!) as well. I know if its a damp/humid or very cold day she will probably need drops. ;)