allergies

Poor Mac. The 11 year-old Scottish Terrier has suffered from allergies most of his life. “Itchy spots, He’ll claw at them. Some of them were flea bites, allergic to fleas. He would just scratch them, scratch them until he would get the spots raw,” his owner Elizabeth Tubbs told Channel 9 in east Texas.

In February, however, he started a treatment called cold laser therapy. Mac receives the three minute treatments 1-2 times a week.

“Since we’ve been doing the lasers, the hair come back. He’s still scratching some, but no where near the quantity he used to,” said his vet, Dr Shilling.

Tagged as: allergies

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This is the absolute worst time of year for many allergy sufferers be they human or canine so the the Scottish Terrier and Dog News is happy to offer up a new tip from Sue, whose previous advice on itchy skin allergies was extremely helpful. She writes:

A friend suggested that I try Gold Bond powder. She read about it on the Internet. It seemed like a low risk approach given that it was endorsed on numerous websites. Guess what? It worked immediately and lasted for several hours. On the down side, it’s a bit messy. I still bathe her frequently but now I alternate between the allergy pills (Benadryl, 25 mg. generic brand) and the powder.

Finally, another distraction I use is to fill her Kong with peanut butter. It’s good for half an hour.

Hope this helps. Thanks again for a great site.

Thanks for the great contributions. It’s awful to see a dog in discomfort due to itchiness.

Tagged as: allergies

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If you read the Scottish Terrier and Dog News in newsletter or RSS form, you might not have seen all the comments about skin allergies on the original post about ailing Smokie. Readers also emailed many helpful suggestions which I plan to bring together into one post some time in the very near future.

Thank you very much, everyone, and we will wait to hear what happens with Smokie while wishing him a full recovery.

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Update: Along with the many helpful comments you can read below, the Scottish Terrier and Dog News received numerous emails with excellent, insightful information, all of which have been passed on to Jeanne. Among the tips to help Smokie get better were the contacts for San Antonio Scottie Rescue and a suggestion to contact the veterinary college at Texas A and M.

When I wrote to Jeanne and passed the emails along, I also put in my two cents — that you can’t take everyone’s advice and what works for one dog won’t necessarily work for all.

I also said: “The two suggestions that really stand out for me, however, are 1) Get some food into Smokie asap and 2) Get him to to the vet — Texas A and M–  if possible.” As well, I really liked the idea of contacting San Antonio rescue and using them as a resource.

I would like to sincerely thank everyone for their compassion, concern and very concrete advice. It was clear to me that the thoughts of Scottie News readers are with Jane and that we all want Smokie to get better. Thank you, everybody.
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A reader writes:

I have read all of the comments on Scottie allergies. My Smokie has been fighting some kind of allergy since we moved from NW Arizona to the SanAntonio area of Texas 4 years ago. We did the prednisone, atopica, you name it, the vet tried it, also benedryl, also a dose of antibiotics.

My first thought was also food, changed him to limited ingredient diet three and a half yrs ago. No change. Had been using K9Advantix for fleas and mosquitoes since leaving AZ., however, the fleas still had to BITE him to die! I purchased a product called Shoo Tag, electro-magnetic strips, like a credit card, one for each bug. No more bites. That really seemed to help for a while, the hair grew back on his back-side and chest. Then it started over again, only this time he was also throwing up every morning. Xrays, blood tests, sonograms, later, still itching to the point of not being able to stop. Baby socks on the feet helped the foot and leg chewing. After the antibiotics for a week in case there was some kind on stomach infection, and a topical antibacterial spray called Genesis, the itching again got some better for a few weeks and then started again and just as bad.

During all this extreme itching and throwing up every morning, Smokie started losing weight. Suprise! My vet gave up and sent us to the dermatoligist. A whole lot of money and a month later, Smokie is mildly allergic to Mesquite, some grasses and dust mites. They don’t have any idea why he throws up every morning, but for $2000.00 the internal specialist will “scope” him to “see if there is anything wrong internally”

Smokie has always been a finicky eater, he was a rescue at 2 or 3 years old, 10 years ago. Never really liked dog food but would eat it if it had just a taste of what ever WE had for supper. After agreeing and submitting Smokie to the Derm. Vet’s idea of a food trial, potato and rabbit, which Smokie would not eat, did not eat for 6 days, I bought some rabbit, cooked it and he ate a half cup. since then have been trying to get him to eat every other hour, anything that I can get into him. He has always preferred chicken to anything, even made chicken noodle soup, but he will still only eat a couple tablespoons at a time. He is skin and bones. He does not throw up his food, just mucus, white thru yellow to brown. He is throwing up 6 days out of 7, and sometimes more than once a day. Now seems to have a lot of trouble clearing his throat and nose afterward. Does not want to go for his daily walks, which he just loves. Sleeps a lot.

I just do not know what to do for him. Am bathing weekly and more, using vet shampoo, medicated, added conditioner, at my wits end. After reading all of the notes from others, am going to get some plain yogurt today. No more chicken, but how do I get him to eat? What could be causing him to throw up? Any help I can get will be most appreciated. My husband passed away a year ago, I cannot stand the idea of loosing Smokie too, he is too young, the vets are missing something, really need some help. Thank you so very much. Jeanne

If anyone has advice for Jeanne, please comment or email scottishterriernews@gmail.com and I will pass it on.

Tagged as: allergies

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It’s that time of year and Bridget is starting to get a bit itchy again so this helpful note on allergies from a new reader was perfectly timed: Our 7 year old Scottie Maggie also has seasonal skin problems. The itch is close to unbearable for her. This is what I’ve learned:

1. We’ve tried many different treatments but have settled on frequent bathing as the most effective. We use an anti-seborrheic and dry skin shampoo called Allergroom (it’s also hypoallergenic) followed by an oatmeal cream rinse and conditioner called Epi-Soothe. Our vet said they can be used as often as necessary. We bathe her two or three times a week when the itch is really bad and as it improves we taper off to weekly. I may try using a medicated shampoo which you referenced to see if it cuts down on the frequent baths which she hates (why, I don’t know because she’ll plunge into the frigid waters of Lake Ontario to chase ducks and seagulls).

2. We also give her generic anti-histamine tablets (for humans) to relieve the itch, again just when it’s really bad. The vet endorsed the use of ‘human’ pills and recommended the dosage and frequency. Yes, price matters!

3. Finally, we try to distract her from the itching/scratching continuum by making her environment as stimulating as possible. This includes going for walks, spending time in the yard (in and out of the house about 300 times a day), access to windows when indoors so she can keep a close watch on the squirrel population and bringing her along in the car when we’re doing short errands.

All in all I’m satisfied with this approach. It’s effective and avoids us having to shipping kangaroo meat from Australia (!).

I had never heard of a kangaroo meat diet for allergies until this note arrived, but, yes, it is recommended by some. Scottie News will try and look into it further.

Tagged as: allergies

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