My Maltese has skin Allergies HELP !!!!!!

[littlephoenix]

so it has now been 2 full months and my maltese still is not better, 2 months ago i noticed little hot spots that eventually dry up with a crusty outside that flakes off and falls, but this keeps happening, so i took him to the vat and doctor told me he has skin allergies due to a flea bite or something along those lines. so he gave him a shot and put the cone collar on him to prevent him from biting himself for the itching as his saliva makes the hot spots worse. o ya also gave me prednozone i think 5Mg, so i noticed the sports going away after 2 weeks, so i took his cone collar off and noticed him biting his tail again, next thing i know the hot spots are back in couple of days. so now it has been 2 months and i have taken him to the vat 4 times, spent so much money and these spots are just not going away, i guess its some sort of skin fungus, has anyone had this problem before? Im thinking is skin mites but i did ask the doctor and he said it is not mites, but i really dont know, i feel so bad for him with that cone around his neck, and the itching etc. please if anyone knows of this issue let me know what it can be,
thank you so much everyone.

 

[MafiaPrincess]

What are you feeding your dog?

 

[littlephoenix]

its not the food, i've changed the food 4 times now and i am 100% its not the food

 

[Tazwell]

Higher quality foods can elminate allergies, sometimes. If you're switching from Purina, to Alpo, to Iams, to Science diet, to other super-market brands like that, then it wouldn't help. If you haven't already, try switching her to a very good brand-- like Chicken soup for the dog lover's soul (The cheapest good brand I can find) Canidae, or Innova. It's the low-quality ingredients that usually cause the allergies.

I'm not an expert on allergies, but they can be caused by anything. I think the vet can test for a few different causes... somebody correct me if I'm wrong, please...

Have you tried giving her Benadryl at all?

 

[~Jessie~]

I would first look at the ingredients of the food you are feeding... some common allergens are corn, beef, and wheat.

I would switch to a high quality food, and give it time to see if anything changes. An elimination diet usually takes 4-6 months.

 

[littlephoenix]

thanks for the quick replies, i have changed his food a few times, hes on purina ONE now but i really dont think its the food, before this happened he did have fleas, doctor said its from a flea bite, Benadryl i have not tried, hmm ,,i think i should take pictures of the hot spots and post it online, might help

 

[SummerRiot]

Purina is not a high quality food at all.

I suggest getting your pup on something like Innova Evo or Canidea or even California Natural (this one has an allergy helping formula as well).

Do you have your dog on any type of flea prevenative that kills adult feels as well as the other 3 stages of them??
If its from fleas anyways..

If its a skin allergy, its called atopy. Which is inevitable. The best treatment is prevention.

Ask your vet about Venectyl P ... This is an allergy steroid that works the first time its administer and you only need to give it on the most minimum dose you can get it to work for as well as long as your pup is showing signs.

Then there is also Benadryl - ask your vet about dosage though.

There is also allergy testing you can get done as well. Its just a simple blood test. Some clinics dont offer it though, so again you'd have to ask your vet about that.

ALSO i'd start adding Omega 3 fatty acids into your pups diet.

 

[~Jessie~]

Here are the ingredients to Purina One:

Lamb, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, oat meal, fish meal (source of DHA), whole grain corn, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), poultry by-product meal, non-fat yogurt, animal digest, calcium phosphate, potassium chloride, caramel color, calcium carbonate, salt, choline chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.
L-4163

The ingredients are very low quality, and there are quite a few allergens in this food. Honestly, I would switch to a higher quality food and see what happens.

Some higher quality foods are:

Innova
Innova EVO
Orijen
Canidae
Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul

And there are many, many more.

There are also specific allergy foods such as:

California Naturals
Wellness Simple Solutions
Natural Balance Duck & Potato

...to name a few.

 

[littlephoenix]

Do you have your dog on any type of flea prevenative that kills adult feels as well as the other 3 stages of them??

Then there is also Benadryl - ask your vet about dosage though.

thanks so much for the great info, as for flea prevention, he is on advantix every month and that is how i got rid of the fleas in the first place, so he is flea free now but i do believe the skin allergies are from a flea bite.

i have been reading and seems like i should try benadryl, i will ask my vet tomorrow, but i have taken him 4 times now to get him looked at and every time he gives my dog a steroid shot which seems to be working and the rash hot spots do go away but they come right back as soon as he bites and licks a hot spot on his tail, i dont know this has just been a nightmare for me as well as for him with the itching and the neck cone

 

[littlephoenix]

here is the thing with food, he was on the same food for 4 years and never had skin issues, so why would he get skin allergies after 4 years , so i dont think its the food although i will change his food and try Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul as i've read many times this is a good one.

 

[SummerRiot]

As dogs age, their allergies seem to increase for some reason.

As far as Venectyl P goes - its a pill that they can take.

Ask your vet about that as well.

 

[littlephoenix]

thanks SummerRiot, i will ask for my vet for Venectyl im desperate at this point so ill try anything

 

[AnimalLoverCatRescuer]

whether it is a flea allergy or not, I would get him off the crappy food and on to some healthy food. Just for his overall wellness, better (and less) stool, less problems and vet visits, etc... Just something to think about but I wanted to repeat the importance of feeding quality food.

Good luck with your dog!

 

[Tazwell]

My Mom's yorkie always had very itchy skin, with a few hot spots every now and then. We suspected allergies, but never really knew for sure. She was eating Nutro Max when she was a puppy, then Nutro Natural when she was older. Nutro Natural isn't that bad of a food, so I didn't think much of it. Then when we switched all the dogs to Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's soul, she stopped itching

 

[littlephoenix]

o ya i will be switching his food asap now that i have read so much about Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's soul, actually ill order some right now ))
we will be going to another vet this week so i will keep you guys posted on what they say and i will also take some pictures of the hot spots that eventually dry up and flake and post them here just for anyone else that has the same issue can relate,

 

[littlephoenix]

ok so im back, took my dog to another vet and he said the same thing, its allergies and fungus on the skin from a flea or tick or something,, and he cannot bite it or it will get worse, i need to take some pictures and post it so you guys can see the rash, but just so weird that no one has had this rash on their dog, its been 2 months now and still nothing

 

[angie8023]

I am going through the exact same thing that you are. My dog has the same symptoms and I have spent tons of money at the vet. He just started scratching again. I did notice that when I take him to my parents house he does not itch or gnaw on himself nearly as much. So maybe it's something in my apartment. As far as food goes he was on Nutro Puppy, he turned one and we put him on the Costco Kirkland brand of food. The itching hasn't stopped on any food. The vet gave me some prescribed food but he wouldn't touch it! I am taking him back to the vet tomorrow. I will let you know what he says.

 

[Herschel]

My neighbor had skin issues with her Schnauzer and her beard/paws kept staining red. A few vets mentioned that its an allergic reaction and it has to do with the air, water, fleas, etc.

I recommended she switch foods. First, she switched to California Natural and things improved, then she switched to Canidae. No more redness.

Way to go, Vets.

 

[goldiefur]

This sounds jut like what happened to my dog! It started in his first year he was itchy and had red spots all over him some looked like hives and some were moist sores maybe from him biting so much. It was terrible he was having so much discomfort. My vet tested him for everything under the sun we even went the steroid route for a while then we tried (believe it or not) FRONTLINE PLUS. It was like a miracle within the first week after treatment he started clearing up and within the first 2 months treatment there was not one sore or rash anywhere on him.

So it ended up being flea allergy at first I could not believe it because luckily we do not have a flea problem very rarely I would see a few fleas on him. When I washed him I would see like five fleas to give you an example. The few fleas we had was enough to set him off. So we started treating all the dogs and we treated the yard. Now I only seem to have to give him Frontline plus 2 to 3 times a year mostly during the summer if I see him starting to bite and itch I give him a treatment and it usually lasts him months. He has not had a breakout like that since the first Frontline plus treatment. I would ask your vet first before you start it and hopefully it will help your dog.

 

[goldiefur]

Also my vet told me feeding and watering the dogs out of plastic bowls can cause allergic reactions. He told me to switch to ceramic, glass, or stainless steel bowls. I switched to stainless steel and I have not had a problem.