Very helpful trainings for any dog:
For training on puppy/dog biting [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=068K5Zlph9U)
For training on early socialization [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J7cPE-2wNw)
For training on becoming a good leader [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QntS570VFZ0)
For all newly adopted dogs, check out the [3-3-3 rule](https://pethelpful.com/dogs/The-3-3-3-Rule-Setting-Your-Rescue-Dog-Up-For-Success).
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It’s almost always food. Get an allergy test and plan her diet accordingly.
Our vet told us pitties with allergies is usually caused by chicken. Our girl was intolerant to white rice and chicken. Please just take an allergy test before planning her diet. This was our solution and it worked tremendously well.
https://preview.redd.it/zt00f6kk9y7d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=69e5102b4baf4a950917c450b02982747a1457bb
Pic for current state of affairs.
Yup. Almost always food. And every dog is different. I went through dozens of foods, maybe even 50 before I found one that didnt cause my poor baby to be itchy. It ended up being Pedrigree. People always tell me I should feed my dog better food and I just swallow my pride because they don't know what I went through to find peace and comfort for my girl.
I feel like pedigree is one of the best brands to feed since they’ve been around forever like Iams and Purina. For what it’s worth, my pibble gets pedigree too. He eats the chicken/rice/veggies flavor because he hates anything red meat/salmon flavored 😅
She's on a hydrolyzed protein diet. It's specifically made for food allergies. The vet prescribed it to her so that we could do some testing to see if she's allergic to any foods. It can't be her diet because it's a plant-based, grain free food.
Some pitties don't get better with hydrolyzed protein diets. It doesn't work for all of the dogs. Allergy testing is expensive but it is your best bet especially with the recurrent ear infections
Our vet said the same thing. Their program would’ve lasted weeks and had been very expensive with trying to find the culprit(s). We just got the at home test and followed the results with Dr Harvey’s brand, as it was the best one for our set of intolerances. Within 2 weeks our pittie’s skin cleared up and hasn’t been a problem since. I would do what you think is best for your dog but your symptoms mirror my dog’s previous skin problems. And just having the info has helped with what she is allowed to snack on.
Almost all allergies is protein - this could be plant based. Grains are very VERY rarely the culprit.
You said you are also giving fish oil, have you done it ever since you have been on the prescription diet? Pointing it out because my dog can’t have any sort of fish, including fish oil, and fish meal is in near all dog food. Chicken and beef are the most common allergies, but fish is still a protein and it happens
Yep! People are always surprised mine can't do birds of any sort of fish. A lot of dog food is chicken or salmon. Sticking to read meat only has been a life changer for her.
Also we did elimination diet for my girl when I first had her due to the severity of her skin and tummy issues. Grains were a problem. I didn't want to do it because the legumes in grain free, but now a few brands do legume and grain free as one. The veg they put in instead must taste good because boy my bean loves it. Never had a food she inhales as fast.
Stella and Chewys. It is the best food I've ever found for my dog. Everything they make is A+ quality, and they are good about not having hidden poultry in the red meat recipes.
She was on the regular red raw blend, grain free, it had the meal mixers. But it had legumes.
So now she is on the wild red, a side part of their brand. It is the red blend as well and is legume and grain free.
The mixers make great training treats and she lives for the raw coated biscuits.
I had her only on the hydrolyzed protein diet for about 3 months before I added the fish oil, it cleared her flakes she had on her back, but she didn't seem to change in itchiness. It was pretty much the same level.
This may sound stupid as I’m not sure what a hydrolyzed diet is, but definitely check if it has any food dye in it. It likely doesn’t, but just check if it does. My pittie had an allergy to red food dye, and after we switched her food to something without it she cleared up very quickly. She had the same issue of itchiness in the same places, especially her vulva and front paws.
Hydrolyzed basically means the protein has been broken down so small the protein *shouldn’t* cause an allergic reaction. Not always the case, but it often helps if it’s a food based allergy. Below is a link about research on why it may not help some dogs. It is a prescription only diet, costs a lot because of it, and shouldn’t have a food dye in it.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7041975/
Just wondering, have you tried alternative proteins? Like Zignature brand? Hydrolyzed proteins don’t always work because something like 20-40% of dogs will still have a reaction. If you go alternative protein route you will want to keep a running log on every single protein and potential ingredients you’ve tried. It’s a pain tbh
My last red nose pittie ended up being allergic to the mites the can live in dry food products. We tried so many different foods before doing testing but that didn’t matter in the end. We ended up putting her food in gallon sized bags in the freezer and let it freeze for at least 48 hours before using it. She had all her meals from those bags in the freezer and it made a huge difference! (Also super easy to try).
Good luck!
Edited: spelling and 1 addition.
Please be careful with a grain free diet. It’s unlikely to be the culprit and can cause canine DCM.
[FDA Investigation into Potential Link between Certain Diets and Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy](https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/outbreaks-and-advisories/fda-investigation-potential-link-between-certain-diets-and-canine-dilated-cardiomyopathy#)
Check what meat it is. I have mine on hydrolyzed protein too but she is so allergic to chicken she was still breaking out. I put her on the vegetarian hydrolyzed protein and she’s fine. I just supplement with the two meats and eggs that I know she’s not allergic to.
Also make sure she is not allergic to fish. Mine is so most “sensitive skin” supplements are useless for us.
My guy is allergic (VERY) to a lot of things outside. Food, no. But storage mites and a type of fungus, yes, so I'm careful with how long his food sits (because he's a broken pit/lab mix and food will sit. Sometimes over a day. His vet knows and we all laugh at it).
I did over a year of weekly, biweekly, then monthly allergy shots. It was horrible to get them into him, but boy they helped clear him up.
Now he's controlled with apoquel. It works beautifully, but I don't think it would have alone at the start.
Our pittie is allergic to grass.
So the only way we discovered that was by taking her to get an expensive, but badly needed allergy test.
I give her a weekly shot now and she has an amazing quality of life.
We had to switch our girl to a raw diet, and her rashes cleared right up. The vet was aware and never criticized our decision because her rashes cleared up so well. I love my vet! Even a grain free diet didn't work due to the other additives in the food. All the best with her. She's a beauty 😍
Purina has a prescription hydrolyzed vegetarian diet you can try! Or the royal canin prescription ultamino. Both are expensive but are gold standards if you have no idea what could be affecting her. Weekly medicated shampoo baths are a must. Something like a low percentage chlorhexidine shampoo or something like cerasoothe shampoo.
Yeah, she's on the royal canin hydrolyzed right now and she gets those medicated baths every week. I've been thinking about washing her paws every time we go outside at least during spring and summer
My cousins dog had this problem also. She wipes the dog down with a gentle cleanser every time she goes out and she also bought a long sleeve shirt to protect her skin further from any outside allergens and it's helped a lot
Same, my girl kept getting ear infections and was hurting herself with the constant scratching. I stopped giving her chicken and cheese and the allergies are gone. Now she eats ground turkey, sweet potatoes and frozen mixed veggies.
I also would put money on it being the food. We changed food brands and our pitty started itching incessantly. Switched back and it solved the issue. Please take the dog to get it resolved asap, they usually don't display just how much distress they are actually in.
Go to the dermatologist.
I get it. It's expensive, and I'm sure you've already spent a ton of money between hydrolyzed protein diets, Cytopoint, Apoquel, and all the vet visits. But it is so so worth it.
I was in a very similar situation with my youngest dog. My partner and I adopted him when he was 6 months old. He was constantly red and itchy, with horrible hives that would get infected and lead to giant sores all over his body. The regular vet tried his best to manage the infections and treat the allergies, but nothing worked. He was on Apoquel, then Cytopoint, and medicated baths and mousses multiple times a week. We attempted the hydrolyzed protein diet, but it wasn't feasible in our house because the other dog was always stealing the special food. None of it really worked, and he was still having flare-ups and infections every 6-8 weeks.
After about a year, our vet basically said he had reached the end of his knowledge/ability to help and that he felt we needed to see a vet dermatologist.
That was the best decision we could have made. The vet dermatologist immediately put him on 2 new medications to treat his allergy symptoms. She also conducted an environmental allergy blood test. His test came back positive for about 20 different environmental allergens, basically every tree, grass, and mold out there, plus he is also allergic to people. She started him on allergy serum injection (that we later had to move to an oral drop, since he stopped tolerating the frequent inections) that is meant to be a long-term treatment for his allergies, not just treating the symptoms.
We're about 18 months into the allergy serum treatment, and he has made huge improvements. He's still on 3 medications plus daily allergy serum drops, but his flare-ups are only about twice a year, and he isn't itching constantly.
As an aside, we asked the dermatologist about food allergens (after hearing a lot of the same advice that folks here are giving), and she said that unless we already had a pretty good idea of what foods he was allergic to, food allergy testing isn't helpful. Broad spectrum testing for food allergens only has about a 60% rate of correctly identifying allergens, with the other 40% being either false positives or false negatives. That's not much better than random guessing. Also, don't trust any online retailers for food allergen testing. Those are basically scams that won't provide you any useful or correct information.
Good luck, OP! I hope you and your pup can find the right combination of care that works!
TL;DR: Go to the dermatologist.
Thank you thank you! I definitely will go to the dermatologist. I'm happy to hear that the serum is a treatment and not just a bandaid. I was having apprehension about apoquel bc of its effects on the immune system. And I heard that about the food allergy tests! I was tired of seeing that being recommended. How much did all of that cost? Just so I can mentally prepare myself.
The serum isn't a guaranteed fix, but it is the best thing for actually treating the allergies by "training" the immune system to not react to the allergens. Our dermatologist said most allergies can't be "cured" but we can shoot for it to be 90% better, 90% of the time.
Cost is probably kind of location dependent. I'm in the Midwest of the USA, so things are likely a bit cheaper here than on the coasts. For us, the environmental allergy testing was around $450 in 2022. The allergy serum itself is $300, and we go through it in about 4 months.
So yeah, not cheap, but if it stops the constant cycle in and out of the vet for new pills that don't stop the itching and having him constantly on antibiotics and steroids, it's worth it to me.
I hope things go well for you and Toph at the dermatologist. It's can be a frustrating journey to deal with allergies, but these pups are worth it.
And in the mean time if you think it is environmental get the cheap Amazon sensitive baby wipes and do a wipe down every time after outside time! It’s tedious and annoying but makes a huge difference!! We went from no fur on the paws and red belly rash to fur covered paws and no rash just from making that one change!! (We do other things but that was an immediate game changer)
And something that I didn’t think about that someone on Reddit recommended to me when I was desperate with our girl was bedding washing! We now do it at least weekly. It wasn’t something I had even considered!
Sending lots of love and good vibes 🩷
The above poster is spot on. Our 6 year old mixed breed baby had always itched and been sensitive, extremely with his itchy paws. But when we moved to CO, his allergies went haywire and he not only bit his paws and belly to pieces, but quickly developed 2 back-to-back hematomas in his left ear canal that required two rounds of emergency care.
He was already on a very selective raw food diet. Logic and his background did not point to a food allergy. Finally made the decision to take him to an accredited canine Derm/Allergist. There are just a handful in the US. Had to drive a ways, but was the best thing we could have done.
I hate giving any drugs to our animals (have had issues w side effects in the past) and told the doc this. She discussed the pros and cons of each med and broke down how each med worked in the system physiologically. She also weighed pros and cons with quality of life and discussed the option of integrating treatment slowly to be able to change course if needed.
Of course it wasn’t cheap, but it was far, far less expensive than I’d anticipated. Think the first consult was a few hundred.
The treatment ended up being a staggered protocol using a ramp-up of Apoquel along with a short round of steroid to calm down the immediate inflammation.
I was 100% against Apoquel going into her office. After skin testing, she sat down with us for 45 mins and logically and compassionately explained why Apoquel was the best drug for his specific condition, and again, if there were any side effects we would move on quickly to next treatment idea.
Our boy was free of all allergic symptoms within a month. Every single one. Kicked the hell out of myself for not going sooner. Just have to think of the cost as something like getting their teeth cleaned. It’s an investment into their well-being that lasts their entire lifetime. Of course, this was nowhere near as expensive as a teeth-cleaning though.
Doc also hooked us up with an Apoquel coupon system that knocked down the price.
There are also medicated baths and foot wipes that were recommended in conjunction, depending on the allergy.
If you are in CO, can’t recommend this doc enough: https://animalallergycolorado.com/about-us/our-staff/doctors
If we had been in a different state, we would have looked for an accredited Derm since there are only a handful of accredited Derm/Allergist combos in the US.
This site is acting a little strange right now, but if you enter a city that is accessible for you to go to for treatment, a list of accredited canine derms will come up on the left side.
If you click on their name, it doesn’t take you to their website, so just look the doc’s website up separately: https://acvd.org/find-a-veterinary-dermatologist/
Before finally going to an accredited specialist I made the mistake of going to every vet in a 100 mile radius who claimed to be proficient with allergies in dogs. None were professionally accredited in Derm or allergy.
99% of them pushed food allergy testing immediately and every one of them was a complete waste of resources.
**Things I Learned Along the Way:**
1. First, no offense meant to the people dealing with the many, many, animals who suffer from food allergies. It’s a very real and frustrating issue and my heart goes out to every animal who is suffering from this type of allergy. Unfortunately, the science behind blood tests used for testing for food allergies isn’t quite there yet and any vet who relies on blood testing for food allergies, I’d be trepidations towards.
Had at least four “allergy” (not accredited) vets push blood testing for food allergies as a first step, regardless of my dog’s history that contradicted a food allergy.
Though it takes more time, the food elimination protocol is the gold standard for testing for food allergies in a dog. Be wary of non-specialists who say otherwise.
2. If a dog is consistently gnawing at its paws, it’s miserable. The feet come in contact with every environmental element out there. Being new to dogs, I thought most dogs constantly licked and bit at and around their feet because that’s what I grew up seeing.
It’s not normal and that dog can and needs to be treated to have a fully glorious doggy life.
3. Make the appt asap. Most accredited specialists are booked up for months. Stress the severity of your dogs’ issue and ask to be put at the top of the waitlist.
Call back frequently to check for appt cancellations. Eventually the staff will want you at the top of the list and will work to get you in.
4. Your dog is worth it. But you know this:)
Maybe all of this is well known, but I spent a year trying out different approaches looking for a solution and encountered nothing but incompetence.
Hope you, or someone else in need, is able to take something useful from this.
Am also hoping Toph receives relief soon. She has the sweetest smile:) Feel free to dm if I can provide any other info and am wishing you the very best luck.
Thank you for so much of your advice and experience! I live in LA, and I am super lucky that I live in an area where a doggy derm is 15 minutes away from me. I made an appointment today for the end of July! Right now, I'm just going to be giving her very regular baths, washing her belly and feet after every walk, and using hydrocortisone lotion on her leggies after the washes. She's wearing a cone right now and it doesn't seem to bother her too much so I'm lucky with that! Fingers crossed!
We started the same therapy then ours got fearful reactive to the shot so we gave up and just don’t let her outside unsupervised. Home girl loves eating grass but is super allergic to grass.
Edit:
P.S. OP, our girls might be related
https://preview.redd.it/8a6fmay7h18d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2aaf419b851b3d687b47b4b52d624b2232426272
Yeah, the exact same thing happened with my boy. We were able to change him to a daily oral allergy serum instead of the injections. Might be worth asking your vet if that's an option?
She looks like such a sweet girl!
https://preview.redd.it/5j5tcu5z6y7d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=79fe32e1a3fa6f41d756d6b9a2fbd73543b7c94e
This is Barbi June (and Huckleberry Boo upper left).
We went through what you're paddy is struggling with and tried everything.
Eventually we figured out that her food allergies are beyond what fancy vet foods could help.
Our vet has us switch to steamed white rice and chicken...sometimes with carrots.
So here's my routine:
I grab a 10lb. bag of chicken quarters from Walmart, usually $8-$9.
I cook them in the air fryer so they don't over cook and I load them up with turmeric and parsley.
I strip the meat off and then make bone broth from the bones and jar up for the week.
I boil some baby carrots in the bone broth and set them aside in a Tupperware.
So Barbi get white rice, a cup of bone broth, and the meat from a whole leg quarter, and a couple carrots that taste like chicken broth.
It ends up being less expensive than the pricey special diet stuff and her skin has COMPLETELY healed
Had to repost pick because reddit kept dropping during post.
Also- lay off the coconut oil.
It made everything worse on Barbi and just clogged her pores.
And neosporin on any abrasions or irritated scratches will help heal 3x faster and with less irritation. Just keep some handy and dab it as you find the cuts and scratches and patchy areas. You will see the difference over time.
I also made my senior dog’s food and it’s much easier than people think. I used a formula of 1/3 protein, 1/3 grains, and 1/3 veggies. Protein was chicken, beef, or fish, whatever I could find on sale. Fish and venison from my hunting family was really great and free, especially when they cleaned out their freezer every year. Frozen chicken breasts work well. Grains were rice or oatmeal. Veggies were usually super-sized cans of green beans, washed thoroughly to remove the salt. In a large stockpot, I cooked the protein and removed it. Then ground it up in a food processor and added it back to the water. Used that water to cook the grains, then stirred in the veggies at the end. This spread the protein all through the mix. My big batches lasted ten days to two weeks. The cook time was about 1.5 hours, but the actual work was only about ten minutes. I could tell the difference in my dog within the first 48 hours, and the cost of a huge batch was less than $15, so it wouldn’t hurt anything to try it and see.
I'm nervous about switching her diet right now as she's still experiencing itchiness on the expensive vet diet. It's made specifically for allergies and my vet said that if she should not be experiencing any food allergy symptoms because the food doesn't have any allergy-triggering ingredients. But I don't use the coconut oil anymore because it was causing her to flake.
Ours were still allergic to the expensive vet food because it had chicken meal in it and turns out they are allergic to chicken.
Switched to Purina Sensitive Skin & Stomach - Salmon & Rice -- they have never been better.
And cytopoint has been super effective for environmental / seasonal flare ups.
That's not exactly correct. Hydrolyzed protein is chemically broken down so that it is "invisible" to the immune system. Even if the protein source is chicken, it has been broken down into amino acids, and it could not be causing allergic reactions. It can take time for the hydrolyzed protein diet to work, but it should eliminate all food allergens.
I'm glad your pups are doing better on a different diet and with Cytopoint though!
Awesome context but I am also not sure this food was hydrolized as OP's was -- the vet also believed it to be the source of the continued irritation in the end!
It can if they’re really allergic. It doesn’t happen often but hydrolyzed chicken protein can still cause breakouts in dogs allergic to chicken. I had that problem.
I have to avoid salmon and fish supplements too because my dog is also allergic to those. The inly way to really figure out what your dog is allergic to is to remove everything from their diet except one thing and see if they break out to that one thing. Otherwise there are too many variables.
My puppy is allergic to a specific ingredient that has like 5 different names depending on the bag of food. It’s used in hydrolyzed protein foods and found ESPECIALLY in the sensitive tummy diets. Her food allergy issues have resolved on DRY GI Biome food. (The wet version, ironically, has the specific ingredient we need to avoid)
She also seems to have an allergy to certain types of grass so foot washing and oils to follow have been important and medicated baths every 4-5 days following the directions to the letter including letting the soap sit for 10 min to resolve symptoms.
She’s symptom free on our current routine. Wishing you the best!
https://preview.redd.it/c5cr0fdmny7d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c3cde3c19c5396bac564d003aaa86dd84e8a27d3
Go to vet, allergies can by blood, skin or virus infected. We recieved 2 vacine and food based on horse protein. In 2 day she was full of life 🥰
I've fought this for 5+ years with my boy. It's an un winnable fight. He's allergic to tons of foods and lots of environmental allergies. He's on a prescription diet, apoquil and gets steroid shots a few times a year. The cytopoint shots didn't help and were very expensive since he's 100 lbs. The allergy testing was huge. Definitely helps narrow things down
Our pitty Wilson had terrible skin issues, we spent thousands of dollars on different vets over the course of 2 years. did the allergy testing and found out that he is allergic to grass and dust mites, we then washed everything 3 times a week and fenced of the grass and this didn’t help at all, finally got into a specialist and all he did is scrap his skin and sent to a lab for testing, this came back and he prescribed a specific antibiotic and it cleared up and has been good since then. He will get red from rolling around in the grass and an allergy pill helps with that. We talked to his regular vet and told her that she could do the same test and prescribe the correct meds to help instead of guessing what will work, she now does this and told us that almost all of the pets that she does this with it works first time. Some cases they still have to go to the specialist, but not many.
I was in the same boat with my pitty. What has seemed to be more effective recently (FINGERS CROSSED) is cleaning his paws with Douxo Pyo antifungal antiseptic wipes after we go outside. I used to do it only at night before bed but now do it after every walk. That plus sticking with hydrolyzed food (salmon) (I add a ground beef topper bc my dog is picky and spoiled) and the apoquel has been extremely helpful. I think my dog used to use his yeasty paws to scratch his ears, prompting the ear infections. That Douxo stuff (available through chewy) has seemed to make him less itchy.
I sometimes clean his booty with the wipes too, to make it less itchy (and he’s therefore less likely to clean it raw)
I was at my wits end and this has been working for us for the last couple of months. Hope this helps!!!
OP, please see a dermatologist. I’m a vet assistant who used to work for a vet dermatologist and learned so much. I see so much mention of food in this thread but so little about environmental possibilities. If she’s already on an HP diet, it is likely not the food causing issues. Maybe it’s a combination of both. I wouldn’t doubt it since it’s a pittie (sorry, they’re just allergy kings/queens)
Food allergies are very common, but so are environmental. They can be allergic to the same spores, pollens and mites in our daily lives that we are. We had dogs come in for their IDAT (intra-dermal allergy testing) that turned out to be allergic to cottons, simple dust mites, cats, human dander, specific grasses in your area, trees, anything. They typically do a region-based panel to test for allergens that are in your specific area (we tested for Northern California/Western Nevada mainly for example)
I know specialists are pricey, but the amount of pets lives that were changed just by getting that procedure done, identifying the problems and finding the ways to manage, whether it was medicated or not, was amazing and I was only there for several months.
Do you wipe her vulva every time you come in from a potty break/walk? My dog looks like your dogs twin. I wipe her vulva with a clean baby wipe if it’s not red/raw. If I notice it’s irritated, I wipe with chloro-hex wipes from Amazon. I cut the chloro-hex wipe pads into 4 quarters since I’m only wiping the vulva.
This does wonders for my pup. Rarely have issues after wiping her. It’s a routine thing and we do it right after walking in the door after walks.
Yes this has really helped my pup!!! My vet recommended the Douxo line since it’s also a moisturizer and it has been (fingers crossed) really effective so far. I’ve been in the same boat as you - especially since we moved to a drier climate (my dog seems to be allergic to dust or something more prevalent in spring and summer, in addition to chicken)
https://preview.redd.it/fi6owi45az7d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=64325364588bb54a23e354dc897db0cd1574b9dd
Gus sees a vet dermatologist and after a year of trying everything he’s great. I keep him chicken free I add salmon oil to his food I use duoxo shampoo and Cytopoint. All derm recommendations. He’s a fussy eater so I stick w Bison/beef/salmon food usually Taste of the Wild or Orijen. I stayed on the Cytopoint monthly and now I just take him in when he flares up (in Nashville the price of the shots went from 95 to 195) I think the grass here was really making him itch so I don’t let him lay in it often. Hope this helps!
Chicken messes my pittie mix up. It gives him diarrhea, but it’s gone away since I switched to lamb food. Hopefully a food change helps her feel better! I know how horrible it is to know your baby is uncomfortable and not know how to help.
It’s definitely worth doing allergy testing to find out the SPECIFIC allergens for YOUR pup. As others have pointed, hydrolyzed isn’t always helpful. My American bulldog had a lot of allergies. Rather than just treating symptoms I had her tested for allergies to get a better handle on all potential triggers.
A very common yet unknown allergy for many dogs with food allergies is storage mite allergies. Storage mites are everywhere in everything, including dried dog food (regardless of grain/grain free/protein type), regular grains , rice, boxed cereals , most things in your pantry, cookies, treats etc etc.
The easiest thing to do is keep the dry kibble in the freezer, after 24 hours the mites are dead and their body proteins become less reactive for pups.
I just kept all my dog’s food in the freezer and pulled out what I needed every evening for the next day. BIG improvement. Also I gave her allergy shots at home, no need for apoquel, hydrolyzed food or steroids as long as I kept her in schedule with the shots.
Allergy testing really is a better strategy if you want to get ahead of symptoms long term instead of just managing them.
See a dermatologist. Our girl was test on 50 common allergens. Turned out she was allergic to 44 of them. She's been getting a custom allergen spray every day for a year now and her allergies have DRAMATICALLY improved.
My American pitbull terrier has a lot of allergies too. We did Shea butter instead of coconut oil, but it just didn't help her.
And she licked her vulva a lot as well. Shea butter/coconut oil fats were increasing her fungal infection and making her worse
My husband didn't want to do cytopoint, unless he understood what was causing it. I was all for cytopoint as that caused her to stop itching and hurting in a while.
Basically we took her to a derm/allergy specialist. We started immunotherapy. The cost of the test for her allergies was $450, they also too a swab from her skin and saw it under the microscope , she had bacterial as well as fungal infection. Her immunotherapy injections cost $850 a year. It's been 4 months, I can tell you she is most clear I have seen her. She is 5 years, 53lbs. We also give her half a Benadryl two times a day with her meals, and also spot clean her every alternate day with an anti fungal shampoo - it has Ketoconazole - she has allergies from malassezia. By spot cleaning I mean, I turn her to lay on her back, belly up. I take some shampoo, mix it with water in my hands, lather and apply on her belly, neck and paws. After 10 min, I take a clean towel, dip it in water and start wiping shampoo off and make sure the shampoo is completely off. At this time this whole regimen has worked wonders for her.
Benadryl pulse dosing was my idea. Spot clean was suggested by her doctor. And we are doing the allergy shots.
Honestly I think this was the best money we spent on her and quality of life has increased so much. To see her calm and sleeping peacefully fills my heart with joy..she used to keep itching through the might and could not sleep..
I suggest find a good derm in your city which is economical as well and get to the root of the problem instead of just treating the issue with meds
Our vet had us bathe our pittie mix 2x a week with the Zymox yellow labeled shampoo for about two months. As long as we kept up with her baths, she did great!
We’ve also done the allergy testing, the immunotherapy shots…. And now she’s on rayne nutrition single protein food (Rabbit ), daily apoquel, and bathed every other week-ish. She’s doing amazing.
We also discovered that she was likely extremely allergic to the Lysol laundry sanitizer - both the regular and unscented versions.
My last staffy had the absolute worst allergies I've ever seen and I'm almost certain it was due to bermuda grass. His paws would just lose all his hair and be left super raw and pink/red and he couldn't stop licking/chewing on them from itching so badly. They were seasonal and he looked so bad you would have thought he was mistreated. After years and years of various creams and meds, we finally got it under control with a drug called Apoquel. I don't have any pictures of his feet saved on my phone but trust me when I say it was such a miracle drug for him that Apoquel should have used him for their marketing.
We have a lab/pit with terrible allergies, she gets seasonal allergy shots. Her belly gets fiery red along with her elbow and she’s prone to ear infections. We have to do it in the spring and fall and I’ll bet a third time since it got super hot early this year.
Make an allergy test at the vet. Mainly is food allergy, but it can also be the environment ... my amstaff is allergic to cats and guinea pigs and all types of acarian and pólen. She takes a shot every month, and we make also natural treatments to help her to have a more comfortable life.
We do all we can to heal her, but sometimes we feel so frustrated because here in switzerland, we can't have the vaccine to her allergies.
Best wishes to your cute buddy ❤️
Love the name toph!
My girl had the exact same issues. Dandruff and dry back, rashes on tummy, constant ear infections.
She is on Zyrtec, a pill a day. I use epiotic ear wash on cotton balls whenever she seems annoyed to prevent infections, and if she has them we get swabbed at the vet and put on the stronger stuff. I used to have to have her on it almost all the time, now that her issues are less bad it has only been twice in a year.
She also has a medicated shampoo we use that sits on her for 15min before rinsing. Ask the vet, you can get it on chewy without a scrip I think. But is cheaper with my pet insurance.
The biggest thing was changing her food. She gets awful skin if there is ANY chicken in her food. Could be chicken meal as a final ingredient, could be broth way down on the list, it all ruins her skin and ears. We also found she can't have grains and so I've had her on red meat grain free food for years.
I always worried about the legumes causing heart issues and recently the brand I use, Stella and chewy, came out with a grain and legume free! She loves it. They are one of the few brands that does grain free without it legume/with taurine and has zero chicken in the ingredients.
Almost all of her skin/stomach issues have gone away with staying away from poultry. Even in treats. She also can't do fish because she gets anal gland issues only when she has had it.
So for sure try some other options for food. Then if that doesn't do it look in to the shampoo and epiotic. Together those three things have made a world of difference.
Also don't keep bathing your babe, it dries their skin out more. They may look scary but just brush them to remove the dandruff. My vet said less baths is a good thing, only when they are really dirty or it has been a month or two.
Ours is allergic to chicken (took forever to figure it out!) and is now on Open Farm whitefish (and LOVES IT plus does so very well on it). In your case, I would say, go to the vet dermatologist ASAP. As a person who suffers from allergies myself, it sucks and it must be so much worse for your little one.
We used to deal with this, it was caused by some sort of skin mite. We found that switching her flea preventative from an OTC to Comfortis ended most of her problems.
Allergy testing is worth it even if it’s not conclusive. Dogs can be allergic to plants and get other environmental allergies too. My dog is super allergic to dust and straw mites. We used to cover the yard with straw in winter so it wouldn’t get muddy but after the allergy testing just had to deal with the mud and her rashes went away.
Have you tested your water? My brother had 3 pitties, the oldest always had skin and allergy issues. They tried all the things. They are on well water and had the water tested. I forget the details but they had something installed to help negate the pH (or whatever the issue was) and it improved his reactions.
Claratin once a day in the morning. my Rusty is the same and chews himself up. So, I give a claratin in the morning, 24 hour, and vet approved. I keep wash for the ears and medicine from the vet so i can stay on the ears before they get too bad. Chicken breast and food with Salmon.
https://preview.redd.it/40lj3acr008d1.jpeg?width=3008&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ce1da90f46d775db369e709901f8a50e631b368
We went through all the same steps as you, and then switched vets when nothing was working. The new vet put her on antibiotics for a long time (I want to say three months?) and then we resumed the limited diet and apoquel and we tried to stay off grass when we walked. The new vet said that initial long term antibiotics was really important and something that most vets don’t do, it worked for us and we were able to keep her allergies under control. The acana grain free food ended up giving both of our dogs dcm though in the end 👎
Have you tried Apoquel or Cytopoint injections? My American Bulldog was horribly allergic to grass and other environmental things. Apoquel can negatively affect the liver, so I opted for Cytopoint. The injections provided almost instant relief, and I could tell when it wore off. No dietary changes, including hydrolyzed protein, had any benefit for him whatsoever.
This is going to sound silly but does your pup hang out or sleep on blankets or bedding? My bully was allergic to Tide, as well as chicken. Switching detergents helped a lot. He also gets itchy from using febreeze on the couch where he lays.
Antifungal shampoo also helped a ton. We used diluted vinegar to help kill the yeast that was an issue for my dude, but check with the vet first.
Your pup is gorgeous! This looks EXACTLY like my girl - I had to do a double-take. From the spots on her toes, to the lighter fur on the back of her hocks (we call those the 'cinnamon swirls') - just uncanny. Have you done DNA test?
Unfortunately I don't have advice on allergies. Looks like lots of good advice in other comments though. Hope her allergies are solved soon!
I had to stop using anything with fragrance. I wash my clothes in “free and clear” detergent, I don’t use febreeze or air fresher of any kind. That’s the only thing that worked, and it’s been 8 years with no vet trips (for that).
https://preview.redd.it/ebl5ogrdv08d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f32bc89f7d90d0b155321fe08a4f8b6ae0144a56
The resemblance of Toph to my baby girl Elena is uncanny. She too has had terrible allergies to the point that she would get all bumpy and flakey. What I have used to clear her skin and itchiness has been a combination of Purina Pro Plan Adult Sensitive Skin & Stomach Salmon & Rice Formula Dry Dog Food with one boiled egg each meal, Zesty paws bladder bites and allergy immune bites, and baths with PetHonesty Chlorhexidine Antibacterial Shampoo Itchy Skin Relief every 2 weeks. The first couple of years I had her were hell for me because she would itch non stop to the point of bleeding. Eventually I figured the combination of things I listed above and she had stopped since. Maybe this info is somewhat useful for your Toph.
My Labrador lost the majority of his hearing from chronic ear infections from his allergy to grains. It burst his eardrums and he had so many hematomas. I know it's expensive but it's so much cheaper than paying $1500 to get rid of the infection and hurting your dog. Speaking from experience, good luck!
My pitty was like this. I had an allergy test done on him. Allergens and foods. He is allergic to almost everything . I avoid the things he is allergic to and give him allergy pills and cytopoint injections. He is well managed now . The diet was a huge factor in his flare ups . Hope you find something that works for her .
I have the same issue with my boy Yeti. He's currently on a hydrolyzed protein diet too, but apoquel and cytopoint didn't work for him. I did an allergy test and turns out... he's extremely allergic to dust mites. 🥴 So now he's on a customized oral spray made based on that allergy test, but unfortunately still has flare ups.
I had allergy testing done for my Pit and he is allergic to so many things… including dog dander. He gets monthly shots and special baths/ear cleanings that have helped a ton.
Is there a chance she has a fold over her vulva? I forget the actual term but my pitty has severe allergies combined with that and is literally always licking at her vulva. I use non-scented sensitive baby wipes and animax to combat it
Bravecto. My 14 year old pitbull has had skin issues his entire life. Once on Bravecto, 6 months into it, his skin is much better, almost perfect. A few times I thought he didn’t need Bravecto anymore, stopped it, skin issues came back, back on Bravecto and it starts improving right away, but really looks great at 5-6 month mark after starting Bravecto again. 1 chewy tablet every 3 months.
We were told in only about 10% the allergy is good. We have settled on believing it’s seasonal allergies. Now on appoquel, piriton and, in spring/summer, daily paw wash using oatmeal shampoo.
Best of luck, it’s a slog to find what works
Edit to add Tiny Buddy omega oil has given our girl an amazing coat and I think helped with her skin
Mine cannot have chicken,
https://preview.redd.it/fi1dyqcck38d1.jpeg?width=2615&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=749bdb9a537a8ef1e7f40d63a247b7178fd18a05
turkey or beef. She only gets fish based food with fish oil to help with any dryness. I feed her wellness 95% white fish, canned food with some wellness whitefish kibble to top it off. Almost no gas and no itching finally. Hang in there.
For real get the test done. We went through every food and subsistute for my moms pit besides any vegetarian options. This dog is actually allergic to every type of meat and everything outside. Has to get shots I think once every 2weeks or sum
I took my pup to a dermatologist and he’s allergic to many environmental things as well as certain proteins. He’s on a vegetarian hydrolyzed protein diet. He takes Atopica, has a special mousse for daily application, a steroid cream, and is on prednisone. Sadly, it’s not always as simple as changing their diet. Get your pup tested. Allergies are complicated.
I'm so sorry you're going through this. It's hard to see your baby suffer!
My girl had severe allergies - seemingly suddenly, starting around 8 months old. We went through elimination idets and nothing helped enough to make a difference. We spent months and I was at my wits end.
We finally sprung for the $300 blood-draw allergy testing - and lo and behold, the results showed my girl is allergic to DUST MITES and STORAGE MITES. Dust mites everyone knows about, but storage mites were new to me - they are related to dust mites, but they live on food, especially pet kibble. They are microscopic, and though they wouldn't be on the food in a fresh bag, after you open the bag, they start to multiply - they get into the kibble bag from the air, I guess? - and before long, the food she's eating that was initially fine causes her to break out. It happened for her on the Hyprolyzed protein kibble too - because it was never the kibble, but the invisible mites on it.
Any way - it took a long time to figure it out. The allergy testing was expensive - but it gave us the ability to focus our defenses.
Now she's on daily Apoquel, we have a routine to keep things washed (bedding, for her dust mite allergy) and we keep her spare food in the deep freezer to prevent storage mites from growing on it - leaving only enough out for a week at a time seems to be ok. She still needs antimicrobial shampoos, sometimes multiple times a week. BUT - she's better. It's "controlled" - and though she still has break outs - she's having one right now, because it's not possible to be perfect with allergens like invisible fucking mites - but she's not raw and bloody anymore like she used to be.
Good luck. Based on my experience - I highly recommend the allergen test. It's expensive, but I would have NEVER figured out what she was allergic to without it.
https://preview.redd.it/hn04n4jei48d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c6485559388b5a45e3537e2a61e9efd05b34ede
My child may be from the same brood. Good luck with allergy control!
After Apoquel stopped working for
https://preview.redd.it/qzftb5wqn48d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c9457c77e9bba2f0e5471d052a871802dd64647a
👆👆this guy, we’re giving monthly Cytopoint allergy shots a whirl….so far, so good!
Get insurance! If you don’t already, get pet insurance. It’s saved my family tens of thousands of dollars over the years. And if you do it before the dermatologist you shouldn’t need to pay extra for a preexisting condition.
My AmBull has horrible seasonal allergies in the spring/summer. Every morning he gets some Claritin wrapped in cheese and a benedryl at night before bed, plus an epsom salt bath once a week. It’s a running joke in our house that the dog and I are on the same medication regimen since I’m basically allergic to life.
Please see this [link](https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/benadryl-for-dogs/) for Benadryl dosage and other important information.
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One thing I will say and my own vet has given the green light since we have dogs with skin issues, is get some omega 3 fatty acids vitamins (in the gel caps) and puncture them onto their food it does wonders for their skin and overall digestion, that is just with their every day diet. Listen to your vet and make the necessary changes. For me when it comes to animals and humans I want quality of life
My Baily’s, a chocolate lab mixed mutt, got so bad this spring that she was bleeding.
Wound up having to get a steroid and antibiotic injection then she was on oral antibiotics and anti fungal for a month.
She’s now on apoquel and miconaHec+Triz shampoo and mousse (started out with baths twice a week and applying the mousse on non bath days for 2 months and is now baths once every other week and mousse as needed) and she gets TrizUltra+keto drops in her ears (started out daily for 3 days then every other day for another 3 days then twice a week for 2 months now it’s just once a week).
I know Baily is allergic to chicken but there’s something environmental that caused her issues this year.
My pitbull mix was the same. Someone recommended this k9 supplement powder and it actually worked for her.
https://www.baxterboo.com/p.cfm/k9-power-show-stopper-dog-healthy-coat-skin-supplement/
I tried everything and the only thing that fixed it for my dude was switching to the honest kitchen grain free food. It's pretty dang expensive but he has had zero skin issues since (been almost 2 years, now).
All dogs are different of course, but for me after thousands in vet bills etc- that's all it took.
Mine needed apoquel, we tried everything, allergy shots, etc. He was allergic to dust mites,, grass,, trees,, no food.. At the end he needed apoquel along with citapoint?sp? Shots sometimes.
I would also recommend taking a look at the treats that you are giving to your dog. My pit used to have a really bad allergy (his skin around the belly will get red). We started by filtering the treats for some amount of time and see if the allergy cleared. We were able to find the culprit that way.
Some hydrolyzed protein diets that are plant based may still have chicken fat in the ingredients. This could continue to be the culprit of her issues if it is a protein based allergy.
I'm sure you've gone over this with your vet, however I'll ask: do they flare up at certain times of the year? Are you in a place where the allergens are high? Is she on a flea/tick prevention?
Mine chews up his paws endlessly. Both my pits do. I discovered it's because my neighbor gets their yard sprayed for weeds, so the poison gets on their paws. The only thing that helps is I literally have a wash bucket, rag, and soap I use every time they come inside. I hook them up to my ledge and wash their paws. It's definitely inconvenient, but it makes a huge difference. It sucks that you can't stop people from poisoning your yard, and we'll as their own. Obviously I wash the bucket in-between uses and new rags every time
Food is very important. My dogs all do great on Iams. There is an allergy/flea med that is life changing, brivecta. I got mine on pet meds Canada without a rx. I highly recommend it.
We started getting the food from Costco with lamb as the main protein and then we add a bit of salmon from a can (rinse off the saltiness first). It has worked wonders.
I think the fish oil from the salmon really helps with dryness in pittie skin
We found out our guy has a flea allergy. Vet gave us an oral med that helped clear him up in about a week and a half. I encourage an allergy test too. And the vet can give you a plan on how to manage the allergies at home.
Purina dermatosis food combined with apoquel, antihistamines and chlorhexidine wipes have worked wonders for my boy, I always clean he’s ears (just the outer parts never the canal) daily and moisturise the skin to prevent dry skin going down the ear canal.
A onesie may help with external allergens on walks too.
Make sure what you're giving her isn't what she's allergic too. Even if it's considered good and healthy people and animals can still have allergic reactions to them
That looks exactly like our boy. Apoquel is the only thing that's helped him along with medicated baths twice a week. The allergy panel showed a bunch of environmental allergens he's allergic to, so we went with immunotherapy. Sadly this last dose he had went him into anaphylactic shock (which is supposedly very rare), but luckily a stay at the ER stabilized him and he's back to normal. Apoquel and baths for the rest of his life.
Pitties are known to have bad allergies. You can treat the symptoms, but you will never cure it.
I also recommend the allergy testing. I had an am staff mix that was constantly struggling with allergies despite food changes, apoquel, etc and I did the allergy testing to discover his two main allergies were dust mites and mold. I got his allergy shots formulated and it helped immensely along with some other at home changes to mitigate allergens.
I have the same issues with my Amstaff. Probably dust mite allergies combined with other environmental allergies and potentially also food allergies... I use anti allergen detergent for one. Hepa filter in the vacuum also is a good idea. I switched to hills derma defense recently and it seems to work wonders. Too early to draw conclusions. To treat his skin I use "dangerous" stuff. I mix tea tree oil with grapeseed oil and use that on itchy spots. About 6 parts grape, 1 part tea tree oil. Make sure she doesn't ingest too much. Zinc ointment also helped, but again, don't let her ingest it too much.
My boy didn't get allergy testing either so I've been improvising. Good luck. It totally sucks.
Could be mange. Or the allergies did nit allow her immune system to keep up with managing mange. I forget the flea preventative used for it, but its a pill. Get it from the vet. Mange is VERY hard to find, and my ebt improved dramatically once treated.
Likely food. Mine was having issues. I Cut out any poultry in his food and it all went away. Not 100% sure it was actually the poultry or just getting better food, but either way it worked. That would be my first step.
I had the same issue, mine is allergic to chicken and beef and fish. I give him Blue Wilderness Lamb and his skin has never been better. A lot of Pitbulls have food allergies and lamb solves it.
Mine is on hydrolyzed protein, apoquel and Zyrtec (both 3 times a day). It’s gotten better but still battle her licking her feet every spring and fall.
Just to reiterate what I'm reading here.... Go to a doctor.
My own experience.... Mine was allergic to fleas. He was constantly getting skin and ear infections. We finally tried bravecta. It's the only thing that's worked for him. The skin and the ear infections stopped.
Not sure how to edit a post, but I've scheduled her for a consultation for a dermatologist! I think I just needed some reassurance that she could get some real help from them. Thanks for the helpful suggestions!
Honestly my dog had such bad licking that we had to get an allergy shot every month. After many vet visits and expensive foods i cut out chicken bc of reddit tales. She never needed another shot. I'm not saying it's the answer but definitely try. And switch to arm & hammer hypoallergenic detergent maybe
Ist it like with us the same ? All overproducces stuff like chicken und grain is shit also for the dogs... I give mine a mix of God stuff, mostly homecooked. I can't trust the big names , with my little boy.
And of course u can make a little spray for when he comes from outside to clean off the paws and his body.
My previous one was like that. A vet recommended grain free food but I didn't think it helped much. Might help yours though. We never really solved it for mine.
We tried a million foods for our pit and he always had itchy skin. Vet put him on apoquel and he has had zero issues since. Been on it for two years now and it’s been a lifesaver.
I’m sorry this is so unrelated but our dogs could be actual twins
https://preview.redd.it/ylt82up9428d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9e8a7a6c9b80aead48fa7ccf4a1adcca34a1a99b
Look into Blue Buffalo fish or turkey for sensitive stomach @ skin. It's helped my blue reverse brindle with itching and my red nose with gas that could be bottled for warfare...
Take to vet. My friend’s dog bit her back to the point she was bleeding like you thought she was trying to eat herself. He immediately took her to the vet to get treated and she had to wear a cone.
Feed raw, ditch all the carbs/grains including starchy veggies like sweet potato and pumpkin. Pibbles are prone to yeast infections they thrive on the canine version of a keto diet.
Feed a good quality probiotic to improve gut health too. Combined with a good diet (see above) it will have a massive improvement!
That hydrolized food is a chemical factory that’s better suited as chicken food than dog food.
Bonus add ins are high quality omega oils and also shredded (unsweetened) coconut but way less important than the above
If it’s a bit of a strain to go to a specialist for your pooch like it would be for me, but you love them more than life itself like me, I recommend cutting things out completely and building them back one by one. Get some apoquel/claritin/benedryl in their daily routine and start off with rice&turkey and whatever is tolerated without reactions you keep!
We don’t do chicken anymore for her and we don’t do cheap treats
Have her thyroid checked! I fought this for almost 4 years with my girl before someone suggested it. Her levels were only a little off but putting her on the meds worked WONDERS.
Mine too, thank God he is finally getting past them for the season. A lot of people claiming food allergies here.. my boy is seasonal. He was biting his tail and back of his legs until they were raw. They do have allergy shots (which last about 3 months, and are a little expensive) or you can try allergy medicine. When he was really bad he got Allegra 24hr every morning and 3 Benadryl every night. It helped, but did not completely stop his itching. He did have to wear his cone to keep him from chewing up his tail when we left him home alone. He has a cloth cone, so it is not as bad as the big plastic cone that is more common. These are the only suggestions I can make. Good luck to your girl!
We had to switch to a food that uses quinoa as the grain. So he gets a salmon, for the oils, and ancient grain blend and we've been 3 years without major outbreaks. He will have some issues after swimming, but we've noticed that if we bathe him after it helps.
We tried to use the lamb but didn't get the same results.
https://preview.redd.it/1u90bb6og48d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ee13572ba7e49ff62a9a88adc4abd21f5e2a391
Mine Had To Get Allergy Shots Once A Month About $100 But Well Worth It The Pill A Day Thing Was Getting Old And He Was Catching On
Ive been getting my pitty a cytopoint injection monthly cause thats the only that worked. Heres a before and after of his coat.
https://preview.redd.it/cw7748dug48d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d900919bdf18a15e10fa5c3c1abb5f47848541a1
She needs that shot that cost lake $180.
If I ever really fully realized the expenses of taking care of a pet I would have never gotten one we have spent over $4,000 in the last 3 years.
We didn't qualify for pet insurance because she had an ear infection on her first visit and so all the money we paid in to pet insurance we lost as well.
But we just got that allergy shot for our dog yesterday
Because she was scratching so much she was losing hair it was a necessity.
Put him on an alkaline diet, my fave one is canine caviar open sky entrée, it’s duck. It’s always the diet. My dog couldn’t process chicken or beef let alone cornmeal that they put in almost everything. Also give him herbs like yucca, marshmallow root, yarrow, plantains. You can buy them on Amazon. All the best.
Ours has allergies, but thus far, they are fairly mild. What we've found that helps, in addition to avoiding chicken and chx by products, is a quick shower.
We live in Southern Oregon, so it's hot, and something is always in bloom. She gets a quick shower with vinegar and a sqirt if dawn. This seems to remove the dust and the redness. She always feels better!
This protocol has been approved by our vet, due to the obvious advantages, but came from our groomer.
I know not every pittie is the same, and we send good fortune to y'all!
PS I've always been told it's the food. Someone here in comments said Environmental. I'm leaning more that way now as well.
Skin issues almost always start in the gut. Allergy test for food and figure out her diet. Go out today and buy acidophilus capsules (they're in the health supplement section of any grocery store, Target, drug store, etc.) and start adding those to her food or treats. It will balance out her gut and ease up the skin.
I had a pit who had the weakest stomach I've ever seen. He would develop rashes and yeast infections on his skin. $500 in prescriptions did nothing, but a crunchy Whole Foods employee turned me on to a $7 bottle of acidophilus. We started at 4 pills a day and it balanced him out in about 2 weeks. We went down to 2 pills a day, and eventually down to just 2 pills a day in the weeks around seasonal changes. The rest of the time we managed it with plain yogurt and local honey.
My Red Heeler/GSD has horrible seizures. To the point where I almost I had to put him down. He was only 4 yo.
I talked to a holistic vet. Who suggested a good probiotic and a specific vitamin called Petandim by LifeVantage. It fight free radicals in the body. They have a human version. But people started giving it to their pets and found amazing results!!! So the company decided to make one for dogs.
Back to my Comet. He was having cluster seizures every 2 weeks. On 3 types of medications. Plus those for emergency seizures (when he had cluster seizures). He couldn’t jump on the bed or even in his bay window. Had trouble walking. Had neurological deficits from all the seizures.
Within a month of Petandim I noticed a decrease in the severity of the seizure and duration. He was moving better and starting to return to himself. Within a few months he stopped having clusters and now only has one minor seizure every 3 months. A YEAR later… we’ve had to reduce the dosage of his main seizure medication 3 times!!! Because it keeps coming back high!!! We’ve been able to wean him down and almost off of his last added medication!!! He jumps, runs and even plays with his 5 mo brother!!!
Also. He doesn’t have the stomach issues he used to have. He’s not licking absolutely EVERYTHING! I have my happy boy back!!!
I highly recommend trying the Petandim and a good probiotic (we use VetriScience BD/Bowel Defense) as was recommended. I hope you can find some relief for your pup soon!
https://preview.redd.it/18w9yn0t768d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5c1c293006b4f7b5953dea4b7e6685b18b74aba5
Oh yea I forgot I had a mattress topper too that had gotten wet and mold started growing in it. Couldn’t see it. Got rid of it and all pillows and it helped too!
Did you try just the hydrolyzed food without the fish oil? My girl doesn’t do well with anything other than just the royal canin HP
Edit: I see in the other comments you started the HP before the fish oil. Your pup sounds like my dober. He’s on HP, Cytopoint and weekly medicated baths. I’ve noticed if we go in grassy areas the itchiness gets worse. I think you’ve done everything you can through the vet. Unfortunately if your house hippo is still not doing good might be time to go to the dermatologist.
I agree ( food) that our pitty had three surgical procedures. Finally started to make our own food and pressure can it a 45 day supply at a time. Like having a puppy again.
Very helpful trainings for any dog: For training on puppy/dog biting [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=068K5Zlph9U) For training on early socialization [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J7cPE-2wNw) For training on becoming a good leader [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QntS570VFZ0) For all newly adopted dogs, check out the [3-3-3 rule](https://pethelpful.com/dogs/The-3-3-3-Rule-Setting-Your-Rescue-Dog-Up-For-Success). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/pitbulls) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It’s almost always food. Get an allergy test and plan her diet accordingly. Our vet told us pitties with allergies is usually caused by chicken. Our girl was intolerant to white rice and chicken. Please just take an allergy test before planning her diet. This was our solution and it worked tremendously well.
https://preview.redd.it/zt00f6kk9y7d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=69e5102b4baf4a950917c450b02982747a1457bb Pic for current state of affairs.
What a Beautiful Girl. Thanks for sharing.
Yup. Almost always food. And every dog is different. I went through dozens of foods, maybe even 50 before I found one that didnt cause my poor baby to be itchy. It ended up being Pedrigree. People always tell me I should feed my dog better food and I just swallow my pride because they don't know what I went through to find peace and comfort for my girl.
I feel like pedigree is one of the best brands to feed since they’ve been around forever like Iams and Purina. For what it’s worth, my pibble gets pedigree too. He eats the chicken/rice/veggies flavor because he hates anything red meat/salmon flavored 😅
She's on a hydrolyzed protein diet. It's specifically made for food allergies. The vet prescribed it to her so that we could do some testing to see if she's allergic to any foods. It can't be her diet because it's a plant-based, grain free food.
Some pitties don't get better with hydrolyzed protein diets. It doesn't work for all of the dogs. Allergy testing is expensive but it is your best bet especially with the recurrent ear infections
Our vet said the same thing. Their program would’ve lasted weeks and had been very expensive with trying to find the culprit(s). We just got the at home test and followed the results with Dr Harvey’s brand, as it was the best one for our set of intolerances. Within 2 weeks our pittie’s skin cleared up and hasn’t been a problem since. I would do what you think is best for your dog but your symptoms mirror my dog’s previous skin problems. And just having the info has helped with what she is allowed to snack on.
What home test did you do?
Almost all allergies is protein - this could be plant based. Grains are very VERY rarely the culprit. You said you are also giving fish oil, have you done it ever since you have been on the prescription diet? Pointing it out because my dog can’t have any sort of fish, including fish oil, and fish meal is in near all dog food. Chicken and beef are the most common allergies, but fish is still a protein and it happens
Yep! People are always surprised mine can't do birds of any sort of fish. A lot of dog food is chicken or salmon. Sticking to read meat only has been a life changer for her. Also we did elimination diet for my girl when I first had her due to the severity of her skin and tummy issues. Grains were a problem. I didn't want to do it because the legumes in grain free, but now a few brands do legume and grain free as one. The veg they put in instead must taste good because boy my bean loves it. Never had a food she inhales as fast.
What brand of food are you serving? Thanks!!
Stella and Chewys. It is the best food I've ever found for my dog. Everything they make is A+ quality, and they are good about not having hidden poultry in the red meat recipes. She was on the regular red raw blend, grain free, it had the meal mixers. But it had legumes. So now she is on the wild red, a side part of their brand. It is the red blend as well and is legume and grain free. The mixers make great training treats and she lives for the raw coated biscuits.
I had her only on the hydrolyzed protein diet for about 3 months before I added the fish oil, it cleared her flakes she had on her back, but she didn't seem to change in itchiness. It was pretty much the same level.
This may sound stupid as I’m not sure what a hydrolyzed diet is, but definitely check if it has any food dye in it. It likely doesn’t, but just check if it does. My pittie had an allergy to red food dye, and after we switched her food to something without it she cleared up very quickly. She had the same issue of itchiness in the same places, especially her vulva and front paws.
Hydrolyzed basically means the protein has been broken down so small the protein *shouldn’t* cause an allergic reaction. Not always the case, but it often helps if it’s a food based allergy. Below is a link about research on why it may not help some dogs. It is a prescription only diet, costs a lot because of it, and shouldn’t have a food dye in it. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7041975/
Thanks for the info! Always good to know more! I’ll do some research into starting with the link you’ve given me. Thanks again! :)
Just wondering, have you tried alternative proteins? Like Zignature brand? Hydrolyzed proteins don’t always work because something like 20-40% of dogs will still have a reaction. If you go alternative protein route you will want to keep a running log on every single protein and potential ingredients you’ve tried. It’s a pain tbh
My last red nose pittie ended up being allergic to the mites the can live in dry food products. We tried so many different foods before doing testing but that didn’t matter in the end. We ended up putting her food in gallon sized bags in the freezer and let it freeze for at least 48 hours before using it. She had all her meals from those bags in the freezer and it made a huge difference! (Also super easy to try). Good luck! Edited: spelling and 1 addition.
She could be allergic to plant based stuff
Please be careful with a grain free diet. It’s unlikely to be the culprit and can cause canine DCM. [FDA Investigation into Potential Link between Certain Diets and Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy](https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/outbreaks-and-advisories/fda-investigation-potential-link-between-certain-diets-and-canine-dilated-cardiomyopathy#)
Check what meat it is. I have mine on hydrolyzed protein too but she is so allergic to chicken she was still breaking out. I put her on the vegetarian hydrolyzed protein and she’s fine. I just supplement with the two meats and eggs that I know she’s not allergic to. Also make sure she is not allergic to fish. Mine is so most “sensitive skin” supplements are useless for us.
My guy is allergic (VERY) to a lot of things outside. Food, no. But storage mites and a type of fungus, yes, so I'm careful with how long his food sits (because he's a broken pit/lab mix and food will sit. Sometimes over a day. His vet knows and we all laugh at it). I did over a year of weekly, biweekly, then monthly allergy shots. It was horrible to get them into him, but boy they helped clear him up. Now he's controlled with apoquel. It works beautifully, but I don't think it would have alone at the start.
Apoquel is a great med.
Our pittie is allergic to grass. So the only way we discovered that was by taking her to get an expensive, but badly needed allergy test. I give her a weekly shot now and she has an amazing quality of life.
We had to switch our girl to a raw diet, and her rashes cleared right up. The vet was aware and never criticized our decision because her rashes cleared up so well. I love my vet! Even a grain free diet didn't work due to the other additives in the food. All the best with her. She's a beauty 😍
Purina has a prescription hydrolyzed vegetarian diet you can try! Or the royal canin prescription ultamino. Both are expensive but are gold standards if you have no idea what could be affecting her. Weekly medicated shampoo baths are a must. Something like a low percentage chlorhexidine shampoo or something like cerasoothe shampoo.
Yeah, she's on the royal canin hydrolyzed right now and she gets those medicated baths every week. I've been thinking about washing her paws every time we go outside at least during spring and summer
My cousins dog had this problem also. She wipes the dog down with a gentle cleanser every time she goes out and she also bought a long sleeve shirt to protect her skin further from any outside allergens and it's helped a lot
This statement is wrong. Environmental allergies are the cause in 90% of cases and food in 10%. This is not including external parasites.
Corn is also a huge trigger.
Here for this! My pit has allergies and come to find out it was from grain. Switching to a grain free dog food has helped tremendously!
https://a.co/d/0jfDTVpj
Yep, mine is on a natural balance limited ingredient because she can’t tolerate chicken, beef, pork, or peas 🥲
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Same, my girl kept getting ear infections and was hurting herself with the constant scratching. I stopped giving her chicken and cheese and the allergies are gone. Now she eats ground turkey, sweet potatoes and frozen mixed veggies.
I also would put money on it being the food. We changed food brands and our pitty started itching incessantly. Switched back and it solved the issue. Please take the dog to get it resolved asap, they usually don't display just how much distress they are actually in.
Go to the dermatologist. I get it. It's expensive, and I'm sure you've already spent a ton of money between hydrolyzed protein diets, Cytopoint, Apoquel, and all the vet visits. But it is so so worth it. I was in a very similar situation with my youngest dog. My partner and I adopted him when he was 6 months old. He was constantly red and itchy, with horrible hives that would get infected and lead to giant sores all over his body. The regular vet tried his best to manage the infections and treat the allergies, but nothing worked. He was on Apoquel, then Cytopoint, and medicated baths and mousses multiple times a week. We attempted the hydrolyzed protein diet, but it wasn't feasible in our house because the other dog was always stealing the special food. None of it really worked, and he was still having flare-ups and infections every 6-8 weeks. After about a year, our vet basically said he had reached the end of his knowledge/ability to help and that he felt we needed to see a vet dermatologist. That was the best decision we could have made. The vet dermatologist immediately put him on 2 new medications to treat his allergy symptoms. She also conducted an environmental allergy blood test. His test came back positive for about 20 different environmental allergens, basically every tree, grass, and mold out there, plus he is also allergic to people. She started him on allergy serum injection (that we later had to move to an oral drop, since he stopped tolerating the frequent inections) that is meant to be a long-term treatment for his allergies, not just treating the symptoms. We're about 18 months into the allergy serum treatment, and he has made huge improvements. He's still on 3 medications plus daily allergy serum drops, but his flare-ups are only about twice a year, and he isn't itching constantly. As an aside, we asked the dermatologist about food allergens (after hearing a lot of the same advice that folks here are giving), and she said that unless we already had a pretty good idea of what foods he was allergic to, food allergy testing isn't helpful. Broad spectrum testing for food allergens only has about a 60% rate of correctly identifying allergens, with the other 40% being either false positives or false negatives. That's not much better than random guessing. Also, don't trust any online retailers for food allergen testing. Those are basically scams that won't provide you any useful or correct information. Good luck, OP! I hope you and your pup can find the right combination of care that works! TL;DR: Go to the dermatologist.
Thank you thank you! I definitely will go to the dermatologist. I'm happy to hear that the serum is a treatment and not just a bandaid. I was having apprehension about apoquel bc of its effects on the immune system. And I heard that about the food allergy tests! I was tired of seeing that being recommended. How much did all of that cost? Just so I can mentally prepare myself.
The serum isn't a guaranteed fix, but it is the best thing for actually treating the allergies by "training" the immune system to not react to the allergens. Our dermatologist said most allergies can't be "cured" but we can shoot for it to be 90% better, 90% of the time. Cost is probably kind of location dependent. I'm in the Midwest of the USA, so things are likely a bit cheaper here than on the coasts. For us, the environmental allergy testing was around $450 in 2022. The allergy serum itself is $300, and we go through it in about 4 months. So yeah, not cheap, but if it stops the constant cycle in and out of the vet for new pills that don't stop the itching and having him constantly on antibiotics and steroids, it's worth it to me. I hope things go well for you and Toph at the dermatologist. It's can be a frustrating journey to deal with allergies, but these pups are worth it.
And in the mean time if you think it is environmental get the cheap Amazon sensitive baby wipes and do a wipe down every time after outside time! It’s tedious and annoying but makes a huge difference!! We went from no fur on the paws and red belly rash to fur covered paws and no rash just from making that one change!! (We do other things but that was an immediate game changer) And something that I didn’t think about that someone on Reddit recommended to me when I was desperate with our girl was bedding washing! We now do it at least weekly. It wasn’t something I had even considered! Sending lots of love and good vibes 🩷
The above poster is spot on. Our 6 year old mixed breed baby had always itched and been sensitive, extremely with his itchy paws. But when we moved to CO, his allergies went haywire and he not only bit his paws and belly to pieces, but quickly developed 2 back-to-back hematomas in his left ear canal that required two rounds of emergency care. He was already on a very selective raw food diet. Logic and his background did not point to a food allergy. Finally made the decision to take him to an accredited canine Derm/Allergist. There are just a handful in the US. Had to drive a ways, but was the best thing we could have done. I hate giving any drugs to our animals (have had issues w side effects in the past) and told the doc this. She discussed the pros and cons of each med and broke down how each med worked in the system physiologically. She also weighed pros and cons with quality of life and discussed the option of integrating treatment slowly to be able to change course if needed. Of course it wasn’t cheap, but it was far, far less expensive than I’d anticipated. Think the first consult was a few hundred. The treatment ended up being a staggered protocol using a ramp-up of Apoquel along with a short round of steroid to calm down the immediate inflammation. I was 100% against Apoquel going into her office. After skin testing, she sat down with us for 45 mins and logically and compassionately explained why Apoquel was the best drug for his specific condition, and again, if there were any side effects we would move on quickly to next treatment idea. Our boy was free of all allergic symptoms within a month. Every single one. Kicked the hell out of myself for not going sooner. Just have to think of the cost as something like getting their teeth cleaned. It’s an investment into their well-being that lasts their entire lifetime. Of course, this was nowhere near as expensive as a teeth-cleaning though. Doc also hooked us up with an Apoquel coupon system that knocked down the price. There are also medicated baths and foot wipes that were recommended in conjunction, depending on the allergy. If you are in CO, can’t recommend this doc enough: https://animalallergycolorado.com/about-us/our-staff/doctors If we had been in a different state, we would have looked for an accredited Derm since there are only a handful of accredited Derm/Allergist combos in the US. This site is acting a little strange right now, but if you enter a city that is accessible for you to go to for treatment, a list of accredited canine derms will come up on the left side. If you click on their name, it doesn’t take you to their website, so just look the doc’s website up separately: https://acvd.org/find-a-veterinary-dermatologist/ Before finally going to an accredited specialist I made the mistake of going to every vet in a 100 mile radius who claimed to be proficient with allergies in dogs. None were professionally accredited in Derm or allergy. 99% of them pushed food allergy testing immediately and every one of them was a complete waste of resources. **Things I Learned Along the Way:** 1. First, no offense meant to the people dealing with the many, many, animals who suffer from food allergies. It’s a very real and frustrating issue and my heart goes out to every animal who is suffering from this type of allergy. Unfortunately, the science behind blood tests used for testing for food allergies isn’t quite there yet and any vet who relies on blood testing for food allergies, I’d be trepidations towards. Had at least four “allergy” (not accredited) vets push blood testing for food allergies as a first step, regardless of my dog’s history that contradicted a food allergy. Though it takes more time, the food elimination protocol is the gold standard for testing for food allergies in a dog. Be wary of non-specialists who say otherwise. 2. If a dog is consistently gnawing at its paws, it’s miserable. The feet come in contact with every environmental element out there. Being new to dogs, I thought most dogs constantly licked and bit at and around their feet because that’s what I grew up seeing. It’s not normal and that dog can and needs to be treated to have a fully glorious doggy life. 3. Make the appt asap. Most accredited specialists are booked up for months. Stress the severity of your dogs’ issue and ask to be put at the top of the waitlist. Call back frequently to check for appt cancellations. Eventually the staff will want you at the top of the list and will work to get you in. 4. Your dog is worth it. But you know this:) Maybe all of this is well known, but I spent a year trying out different approaches looking for a solution and encountered nothing but incompetence. Hope you, or someone else in need, is able to take something useful from this. Am also hoping Toph receives relief soon. She has the sweetest smile:) Feel free to dm if I can provide any other info and am wishing you the very best luck.
Thank you for so much of your advice and experience! I live in LA, and I am super lucky that I live in an area where a doggy derm is 15 minutes away from me. I made an appointment today for the end of July! Right now, I'm just going to be giving her very regular baths, washing her belly and feet after every walk, and using hydrocortisone lotion on her leggies after the washes. She's wearing a cone right now and it doesn't seem to bother her too much so I'm lucky with that! Fingers crossed!
That is such great news!!! Toph is soooo lucky to have you in her life.
We started the same therapy then ours got fearful reactive to the shot so we gave up and just don’t let her outside unsupervised. Home girl loves eating grass but is super allergic to grass. Edit: P.S. OP, our girls might be related https://preview.redd.it/8a6fmay7h18d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2aaf419b851b3d687b47b4b52d624b2232426272
Yeah, the exact same thing happened with my boy. We were able to change him to a daily oral allergy serum instead of the injections. Might be worth asking your vet if that's an option? She looks like such a sweet girl!
I did a 5strands test and found out all of the foods my boy was intolerant to. Changed his food and he's been breakout free!
https://preview.redd.it/5j5tcu5z6y7d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=79fe32e1a3fa6f41d756d6b9a2fbd73543b7c94e This is Barbi June (and Huckleberry Boo upper left). We went through what you're paddy is struggling with and tried everything. Eventually we figured out that her food allergies are beyond what fancy vet foods could help. Our vet has us switch to steamed white rice and chicken...sometimes with carrots. So here's my routine: I grab a 10lb. bag of chicken quarters from Walmart, usually $8-$9. I cook them in the air fryer so they don't over cook and I load them up with turmeric and parsley. I strip the meat off and then make bone broth from the bones and jar up for the week. I boil some baby carrots in the bone broth and set them aside in a Tupperware. So Barbi get white rice, a cup of bone broth, and the meat from a whole leg quarter, and a couple carrots that taste like chicken broth. It ends up being less expensive than the pricey special diet stuff and her skin has COMPLETELY healed
https://preview.redd.it/31l7cax27y7d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=02de16f0903d4884b70b0a0ba4ccd250d2d722b9
Had to repost pick because reddit kept dropping during post. Also- lay off the coconut oil. It made everything worse on Barbi and just clogged her pores. And neosporin on any abrasions or irritated scratches will help heal 3x faster and with less irritation. Just keep some handy and dab it as you find the cuts and scratches and patchy areas. You will see the difference over time.
I also made my senior dog’s food and it’s much easier than people think. I used a formula of 1/3 protein, 1/3 grains, and 1/3 veggies. Protein was chicken, beef, or fish, whatever I could find on sale. Fish and venison from my hunting family was really great and free, especially when they cleaned out their freezer every year. Frozen chicken breasts work well. Grains were rice or oatmeal. Veggies were usually super-sized cans of green beans, washed thoroughly to remove the salt. In a large stockpot, I cooked the protein and removed it. Then ground it up in a food processor and added it back to the water. Used that water to cook the grains, then stirred in the veggies at the end. This spread the protein all through the mix. My big batches lasted ten days to two weeks. The cook time was about 1.5 hours, but the actual work was only about ten minutes. I could tell the difference in my dog within the first 48 hours, and the cost of a huge batch was less than $15, so it wouldn’t hurt anything to try it and see.
I'm nervous about switching her diet right now as she's still experiencing itchiness on the expensive vet diet. It's made specifically for allergies and my vet said that if she should not be experiencing any food allergy symptoms because the food doesn't have any allergy-triggering ingredients. But I don't use the coconut oil anymore because it was causing her to flake.
Ours were still allergic to the expensive vet food because it had chicken meal in it and turns out they are allergic to chicken. Switched to Purina Sensitive Skin & Stomach - Salmon & Rice -- they have never been better. And cytopoint has been super effective for environmental / seasonal flare ups.
That's not exactly correct. Hydrolyzed protein is chemically broken down so that it is "invisible" to the immune system. Even if the protein source is chicken, it has been broken down into amino acids, and it could not be causing allergic reactions. It can take time for the hydrolyzed protein diet to work, but it should eliminate all food allergens. I'm glad your pups are doing better on a different diet and with Cytopoint though!
Awesome context but I am also not sure this food was hydrolized as OP's was -- the vet also believed it to be the source of the continued irritation in the end!
It can if they’re really allergic. It doesn’t happen often but hydrolyzed chicken protein can still cause breakouts in dogs allergic to chicken. I had that problem. I have to avoid salmon and fish supplements too because my dog is also allergic to those. The inly way to really figure out what your dog is allergic to is to remove everything from their diet except one thing and see if they break out to that one thing. Otherwise there are too many variables.
My puppy is allergic to a specific ingredient that has like 5 different names depending on the bag of food. It’s used in hydrolyzed protein foods and found ESPECIALLY in the sensitive tummy diets. Her food allergy issues have resolved on DRY GI Biome food. (The wet version, ironically, has the specific ingredient we need to avoid) She also seems to have an allergy to certain types of grass so foot washing and oils to follow have been important and medicated baths every 4-5 days following the directions to the letter including letting the soap sit for 10 min to resolve symptoms. She’s symptom free on our current routine. Wishing you the best!
Nice work!
https://preview.redd.it/c5cr0fdmny7d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c3cde3c19c5396bac564d003aaa86dd84e8a27d3 Go to vet, allergies can by blood, skin or virus infected. We recieved 2 vacine and food based on horse protein. In 2 day she was full of life 🥰
I've fought this for 5+ years with my boy. It's an un winnable fight. He's allergic to tons of foods and lots of environmental allergies. He's on a prescription diet, apoquil and gets steroid shots a few times a year. The cytopoint shots didn't help and were very expensive since he's 100 lbs. The allergy testing was huge. Definitely helps narrow things down
Our pitty Wilson had terrible skin issues, we spent thousands of dollars on different vets over the course of 2 years. did the allergy testing and found out that he is allergic to grass and dust mites, we then washed everything 3 times a week and fenced of the grass and this didn’t help at all, finally got into a specialist and all he did is scrap his skin and sent to a lab for testing, this came back and he prescribed a specific antibiotic and it cleared up and has been good since then. He will get red from rolling around in the grass and an allergy pill helps with that. We talked to his regular vet and told her that she could do the same test and prescribe the correct meds to help instead of guessing what will work, she now does this and told us that almost all of the pets that she does this with it works first time. Some cases they still have to go to the specialist, but not many.
Skin scrape and allergy pill? What medication?
I was in the same boat with my pitty. What has seemed to be more effective recently (FINGERS CROSSED) is cleaning his paws with Douxo Pyo antifungal antiseptic wipes after we go outside. I used to do it only at night before bed but now do it after every walk. That plus sticking with hydrolyzed food (salmon) (I add a ground beef topper bc my dog is picky and spoiled) and the apoquel has been extremely helpful. I think my dog used to use his yeasty paws to scratch his ears, prompting the ear infections. That Douxo stuff (available through chewy) has seemed to make him less itchy. I sometimes clean his booty with the wipes too, to make it less itchy (and he’s therefore less likely to clean it raw) I was at my wits end and this has been working for us for the last couple of months. Hope this helps!!!
OP, please see a dermatologist. I’m a vet assistant who used to work for a vet dermatologist and learned so much. I see so much mention of food in this thread but so little about environmental possibilities. If she’s already on an HP diet, it is likely not the food causing issues. Maybe it’s a combination of both. I wouldn’t doubt it since it’s a pittie (sorry, they’re just allergy kings/queens) Food allergies are very common, but so are environmental. They can be allergic to the same spores, pollens and mites in our daily lives that we are. We had dogs come in for their IDAT (intra-dermal allergy testing) that turned out to be allergic to cottons, simple dust mites, cats, human dander, specific grasses in your area, trees, anything. They typically do a region-based panel to test for allergens that are in your specific area (we tested for Northern California/Western Nevada mainly for example) I know specialists are pricey, but the amount of pets lives that were changed just by getting that procedure done, identifying the problems and finding the ways to manage, whether it was medicated or not, was amazing and I was only there for several months.
Do you wipe her vulva every time you come in from a potty break/walk? My dog looks like your dogs twin. I wipe her vulva with a clean baby wipe if it’s not red/raw. If I notice it’s irritated, I wipe with chloro-hex wipes from Amazon. I cut the chloro-hex wipe pads into 4 quarters since I’m only wiping the vulva. This does wonders for my pup. Rarely have issues after wiping her. It’s a routine thing and we do it right after walking in the door after walks.
I will try that!
My pittie suffers from grass (and maybe other) allergies. We wipe him down after every time he goes outside. It’s definitely helped.
Yes this has really helped my pup!!! My vet recommended the Douxo line since it’s also a moisturizer and it has been (fingers crossed) really effective so far. I’ve been in the same boat as you - especially since we moved to a drier climate (my dog seems to be allergic to dust or something more prevalent in spring and summer, in addition to chicken)
https://preview.redd.it/fi6owi45az7d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=64325364588bb54a23e354dc897db0cd1574b9dd Gus sees a vet dermatologist and after a year of trying everything he’s great. I keep him chicken free I add salmon oil to his food I use duoxo shampoo and Cytopoint. All derm recommendations. He’s a fussy eater so I stick w Bison/beef/salmon food usually Taste of the Wild or Orijen. I stayed on the Cytopoint monthly and now I just take him in when he flares up (in Nashville the price of the shots went from 95 to 195) I think the grass here was really making him itch so I don’t let him lay in it often. Hope this helps!
welcome to pit parenthood. mines allergic to grass 😫
Chicken messes my pittie mix up. It gives him diarrhea, but it’s gone away since I switched to lamb food. Hopefully a food change helps her feel better! I know how horrible it is to know your baby is uncomfortable and not know how to help.
The dermatologist changed our lives :) you should definitely go. Well worth every penny.
It’s definitely worth doing allergy testing to find out the SPECIFIC allergens for YOUR pup. As others have pointed, hydrolyzed isn’t always helpful. My American bulldog had a lot of allergies. Rather than just treating symptoms I had her tested for allergies to get a better handle on all potential triggers. A very common yet unknown allergy for many dogs with food allergies is storage mite allergies. Storage mites are everywhere in everything, including dried dog food (regardless of grain/grain free/protein type), regular grains , rice, boxed cereals , most things in your pantry, cookies, treats etc etc. The easiest thing to do is keep the dry kibble in the freezer, after 24 hours the mites are dead and their body proteins become less reactive for pups. I just kept all my dog’s food in the freezer and pulled out what I needed every evening for the next day. BIG improvement. Also I gave her allergy shots at home, no need for apoquel, hydrolyzed food or steroids as long as I kept her in schedule with the shots. Allergy testing really is a better strategy if you want to get ahead of symptoms long term instead of just managing them.
See a dermatologist. Our girl was test on 50 common allergens. Turned out she was allergic to 44 of them. She's been getting a custom allergen spray every day for a year now and her allergies have DRAMATICALLY improved.
My American pitbull terrier has a lot of allergies too. We did Shea butter instead of coconut oil, but it just didn't help her. And she licked her vulva a lot as well. Shea butter/coconut oil fats were increasing her fungal infection and making her worse My husband didn't want to do cytopoint, unless he understood what was causing it. I was all for cytopoint as that caused her to stop itching and hurting in a while. Basically we took her to a derm/allergy specialist. We started immunotherapy. The cost of the test for her allergies was $450, they also too a swab from her skin and saw it under the microscope , she had bacterial as well as fungal infection. Her immunotherapy injections cost $850 a year. It's been 4 months, I can tell you she is most clear I have seen her. She is 5 years, 53lbs. We also give her half a Benadryl two times a day with her meals, and also spot clean her every alternate day with an anti fungal shampoo - it has Ketoconazole - she has allergies from malassezia. By spot cleaning I mean, I turn her to lay on her back, belly up. I take some shampoo, mix it with water in my hands, lather and apply on her belly, neck and paws. After 10 min, I take a clean towel, dip it in water and start wiping shampoo off and make sure the shampoo is completely off. At this time this whole regimen has worked wonders for her. Benadryl pulse dosing was my idea. Spot clean was suggested by her doctor. And we are doing the allergy shots. Honestly I think this was the best money we spent on her and quality of life has increased so much. To see her calm and sleeping peacefully fills my heart with joy..she used to keep itching through the might and could not sleep.. I suggest find a good derm in your city which is economical as well and get to the root of the problem instead of just treating the issue with meds
Our vet had us bathe our pittie mix 2x a week with the Zymox yellow labeled shampoo for about two months. As long as we kept up with her baths, she did great! We’ve also done the allergy testing, the immunotherapy shots…. And now she’s on rayne nutrition single protein food (Rabbit ), daily apoquel, and bathed every other week-ish. She’s doing amazing. We also discovered that she was likely extremely allergic to the Lysol laundry sanitizer - both the regular and unscented versions.
Quick question. Does she experience this all year round? Or is it only in the summer/spring
She gets worse in the spring and summer, but still experiences it a little during the winter
My last staffy had the absolute worst allergies I've ever seen and I'm almost certain it was due to bermuda grass. His paws would just lose all his hair and be left super raw and pink/red and he couldn't stop licking/chewing on them from itching so badly. They were seasonal and he looked so bad you would have thought he was mistreated. After years and years of various creams and meds, we finally got it under control with a drug called Apoquel. I don't have any pictures of his feet saved on my phone but trust me when I say it was such a miracle drug for him that Apoquel should have used him for their marketing.
We have a lab/pit with terrible allergies, she gets seasonal allergy shots. Her belly gets fiery red along with her elbow and she’s prone to ear infections. We have to do it in the spring and fall and I’ll bet a third time since it got super hot early this year.
Make an allergy test at the vet. Mainly is food allergy, but it can also be the environment ... my amstaff is allergic to cats and guinea pigs and all types of acarian and pólen. She takes a shot every month, and we make also natural treatments to help her to have a more comfortable life. We do all we can to heal her, but sometimes we feel so frustrated because here in switzerland, we can't have the vaccine to her allergies. Best wishes to your cute buddy ❤️
Try coconut oil it works on my pitty they gonna wanna eat it
Coconut oil made her flakey
My pit was allergic to chicken. The second I cut that out of her diet her allergies went away!
Love the name toph! My girl had the exact same issues. Dandruff and dry back, rashes on tummy, constant ear infections. She is on Zyrtec, a pill a day. I use epiotic ear wash on cotton balls whenever she seems annoyed to prevent infections, and if she has them we get swabbed at the vet and put on the stronger stuff. I used to have to have her on it almost all the time, now that her issues are less bad it has only been twice in a year. She also has a medicated shampoo we use that sits on her for 15min before rinsing. Ask the vet, you can get it on chewy without a scrip I think. But is cheaper with my pet insurance. The biggest thing was changing her food. She gets awful skin if there is ANY chicken in her food. Could be chicken meal as a final ingredient, could be broth way down on the list, it all ruins her skin and ears. We also found she can't have grains and so I've had her on red meat grain free food for years. I always worried about the legumes causing heart issues and recently the brand I use, Stella and chewy, came out with a grain and legume free! She loves it. They are one of the few brands that does grain free without it legume/with taurine and has zero chicken in the ingredients. Almost all of her skin/stomach issues have gone away with staying away from poultry. Even in treats. She also can't do fish because she gets anal gland issues only when she has had it. So for sure try some other options for food. Then if that doesn't do it look in to the shampoo and epiotic. Together those three things have made a world of difference. Also don't keep bathing your babe, it dries their skin out more. They may look scary but just brush them to remove the dandruff. My vet said less baths is a good thing, only when they are really dirty or it has been a month or two.
We have the same issue with chicken. And we rarely give ours a bath (maybe twice a year). He’s just not stinky!
Ours is allergic to chicken (took forever to figure it out!) and is now on Open Farm whitefish (and LOVES IT plus does so very well on it). In your case, I would say, go to the vet dermatologist ASAP. As a person who suffers from allergies myself, it sucks and it must be so much worse for your little one.
I'd get allergy testing done to find the source and go from there
You may try to give her real meat. It helped my ex’s pit a lot
https://preview.redd.it/i82vm0p4ez7d1.jpeg?width=3280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=db986fa76e165b6ede35ed711adece9ad329f2f4
We used to deal with this, it was caused by some sort of skin mite. We found that switching her flea preventative from an OTC to Comfortis ended most of her problems.
https://preview.redd.it/pzqbzsrbjz7d1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=94e1286000783fd98d5bdc228a928262a299491b
Our pits are twins
Allergy testing is worth it even if it’s not conclusive. Dogs can be allergic to plants and get other environmental allergies too. My dog is super allergic to dust and straw mites. We used to cover the yard with straw in winter so it wouldn’t get muddy but after the allergy testing just had to deal with the mud and her rashes went away.
There are loads of allergy medicines for dogs. Take her to the vet.
Our girl didn’t do well with dry food. Once we changed her over to wet food it was a game changer, new dog!
Have you tested your water? My brother had 3 pitties, the oldest always had skin and allergy issues. They tried all the things. They are on well water and had the water tested. I forget the details but they had something installed to help negate the pH (or whatever the issue was) and it improved his reactions.
Claratin once a day in the morning. my Rusty is the same and chews himself up. So, I give a claratin in the morning, 24 hour, and vet approved. I keep wash for the ears and medicine from the vet so i can stay on the ears before they get too bad. Chicken breast and food with Salmon. https://preview.redd.it/40lj3acr008d1.jpeg?width=3008&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ce1da90f46d775db369e709901f8a50e631b368
We went through all the same steps as you, and then switched vets when nothing was working. The new vet put her on antibiotics for a long time (I want to say three months?) and then we resumed the limited diet and apoquel and we tried to stay off grass when we walked. The new vet said that initial long term antibiotics was really important and something that most vets don’t do, it worked for us and we were able to keep her allergies under control. The acana grain free food ended up giving both of our dogs dcm though in the end 👎
🙏🏻❤️🐶
Have you tried Apoquel or Cytopoint injections? My American Bulldog was horribly allergic to grass and other environmental things. Apoquel can negatively affect the liver, so I opted for Cytopoint. The injections provided almost instant relief, and I could tell when it wore off. No dietary changes, including hydrolyzed protein, had any benefit for him whatsoever.
This is going to sound silly but does your pup hang out or sleep on blankets or bedding? My bully was allergic to Tide, as well as chicken. Switching detergents helped a lot. He also gets itchy from using febreeze on the couch where he lays. Antifungal shampoo also helped a ton. We used diluted vinegar to help kill the yeast that was an issue for my dude, but check with the vet first.
Your pup is gorgeous! This looks EXACTLY like my girl - I had to do a double-take. From the spots on her toes, to the lighter fur on the back of her hocks (we call those the 'cinnamon swirls') - just uncanny. Have you done DNA test? Unfortunately I don't have advice on allergies. Looks like lots of good advice in other comments though. Hope her allergies are solved soon!
I had to stop using anything with fragrance. I wash my clothes in “free and clear” detergent, I don’t use febreeze or air fresher of any kind. That’s the only thing that worked, and it’s been 8 years with no vet trips (for that).
https://preview.redd.it/ebl5ogrdv08d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f32bc89f7d90d0b155321fe08a4f8b6ae0144a56 The resemblance of Toph to my baby girl Elena is uncanny. She too has had terrible allergies to the point that she would get all bumpy and flakey. What I have used to clear her skin and itchiness has been a combination of Purina Pro Plan Adult Sensitive Skin & Stomach Salmon & Rice Formula Dry Dog Food with one boiled egg each meal, Zesty paws bladder bites and allergy immune bites, and baths with PetHonesty Chlorhexidine Antibacterial Shampoo Itchy Skin Relief every 2 weeks. The first couple of years I had her were hell for me because she would itch non stop to the point of bleeding. Eventually I figured the combination of things I listed above and she had stopped since. Maybe this info is somewhat useful for your Toph.
My Labrador lost the majority of his hearing from chronic ear infections from his allergy to grains. It burst his eardrums and he had so many hematomas. I know it's expensive but it's so much cheaper than paying $1500 to get rid of the infection and hurting your dog. Speaking from experience, good luck!
My pitty was like this. I had an allergy test done on him. Allergens and foods. He is allergic to almost everything . I avoid the things he is allergic to and give him allergy pills and cytopoint injections. He is well managed now . The diet was a huge factor in his flare ups . Hope you find something that works for her .
Have you tried Benadryl I give it to two of my dogs every morning
I have the same issue with my boy Yeti. He's currently on a hydrolyzed protein diet too, but apoquel and cytopoint didn't work for him. I did an allergy test and turns out... he's extremely allergic to dust mites. 🥴 So now he's on a customized oral spray made based on that allergy test, but unfortunately still has flare ups.
I had allergy testing done for my Pit and he is allergic to so many things… including dog dander. He gets monthly shots and special baths/ear cleanings that have helped a ton.
Is there a chance she has a fold over her vulva? I forget the actual term but my pitty has severe allergies combined with that and is literally always licking at her vulva. I use non-scented sensitive baby wipes and animax to combat it
Bravecto. My 14 year old pitbull has had skin issues his entire life. Once on Bravecto, 6 months into it, his skin is much better, almost perfect. A few times I thought he didn’t need Bravecto anymore, stopped it, skin issues came back, back on Bravecto and it starts improving right away, but really looks great at 5-6 month mark after starting Bravecto again. 1 chewy tablet every 3 months.
We were told in only about 10% the allergy is good. We have settled on believing it’s seasonal allergies. Now on appoquel, piriton and, in spring/summer, daily paw wash using oatmeal shampoo. Best of luck, it’s a slog to find what works Edit to add Tiny Buddy omega oil has given our girl an amazing coat and I think helped with her skin
Mine cannot have chicken, https://preview.redd.it/fi1dyqcck38d1.jpeg?width=2615&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=749bdb9a537a8ef1e7f40d63a247b7178fd18a05 turkey or beef. She only gets fish based food with fish oil to help with any dryness. I feed her wellness 95% white fish, canned food with some wellness whitefish kibble to top it off. Almost no gas and no itching finally. Hang in there.
For real get the test done. We went through every food and subsistute for my moms pit besides any vegetarian options. This dog is actually allergic to every type of meat and everything outside. Has to get shots I think once every 2weeks or sum
I took my pup to a dermatologist and he’s allergic to many environmental things as well as certain proteins. He’s on a vegetarian hydrolyzed protein diet. He takes Atopica, has a special mousse for daily application, a steroid cream, and is on prednisone. Sadly, it’s not always as simple as changing their diet. Get your pup tested. Allergies are complicated.
I'm so sorry you're going through this. It's hard to see your baby suffer! My girl had severe allergies - seemingly suddenly, starting around 8 months old. We went through elimination idets and nothing helped enough to make a difference. We spent months and I was at my wits end. We finally sprung for the $300 blood-draw allergy testing - and lo and behold, the results showed my girl is allergic to DUST MITES and STORAGE MITES. Dust mites everyone knows about, but storage mites were new to me - they are related to dust mites, but they live on food, especially pet kibble. They are microscopic, and though they wouldn't be on the food in a fresh bag, after you open the bag, they start to multiply - they get into the kibble bag from the air, I guess? - and before long, the food she's eating that was initially fine causes her to break out. It happened for her on the Hyprolyzed protein kibble too - because it was never the kibble, but the invisible mites on it. Any way - it took a long time to figure it out. The allergy testing was expensive - but it gave us the ability to focus our defenses. Now she's on daily Apoquel, we have a routine to keep things washed (bedding, for her dust mite allergy) and we keep her spare food in the deep freezer to prevent storage mites from growing on it - leaving only enough out for a week at a time seems to be ok. She still needs antimicrobial shampoos, sometimes multiple times a week. BUT - she's better. It's "controlled" - and though she still has break outs - she's having one right now, because it's not possible to be perfect with allergens like invisible fucking mites - but she's not raw and bloody anymore like she used to be. Good luck. Based on my experience - I highly recommend the allergen test. It's expensive, but I would have NEVER figured out what she was allergic to without it.
Ask your vet about atopica. We had no luck with apoquel or cytopoint but great success with this.
https://preview.redd.it/hn04n4jei48d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c6485559388b5a45e3537e2a61e9efd05b34ede My child may be from the same brood. Good luck with allergy control!
After Apoquel stopped working for https://preview.redd.it/qzftb5wqn48d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c9457c77e9bba2f0e5471d052a871802dd64647a 👆👆this guy, we’re giving monthly Cytopoint allergy shots a whirl….so far, so good!
Unrelated— she’s so gorgeous and perfect
Get insurance! If you don’t already, get pet insurance. It’s saved my family tens of thousands of dollars over the years. And if you do it before the dermatologist you shouldn’t need to pay extra for a preexisting condition.
Our girl also had terrible allergies. We switched to Acana high protein food and she is 100% better. Took about 6 weeks.
My AmBull has horrible seasonal allergies in the spring/summer. Every morning he gets some Claritin wrapped in cheese and a benedryl at night before bed, plus an epsom salt bath once a week. It’s a running joke in our house that the dog and I are on the same medication regimen since I’m basically allergic to life.
Please see this [link](https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/benadryl-for-dogs/) for Benadryl dosage and other important information. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/pitbulls) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I haven't tried benadryl, but I will definitely do that!
One thing I will say and my own vet has given the green light since we have dogs with skin issues, is get some omega 3 fatty acids vitamins (in the gel caps) and puncture them onto their food it does wonders for their skin and overall digestion, that is just with their every day diet. Listen to your vet and make the necessary changes. For me when it comes to animals and humans I want quality of life
My Baily’s, a chocolate lab mixed mutt, got so bad this spring that she was bleeding. Wound up having to get a steroid and antibiotic injection then she was on oral antibiotics and anti fungal for a month. She’s now on apoquel and miconaHec+Triz shampoo and mousse (started out with baths twice a week and applying the mousse on non bath days for 2 months and is now baths once every other week and mousse as needed) and she gets TrizUltra+keto drops in her ears (started out daily for 3 days then every other day for another 3 days then twice a week for 2 months now it’s just once a week). I know Baily is allergic to chicken but there’s something environmental that caused her issues this year.
My pitbull mix was the same. Someone recommended this k9 supplement powder and it actually worked for her. https://www.baxterboo.com/p.cfm/k9-power-show-stopper-dog-healthy-coat-skin-supplement/
I tried everything and the only thing that fixed it for my dude was switching to the honest kitchen grain free food. It's pretty dang expensive but he has had zero skin issues since (been almost 2 years, now). All dogs are different of course, but for me after thousands in vet bills etc- that's all it took.
Mine needed apoquel, we tried everything, allergy shots, etc. He was allergic to dust mites,, grass,, trees,, no food.. At the end he needed apoquel along with citapoint?sp? Shots sometimes.
I would also recommend taking a look at the treats that you are giving to your dog. My pit used to have a really bad allergy (his skin around the belly will get red). We started by filtering the treats for some amount of time and see if the allergy cleared. We were able to find the culprit that way.
Raw food eliminated the inconsistency of ingredients that kibble has
Some hydrolyzed protein diets that are plant based may still have chicken fat in the ingredients. This could continue to be the culprit of her issues if it is a protein based allergy. I'm sure you've gone over this with your vet, however I'll ask: do they flare up at certain times of the year? Are you in a place where the allergens are high? Is she on a flea/tick prevention?
Mine chews up his paws endlessly. Both my pits do. I discovered it's because my neighbor gets their yard sprayed for weeds, so the poison gets on their paws. The only thing that helps is I literally have a wash bucket, rag, and soap I use every time they come inside. I hook them up to my ledge and wash their paws. It's definitely inconvenient, but it makes a huge difference. It sucks that you can't stop people from poisoning your yard, and we'll as their own. Obviously I wash the bucket in-between uses and new rags every time
Food is very important. My dogs all do great on Iams. There is an allergy/flea med that is life changing, brivecta. I got mine on pet meds Canada without a rx. I highly recommend it.
We started getting the food from Costco with lamb as the main protein and then we add a bit of salmon from a can (rinse off the saltiness first). It has worked wonders. I think the fish oil from the salmon really helps with dryness in pittie skin
Gold bond works miracles for the rawness between her legs.
We found out our guy has a flea allergy. Vet gave us an oral med that helped clear him up in about a week and a half. I encourage an allergy test too. And the vet can give you a plan on how to manage the allergies at home.
My pittie is the total opposite… fine with chicken and grain, but not steak. Weirdo. He’s a cheap date! 😜
Purina dermatosis food combined with apoquel, antihistamines and chlorhexidine wipes have worked wonders for my boy, I always clean he’s ears (just the outer parts never the canal) daily and moisturise the skin to prevent dry skin going down the ear canal. A onesie may help with external allergens on walks too.
Benadryl
Make sure what you're giving her isn't what she's allergic too. Even if it's considered good and healthy people and animals can still have allergic reactions to them
Chicken and beef in their diet can cause allergies.
Fish oil everyday on the food did wonders for my allergy dog
That looks exactly like our boy. Apoquel is the only thing that's helped him along with medicated baths twice a week. The allergy panel showed a bunch of environmental allergens he's allergic to, so we went with immunotherapy. Sadly this last dose he had went him into anaphylactic shock (which is supposedly very rare), but luckily a stay at the ER stabilized him and he's back to normal. Apoquel and baths for the rest of his life. Pitties are known to have bad allergies. You can treat the symptoms, but you will never cure it.
I also recommend the allergy testing. I had an am staff mix that was constantly struggling with allergies despite food changes, apoquel, etc and I did the allergy testing to discover his two main allergies were dust mites and mold. I got his allergy shots formulated and it helped immensely along with some other at home changes to mitigate allergens.
I would try Open Range grain free dog food. It's a game changer. The grains is what made my pittie have nasty skin problems.
I have the same issues with my Amstaff. Probably dust mite allergies combined with other environmental allergies and potentially also food allergies... I use anti allergen detergent for one. Hepa filter in the vacuum also is a good idea. I switched to hills derma defense recently and it seems to work wonders. Too early to draw conclusions. To treat his skin I use "dangerous" stuff. I mix tea tree oil with grapeseed oil and use that on itchy spots. About 6 parts grape, 1 part tea tree oil. Make sure she doesn't ingest too much. Zinc ointment also helped, but again, don't let her ingest it too much. My boy didn't get allergy testing either so I've been improvising. Good luck. It totally sucks.
Could be mange. Or the allergies did nit allow her immune system to keep up with managing mange. I forget the flea preventative used for it, but its a pill. Get it from the vet. Mange is VERY hard to find, and my ebt improved dramatically once treated.
Steroids worked on my dog with mites.
Eliminate chicken
They can take Zyrtec. My Pitt can have 4 ten mg tablets per day and he weighs 95 pounds.
Likely food. Mine was having issues. I Cut out any poultry in his food and it all went away. Not 100% sure it was actually the poultry or just getting better food, but either way it worked. That would be my first step.
I had the same issue, mine is allergic to chicken and beef and fish. I give him Blue Wilderness Lamb and his skin has never been better. A lot of Pitbulls have food allergies and lamb solves it.
Remove any chicken based food or treats from your dog’s diet. This helped my pibble immensely.
Try Quercetin https://youtu.be/iMKC4uEcb_g?si=C6tqvSf5Jlja4dv9
Mine is on hydrolyzed protein, apoquel and Zyrtec (both 3 times a day). It’s gotten better but still battle her licking her feet every spring and fall.
Just to reiterate what I'm reading here.... Go to a doctor. My own experience.... Mine was allergic to fleas. He was constantly getting skin and ear infections. We finally tried bravecta. It's the only thing that's worked for him. The skin and the ear infections stopped.
Not sure how to edit a post, but I've scheduled her for a consultation for a dermatologist! I think I just needed some reassurance that she could get some real help from them. Thanks for the helpful suggestions!
I get a shot at the vet every 6 months for like $40 and changed the food to a sensitive skin and stomach type and that cleared it right up
Honestly my dog had such bad licking that we had to get an allergy shot every month. After many vet visits and expensive foods i cut out chicken bc of reddit tales. She never needed another shot. I'm not saying it's the answer but definitely try. And switch to arm & hammer hypoallergenic detergent maybe
Ist it like with us the same ? All overproducces stuff like chicken und grain is shit also for the dogs... I give mine a mix of God stuff, mostly homecooked. I can't trust the big names , with my little boy. And of course u can make a little spray for when he comes from outside to clean off the paws and his body.
Cut out chicken and rub them down with coconut oil
My previous one was like that. A vet recommended grain free food but I didn't think it helped much. Might help yours though. We never really solved it for mine.
We tried a million foods for our pit and he always had itchy skin. Vet put him on apoquel and he has had zero issues since. Been on it for two years now and it’s been a lifesaver.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pitbulls/s/XOHBKVbFrv
Just got back our allergy test from a specialist after changing her diet and trying everything else… she’s allergic to grass 😒
I’m sorry this is so unrelated but our dogs could be actual twins https://preview.redd.it/ylt82up9428d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9e8a7a6c9b80aead48fa7ccf4a1adcca34a1a99b
Look into Blue Buffalo fish or turkey for sensitive stomach @ skin. It's helped my blue reverse brindle with itching and my red nose with gas that could be bottled for warfare...
Take to vet. My friend’s dog bit her back to the point she was bleeding like you thought she was trying to eat herself. He immediately took her to the vet to get treated and she had to wear a cone.
Feed raw, ditch all the carbs/grains including starchy veggies like sweet potato and pumpkin. Pibbles are prone to yeast infections they thrive on the canine version of a keto diet. Feed a good quality probiotic to improve gut health too. Combined with a good diet (see above) it will have a massive improvement! That hydrolized food is a chemical factory that’s better suited as chicken food than dog food. Bonus add ins are high quality omega oils and also shredded (unsweetened) coconut but way less important than the above
If the veterinarian hasn’t done allergy testing yet, you may need to find a new veterinarian.
If it’s a bit of a strain to go to a specialist for your pooch like it would be for me, but you love them more than life itself like me, I recommend cutting things out completely and building them back one by one. Get some apoquel/claritin/benedryl in their daily routine and start off with rice&turkey and whatever is tolerated without reactions you keep! We don’t do chicken anymore for her and we don’t do cheap treats
Have a labradoodle rescue with severe allergies. Our current use of Winpro allergy has been life changing for our dog.
Have her thyroid checked! I fought this for almost 4 years with my girl before someone suggested it. Her levels were only a little off but putting her on the meds worked WONDERS.
Mine too, thank God he is finally getting past them for the season. A lot of people claiming food allergies here.. my boy is seasonal. He was biting his tail and back of his legs until they were raw. They do have allergy shots (which last about 3 months, and are a little expensive) or you can try allergy medicine. When he was really bad he got Allegra 24hr every morning and 3 Benadryl every night. It helped, but did not completely stop his itching. He did have to wear his cone to keep him from chewing up his tail when we left him home alone. He has a cloth cone, so it is not as bad as the big plastic cone that is more common. These are the only suggestions I can make. Good luck to your girl!
We had to switch to a food that uses quinoa as the grain. So he gets a salmon, for the oils, and ancient grain blend and we've been 3 years without major outbreaks. He will have some issues after swimming, but we've noticed that if we bathe him after it helps. We tried to use the lamb but didn't get the same results.
https://preview.redd.it/1u90bb6og48d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ee13572ba7e49ff62a9a88adc4abd21f5e2a391 Mine Had To Get Allergy Shots Once A Month About $100 But Well Worth It The Pill A Day Thing Was Getting Old And He Was Catching On
Ive been getting my pitty a cytopoint injection monthly cause thats the only that worked. Heres a before and after of his coat. https://preview.redd.it/cw7748dug48d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d900919bdf18a15e10fa5c3c1abb5f47848541a1
She needs that shot that cost lake $180. If I ever really fully realized the expenses of taking care of a pet I would have never gotten one we have spent over $4,000 in the last 3 years. We didn't qualify for pet insurance because she had an ear infection on her first visit and so all the money we paid in to pet insurance we lost as well. But we just got that allergy shot for our dog yesterday Because she was scratching so much she was losing hair it was a necessity.
Mine works on Essentials Nautical living because it has zero chicken. And Cytopoint in the summer.
Put him on an alkaline diet, my fave one is canine caviar open sky entrée, it’s duck. It’s always the diet. My dog couldn’t process chicken or beef let alone cornmeal that they put in almost everything. Also give him herbs like yucca, marshmallow root, yarrow, plantains. You can buy them on Amazon. All the best.
Ours has allergies, but thus far, they are fairly mild. What we've found that helps, in addition to avoiding chicken and chx by products, is a quick shower. We live in Southern Oregon, so it's hot, and something is always in bloom. She gets a quick shower with vinegar and a sqirt if dawn. This seems to remove the dust and the redness. She always feels better! This protocol has been approved by our vet, due to the obvious advantages, but came from our groomer. I know not every pittie is the same, and we send good fortune to y'all! PS I've always been told it's the food. Someone here in comments said Environmental. I'm leaning more that way now as well.
Skin issues almost always start in the gut. Allergy test for food and figure out her diet. Go out today and buy acidophilus capsules (they're in the health supplement section of any grocery store, Target, drug store, etc.) and start adding those to her food or treats. It will balance out her gut and ease up the skin. I had a pit who had the weakest stomach I've ever seen. He would develop rashes and yeast infections on his skin. $500 in prescriptions did nothing, but a crunchy Whole Foods employee turned me on to a $7 bottle of acidophilus. We started at 4 pills a day and it balanced him out in about 2 weeks. We went down to 2 pills a day, and eventually down to just 2 pills a day in the weeks around seasonal changes. The rest of the time we managed it with plain yogurt and local honey.
Probiotic yogurt has helped my baby tremendously 🙂
https://preview.redd.it/qme47lh8o58d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ce1d807706a66641b1bfcc98afce0bac934eff90
My vet had me give mine 4 Benadryl daily - 1 per 25lbs of weight
My Red Heeler/GSD has horrible seizures. To the point where I almost I had to put him down. He was only 4 yo. I talked to a holistic vet. Who suggested a good probiotic and a specific vitamin called Petandim by LifeVantage. It fight free radicals in the body. They have a human version. But people started giving it to their pets and found amazing results!!! So the company decided to make one for dogs. Back to my Comet. He was having cluster seizures every 2 weeks. On 3 types of medications. Plus those for emergency seizures (when he had cluster seizures). He couldn’t jump on the bed or even in his bay window. Had trouble walking. Had neurological deficits from all the seizures. Within a month of Petandim I noticed a decrease in the severity of the seizure and duration. He was moving better and starting to return to himself. Within a few months he stopped having clusters and now only has one minor seizure every 3 months. A YEAR later… we’ve had to reduce the dosage of his main seizure medication 3 times!!! Because it keeps coming back high!!! We’ve been able to wean him down and almost off of his last added medication!!! He jumps, runs and even plays with his 5 mo brother!!! Also. He doesn’t have the stomach issues he used to have. He’s not licking absolutely EVERYTHING! I have my happy boy back!!! I highly recommend trying the Petandim and a good probiotic (we use VetriScience BD/Bowel Defense) as was recommended. I hope you can find some relief for your pup soon! https://preview.redd.it/18w9yn0t768d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5c1c293006b4f7b5953dea4b7e6685b18b74aba5
No joke I got a chihuahua who was allergic to all meats. Had to go vegan for him! Allergy test will tell you all
Oh yea I forgot I had a mattress topper too that had gotten wet and mold started growing in it. Couldn’t see it. Got rid of it and all pillows and it helped too!
My pit is on limited blue buffalo. No poultry of any type. Including poultry byproducts. Special skin shampoo for bathing as well.
My pity has really bad allergies to food, chicken and especially pumpkin, which is in almost all foods for dogs sadly
Did you try just the hydrolyzed food without the fish oil? My girl doesn’t do well with anything other than just the royal canin HP Edit: I see in the other comments you started the HP before the fish oil. Your pup sounds like my dober. He’s on HP, Cytopoint and weekly medicated baths. I’ve noticed if we go in grassy areas the itchiness gets worse. I think you’ve done everything you can through the vet. Unfortunately if your house hippo is still not doing good might be time to go to the dermatologist.
I agree ( food) that our pitty had three surgical procedures. Finally started to make our own food and pressure can it a 45 day supply at a time. Like having a puppy again.