Allergy Advice

Back for some more advice.

I noticed at the end part of last week one of Logan's paw was quite red in between his toes. I had caught him licking/nibbling at them if I'm honest. He stops when I tell him though.

It doesn't seem to cause him any pain etc, he isn't limping or anything. But he does still seem to want to lick at it.

I brought him to the vet on Monday and he said that it looks like he has a potential allergy to something. He gave me some anti-inflams as it was a bit swollen and some cream to apply to take away the itchy feeling.

He mentioned about allergy testing, but I know nothing about it. Can anyone expand on it at all?

He also said about steroid's but he said I probably wouldn't wat to do that, which I don't. But is there any kinder option?

I have started very recently to give that Bragg's ACV as suggested before as a few of you recommended, but it's most likely too soon to see any benefits.

Thanks everyone

You have any idea what the allergy might be, anything changed when it came up, etc.? If not, I'd probably go for the allergy testing, myself. Steroids tend to be for more severe allergies and reactions though, have you tried him on an antihistamine and see if that keeps it in check? Besides that, there's no advice I can give really, sorry. Hope you get to the bottom of it soon

It could be the plant sap starting to rise with the slightly warmer weather?

I'd do as Tara says & give him some anti histamine, but also bathe his paws in some warm salty water every time you come in with him.

The allergy testing is very expensive! I don't know what it involves other than blood tests, but I'm sure that jstaff had Suki tested - or at least somebody did here.

We took Suki to a dermatologist awhile back and had a blood test done

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t7612-suki-is-allergic-to?highlight=suki

If it's a grass allergy you should consider wiping his paws down when he comes back inside from walks.

Great advice as usual guys thanks.

I didn't know that about Suki J, I'll have a good read through that thread!

Caryll and Tara, when you say give anti histamine do you mean get them through my vet or is there another way?

Caryll, I was thinking that about plant sap myself actually since it has gotten warmer/drier here lately he has been walking/running on grass and woodland areas everyday as opposed to concrete everyday. That is the only thing that has changed for him and I think that might be right.

The vet said allergy/blood testing could come back with a very useless answer such as "allergic to pollen/grass" which I couldn't avoid anyway.

I have been washing his feet in warm salt water but has stopped it for a few days to finish this term with the cream. Would it do anything negative to wash his feet this way long term?

If it's a grass allergy that's really all you can do other than avoid prolonged exposure to what is causing the reaction. Their allergies can also change as they grow older and become more or less severe or disappear entirely.

It could also be he has managed to get something stuck in his paw under the skin. My old dog did this and the vet had to make an incision to get it out. Just keep an eye out to see if it gets swollen or seems to get worse.

J, was it a blood test done to determine what Suki was allergic to? Nothing overly complicated, for Suki anyway?

I'm just wandering would it be worth doing, I think the vet said it would only cost about £100 (ish) and if I thought it could give an answer it might be worth doing.

Yeah it was just a blood test and not too complicated for the dog if they are okay with needles. Suki was very displeased with the process and overall it took about 40 minutes to get the two vials. I had to hold her down and she fought every second.

We got it done becuase her skin was breaking out everywhere. Might be worth looking into but their allergies do change so if it's just one paw it would lead me to believe it might not be an allergy since if it were it would likely be to grass or other natural enviroment presuming you haven't exposed him to a new detergent etc. and it's only one paw.

jstaff wrote:Yeah it was just a blood test and not too complicated for the dog if they are okay with needles. Suki was very displeased with the process and overall it took about 40 minutes to get the two vials. I had to hold her down and she fought every second.

We got it done becuase her skin was breaking out everywhere. Might be worth looking into but their allergies do change so if it's just one paw it would lead me to believe it might not be an allergy since if it were it would likely be to grass or other natural enviroment presuming you haven't exposed him to a new detergent etc. and it's only one paw.

All his paws seem to be red in between the pads but he has only really concentrated licking/nibbling one of them.

He isn't too bad with needles, or hasn't been so far.

I'm just thinking if this is the early signs of something it might be best getting some sort of answer and then I could maybe try to avoid/prevent it in future. Then it mightent get to a bad stage.

Never hurts to err on the side of caution and if it's all 4 paws than it does indeed sound like an allergy. The test should tell you what to avoid and even if it does come back as a grass allergy at least you know for sure.

I'm thinking it's worth doing now. I don't want to have to give him steroids, even short term.

If it's a matter of doing that and getting a sample done I think it might be worth it. If it came back something I could avoid it would be great.

Thanks again!

Piriton is fine, Mat. Or a generic one that has the same ingredients.

Washing his feet with salt water is fine in the long term as long as you don't actually soak them. Soaking them might make them soft which could cause a problem, but a quick wash & dry won't hurt at all.

Caryll wrote:Piriton is fine, Mat. Or a generic one that has the same ingredients.

Washing his feet with salt water is fine in the long term as long as you don't actually soak them. Soaking them might make them soft which could cause a problem, but a quick wash & dry won't hurt at all.

Thanks Caryll, sorry for sounding stupid, but like these ones? I have a chemist just up the road from my office and I could get them today.
http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/piriton-allergy-tablets_1_1837.html

Once I finish using this cream for my vet I'll get back to washing with salt water and drying off after walks.

Maybe the vets can give you antihistamine, but I know people have used Piriton. If it's a mild-ish allergy, it should help him out. Better than going straight to steroids anyway, as you say.

Never mind, Caryll got there first

Tara wrote:Maybe the vets can give you antihistamine, but I know people have used Piriton. If it's a mild-ish allergy, it should help him out. Better than going straight to steroids anyway, as you say.

Never mind, Caryll got there first

I will def try them, if the link is the right ones. I don't think it's overly bad, but at the same time I've caught it early.

I wanna avoid steroids totally, my vet is quite good and even he said I probably wouldn't want to do it, but can if need be.

I told my Mum about potentially having to give him steroids to manage it and she said "that'll make him mean, you don't want him any stronger!", she thought they were anabolic steroids

Nope, they're the crap kind of steroids yeah, I'm on steroids myself, too many possible side-effects. Wouldn't hurt him to be on them short-term if need be, but as you said, you've caught it early so hopefully the antihistamine and finding out whatever it is will be enough

MatLogan wrote:

Thanks Caryll, sorry for sounding stupid, but like these ones? I have a chemist just up the road from my office and I could get them today.
http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/piriton-allergy-tablets_1_1837.html

Once I finish using this cream for my vet I'll get back to washing with salt water and drying off after walks.

That's the ones, but don't tell the chemist you want them for your dog or he won't sell them to you!

Caryll wrote:That's the ones, but don't tell the chemist you want them for your dog or he won't sell them to you!

Cheers again Caryll!

Any reason why they won't want to sell them for dogs?

Finally, would half a tablet be enough per day? And should they be only given short term?

Our vet thinks darcy has a grass allergy, she prescribed Anti-histamines, which settled it down. When in between her toes is itchy she tends to lick them none stop, which causes them to be very sore, she does stop when I tell her, but in the wee small hours of the night when she unsupervised & itchy she licks them. I also bought some dermacton cream to rub on which works a treat I think caryll advised it to someone a while ago & I bought some & it's great, really settles the redness down quickly while the Anti-histamines work.

Red on the paws or between the toes is normally a yeast infection

you could try bathing his feet in the ACV as well as adding it to his food and then rinsing in water, and making sure they are properly dried

He has a yeast infection in his ears when he was young so that's very ossible.

I bought ACV a while back so I'll try that too

MatLogan wrote:

Caryll wrote:That's the ones, but don't tell the chemist you want them for your dog or he won't sell them to you!

Cheers again Caryll!

Any reason why they won't want to sell them for dogs?

Finally, would half a tablet be enough per day? And should they be only given short term?

They get very sniffy if you're buying for a dog, and they'll tell you to go to the vets! But the vet charges about 3 times as much (plus consultation fee) for the same product!

I'd start him with half a tablet, twice a day & see if that helps. If necessary you can up it to one tablet twice a day, but at that dosage they might dope him up a bit.

No worries. It doesn't seem too bad yet so I'll start off with the lowest possible and hopefully it helps him

Thanks again!

Mat, I've taken Millie to the vet this morning with exactly the same symptoms as Logan. She's only licking her back two feet but also scratching around her mouth until it bleeds. If that's all that happens this spring/summer I'll be glad for last year it was much worse. Vet gave me Hibiscrub to clean in between the toes and antibiotic jag.

Tried piriton last summer but ended up having to give her short course of steriods. At that stage she had ear, eye and sinus infections as well as problems with her feet. Vet hasn't recommended allergy testing but agrees that it's definitely a seasonal thing and most likely to be grass/pollen she's allergic to. Not so good when we live in the country and getting off lead across the fields is something she looks forward to.

Hope you have better luck with the Piriton than we have.

Mat, if Rocky needs an antihistamine we use the Tesco own brand as below, don't know if they may be easier for you to get hold of,