Allergic Reaction this morning - Dust mites

Bane had an allergic reaction to something this morning! Not done anything differently, he just got really clingy suddenly and then went off into the living room, I thought to snooze until breakfast. I heard him licking excessively so went in to see what he was doing and his feet were all red and sore looking.
Took him up to have a bath and just as I was getting him in, noticed all these bumps along his legs and paws. They must have been sore as he was kicking his feet at the water and couldn't stand still. Continued to wash and shampoo him and then got him out to dry and noticed they had appeared all over his nose so I had a bit of a panic thinking it was just going to continue to spread.
Luckily managed to get a vet appointment this morning (which by that time they had started to go down...typical!) His eyes were all red too and his feet looked so sore and swollen

He's been prescribed 2x 5mg Prednicare tablets to take today and tomorrow and then again if he gets another flare up. I didn't want to give him steroids but the vet said it will be a short term fix/reliever until we get his blood test results back next week.
The preliminary tests came back positive to indoor allergies so waiting to hear more detail.

Does anyone else have experience with indoor allergies? What if it turns out to be dust mites  It would be never ending!

**UPDATE: Test results are back and he is allergic to Dust mites!

Oh no! I don't but a friend is going through all tests with her terrier as she's got severe allergies! Her vet tests all came back fine so she went to a homeopathy vet and came back with a massive list of sensitivities!

Oh dear Poor thing! I hope the homeopathic vet will be able to help! Fingers crossed these blood tests will come back sensible for Bane and we can get an answer to his problems!

Got every thing crossed for you turns out one of Lola's allergies is spiders! And potatoes! Can't remember the rest but there were loads of them, some really strange ones. Got everything crossed for you guys! X

Spiders?!  That's an odd one! Didn't even think that things like that could cause allergies!
His bumpiness has gone down now and he seems his usual self! It's just so odd how it all flared up in minutes!

Poor Bane. Have you changed floor cleaner, polish, washing powder, air freshener? Be easier than dust mites!   

I'm allergic to spiders! They make me scream and want to throw up!!    

He's had ongoing itchiness since about 13 weeks old, but never went bumpy and had swollen feet :/ I'm sure I've not done anything differently today so I don't know what it could have been!

That's the frustrating part, trying to find out whats causing it!

How strange that it suddenly flaired up like that.    

We had Flo tested and she is allergic to Pollen.. There's no way she will miss her walk in the park so we wash her feet.

I posted a while ago about Flo's toes and will start with the Apple Cider Vinegar once she starts again and see how that goes.

Poor bane, he really does suffer doesn't he xx

Yeah His preliminary tests said outside and food weren't a problem, only indoor came back positive so fingers crossed! Aw pollen would be an annoying one, although better than indoor as he can't get away from what's causing it!

Tell me about it Saz! The vets is almost his 2nd home! He gets so excited to go there

aww poor boy   ,this allergies are a nightmare,my friends lab had the same sort of thing turned out it has the shake n vake she used on her carpets   ,hope they can sort it out quickly for him.

Oooh can they get results narrowed down to that kind of thing? That would be amazing if so!
I'm pretty sure we've used all of the same cleaning stuff etc since we got him, but would be relieved if it turned out to be something like that! I don't mind cleaning with white vinegar and bicarb soda if I have to!

i dont think she went to her vets for testing,she just noted down every thing she used and did a process of elimination,ebby used to roll on the carpet and big lumps appeared all over her body,she stopped using the shake n vake and the lumps never came back   

Hope he is okay and you can figure out the cause   

Talking about spiders, have you noticed any of those very small tiny red ones, that come out and can get into your house when the sun is out. They happen for a few months each year. Check outside your house walls, where the sun shines, thats where you would find them, then check if they getting through into the room from that wall. How is he today?

Glad she managed to find out what the problem was Stella

Since he had his tablets yesterday he hasn't itched or chewed once! I am shocked, he hasn't been like this since the first few weeks we got him! It's so frustrating and upsetting to see him scratching himself all the time I've forgotten how nice it is to not have to worry about him sneaking off to hurt himself.

Aww that's great Hun xx

Glad to know that the tablets are working but I hope that he's not on them for too long as Prednisone can have pretty bad side effects. Our first dogo was on them for a long time to treat his skin problems but what we didn't realise is that that it was doing him more harm than good. While they worked initially, his skin issues came back work than ever and increasing the dosages of Prednisone was becoming less effective. We also believe if had a bad effect on his immune system and contributed to his immune mediated disease which he ultimately died of at 2.5 years old.

My friend who works at the vet clinic said that while Prednisone can be good for short time use, its best to find the cause of the problems rather than use a steroid to mask the problems. Hope you can figure out whats causing Bane's allergies.

Thanks Diane! He is so young the vet was reluctant to use them but said because it would just be until we got his results back next week, it should be ok and probably the best thing to relieve his skin. He had 2 on Tuesday and 1 yesterday and his skin is all back to normal so may leave off them unless he starts itching like mad again
I'm so sorry for the loss of your Dogo! 2 and half years is so young, it's a shame that you quite often find out these things too late

Yes 2 and half was too young and losing him devastated me. It was a mistake we didn't make again and whenever our dogos after him ended up with skin allergies, we looked first at the food then other causes without using harsh meds again. We never experienced skin issues with our rotties so it was all new to us and we put our trust in our vet who we thought knew better. We learned a lot with our first dogo and were able to do things differently after. I know staffies aren't dogos, but they seem to have similar skin sensitivities and I hope I can help someone else avoid the same mistakes we made with our first boy because we didn't know better.

As it would anyone, it's a hard thing to go through.
Bane is our first dog. I have grown up with them but never had any major problems I don't think unless our parents didn't tell us so it is a big learning curve for us! Believe it or not between the breeds we were looking at we went with Staffy cos we thought it would be less likely to have any health problems! Typical eh

Just got off the phone with the vet and the test results are back! He is allergic to Dust Mites  :-< He has given us something to spray our carpets with to kill the dust mites twice a year and also some evening primrose oil to naturally help his itching, and if he doesn't get any better we are to go back in a couple of month for vaccination treatment. Looks like I am going to have to start cleaning obsessively!

Tough one that but atleast you know now   xxx

Yeah we are glad we know now Saz It's not one of the easiest allergies to deal with but glad he doesn't have a whole bunch of things he is allergic to! xx

This maybe worth looking into, neem. I give powdered neem bark in Daisy's food and add oil to shampoo when I wash her as extra protection against mites (she had very bad demodex) maybe it helps with dust mites too? It also boosts the immune system, I also give echinacea for that too.

Looks like it may do, a few links to read for you xx

http://www.plasmaneem.com/neemoil-dust-mites.html

Got to post one at a Time because I'm on the iPad and it looses want ive typed!!

http://housedustmite.com/chemical-products-for-killing-dust-mites-in-2011/

http://www.discoverneem.com/neem-oil-for-dogs.html

This is useful to me too Saz as Flo was also diagnosed as dust mite allergic. The vet offered us a course of injections but we declined as I wanted to see if I could manage without meds first, hence my surprise at the apple cider vinegar thing.

Thank you.

No worries I give apple cider vinegar too   

Happy that you found the cause of Bane's problem - now to tackle those critters :p

Wow, thanks Saz!  I will have a look at them all in a bit

Ian what injections did your vet offer? And how is Flo doing with her allergy?

The Injections he offered were a course to build up immunity a bit like an immunisation jab that we Humans get Emma.

I was very sceptical and decided that I really couldn't put her through that given that she had already had an op not long before. The course was over 6 months and she has a real mistrust with the vet nowadays.

She bites her rear paws and the inner side of the base of her tail. She isn't particularly scratchy anymore than any other dog anywhere else.

For the Paws, we wash them after every walk and have done so since late last year. She is now back on the Piriton just to see if we can curb the issue somewhat. The chewing had almost gone but it's winter so no pollen. We have, in the last week, caught her with the Paw which is a shame as her pad hair was starting to return to a nice healthy white again.

As for the base of the tail, we clean and spray it with something the vet gave us (I will look at the name and post it here when I get home). This helps but boy do we get some looks from her when we do it  

Oh poor Bane, Vin has only had a bad reaction once and he had an adrenaline injection and another one which the vet said it would prevent it happening again. Bearing in mind I think it was a sting of some sorts but like you I panicked it was horrendous. Hope all continues to go well xx

Well at least you know the cause and you can cure it somehow. And its good Bane likes the vets.

Emma, the spray we use on Flo's tail is Cortavance. It gives quick relief and might be of use.

Thanks for that Ian! I think that is the same spray that we use on Bane. It has helped his ears so much, they got so infected they were just red and weepy and all crusty on the inside, they now look a normal colour and have completely cleared up after less than a week!
Aw poor Flo! Does she have pollen allergies aswell then? The innoculations would be the next step our vet wants to take if we can't control his itching! So far he has been fine the last couple of days but I think the steroids are starting to wear off as he has a few mad moments tonight! :/
Lynn we used to go to puppy club there so he just thinks when he goes there he is going to get to play with other pups And thanks Inez xx

Yes she does Emma. It's kind of work in progress as her paws have been really good until just this last week.

There is, I am sure, an element of habit with he paws but certainly not the tail. She bites her tail very quickly when she gets irritated and we have to move her face out of that particular area    If it continues we spray.. But honestly the look we get from her when we do that is so very funny.

We use the spray as and when needed and wash her feet in clean water (over the winter) but have used diluted DermOpt when the grass pollen is more prevalent. I will be trying the Cider Vinegar this year just to see if it helps.

I hope you can find some relief for poor Bane.

Aw poor girl! I hope something works for her paws to keep her comfy over summer! I can't think of anything worse than to have a raging itch that you can't get rid of!
How is she with the spray? Bane gets scared and tries to run away for just his ears so god knows how you manage to spray her hum with it

 I should video the spraying.. Oh the look she gives me   

It's strange actually, if I sneak up on her and try to spray, she runs a mile but if I show her the bottle first call her to me and give her some face to face snuggles, the OH can spray without too much trouble.

Then of course it's treat time  

I can imagine the look on her poor face!
If Bane sees the bottle or even sees us going into "The Box" to get it he runs away!

  "The Box"   .. We have one too but it's near the treat box so she is never really sure weather to sit and look pretty or run for it  

Oooh that is a good idea why didn't we think of that

How's he doing now Hun? Xx

He hasn't had anymore flare ups and we haven't had to use the steroid spray or tablets since last week! He is chewing occasionally, but we have now sprayed the carpet, his bed and sofa with that mite spray so fingers crossed!
We have also stopped him from going upstairs which will hopefully help just means no more morning snugs for me