Dust Mite allergy treatments?

Oscar Had his blood results back today which confirms he has Dust and storage mite allergies,

The vet has advised two options to consider the first being a more natural method via being iinjected with a desensitize solution every two weeks for a set amount of months or the secound option being a new drug called "Apoquel"

Has anyone had any great success with either of the above?

Obviously I'm trying to avoid steroids as he's only a young dog (13 months)

Oscar is already Fed frozen Raw so that helps with the storage mites.

We have also used Cortavance and Dermaction to help with his prolific scratching But his itchy runny eyes are still a problem.

Piriton helps with his runny eyes but I'd rather not keep dopeing him up with antihistamines.

Any advise would be much appreciated....

my niamh has allergies , vet advised steroids which im not happy with, but I have heard that the apoquel has had great results, and as a result my vet can not get hold of any, hope you get it sorted, niamh scratches herself to bits without the steroids, she is only 12 months old, but my vet said she is strong enough to deal with it,

That's a tough one. Have there been long term health studies on the new drug?

Bane has a dust and storage mite allergy too. As he was too young for steroids, we were offered the injections as a solution to try and build his immunity to it, but the vet said these can take varying lengths of time to work, so he could be on them for a few months or a few years so could be very expensive.

We went with the 'handle it ourselves' method. We were given a spray for the carpets, curtains and sofa which supposedly killed the mites and some oil to add to his food to boost his omegas and help keep his coat healthy.

Over the last year, he has only had 1 flare up which we managed with Benadryl. It's his ears that are constantly affected by it. They get very dry, flaky and itchy so we try to clean them out once a week with some Apple Cider Vinegar mixed with water (a god send) and he is bathed every couple of months. We try to hoover every few days, dust once a week and wash all of his bedding once a week, and so far he has done really well

We also feed raw and that has helped a lot! How long has Oscar been on raw? It can take a while for his body to detox which can be a cause of runny eyes.

What's his environment like at home? Have you got carpets in every room? Does he sleep in his own bed or yours/on sofa? If he has his own bed, what's it made of?

After doing a little online reading it seems that Apoquel was in trial stages for 3 years...

I will always lean more towards the natural method so the immunity injections seem like the best option to me provided the insurance will cover it.

Were you not able to claim on Banes insurance for the long term treatment?

Oscar has been fed Raw since December So I would assume the detox period would be over? He did have some flare ups when we changed him over......Ear infection....itchy red paws....runny eyes but them symptoms have since improved.

Yes, Bane we have carpets in every room and hoover and dust daily,
Oscar has his own bed made from the usual Fabric,
I have been looking into getting him a different bed....what would you recommend? and what is the spray you use for the dust mites?

Cheers

I had a quick read about it and not sure if I just got all the bad links but it doesn't sound like something I would want my dog on for any length of time.

We chose to try and deal with it ourself first to see if it was possible, as it would pretty much be free. Injections would have been covered on our insurance, but that could mean years of increased premiums from the insurance company.

I would expect the detox stage to be over then, but you never know it can take longer in some dogs. Has the vet ruled out a general eye infection? Bane had one not long ago and the Apple Cider Vinegar we use helped clear that up. Not sure if it would help if it is his allergies though.

There's a lot of different anti-allergy bedding online that is supposed to help. Sorry, that I can't help on that side of things, we bought a cheap one off a market stall somewhere. It is quite thick so has some sort of filling inside, but is covered with a smooth almost waterproof looking fabric and he has had no problems with that. A plastic bed with towels and cotton sheets could be an option as it is easily cleaned.

I think dust mites are more drawn to stuffing filled, fluffy beds as I made him a fleece covered bed with a duvet cover stuffed inside for his crate. After a few nights of sleeping on that he had his allergy flare up.

The spray we were given by the vets is this: http://www.vetmedsdirect.co.uk/indorex-flea-spray-500ml/?gclid=CN6agJmOjcQCFVDHtAodGXgAyA

The other advice we were given was to keep him in areas with as little fabric furnishings as possible ie. no carpets, sofas, fluffy blankets, pillows or even fluffy teddy toys. Dust mites don't like the cold so if he can sleep in a cooler room that would help. And that it is usually worse through winter as the air in the house can get quite humid with the central heating which dust mites like.

I have also read about different foods and things that can help. He has an evening primrose oil that we put on his food to help boost his omegas, and he has whole fish on a daily basis. I also feed raw eggs a couple of times a week to help keep his coat healthy along with tumeric, garlic and apple cider vinegar. Natural yogurt is also supposed to help boost immune system and improve good bacteria as it would in humans

I'm not sure if any of this helps and sorry for the essay, I can only share my own experience! It was really tough at the start but once we got on top of all his recurring skin infections, his allergies have become a lot easier to manage.