Staffy Pup - skin allergeys

Hi Everyone

We have owned Staffs for the last 20 years, usually 2 at a time (dog/bitch) as pets only - no breeding. Currently we are the lucky owners of a gorgeous bitch called Winnie, who has presented with a problem we have never experienced to date........a skin allergy.

Clearly the best approach is a 'process of elimination', one that we are currently adhering to, but there are a few questions i have that might help bring forward a solution.

Has anyone had a staff with an allergy towards either:

1. Polyester (Household carpet/pet bedding_
2. Advocate (Flea treatment)
3. Grass
4. Food (Dry food only)

Thanks

I'm really sorry to hear you're battling with skin allergies - they are a total pain. Yes, I've had a dog with grass and food allergies.

For both, you'll need to try and find out exactly what you're dealing with. There are many sorts of grass, many ingredients in dry food, and you may find that Winnie has specific allergies that you can avoid. My Bobbert was allergie to rye grass but was ok with others, and his food allergies included duck, rabbit, brewer's yeast, oats and maize, all common ingredients in hypoallergenic dog foods. We had him allergy tested - he had 18 full positives and a heap of borderline allergies.

It's one of the reasons we switched to raw - trying to avoid all of his allergies in any sort of processed food was pretty well impossible at the time. I know dry food has its benefits but when you're dealing with allergies like this it can be worth considering the alternatives.

Although some of Bobbert's allergies - for example rye grass - were unavoidable without being so restrictive as to affect his quality of life, we found that avoiding what we could and resorting to prescription antihistamines, plus the allergy 'vaccine' (immunotheraphy), we were able to get him comfortable.

Allergies are no fun to deal with.
I was just surprised to see polyester in your list.
Is it possible that it’s the carpet cleaners and/or washing powders used that are causing the allergies, rather than the materiel itself ?

Hope you manage to find ways to keep Winnie comfortable

Wow... That's quiet a specific list with a couple of odd ones.

My girl is apparently allergic to grass but I have reservations on that. In any case, we clean her paws after walks just in case.

So grass can be covered by cleaning I guess

Advocate, hmmm maybe there's an alternative?

Polyester, wow not sure what to do with that one, it's everywhere. How severe is the reactions?

Dry food, like the advocate, can be substituted with something else I guess again.

I have a wonderful almost 5 year old rescue who's Staffy and Sheppard. My first Sheppard mix, not my first terrier. He's got the most awful allergies but there's not a lot to prevent them being we live in a very high allergen region in the southeast US. His vet recommended good (non paraben etc) ear solution bc he gets bad bacteria from the air but I found it to jot be ad useful as just plain benadryl, yogurt with making his food of rice turkey or beef and green veggies and or carrots and apple cider vinegar diluted as an ear tonic. It's a struggle but he's worth it and an amazing boy.

Hi from me & Katy, come & introduce yourself here & others will see it better https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/f7-new-member-introductions
We love pics here & would love to see your furbaby