Allergy

Hi,
My best boy Nero (15 weeks) has been biting his legs tail and scratching himself over the last 3 weeks,I took him to the vet who could find nothing wrong with him.She thought it might be an allergy.We fed him cooked chicken as treats but it upset his tummy.We have him on a raw food diet at the moment and removed anything with poultry in it but he is still biting etc.The vet has recommended a puppy diet, dry food. Any recommendations please.We will try it and see how it goes.

Is there a hypo allergenic diet we could try him on ?

Have you tried him on Piriton? It could be pollen, rather than a food related allergy.

There are several hypo allergenic dry foods, but I don't know any raw ones. Nutriment do a 'sensitive' stomach one, but I can't remember if it's fish based or poultry based.

No,is that a tablet ?

Yes, it's an antihistamine tablet.

https://www.nutriment.co.uk/raw-dog-food/sensitive-stomach/#:~:text=Sensitive%20Stomach%20Dog%20Food.%201%20Salmon%20with%20Turkey,Add%20to%20Cart.%20Add%20to%20Compare.%20More%20items

Ok, the vet recommended Apoquel but the side effects scared me so I have asked her if I can try Piriton.I will put him on a different food if the Piriton doesn’t work,

He has been sneezing and is getting discharge from his eyes.

That does sound like an allergy - hopefully the Piriton will work; it's that time of year for pollen related allergies. Grass cutting can also do it.

Do you have or know anyone who has experience of Apoquel.

I've known people who have used it.

It does work, but it's quite harsh as far as I know. If the Piriton works, that's far gentler!

When the Vet mentioned it,I read about it and it sounded quite severe, side effects etc. She said if Piriton doesn’t work we should try Apoquel just to give Nero relief from the irritation.

It does sound like an allergy to me too. Katy is itchy & nibbling her legs at the moment. I just give her a one a day antihistamine from Tesco which helps a lot. Never used Apoquel , poultry does upset a lot of dogs causing different reactions. I give Katy Wainwrights grain free kibble
Let us know how Nero gets on

Thanks,will do

Good luck with the antihistamine, hope it helps.
I even discussed allergies with my doctor yesterday and he said there are so many at the moment (which are also confused with covid symptoms).

Be careful with puppy diets as most puppy kibbles contain chicken and/or egg. Maybe you can look into Celtic Connection Holistic Dog Food, Eden holistic or Aatu for puppies. Those are the 3 that spring to mind without chicken but I’m not sure your raw feeding can really be the cause

I have given Nero his first 4mg anti histamine tab tonight and he hasn’t scratched etc since, early days.When I got home tonight he had raised bumps on his tummy,I assume that could be a reaction to the grass ?

Yes, looks like a reaction to something in the grass, there’s alot of pollen about at the moment.
Glad to hear that the antihistamines are helping

The lady in the chemist told me she gave her dog Benadryl,any thoughts ?

Benadryl is okay, but it's incredibly sweet tasting! Some dogs don't like it.

Ok,Nero did not seem as itchy this morning so I will continue with the Piriton.

Hi,
So back to the vet,Nero has been given steroid tabs for a week and been put on a HA diet that we will start Monday.
Annoying as all seem to be going so well.

Let's hope he improves, keep us informed on his progress

Ok will do

Hmm ... sounds like your vet suspects the food as being the source of the allergy but from the photos you posted, it would seem more likely an environmental cause.
Out of interest, what HA diet have you been prescribed ?

Purina Pro Plan HA.I think the rash on the tummy is related to grass but the vet didn’t think so.The guy who runs the puppy class said that he has had a dog that had an allergy to excessive protein.The raw we are giving him is 94% protein so maybe it is the food.

The rash is only on the underside of his tummy,

But having looked at pics of rashes of grass allergies in dogs, that’s not what Nero has.

Kevinh wrote:The raw we are giving him is 94% protein so maybe it is the food.

Are you sure ?
Have a look at this article https://therawfeedingcommunity.com/2017/07/21/raw-diets-too-high-in-protein/

We both feel it’s not the food but wot can we do, we have to start some where and you have to listen to the vet.

Fair enough, I understand.
Just as long as you’re not being brainwashed into buying the food that your vet just happens to stock and recommend.

Make sure you change one thing at a time and keep a detailed diary in order to pinpoint the cause.

Ok, thanks for your help and support, disappointing as Nero was doing so well.Not sure how all this will affect him.

Hi,
Just an update on my best boy Nero.
He has finished his coarse of steroids and the rash on his tummy is reducing day by day.
We have started the changeover of diet as per the vets recommendation and by Friday he will be all kibble.
He has taken to the Purina pro hypo allergenic really well.
He is still biting his feet and tail but no where near as much.
We are still convinced it’s hay fever as he is still sneezing.

I’d be tempted to think of environmental allergy (pollen and the such) as it’s generally been very dry since March.

See how he goes on the kibble and by elimination, you’ll find the right combination for Nero

Hi,
Back to the vets with Nero, his rash is a bacterial infection,so antibiotics for 3 weeks and hypo baths once a week.
How did he pick that up ?.

Poor boy, but at least you know what you’re up against.
Wishing you a speedy recovery Nero.

Kevinh wrote:Hi,
Back to the vets with Nero, his rash is a bacterial infection,so antibiotics for 3 weeks and hypo baths once a week.
How did he pick that up ?.

So you didn't need to change his food?

Yes,we still had to change his diet.
Vet using the infection as an excuse to feed him kibble.
Still,he seems to enjoy it.

Well, I can't see how kibble will improve a bacterial infection, but I'm not a vet.

Our sentiments exactly but don’t want to give the vet the “well I told you so” excuse.
Still, it’s not forever and it’s in Nero,s best interest.

Lets hope he gets better soon

Thank you

Hi,
So Nero was not that keen on Purina, the vet suggested we introduce some of his raw back into his diet but he then started scratching again.We have stopped the Purina and the raw and are now giving him Symply puppy food, mix of wet and dry which we believe is hypo allergernic.
His rash is clearing up slowly, we are now a week and a half into the anti biotics.
His coat still looks good and he seems fine, teething like mad, looks like most of his teeth are coming thru.He is 19 weeks Friday.
Any thoughts on Symply ?

Sorry to hear he was scratching after giving raw again. At least you know which type of meat you were giving so to which meat he appears to be intolerant.

symply appears to have alot of carbs in it - rice, oats, rice ...
https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-reviews/0127/symply-puppy
but you’ll see if your boy is turkey tolerant 

Hi,
So back to the vet,Nero,s scratching became much worse.More steroid tablets, more antibiotics.We are keeping him on the Symply diet although the vet wasn’t very happy agreeing to it.
This morning was the first morning in a week where he hasn’t scratched.Fingers crossed.

Oh no.
I presume you’ve already eliminated the possibility of something in your home environment like a new formula washing powder ?

No, the vet went thru all the possible causes and preventions last night and I felt at a loss as to know where to start.
ie,vacuuming,not allowing Nero into the room for two hours after, not allowing him in the bedrooms (he isn’t allowed)etc etc.

Hi,
After a week on steroids,antibiotics,medical shampoo baths and foam spray on his tummy,Nero,s rash has disappeared and he has virtually stopped scratching.We bought him a hypo allergernic bed and have continued on his Symply half kibble half,wet diet.
Back to the vet on Tuesday ,fingers crossed we have sorted it.

Good luck on Tuesday.
Hope you have good news that it isn’t just the shovel load of medication which is operating because that’s not sustainable in the long term ...
Other than his bed, do you have any other ideas to the trigger of his allergy ?

Only long grass and raw food which we have stopped feeding him.
He has had very little direct contact with other dogs,so fingers crossed he’s over it.