Question by Brittany Swartz: What do I feed? My dog has allergies AND chronic mange!?
Help! My maltese (Hailey) suffers from demodectic mange and we deal with it in cycles as it comes around… It is really expensive to keep treating, but we love her so it’s necessary.

-BUT-

Our vet said she may also have allergies. When she first started itching badly, we had just moved to a new town and we brought her to a new vet. He immediately said it was allergies and started her on steroid based medication. Well, her itching got worse and worse, and so finally I drove her back to our old vet 1 1/2 hours away, and he found the mange (and a secondary infection). He treated her and she cleared right up.

It started again about 6 months later, we took her to a new vet, he said it was allergies, gave her a steroid injection and… it got worse and worse. I took her back to my old vet and he found mange again, this time it was severe enough (bc of the steroid injection) that he treated her with interferon (used on cancer patients) to help try to boost her immune system.

Both vets in our town initially did a skin scrape and found no mange.

I am beginning to think that she is allergic to something- and with her predisposition to mange, what happens is that she gets steroids to treat her allergies, and that clears the allergies, but opens the way for the mange to take over.

I have tried all different kinds of food for her (Iams, Science Diet, Orijen, Rachael Ray, Nutro) and she is currently on a raw food diet *lamb and rice. It’s supposed to be absolutely allergen free, but it seems to be too rich for her and she burps ALL THE TIME now when you pick her up, and has vomited once or twice since we started, with occasional diarrhea. This food is made especially for dogs with allergies, and it’s not helping!!!

Can you please give me some kind of formula to prepare her meals for her? When I was at my old vet in Orlando, I saw a maltese there that looked like a puppy and the owner told me she was 14!!! They also fed their dog food they cooked for her, but when I tried to ask what they did, they were called into the room and I never saw them again to ask. What do I do?!?! She’s starting to itch again, and I desperately want to break this cycle and keep her comfortable and happy.

Thanks so much!
Thank you all this is excellent information! No, my dog has not actually been tested for allergens. I asked the vet to do it and he said “it is expensive and it rarely is effective at finding all the things your dog could be allergic to… like finding a needle in a haystack.” He said to wait and see if she clears up before he thinks it would be necessary.

I’m really unhappy with the vets in this new town, I keep having to drive an hour and a half to get reliable information. I will try these new foods, and request an allergy test.

Best answer:

Answer by sparklebutterflytalia
Well my dog eats Natural Balance!! Only from PetCo though try it!! It has natural flavors and it comes in lamb and rice flavor!!

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Question by dhinapriscillalouise: My dog has chronic ear infections…food allergy?
I have a 3 year old pure bread boxer…ears uncropped.
He has chronic ear infections and they have been getting more frequent in the passed year.
Our vet says to keep his ears clean…I clean his ears 5-6 days a week.
And she gave me a big tube of antibiotic cream to put in his ears for a week when he has an infection. She says the infections might be caused by a food allergy.
Since the infections are getting to be about twice a month I want to try to change his food and see if it is an allergy.
Anybody have any suggestions on which foods might be good for him?
Thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by Robyn
try orijen or evo, they are supposed to be good for dogs that have allegies. a lot of dogs are allergic to grains and corn, but it could be meat too. try these and if the problem persists try a top brand with fish as the protien

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Question by arietta: I have an 11 1/2 year old toy fox terrier who has been plagued by chronic ear infections and skin allergies?
This has been going on for many, many, years! I have taken her to specialists, checked her for allergies, been on numerous medications (antifungal and antibiotics – you name it!) bought special shampoos, creams, ointments, ear cleansing solutions, natural, apple cider vinegar treatments, boric acid washes, and the list goes on. Her current vet thinks she is hypothyroid – looking back over records from a specialist I took her to in British Columbia Canada (we live in the states) her T4 was 9.5. My understanding is the normal range is 13-44 proving she does have low thyroid levels!! The specialist did not even mention this to me, instead wanted more expensive and elaborate tests!! Sorry for the long spill but I hate to see that my precious pet has suffered because of this so called specialist!!! My question-does anyone else have a dog diagnoised with hypothyroid? How did they respond to the medication and are there side effects?
Does anyone have a dog with similiar symptoms especially the chronic ear/skin infections? After taking meds for hypothyroid did the symptoms clear up? Is your dog much happier and energetic?
Vet prescribed soloxin .05 twice a day. He halved the regularly prescribed dose because of her age.
Hoping this will help her and not cause any medication side effects. I’m a little OCD about medication for my little dog!

Best answer:

Answer by mal
i have a dog with ear problems and allergies and all i did was the vet gave him a steroid shot and he gets benadryl and he is much better, he’s also eating lamb and rice dog food only… he gets ottomax ear drops daily and we have to clean his ears out a lot. good luck.

Give your answer to this question below!

This has been going on for many, many, years! I have taken her to specialists, checked her for allergies, been on numerous medications (antifungal and antibiotics – you name it!) bought special shampoos, creams, ointments, ear cleansing solutions, natural, apple cider vinegar treatments, boric acid washes, and the list goes on. Her current vet thinks she is hypothyroid – looking back over records from a specialist I took her to in British Columbia Canada (we live in the states) her T4 was 9.5. My understanding is the normal range is 13-44 proving she does have low thyroid levels!! The specialist did not even mention this to me, instead wanted more expensive and elaborate tests!! Sorry for the long spill but I hate to see that my precious pet has suffered because of this so called specialist!!! My question-does anyone else have a dog diagnoised with hypothyroid? How did they respond to the medication and are there side effects?
Does anyone have a dog with similiar symptoms especially the chronic ear/skin infections? After taking meds for hypothyroid did the symptoms clear up? Is your dog much happier and energetic?
Vet prescribed soloxin .05 twice a day. He halved the regularly prescribed dose because of her age.
Hoping this will help her and not cause any medication side effects. I’m a little OCD about medication for my little dog!

We need advice for our dog -he’s a rescue, estmt 5-6yrs old, mut mix likely pit/chow. Our dog has frequent skin-related issues – gets “hot spots,” smells constantly even right after baths, NON STOP itching and scratching. The vet says it’s allergies, and we go through the yearly cycle of buying pills that sometimes work, sometimes don’t. We just started him on Dynovite about a month ago with no results as of yet. Today we discovered almost his entire back is raw and red, so we shaved the hair, as the vet has done in the past. Has anyone encountered anything similar with their dog, and if so, what did you do??? Thanks!