Question by Poodles4ever: dog and allergy testing question also can black mold permantly affect the respirtory system? What now?
Okay our poodle went to the doctor yesterday for his allergies and she put him on an antihistimine for his allergies to see if it helps (we are going to be trying this one and she said if it doesn’t work there are others we can try but this one won’t make him drowsy and he gets drowsy even with a low dose of benedryl) She also gave him a spray for his feet to prevent them from itching so he doesn’t scratch them or bite them and get an infection. (We think grass is his main allergy)
But normally he doesn’t scratch at himself that was just a precaution.

He is not allowed outdoors on any day they cut the grass in our complex so twice a week, she said he can still go out on the patio and use the potty pad so he doesn’t get out of habit of going outside. And fall and winter he should be able to go out whenever he wants (just put a jacket on him so he doesn’t freeze, that way he still gets to play outside is his favorite place to be)

Also we don’t think he has any food allergies just inhalent allergies (aka seasonal allergies) because he has trouble breathing outdoors after the grass is cut.
The big allergy is fresh cut grass.

Now plan b is if we don’t see significant improvement she recommends Alergy testing but she wants that to be an option later down the road.

Now if we have to go that route tell me is it painful (like when people have it done is it the same kind of procedure)? Is it too terribly expensive? (not a big deal but I would like to put some money away if it is just incase we need to do it)

Also his breathing (off topic a bit) in the apartment we were living before around the time we moved out we discovered black mold (I went to the doctor several times with breathing problems and we couldn’t pinpoint why) we don’t know how long the mold was there but our poodle lived in that apartment from age 9 weeks until 11 months could that have caused significant damage to his respiratory system? I am curious I feel so bad we didn’t catch that if that is the case. She isn’t too concerned about his breathing right now but I hope that didn’t trigger the problem. He seems fine in those regards but we are to watch him.

they said allergy shots are part of plan b

Best answer:

Answer by Ista
2 yrs ago, our dachshund started having problems. She was scratching herself raw and bald. Most of her hair was gone. We took her to the vet numerous times, as we were quite concerned. She used to be so playful, and now all she’d do was sleep and scratch. The vet couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her, other than must be an allergy. He prescribed, benedryl and selsun blue. Neither helped. We couldn’t figure out what to do to help her.

Last year we moved, when we did, we noticed all this nasty black mold growing in every room of the house. Within a month of being moved, our dachshund quit scratching, and her hair started to grow back. She became her playful old self again. Also, my husband and I are also feeling better, we didn’t notice how it was affecting us until after we got out and started feeling better.

WooWoo (our dachshund) seems to have no lasting ill effects from the black mold, hopefully your poodle won’t either. That black mold is some nasty dangerous stuff. I’m glad y’all were able to get away from it.

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Question by nedoglover: food allergy testing?
i think that my dog may have an allergy to something (i think maybe his food). i haven’t been able to talk to a vet about this b/c my vet just retired & we are still looking for a different vet to go to. we have it narrowed down to about 3 different ones now (that i feel fairly confident in). what exactly is done with allergy testing? is it really accurate? how expensive should it be (just an estimate is fine)? anyone have experience with this?
he has a bunch of symptoms, including diarrhea, chewing/itching feet/legs/rear (but also everywhere else), extremely dull coat, excessive shedding, vomiting, & behavior problems that didn’t arise until we switched him from ‘low quality’ foods to ‘higher quality’ foods. he was on ol’ roy for 2 years at his previous home (we continued this for about a month while trying to choose food for him) and had absolutely none of these problems.

i think that i will probably try a higher quality food for him to see if it helps, but if not i will definitely have to do something different about this.

Best answer:

Answer by catkeypurr
It’s not particular brands of food that your dog would be allergic to, it’s ingredients.
You don’t need a vet to figure it out. It’s all trial & error & elimination.
The first things to go should be coloring, preservatives & corn.

Quite honestly, most folks that feed the high quality, holistic foods don’t have allergy problems.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/
Switching to a top quality food would be my first step. Do the change very slowly & stick with the good food at least 90 days. I’m guessing you’ll see a huge improvement.

To truly know if this fixes the problem you need to eliminate all dog treats & human stuff other than fresh, raw veggies.
Use the veggies or pieces of the new food for treats & give your dog NOTHING else!

Stay away from OTC flea products & use only the vet recommended products such as Frontline & Advantage.

Also, don’t use cheap shampoos such as Hartz. Invest in a good oatmeal shampoo & don’t bathe your dog more often than absolutely necessary (once a month or less). Brush or comb often instead.

Best wishes!

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Question by klm63: allergy testing for dogs…..?
My 3 yr old MinPin has had skin issues since the day we brought him home at 8 weeks old. he unknowingly had demodectic mange which i have kept under control-many $ $ $ $ $ $ later. and he also has some type of allergies that hit him in the late summer early fall every year. our vet recommended allergy testing for another 300 bucks….has anyone had their dog tested for allergies and are they accurate and helpful or just another expensive procedure that wont be worth it?

Best answer:

Answer by lovetobeoutside
As a vet tech of over 20 years I can say I’ve seen many, many dogs tested for particular allergies. Yes it is worth it. What they will do is determine what the pup is allergic to and make antigen for those allergies. MOST of the time it works great. However there are some cases where the dog is allergic to something that it has not been tested for. Since you are saying it’s seasonal then you have a better chance of narrowing it down. Obviously it’s not food which is what most vets test for first by putting the dog on a hypo allergenic dog food. Hope this helps.

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My 3 yr old MinPin has had skin issues since the day we brought him home at 8 weeks old. he unknowingly had demodectic mange which i have kept under control-many $$$$$$ later. and he also has some type of allergies that hit him in the late summer early fall every year. our vet recommended allergy testing for another 300 bucks….has anyone had their dog tested for allergies and are they accurate and helpful or just another expensive procedure that wont be worth it?