Hi,

I was wondering if any of the Members here had ever had an Allergy Test performed and if so, what the outcome/diagnosis and essentially the treatment was if it had something to do with airborne allergens.

Our Murph was adopted last year in November and already had signs of an allergic reaction, that I initially contributed to the flea saliva, since he was covered with the bloodsuckers. The reddish spots and his itchiness persisted, even after the first treatment for Fleas. So off we went to our Vet, who immediately prescribed an Antihistamine and a round of antibiotics ( just for overall health improvement ) and mentioned there might be a Food allergy, that is affecting him.
The antihistamines worked as far as the symptoms were concerned, but that of course is not an option ( long term at least ).
I don't want to have him on medication, I want to know the cause of this itchiness, which is mainly around his paws up to his elbows and on his muzzle.

I also consulted a friend, who is a veterinarian too, and he recommended to switch to a particular dry food, that does not include any corn or soy products.

He usually prescribes this to his patients and if food is ruled out as a culprit for the allergy - the next step is to have a Test performed. ( We changed food already twice - and waited 4 weeks to see the results to no avail )
Blood test are somewhat vague and can indicate a false positive for a substance - and that is my concern.
I personally do believe it is an airborne (pollen? ) substance that affects Murph, because he starts itching whenever his Muzzle/Feet gets wet, especially when we just went for a walk through a grass field.

That leads me to believe, whatever causes the allergy, gets diluted by the water and than has contact with the skin, that essentially triggers the symptoms.

I would really like to hear about the two tests and any personal experience that one might have had.


Thanks in advance - Thomas

Are those allergies present year round or more in summer/the warm months ? it could also be an allergy to grasmites , which seems to be quite common , at least to a friend of mine who is a vet and had a huge clinic in Germany . I never had an allergy test done on any of mine , only know about the "food elimination test " - meaning , finding 1 source of protein they never had and feeding them exclusively on this ( be it rabbit or mutton or whatever ) , nothing else for the first few weeks and then gradually introducing other ingredients - works best if you feed a raw/homemmade diet , which is anyways easier to digest for them .

Good luck in finding the origin of Murph's itch.....

We only have had Murph since November of last year, but he already came with the paws/ front legs all reddish from licking himself constantly. I do believe it is an all year allergy ( we only have 2 seasons here in south Florida ) since he has experienced already both.

I'll have to check into the Grass mites and see what is recommended for treatment, since avoidance is almost impossible.

He only gets Turkey necks and chicken parts with a bit of cooked brown rice - since we already had him on a dry food / home made food diet only and nothing improved. That lead me to believe it is not a food related allergy.

The reason I'm real concerned are his bottom front teeth, that already show substantial wear - and look as if he's already 11 years old....

Thanks for your input - Best Thomas

The alergy tests are hit and miss,



www.peteducation.com/arti...082&aid=504

Sounds like harvest mites..check between the toes for little orange egg like creatures about the size of a ...full stop!

Or - heaven forbid - he could be like one of ours and be allergic to grass

We went through all the restricted diets etc to find out if her allergy was food related and then went to a dog allergy specialist in Sydney who tried all sorts of tests. I had a hunch it might be grass that was the problem because she would get to the bottom of our steps where the lawn started and pause, close her eyes as if to say "this is going to hurt" and then step off.

The allergy expert thought it unlikely but suggested I take in some of the grass for a trial. She pulverised it with vaseline into a paste, shaved a bit of fur off her side and stuck the paste on with elastoplast. She also did a control with just vaseline. Within about five minutes the patch with the grass had gone all red and weepy - one of the few occasions in life when I didn't really want to be proven right!

It has been a nightmare to manage - the allergy expert could only suggest three options:
1. Keeping her off the grass
2. washing her feet every time she has been on the grass
3. putting boots on her to prevent contact with the grass

Its obvious that she has no idea about deerhounds

We have tried antibiotics, antihistamines, barrier creams and steroids all with varying degrees of success. The problem varies depending on the time of year and is much worse when the grass is wet (particularly from dew). What seems to keep the problem under control for our girl is to limit her to two long walks each day - one in the morning along the roads so she doesn't get her paws wet in the dew and one round the farm in the evening when the grass is dry. (Typically we have a dog with a grass allergy and 50 acres of the stuff for her to run round in!!) Apart from these two walks though she stays on the verandah orin the house.

We wash her feet and legs when we get back from the walks and dry them before she comes into the house. She is also on a permanent very low dose of steroids (half a tablet every other day) and if things get very bad and she ends up with bacterial infections in her skin she gets a course of antibiotics.She also gets fish oil tablets every day to try to keep her skin less dry. I am not happy about her being on steroids long term but her life is such a misery without them that we don't seem to have any alternative.

We had originally intended to breed from this girl but would not wish to pass on this problem to any other dogs so we have had her spayed.

I hope that Murph's problem is easier to solve but if it does end up being a grass allergy I would be interested to hear if you come up with any other approaches to managing it that we may not have tried.

Wonder if this stuff could help, i do know of a few people who swer by it,
and at least one person who use's it on themselves, to stop their skin problems
when it flairs up.

Worth emailing them to see if it could help.

www.bobgrass.co.uk/product.html

chook wrote:


Jane - my thoughts exactly and the only reason why I'm not having one performed atm - Intradermal has not even been discussed with my Vet yet, but from the information I obtained, it is a long process of elimination

Thanks for the Link - Best Thomas

@ Bundaleer-

thank you very much for your insights on the issue with Grass Allergies - While I still have to have it confirmed with the appropriate tests ( I will suggest the one you had performed to my Vet ) I'm certain it has to be an airborne allergen or Grass issue, that wreaks havoc and is responsible for Murph's discomfort.

I'm already using a Sulfodene based Shampoo for his legs and wash them every morning when it has been extremely wet from the dew, before he comes back into the house. Unfortunately I have not seen any improvements or less irritation on his front legs.

I'm also giving him a daily dose of Omega 3 Fatty Acids ( Natural Salmon Oil ) that is supposed to be really great to fight against the harmful effects from the allergens and improve his immune system. This has only been used for a few weeks now and I have yet to see any improvements.

I really feel for your Girl and the fact that you have all some much land without her being able to really enjoy it - but than again, she probably gets extra ear rubs and knows she's special - I'm not sure if it is heretic, I would love to see some studies on this subject

I'll keep you posted on the findings and the treatments that are being discussed....

Thank you again Thomas

Hey Bundaleer, nice to see you back

What a bummer that would be , grass allergies ( rass mites migt be easier to deal with ) ....- and , I feel for the poor you orr deerhound and you Bundaleeer . As for fishoil , I had a deerhound who was quite allergic to a few things ( esp. in summer/ heat and ry ) , so I doubled er daily dosage and you know what , it turned out , she was allergic to that one , too ( in fact , to " everything fish " ) . Even 1 capsule would send her itching ( beard/mouth ) - my vet had the idea after some time , without the oil / any fish ( and corn and wheat ) in her diet her summers were much better .

Just a thought,when my lot have been working in nettles or thistles a tab or two of Piriton or Benadryl (English trade names for human anti allergy pills) really does the trick and stops them itching...

We have been there with the allergy tests, washes etc etc - It's a nightmare.
Two things I have learnt. After all the expensive tests, foods, treatments etc the tests showed up the two dogs we had at the time with spots, itching, pustules etc were allergic to some grasses,trees,pollens etc.
So we followed the programmes of washing two deerhounds 3x a week , cooked them lamb and potatoes 2x day for... wait for it.. 9 months! And then whilst doing all this we stopped them going in the river and guess what?
It went away !!
Ok, so we were a bit slow back then at using our own initiative.. but since then have come across deerhounds that get these rashes and if a change of environment doesn't work then normally washing with Malaseb or Hibiscrub(but make sure you use it very diluted and rinse very thoroughly) (from the vet) gets rid of it.
Also feeding Bee Pollen tablets works as a very effective but natural anti allergen.
Hope that helps a bit x

I wonder if we all haven't had skin/allergy questions about our deerhounds at one time or another, and I wonder if any of us feel we've gotten satisfactory answers as to cause and treatment? It might be interesting if some/all of you scientifically-minded deerhounders took this subject up as I for one would be most pleased to have the information.

Here's what I now do if I think one of my dogs has a skin issue: I rub a nice big handful of diatomaceous earth (DE) into their coats. DE is comprised of fossils of microscopic 2-celled planktons called diatoms and it resembles fine dusting powder. It kills fleas, lice, ticks, mites, etc. by piercing the exo-skeletons of insects causing them to dry up/die. Plus it's safe for the dogs should they lick it off their coats. And it's cheap.

True, not all skin issues are caused by insects but this is a good place to start and more often than not, it will be the solution you seek.

Is diatomaceous earth the same as in Fullers Earth(eg Cat Litter and strangely enough ladies face-pack product?)

When our micky first started off with his skin problems,
first thing i did was change his food, never bothered with going to the vets
as i knew they would just tell me to do a food exclusion diet.
same with Layla
Laylas realy sensative to food, if she gets the wrong type
she ich's and has the runs realy bad, change her to a food she is ok with
and with in 48 hours shes back to normal.


Our shrimp on the other hand, we realy strugled with her,
she had bad alergys, and nothing we did would change that,
i did ask the vet at the time about testing, but was told it would be a waste
of time and money, it was at the time when testing was just the bog standered
blood testing - but she also had other health issues,
its one resion she was clipped out down to the skin twice a year.

Hmmmm, dunno HB. Here's a link: www.diatomearthoutwest.ca