[BigOzzy2018]

After more then a year of battling itching, hair loss around face and tips of ears. Trying many diff foods, meds for itching I decided to get Ozzy allergy tested for both environmental and food. Poor guy is a hot mess. If testing comes back no allergies then we will test for auto immune issue, which means skin biopsy.
I want my best bud to feel better so keeping fingers crossed we find the culprit to make my boy stop itching and hair loss.

 

[Jax08]

did you try Cytopoint or Apoquel? When I was going thru this with Seger, my vet said if the cytopoint worked, it was most likely environmental. If Apoquel worked, most likely food related.

The cytopoint shut down the itching (and does not affect an allergy test so you can make your guy comfortable before doing the test). Apoquel did help Seger with the pollen related allergies so that he could track. Without it, he was very congested.

Are you doing blood or scratch? Blood results is not very accurate for food allergies.

 

[BigOzzy2018]

Tried apoquel gave some relief. Not cytopoint. I don’t like giving all these drugs unless I know what is the issue hence blood test. His paws are good no redness or him biting. Seems to be his face that is losing hair and where his whiskers are the follicles are affected as well. I’m thinking more environmental then food.
Test was expensivebut he’s worth it and we have pet insurance thankfully.
Pic from just now and the others are from April.

 

[Jax08]

Oh. Sorry. I thought you were asking for personal experience and input. Good luck. Hope it's just something simple that can be easily controlled.

 

[BigOzzy2018]

Oh, I’m open for input and experiences. I hope the blood test shows something

 

[LuvShepherds]

If it’s not environmental, read the thread I started on food allergy testing. Mine had skin symptoms that are nearly gone after a diet change

 

[Nigel]

Poor dude! We tested (blood), we eliminated this that and the other, tried changing diets, frequent baths etc... Somethings helped, most didn't. Cytopoint worked. She was so "rough" looking in summer of 2018 and she had to be miserable though she's one of those dogs that nothing keeps her down so it's hard to tell. We were ready to use Cytopoint again this year, however a cooler summer may have helped keep her allergens at bay.... Will use it again if needed.

 

[RoseW]

Unfortunately, the allergy blood tests in dogs tend to be unreliable (as are the hair and saliva tests) especially for food allergies so much so that many boarded veterinary dermatologists do not use them. An extremely strict elimination diet trial is gold standard to assess for food allergies as is an intradermal skin test for environmental, though the dermatologists I've worked with only suggest that if an owner is planning to go through with use of an allergen specific immunotherapy. Was demodex already ruled out by skin scrapes and trial of simaprica/nextgard/bravecto? The places your poor guy has hairloss unfortunately tend to be common areas for signs of environmental/food allergies as well as mites

 

[BigOzzy2018]

Skin scraping has been done On face and hocks and no mites. Bravecto was given 3 mo ago. I use heart guard plus. Blood test for environmental and food was done if neg for all then my vet said a skin biopsy can be done for auto immune problem.
I might just go to a dermatologist. Just want my boy to feel better. Watching him itch constantly is heartbreaking.
I will be skipping flea tick and heart guard for a month to see if that is an issue.

 

[Sabre's Mom]

Hope the blood test shows something for you to work with. I know how miserable allergies can be for a dog. My first GSD suffered from allergies. We did end up going to a board certified dog dermatologist who formulated an allergy serum based on her blood test results (which was done and sent in by my regular vet). One of the things my girl was highly allergic to was food mites. The allergist recommended a canned, cooked, or frozen diet only, and this was a game changer. I also gave her filtered water instead of tap water once I realized that she was rubbing her snout after drinking tap water. Between the allergy shots which I gave at home, and the food and water change, she was mostly comfortable for close to a dozen years. When she had a flare, about 1 - 2 times/year, my regular vet would give her a vetalog shot. She was closely monitored - twice a year well checks, and annual blood work & urinalysis.

 

[Orphan Heidi]

If this were my dog, I'd totally upgrade his diet. So many commercial foods are so depleted in vitamins/minerals it's
like feeding them ground up newspaper.

In humans and horses and dogs, skin problems are often tied to a LACK of proper vitamins in the diet. Vit. A, E and C
are needed to keep skin and hair healthy.

Have you considered adding more natural RAW or semi-raw foods ? Betcha you'd see an immediate improvement.

 

[Franklin829]

Tried apoquel gave some relief. Not cytopoint. I don’t like giving all these drugs unless I know what is the issue hence blood test. His paws are good no redness or him biting. Seems to be his face that is losing hair and where his whiskers are the follicles are affected as well. I’m thinking more environmental then food.
Test was expensivebut he’s worth it and we have pet insurance thankfully.
Pic from just now and the others are from April.

We’re experiencing the same loss of fur around the eyes with our black gsd. Food is changed to an RX hydrolyzed to address other GI and allergy related issues, but we’re still battling watery eyes and loss of fur, mainly just his right eye. It appears to be environmental because he will experience some swelling on occasion after being outside in the grass. Picture is from after being outside and starting to swell.

 

[Jax08]

If this were my dog, I'd totally upgrade his diet. So many commercial foods are so depleted in vitamins/minerals it's
like feeding them ground up newspaper.

In humans and horses and dogs, skin problems are often tied to a LACK of proper vitamins in the diet. Vit. A, E and C
are needed to keep skin and hair healthy.

Have you considered adding more natural RAW or semi-raw foods ? Betcha you'd see an immediate improvement.

Commercial foods have to meet AAFCO standards. They have vitamins and minerals added back into them so they can't possibly be depleted of vitamins and minerals. If they don't, they face a very expensive recall by the FDA.

Allergies are allergies. It's autoimmune. Changing to raw won't fix the itching or hair loss. Changing to a different food with less ingredients that cause an inflammatory response may help some dogs as it helps some people. My dog has never had kibble, always raw, and still had the same issue Ozzy is having.

 

[Magwart]

Big YES on seeing a derm -- don't hesitate, just book the appointment as soon as you can get one! You'll probably save yourself money in the long run and get your dog a solution faster. Not only will they zero in on the correct cause more quickly, but you'll likely spare yourself the cost of some types of testing that derms won't use due to lack of reliability/evidence, as RoseW correctly points out.

 

[Jenny720]

Luna has had issues with scratching at this same time of year. She was treated for mites negative on mite test oddly the mite test helped with scratching and no issues since last year except past few days same exact time last year- scratching again. Took her to the vet Saturday and she was given cytopoint which relieved the itching. I assuming it’s environmental seasonal since it’s exactly the same time of year. Her eyes get wonky also I am assuming allergies she scratched her eye last. I assuming immune system issues with allergies the cytopoint is working. Thankfully.


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[BigOzzy2018]

Well, have the results from the blood test done by Hesko. No food or environmental allergies. He does though show a severe allergy to storage mites. Storage mites come from inadequate storage of dog food. I was putting his kibble in a container with out the bag the food comes in. It was not an airtight container. Ozzy did have a scraping done and no mites found.
I have been for the last month keeping the food in the bag in a airtight container. His
itching is better but does have some hair loss here and there on his face.
My vet will look further into what is the best treatment and immunotherapy may not help. She never came across a dog with this allergy.

 

[BigOzzy2018]

Well, have the results from the blood test done by Hesko. No food or environmental allergies. He does though show a severe allergy to storage mites. Storage mites come from inadequate storage of dog food. I was putting his kibble in a container with out the bag the food comes in. It was not an airtight container. Ozzy did have a scraping done and no mites found.
I have been for the last month keeping the food in the bag in a airtight container. His
itching is better but does have some hair loss here and there on his face.
My vet will look further into what is the best treatment and immunotherapy may not help. She never came across a dog with this allergy.

Seems this is an issue with dry dog foods. I just might put him back on raw. No issue with storage mites in raw food.

 

[Jax08]

Storage mites are not just in dog food. That's just a potential source. Seger is highly allergic to these and has always been on raw food. If you have forced hot air then mite allergies will be worse in the winter.

 

[Dunkirk]

So sorry you're going through this. Could you store his kibble in a deep freeze to kill any mites? What does Ozzy eat and drink out of? Nitro's water bowl is glass/pyrex, it started life as a mixmaster bowl. His food bowl is stainless steel. If Ozzy is eating and drinking out of plastic, a change may help.

 

[BigOzzy2018]

Storage mites are found in flour, cereal, grains. Dust mites are in the house etc and he is no allergy to those. He drinks out of a stainless bowl both food and weather.
Ozzy is on Sport Dog dog food and they dnot recommend freezing their food.
I will be putting him on raw.