[shepsmum]

We started out allergy battle 3 years ago, did the whole switch to raw for elimination of food allergens. we went through every food type, beef 1 month, chicken 1 month, fish 1 month, think even tried lamb and duck. Ruled out food allergies that route.
His allergies affect him 24/7 365 days a year, our final guess was an airborne environmental allergen, dust or mold of some type. So we purchased a True Hepa filtration system recently, and changed out the furnace filters to special filters. It was our last attempt at eliminating the source. Sadly it failed as well.
He's on a hefty supplement diet, takes about a 1/2 hour to prepare it all twice a day. Everything from ACV to EPO, Mega C, Missing Link and many others.
He's unaffected by any antihistamines, they do nothing to relieve his itching. We've tried all forms, even the more expensive ones from the vet like hydroxy.
RH in the house is steady 50-60% because we have huge aquariums, so its not dry air.

So I'm now reviewing back and came across something that we may have overlooked, I think we were adding cod liver oil to everything during the elimination process.

What is the possibilities that he could be allergic to fish, and the cod liver oil tainted our elimination results?

The food he is on now is Taste of the Wild salmon and has been last couple years.

I thought it was rare for a dog to be allergic to fish. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks

 

[Myamom]

"Dogs are not allergic to a dog food per se, rather they react to one or more of the ingredients in the food. Some of the most common culprits are beef, pork, chicken, milk, whey, eggs, fish, corn, soy, wheat and preservatives. Many animals are now developing allergies to lamb as well. This was once thought to be very hypo-allergenic, but the more it is used, the more sensitivities are springing up."

Skin and Allergy Problems in Dogs


Another possible irritant, may be found within the food you are feeding your dog. If your dog is allergic to food, it is usually just to one of the ingredients in his or her diet. Some of the most common culprits include beef, chicken, pork, milk, eggs, whey, fish, corn, soy, wheat preservatives, and even lamb. Even if your pet has been on the same food all of his life, do not rule out a food allergy because one can develop at any time and over time (and most develop from foods that have already been eaten for a long time).

Allergies in dogs

 

[DnP]

To answer your question, usually fish protein is not a common allergen, but it is a protien and proteins are more common allergens than grains. Do you know if you tested him w/ flaxseed? That is another common allergen and though the food you are feeding does not contain flaxseed, one of your supplaments might?

I have an allergy dog who seems only to do well on TOTW Pacific Stream. He's got chicken and grain allergies as well as environmental allergies. Sigh..it was a long process for us to navigate all of his allergens. Luckily, we did not have to go the route of scripts or steroids. However, I did do VARL testing for allergies and Phoenix has been receiving allergy shots for the past year and a half..

Phoenix is allergic to dustmites and a few molds. I was told by the vet to keep the house's RH down to the 40-45% range. Any higher and it is moist enough air to encourage the dust mites and molds in the house. Not sure if that's a possibility for you guys.

 

[clearcreekranch]

Wolf, my 11 mo. is also suffering from allergies. We are going to have him tested in the very near future. He is now on TOTW salmon, salmon oil and benadryl 2xs a day. I am tired of guessing and just want to know exactly what he is allergic to. Another dog that I know of has a long list of food allergies, but is also allergic to grass and pollen and a long list of other things.

 

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

"Dogs are not allergic to a dog food per se, rather they react to one or more of the ingredients in the food. Some of the most common culprits are beef, pork, chicken, milk, whey, eggs, fish, corn, soy, wheat and preservatives. Many animals are now developing allergies to lamb as well. This was once thought to be very hypo-allergenic, but the more it is used, the more sensitivities are springing up."

Skin and Allergy Problems in Dogs


Another possible irritant, may be found within the food you are feeding your dog. If your dog is allergic to food, it is usually just to one of the ingredients in his or her diet. Some of the most common culprits include beef, chicken, pork, milk, eggs, whey, fish, corn, soy, wheat preservatives, and even lamb. Even if your pet has been on the same food all of his life, do not rule out a food allergy because one can develop at any time and over time (and most develop from foods that have already been eaten for a long time).

Allergies in dogs

HUH!

That is interesting - I see fish on that list 2x!

Are the allergy tests accurate? I have a friend with a sickly Dal and he had his checked - it seemed like everything my dogs thrived on - including fish - his body was horrified by.

 

[DnP]

I was told by my vets that allergy testing for foods is not 100% accurate, but that it can give you a direction to follow.

It can give false negatives and false positives for foods. The derm told me that the best way to know if a dog is allergic to certain foods is to do a home cooked elimination diet. Very time consuming. Basically, you eliminate ALL supplements and treats and start with one carb (he recommended no grains) and one novel protein for the diet and feed that for a certain amount of time. Funny thing, one of the novel proteins suggested was fish. go figure.

 

[shepsmum]

We started him on flaxseed maybe into year two when we started into the supplements, but he had already been having severe allergic reactions 24/7 before then.

Since we cannot be 100% sure on whether we eliminated fish 100% when doing the barf diet eliminations, I think that the only logical next step would to eliminate fish once and for all.

Been tempted to ask the vet about cyclosporine. Yes, its back on drugs, but its not steroids. My poor boy has open wounds on his body that we constantly have to treat because him chewing himself, if this would work without bad side effects, I'm all for it.

Just like a kid.

 

[DnP]

I wouldn't eliminate the flaxseed as a possibility. Even if he was already in allergy **** at that time, it could have been an allergen you added to his diet.

You've got nothing to lose to eliminate fish oil and or all fish from the diet. What proteins is he allergic to? Do you have any novel proteins that he can eat on a regular basis?

I have never done the barf elimination diet. I'm guessing it's just like or similar to the homecooked elimination diet?

I feel for you on this. I hate that helpless feeling like you are going in cirlces and getting no where.

I have no experience with cyclosporine so I'm not much help in that arena. but I'm with you on staying away from the steriods, if possible.

 

[DHau]

Shepsmum, it's possible your dog could be allergic to the fish. I had my dog tested by one lab for allergies and it stated fish is a safe protein. I put my dog on Orijen 6 fish and my dog lost hair on her ears. I decided to get a second "opinion" and had my girl retested using VARL labs the second time because I didn't think the first test covered enough items.

I added a few extra items to be tested like salmon oil, potato and pine bark. Salmon oil because it's supposed to be good for the skin and it's practically in every premium dog foods. The bark was added because we use it in our landscaping and the dog is always walking in it.

My dog was retested yesterday and I am eager to get the results to compare the two tests.

I would like to add that we went to California and were away from home for two weeks so that means she was in a totally different environment and she was still scratching. My fingers are crossed that it's something in the food so it's an easy fix. lol.

 

[SchDDR]

At this point, with the amount of money you've invested in trying to pinpoint the source of the dog's allergies, you might as well take him to a vet that specializes in allergies and have a skin test done.

 

[sable123]

We started out allergy battle 3 years ago, did the whole switch to raw for elimination of food allergens. we went through every food type, beef 1 month, chicken 1 month, fish 1 month, think even tried lamb and duck. Ruled out food allergies that route.
His allergies affect him 24/7 365 days a year, our final guess was an airborne environmental allergen, dust or mold of some type. So we purchased a True Hepa filtration system recently, and changed out the furnace filters to special filters. It was our last attempt at eliminating the source. Sadly it failed as well.
He's on a hefty supplement diet, takes about a 1/2 hour to prepare it all twice a day. Everything from ACV to EPO, Mega C, Missing Link and many others.
He's unaffected by any antihistamines, they do nothing to relieve his itching. We've tried all forms, even the more expensive ones from the vet like hydroxy.
RH in the house is steady 50-60% because we have huge aquariums, so its not dry air.

So I'm now reviewing back and came across something that we may have overlooked, I think we were adding cod liver oil to everything during the elimination process.

What is the possibilities that he could be allergic to fish, and the cod liver oil tainted our elimination results?

The food he is on now is Taste of the Wild salmon and has been last couple years.

I thought it was rare for a dog to be allergic to fish. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks

I doubt this has anything to do with diet, rather environmental or behavioral. However, salmon has to be the worst thing to try for allergies as far as fish goes due to the possibility of high histamine levels in the meal. Catfish & menhaden are much better for extreme cases. I would also stop the supplementation. Verus, Lincoln Biotech, Blackwood & Annamaet have better allergy formulas.

 

[LisaT]

I doubt this has anything to do with diet, rather environmental or behavioral.

I have never known a dog with severe sensitivities (either allergies or intolerances) to only have issues with either environment or food, but a combination of both. For example, many weed and tree allergies will cross-react and cause fruit and vegetable allergies, and even allergies like latex allergies.

I'm guessing in the OP's case, it's some weird combination so that at no time has the dog been allergen free, in spite of all the trials.

 

[LisaT]

Been tempted to ask the vet about cyclosporine. Yes, its back on drugs, but its not steroids. My poor boy has open wounds on his body that we constantly have to treat because him chewing himself, if this would work without bad side effects, I'm all for it.

There are always trade-offs. Cyclosporine may or may not be well-tolerated by your dog. It has the potential to have severe side-effects. If it is well-tolerated, in the long term, it will increase risk of system bacterial or fungal infection, as well as cancer risk. However, sometimes, those risks need to be taken, for example, this med is commonly used in dogs with perianal fistulas.

 

[LisaT]

HUH!

That is interesting - I see fish on that list 2x!

Are the allergy tests accurate? I have a friend with a sickly Dal and he had his checked - it seemed like everything my dogs thrived on - including fish - his body was horrified by.

Max cannot tolerate much fish, and that includes fish oil capsules, it greatly aggravates his fistula, which means it aggravates his digestive tract.

With Indy and Max, they were completely opposite in what each thrived on. Just about the only thing that both tolerated well is flaxseed. Other than that, I have to think in opposite land.

I find the blood allergy tests absolutely valuable, useful as a starting point.

 

[natalie559]

I went through allergies for years with Penny and what finally worked for her was comfortis for flea allergy dermatitis. One bite can cause an allergic dog to go mad.

 

[ZAYDA]

Can you tell me if a dog is highly allergic to flea's how long will their reaction last and what if you live in the mid-west where winter is 5 months out of the year.

 

[shepsmum]

There was a person that posted saying for the amount of money we spent see a specialist, then a day later, I went to the vet to find out how expensive atopica was, and she said the same thing. So we went to a dermatologist, and she wants to run allergy tests on him.
We've had to take him off all supplements and all antihistamines, nothing but Hill's D/D. Our poor boy is an absolute wreck. Fur all over the house, belly and legs all red, ears bright red. Keeps us up all night with his chewing and scratching, even tried locking him in the crate in the basement and can still hear the banging from him scratching.
Just have to make it until Friday, and get the test done. Really feel for the poor guy, and we're not in much better shape either with only a couple hours sleep every night for the last couple weeks. Let ya know what we find out. Really hope something shows up.

 

[shepsmum]

After detox of all supplements and antihistamines, Shep went in for testing today.

He had a severe reaction to Pullularia and Helmithosporium (Mold). Dermatologist said that is the worst reaction she had ever seen. Been a few hours since the tests, and the two spots are still swollen the size of a quarter.

We had a mold problem we were battling in the basement while he was a puppy, and he was crated down there for a year, so suspected that made him hypersensitive to the spores.

She doesn't like using steroids, but with the severity of his reaction and the outbreak of staph infection, he has to be on them at least for a bit til his skin heals up. He's got a syrum ordered, starting that in a couple weeks.

Not looking forward to resolving the underlying issue, meaning if hes having this bad of a reaction, we've got a major mold issue probably behind the drywall in the basement, and who knows where else.

At least after 3 years we got to the root of the problem, should have done this a long time ago.

 

[DnP]

So glad to hear that you've at least got an answer for Shep's issues. I think most of say the say the same thing about why did we wait so long. Look on the positive side...you know now and you have a plan to help him!

I've been there with regards to detox off everything until testing. I think it was time of both our lives...his scratching and my feeling bad for his feeling bad.

Question...what kind of heating/cooling system do you have? If you have ducts, you may need to have them cleaned out if there is a mold issue in the house, even if it's in the basement. Those freakin' mold spores are horrible.

 

[dogmama]

Glad you got an answer!!! Zack is allergic to house dust, my cat, as well as outdoor pollens, so it's a 24/7/365 battle for us also. I tried Atopica twice and it didn't work. He is on allergy shots & they seem to help a little. Doggie derm said it will keep him from becoming more sensitized to his allergens. I give the shots at home 1X a week. I also bath him once/week in resicort and use the resicort lotion because they have a small amount of hydrocortizone. When Zack gets as bad as your guy, we do steroids. It's usually never more than one month and the derm said he should have no ill effects since it's a low dose & short period of time. But, when you're talking about scratching staph infections, you have to take a tough stand.