My dog has chronic skin allergies. What can I do to help him?

Related Answers from Veterinarians

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  Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

  Veterinarian

  Published on November 3rd, 2018

  Skin allergies are difficult to get rid off in dogs, when a dog is constantly suffering from skin allergies and the source of the allergy cannot be found i usually recommend putting him on allergy treatment such as Apoquel or Cytopoint- both of them very effective for skin allergies (both of them prescrition only).

  

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  Answered By Dr. Elizabeth

  Veterinarian

  Published on December 30th, 2019

  Poor Black Jack! Persistent skin lesions could be several things including allergies to fleas, allergies to something in the environment, food allergy or endocrine disease. Each one of these problems is detected and addressed differently and I recommend to discuss with your veterinarian which one to start hunting down first. Parasites are often ruled out with an oral medication like Simparica. Food allergy is best ruled out with a diet trial using a hydrolyzed protein. Endocrine diseases are detected with blood work. Environmental allergies are a little more difficult to detect but a response to therapy or a blood test can give an indication. Once you figure out and address the underlying cause, the lesions should not come back. There are a couple things you can do at home and they can help but they may not address the underlying cause. You can try adding in an omega 3 fatty acid supplement for dogs, this can help improve the skin health. You may also try changing his diet to something like Royal Canin or Nutro as they are aimed at skin health. Also protect the area from trauma by having Black Jack wear an elizabethan collar at all times. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

  

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  Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

  Veterinarian

  Published on October 18th, 2017

  Biting and Scratching can be caused by various reasons such as fleas, mites ,fungal infection, bacterial infection and allergies. the first 4 needs to be ruled out before we start treating for allergies. in order to do that first de-flea Cola with a high quality flea treatment such as advantage spot on ( i do not recommend flea baths as they are not effective) , if it doesn't help - take her to the vet in order to check for/treat the other possibilities. If everything is ruled out, then an allergy treatment can be started. Usually an hypoallergenic food is a good way to start together with anti histamines. if it doesn't help - the best solution is a medication called Apoquel which treats allergies with great success and without side effects.

  

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  Answered By Anna M., DVM

  Veterinarian

  Published on August 26th, 2017

  Ouch, poor Suede! If Apoquel and/or cytopoint have helped in the past, that helps confirm that Suede's underlying problem is likely allergies, and the skin infections are likely secondary to the allergies. Allergies can be either environmental or food-related, so one thing you could try to manage his allergy symptoms would be a prescription hydrolyzed diet in case this is related to an ingredient (or combination of ingredients) in his food. Keep in mind, however, that most allergies are environmental rather than food, and many dogs with food allergies have environmental allergies in addition! The other thing you can consider is skin testing followed by hyposensitization serum injections. These are injections created based on the results of a skin allergy test (usually performed by a dermatologist) that are given with the goal of "teaching" the immune system to tolerate those allergens and stop overreacting. It can greatly help many allergy dogs! It can be expensive, however, and I always warn my clients that while it can completely cure some dogs, it is more common that it *helps* - but the dog still needs some medical intervention to stay comfortable and avoid the secondary infection issue. Usually it allows a lower dose of allergy meds, or shortens the season that they're needed. Those are probably your two best options if you want to try to decrease the amount of medication Suede requires. Unfortunately, if you aren't providing some sort of therapy to manage the allergies themselves (whether it's Apoquel, Cytopoint, or some other medication, usually given in addition to hypoallergenic food and/or allergy hyposensitization injections), it will likely be a constant battle against skin infections. If you are not happy with Suede's response to therapy thus far, or want to dig deeper into your options, I strongly recommend having a consultation appointment with a veterinary dermatologist. They will be able to ensure Suede is being treated appropriately and that all other possible sources of itching and skin infections (such as flea hypersensitivity, skin mites, etc) have been ruled out. Hope this helps.

  

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