Allergic Doberman

[ShelbysMom]

Crystal has had some allergy issues lately. Her ears have always been itchy which I attributed to them being taped up for 6 months. At the last vet appt. he did a culture for an ear infection which turned out to be candida. He also thinks that her chin pyoderma could be a food allergy. I changed the food from Iams Lg. Breed to Iams Lamb & Rice and I see a slight improvement.
Does anyone have any success stories with a particular brand of kibble...I'm wondering if I should switch to a Salmon protein kibble instead of the lamb. I don't want to keep changing food, but it would help if I could get a recommendation on something that will probably work well for her allergies.
Her paw licking seems to have decreased somewhat on the lamb diet, but I noticed one of her back paws has a blister between the pads.

[davet]

just for kicks , sometimes a 5 day episode of steroids may stop it compoletly,may not also but worth a try...if you can break the scratch habit then sometimes it ends, if it doesn't work, then for that short time no harm is done.then you have to go diet after diet, ie lamb and rice, orstrichc and rice, all sorts of tother things and rice...

[k9Karen]

As a general rule, when an animal is allergic, it is usually best not to change foods or introduce any type of 'new' protein' until you have to. If your dog turns out to be highly allergic, the more you expose him to, the more allergies he will develop. Stick with what works and don't give any 'people food', treats, etc, that could induce allergy production. It may take a while to find the right food. Ask your vet about tests for food allergies before you pull your hair out trying to figure out what to feed. Also, carefully check the ingredients in any food you're considering. Soy products, corn, wheat, and some other things (can't remember off hand what they are) are common allergens that are found in many types of dog food.

It can be very trying. My brother's cocker spaniel was so allergic that by the time he passed away, he was allergic to all meat (fish, ostrich, lamb, salmon, tuna, chicken, beef, veal - even every exotic meat they put into specialty dog food). His dog was on vegetarian kibble for the last 4 or so years of his life. He did seem live a long and happy, though itchy, life - he was 16 when he passed away.

Good luck

[ShelbysMom]

Well, we finally got through the holidays and I returned to the vet with Crystal and her blistered paws. It seems that the substitute vet on staff on Christmas Eve misdiagnosed her as a food allergy.
What she really has is a reoccurence of the skin infection that she was treated for over the summer. It was a chin pyoderma that was spreading to her back and she had a slight folliculitis which has since completely healed.
The chin, however, never healed completely and she spread that to her paws by scratching her chin with her toenails. She was a mess.
He gave her a shot of Baytril and she's back on Clavamox for the next 5 weeks or so.
I can't tell you how much time was spent on her these past few months. I changed water bowls from metal to plastic....I dumped perfectly good food and biscuits because they suspected a food allergy. I was meticulous with her when she came in from the yard, wiping down her paws and disinfecting her chin because she was getting bumps and pimples. I drove myself nuts trying to figure out what was going on with her.
Already just the shot of Baytril made her entire chin clear up and her paws are starting to heal. I didn't even start the Clavamox until this morning.
Her first birthday is 1/27...........I hope her immune system can fight this thing and it doesn't end up being chronic.

[Marty]

From what I have heard, you might want to go back to the metal bowl, or get a ceramic one. Plastic breaks down over time and leaches into the food and water. At the very least, replace it regularly.

If she does turn out to have a food allergy as well, I think a food with very few ingredients is recommended....Nature's Balance Duck and Potato, maybe. Lots of people use Innova or Canidae,too. My little town doesn't carry those, though.

[k9Karen]

I so sorry to hear that she was misdiagnosed, but, I am glad to hear that it really isn't a food allergy. That can really be miserable to deal with.

I'm glad she is doing better. Hopefully, now that she is getting older and her immune system is maturing, this will be her last problem of this type.

Good luck!

[ShelbysMom]

She's back to the metal bowl and I'll see if it helps. I'm a little anxious about her immune system...she's had two skin infections in 6 mos. Her back looks fabulous...the hair grew back and it looks wonderful. I'm supplementing her with 3V Omega Acid capsules which help a great deal and I recently started putting a small amount of olive oil into her kibble.

I want to contact the breeder to get her thoughts about this but I know she is extremely opposed to antibiotics of any kind for puppies. When I took this dog to the vet I was really in a bind. The dog had oozing pustules on her chin and blisters on her back paws with a very red and irritated inside of the paw. She was actually leaving blood on everything just by her walking on floors and putting her chin down on things. How do I just ignore that and not let the vet do what he thinks is right? The blisters also were multiplying.

Maybe I'll e-mail the breeder and ask her opinion but I know she's going to flip out when she finds out the dog is back on Clavamox. I honestly don't know what to do and hope I'm making the right decision. The dog doesn't look immune suppressed either....she's 85 lbs., has a healthy appetite and no digestive ailments or fatigue.

[Traci]

You shouldn't be concerned what the breeder thinks...she doesn't own Crystal, she's not living with her, and she certainly isn't paying her vet bills. The only thing your breeder could even help with is informing you if her other dogs have had a predisposition to this problem.

If she says no to the latter, then I would find out from your vet what testing methods he has utilized to form an accurate diagnosis. Was an immunological profile done to rule out not just immune problems, but possibly fungals, or eosinophilic conditions? Was an allergy panel offered you? Were cultures ever done?

[ShelbysMom]

Traci: No testing was done except a culture for the ear infection which was candida. The vet is going just by the look of the blisters and some questions he's asked me.
I was wondering why he didn't take blood for testing, but he seemed to think this was a puppy thing and wasn't really alarmed about it. I am a little concerned because I've had 2 other Dobermans and have never come across skin issues with either of them.
I am really torn between respecting the breeder's knowledge and trusting my vet of 25 yrs. The breeder tends to have a more holistic approach and feels that Dobermans have a weak immune system to start with and dosing them with strong antibiotics will do more harm than good.
I did e-mail her to see if she can shed some light on this for me.

[k9Karen]

Personally, I think you did the right thing. From what you've described, this was a terrible skin infection that was spreading. As a microbiologist, I am definitely opposed in the indescriminant use of antibiotics, but when they are needed, they should be used. Hopefully, your vet is right, and this is just a puppy thing. It happens with people too. My brother had terrible recurrent Staph infections as a small child. If I'm remembering correctly, he had problems with boils, sties, and skin rashes until he was 6 or 7. The sties continued even longer - 'til about 10. He's fine now, and hasn't had a problem for many, many years (he's 46).

You might want to ask your vet if there is any type of shampoo or something that might help prevent recurrences. Maybe just keeping her clean will be enough. I wouldn't recommend any type of antibacterial product - it would probably make things worse, not better, since it would also kill the protective organisms that are supposed to be on the skin. I know tar-based products can help in human cases, but I'm not sure if this would be the right approach with Crystal.

Again, I'm glad she's doing better and I hope this is the end of all her problems.