Hi Connie:
You seem to have a ton of knowledge on health issues so I'm wondering if you can help me.
My 4 year old GSD has many allergies to food, pollens, trees, grasses, etc. and he has been on a diet which works well. But, we have recently moved to a different climate and he has not stopped scratching one minute. The vet said many dogs in the area suffer from seasonal allergies this time of year and put him on Prednisone which has worked very well (no scratching at all). But other than being lethargic (which I don't mind at all! haha) he is VERY thirsty and EXTREMELLY hungry. He will eat everything from his poop <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> to sticks and leaves if I let him! So, my question is: do you know of any other method to control this type of allergy?
Feel free to PM me or respond back here (maybe someone else is going through the same thing!) <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

 Quote:

.........My 4 year old GSD has many allergies to food, pollens, trees, grasses, etc. and he has been on a diet which works well. But, we have recently moved to a different climate and he has not stopped scratching one minute. The vet said many dogs in the area suffer from seasonal allergies this time of year and put him on Prednisone which has worked very well (no scratching at all). But other than being lethargic (which I don't mind at all! haha) he is VERY thirsty and EXTREMELLY hungry. He will eat everything from his poop <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> to sticks and leaves if I let him! So, my question is: do you know of any other method to control this type of allergy?
Feel free to PM me or respond back here (maybe someone else is going through the same thing!) <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Steroids are a magic bullet for allergy symptoms (and many other inflammation-based ailments). But it's also by far the most potentially dangerous of all the allergy control choices. There are long- and short-term side effects.

So the goal, when you have to resort to Pred, is to keep the dosage and the # of occasions as low as possible. That is, you do not use it when it's not necessary, and you never use more than the lowest possible dose. Of course, all this is discussed with the vet!

It's not something you just give indefinitely because it works so well.

I can give you material about what the short- and long-term effects are (the long-term effects are the most serious) if you want.

If you read any of the recent allergy threads here, you'll see that there are a ton of options to minimize the use of internal steroids.

What I would do would be to try the other options as I slowly weaned him off (or lower) with the steroid use, if at all possible.

Steroids - a balancing act between the relief (and allergies can make a dog *beyond* miserable, to the point that he is breaking skin and suffering from infections of skin and ears, not to mention having no quality of life) and the side effects.

Cindy Easton Rhodes and others here also are very allergy-savvy. I have changed the subject so others will chime in (I think it will show up), and I will post again later with links to discussion of all the other options.

Right now, though, steroids or no steroids, I would immediately start salmon oil and Vitamin E. These are potent anti-inflammation agents with no negative side effects (and many positive side effects). Start low, because oil supplements can cause diarrhea if started fast (just as in humans).

I'm not a health professional. However, in this particular post, there is nothing that any vet would take issue with (I feel sure).

Back with links later, and others will probably answer as well.

 Quote:

.........My 4 year old GSD has many allergies to food, pollens, trees, grasses, etc. and he has been on a diet which works well.....

I forgot to ask: Did you get the list of known allergens via a blood test, or a skin ("scratch") test?

blood test

"I would immediately start salmon oil and Vitamin E. These are potent anti-inflammation agents with no negative side effects (and many positive side effects)."

I supplement with cod liver oil and 2 Vitamin E (400 I.U.)pills per day. Is there a difference between cod liver oil and salmon oil as far as being a potent anti-inflamation agent. I am asking b/c my gsd has alergies and is currently taking prednisone. I want to limit the amount of steroids he takes.

- Elliot

 Quote:

.........I supplement with cod liver oil and 2 Vitamin E (400 I.U.)pills per day. Is there a difference between cod liver oil and salmon oil as far as being a potent anti-inflamation agent. I am asking b/c my gsd has alergies and is currently taking prednisone. I want to limit the amount of steroids he takes.....- Elliot

There's a difference that concerns me, although it isn't about the Omega 3s.

Liver oil is loaded with Vitamin A, an oil-soluble vitamin that is toxic in high doses, and also with the toxins that the liver exists (in part) to filter out.

I buy distilled fish oil (cold-water salmon is great), distilled to leave behind heavy metals like mercury, which is probably as bad as Omega 3s are good.

Here's a list of great fish oil manufacturers; I'd choose a non-liver oil:
http://www.crnusa.org/o3group.html

If you can also try one of the RX antihistamines that were recently shown to be effective in combo with Omega 3s for canine allergies (such as Hydroxyzine) as well as washing off the pollen and grass from his paws when he comes inside, you might see a decrease in inflammation in days. I did. Benadryl is cheap, but unfortunately did not qualify in this new study as being particularly effective against skin pruritis.

Here is the list:
Food: beef, barley, soybeans, eggs, peas, venison.
These foods are the ones that showed strong positives for allergies but there are more that were "borderline" positive.
Also: ragweed, mold, maple tree, bluegrass, timothy, etc. There are about thirty things other than food that he showed strong positives to but they are mostly weeds, trees, and grasses.
His food history:
When he was a pup he was on Nutro chicken and rice and was fine. Then we moved into a house that was all carpet (previous house was wood flooring) and the yard contained trees that he was allegic to (although I didn't know at the time since he hadn't started the scratching yet). After a few weeks he starting scratching non-stop (his ears were a mess!) and then I got his allergy test done. I tried him on many different allergy diets (such as Z/D Gold and others) none of these decreased the scrathing AND he was also on prednisone at the time!
Then I tried First Mate "Fish and Potatoe" and within five weeks his scratching decreased by 95%. (note: I do give him a strong dose of salmon oil daily, but I will add the vit. E also). Shortly after we moved to Vancouver Island (very humid) and between the diet, the climate, and no carpets I didn't see him scratch at all (happiest I've seen him).
Now we have recently moved to a dryer climate, and there is carpet (some), and we have many trees in our yard.
So that is his history so far.
I have reduced his prednisone dose to 15mg a day and this seems to work ok with the odd scratch here and there.
I talked with my vet and she suggested keeping him on this low dose till winter comes and see if his scratching stops. If is does, great, he can take prednisone only during the short summers here.
If not.....that is where I need some help. My vet suggested talking to a holistic vet (here is the one she suggested: Pawsitive Veterinary Care in Kelowna, BC. http://www.pawsitivevet.com) and see what they come up with.
I've never checked out these types of vets before.