I've been dealing with the allergies of my 5 yr old GSD, Nettie, for most of the 3-1/2 yrs I've had her. Probably the only thing I haven't resorted to is the derm vet. Her symptoms been fairly well controlled for the last year and a half with a good raw diet, supplements, yogurt/kefir, 2-50mg hydroxyzine/day and an occasional 2-3mg dose of prednisone for flare-ups. On a 1 - 10 scale, she's normally at about a 3, some days a 4 or 5.

I started the Clear Allergies tabs 6 weeks ago, 4 tabs/day. The bottle calls for 4 tabs/day for dogs 30-80# (Nettie is 65#) and 6/day for dogs 80-120#, and says it takes an average of 20 days to see an improvement. It did take that long. I saw some subtle improvement at about the 3-wk mark. At the 5-wk mark, I bumped the dose up to 5 and then 6/day.

She's been off all hydroxyzine for over a week and I haven't given her any pred in over 2-1/2 weeks. Her ears are red and inflamed significantly less than they used to be. Her energy level and playfulness have increased noticeably. Overall, I rate her allergy symptoms now at a 1 or less.

In a few weeks, I'll try dropping back to 5/day (and even 4) to see if a lower dose works as well or if some symptoms might return.

Mike

that's great to hear Mike, thanks for taking the time to report your experience with CA.

that is fantastic Mike!

Wow...Great news, Mike! So glad Nettie is feeling better.

The pollen levels have been pretty high here the last few weeks so the CA was really put to the test. Thanks for posting this.

That's good news. One note of clarification. According to this page: http://leerburg.com/73.htm , the dosages are less then what you are giving.

 Quote: Mike Hawker

. . . According to this page: http://leerburg.com/73.htm , the dosages are less then what you are giving.

Yeah, I know, but I thought the bottle's recommended dose of 4/day for both a 30# and a 80# dog was a pretty wide range. After over 4 weeks and seeing no huge improvement, I temporarily upped it to 6/day for several reasons. Untreated, Nettie's allergies are fairly severe and I thought she might naturally need a higher dose. I didn't think it would be harmful to try it for a few weeks, and I thought the benefits might kick in sooner. Now that I know it seems to work at that level, I'll start slowly backing off to find the minimal dosage that will still be effective. Maybe it'll be the recommended 4/day, maybe more, hopefully less. I try hard to medicate/supplement only what's needed. It also keeps the costs down.

And this is not like popping an antihistamine or prednisone where you can see some results in 30 minutes or so. Here, the improvements come gradually, so there aren't any big day to day changes. Then all of a sudden, you realize, whoa, the symptoms are gone!

Mike

My Corgi has fall seasonal allergies. Based on the last three years, I can predict pretty accurately when the symptoms will start (mid-August). Her symptoms are red, hot itchy belly and underarms. The symptoms will disappear entirely after the first frost.

So--question: would I start this treatment after symptoms present, or would it be beneficial to start a month before?

 Quote: Tracy Collins

My Corgi has fall seasonal allergies. Based on the last three years, I can predict pretty accurately when the symptoms will start (mid-August). Her symptoms are red, hot itchy belly and underarms. The symptoms will disappear entirely after the first frost.

So--question: would I start this treatment after symptoms present, or would it be beneficial to start a month before?

Since it takes an average of 20 days to see results I'd start 3-4 weeks prior to the start of allergy season.

Thanks. I wasn't sure if this med worked as a "preventative" or if it modulated symptoms after they present. I'll give this a try. I tried a year-long course of raw local honey on this dog with no luck. Perhaps this will work. I hate having to do the Benadryl/Pred routine.

 Quote: Mike Armstrong

 Quote: Mike Hawker

. . . According to this page: http://leerburg.com/73.htm , the dosages are less then what you are giving.

Yeah, I know, but I thought the bottle's recommended dose of 4/day for both a 30# and a 80# dog was a pretty wide range. After over 4 weeks and seeing no huge improvement, I temporarily upped it to 6/day for several reasons. Untreated, Nettie's allergies are fairly severe and I thought she might naturally need a higher dose. I didn't think it would be harmful to try it for a few weeks, and I thought the benefits might kick in sooner. Now that I know it seems to work at that level, I'll start slowly backing off to find the minimal dosage that will still be effective. Maybe it'll be the recommended 4/day, maybe more, hopefully less. I try hard to medicate/supplement only what's needed. It also keeps the costs down.

And this is not like popping an antihistamine or prednisone where you can see some results in 30 minutes or so. Here, the improvements come gradually, so there aren't any big day to day changes. Then all of a sudden, you realize, whoa, the symptoms are gone!

Mike

Totally with you there... only pointing out the bottle has different information than the webpage.

And I just noticed you're in San Diego. Me too. (reminder to myself to update my profile here).