This is long but I want to make sure I'm not missing something. I know the allergy routine well but I have not seen her this bad in years and I'm worried about her overall health at this point. She seems to be slowing down and not wanting to play at all or even sun herself outside.

I know this is not flea related because I went on a flea control spree a few weeks ago and she was not even that affected by them at that point. I bombed the house, as well as under the house and had the yard sprayed as well as giving all animal flea medications, which I just followed up with a second dose of. (we are doing it every 2 and half weeks right now, staggering advantage and comfortis.)

I have also washed all bedding sheets and blankets in hot water with a vinegar rinse to kill any allergens and she is going outside only to potty right now. We have hepa filters in the AC and I have been vacumming a lot and we have an allergen filter in the vacuum.

The last 4 or 5 days she has been getting progressively worse, her hair is falling out on her chest, her hips and her tail is nearly bald at this point. Her elbows and knees are also affected pretty badly.
I have been giving her a cool water rinse every day and using medicated shampoo every few days with oatmeal conditioner afterwards.

She is on antibiotics and had a steroid shot (which I hate to do) as well as chlorenephremine daily.
Last night it was so bad that I sedated her to stop the chewing as her elbows were bleeding.

I am also giving her Kefir with every meal as well as probiotic supplements to really help with any yeast. She also takes three phycox a day to help with her joints.

He also gave me dermcaps to use instead of the grizzly oil and

She is eating Innova EVO and some THK to supplement and I have cut out all treats but bits of meat.

The vet was sort of at a loss, but he also thought I was a little crazy to think the bread eating was possibly caused by the cancer, I really feel like I am somewhat on my own with this although he is there to support with tests and medications as needed. The derm vet won't be available for three more weeks.

Oh and her ears look surprisingly good with no odor or discharge and her armpits don't smell yeasty at all.

How much Pred is she getting? Just the shot, or daily, or what? I ask this because swollen legs and losing hair are both possible Pred side effects. (Of course, they are side effects of other things too.)

Or is the hair loss mainly where she is scratching most?

The hair loss and swollen legs are the reason for the steroid shot and medications. Her tail is by the far the worst affected at this point, but her chest and elbows are pretty bald at this point too.

We just did the one shot and I am holding off on doing an extended oral dose of steroids right now. He offered it on top of the shots, but with her history of a previous reaction I chose not to do it at this point.

She did have some Pred after the surgery because she wasn't healing as quickly as he felt she should be, but that was several months ago. I don't know the dosages of that because it was given in the hospital.

I just sprayed her tail and elbows with some dermoplast antiseptic spray to help kill the nasties and soothe them a little. She won't let me put any ointment on it at this point.

swollen and bloody elbow
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa265/chadescott/Dogs/Nico/IMG_2962.jpg


Hip tail and side, the bald area by the table leg is her saggy boobs and always pretty sparse. The skin around the small growth is all rough and almost callousy, more so than normal. You can see her tail as well but I don't think it really shows the true amount of hair loss on her tail. She is laying on it now and I don't want to bug her for another picture.
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa265/chadescott/Dogs/Nico/IMG_2961.jpg

Is her tail one of her bad (itchy) spots?

Yes, she has chewed it raw.

I know nothing about allergies this bad but a couple of questions first, then suggestions.

1. Does she still get THK thrive and how long has she eaten it? (I have a reason for this question).
2. How long has she had the kefir and has she always had a "milk" product supplement?(fermented or not, I have a reason for this question too.)

Okay, for the suggestions (and reasons)...

A. Lucy can't eat Thrive due to the Quinoa...thats the only difference between the Thrive, Keen, and Force. She was beginning to chew her rear, feet, etc. This may be a place to start.

B. Hambone can have no milk product, fermented or not, or he will chew himself bloody raw. If the kefir (or yogurt) are relatively new, this may be another place to start.

C. Grizzly oil has a higher DHA to EPA ratio and Derm Caps I believe are the exact opposite. Testing has shown DHA is great for cognitive function, but skin craves the EPA.


D. I just read about the Bread incident and had it refreshed in my mind. Now, how long ago was this and how soon after the breads (carb loading) did the itching and chewing begin?

Okay, I am done for now. I can't think of anything else to question or what to say to help you. I am sooo sorry for Nico's pain.

My dog had some hair loss issues earlier this year from just hair loss and also from her chewing. She also would chew her tail and legs A LOT, sometimes to the point of being raw. Her normal vet did all kinds of tests and said everything was normal. I took her to the Derm vet and they basically said they could not find anything wrong but gave her some revolution and antibiotics to see if that would help (a really expensive visit for nothing helping...) Nothing either of the vets gave me ever helped.

I felt like I was pretty much on my own so I sought out my own solution. I had a lot of success with products from Equine Elite:

http://www.equineelite.com/relief.html

http://www.equineelite.com/caninerelief.html

You can see the photos of their website of others who have had success. I recommend the shampoo, lotion and spray. I used the shampoo once a week (you can use it on only the affected areas if you like). I used the lotion once a day on the affected areas and the spray twice a day on the affected areas.

It truly helps with treating staph, mange, wounds, etc. This really helped by dog and I am happy to say she does not experience hair loss any longer and very very very rarely chews her legs and tail.

Good luck!

I don't even know if this is a true allergy outbreak and this point, on one of her bald spots on her hind ankle there is a callousy area with about 6 small wart looking bumps.

I suspect these are new cancerous growths.

Yes she is still eating thrive, but has eaten quinoa in the past with no problems, I may cut it out to see if it makes a difference.

Milk is no problem with her, fermented aged or otherwise. Her only known food allergy is to corn, even that takes some time to build up in her system to cause a reaction.

Generally during a seasonal allergy outbreak with her, there will be some goopy eyes and extreme sneezing fits, there is none of that this time.

Nothing other than (((((hugs)))))