I believe my female Dobie has developed a CONTACT allergy to GRASS

She began scratching and "fleaing" herself last fall (arm pits & groin area) so I immediately scrutinized her for any signs of external parasites, but found NONE (plus, my male has no fleas, etc.) -- Then we had our wettest winter in decades & the yard turned into a mud-hole, so we spent almost ZERO time out there before late Spring ... During that 6 month period, Adobe QUIT Itching, and her fur grew back where she had previously chewed & clawed it into disappearing

But within the last month of Warm DRY Weather, we have returned to spending quite a bit of time in the yard, and her ITCHINESS has re-surfaced with a VENGENCE, so now she's scratching & fleaing the hair off her legs, chest & throat too

I tried a course of children's liquid Benedryl, to no avail -- I then tried a course of Zrytek tablets @ 10 milligrams twice a day, which didn't work either ... Next I tried a course of adult Benedryl tablets @ 25 milligrams twice daily, which is a LOT of Antihistamine for a 65 pound dog, but they had NO effect whatsoever (not even drowsiness) !!!

SO, before going in for a Vet appointment, I'm seeking folks' experience with itchy-scratchy dogs suffering from the effects of a CONTACT allergen (this is my 1st time having to deal with anything like that) -- Naturally I'm looking for some Simple OTC Solution, but so far my attempts at such have utterly Failed, and poor Adobe can't go on like this ... I'm hoping someone here has had success treating a CONTACT allergy in one of their dogs (???)

The web is full of ads for "Apoquel", but I'm always afraid of Adverse SIDE Effects in any long term Pharmaceutical intervention All opinions & suggestions are WELCOME prior to my seeing the Vet, so THANKS in advance to anyone who replies !!!

I have had 2 dogs with environmental allergies. The biggest piece of advice I have is go to a dermatology vet! We wasted SO much money at regular vets.

If your dog is indeed allergic to grass (could be more than just grass, and usually is), then your choices are limited on how to treat. You can get skin testing to determine the source of allergen and then try allergic shots - the fewer things your dog is allergic to the better results you'll have (Kasey was allergic to 43 things and you can't even put that many into the serum, so the results were marginal).

Regular vets used to only use steroids, antibiotics and anti-fungals. Now a lot of them just put the dog on Apoquel and call it a day. We tried everything with Kasey and nothing really worked so we ended up doing the Apoquel because his allergies were year round and we had to think about quality of life vs risks of the drug. It does bring down their immune system so you're obviously taking a risk that cancers and things can appear - Kasey ended up getting a cancerous mass on his back leg, which was removed and it did not come back, but we were always worried it would - in the end arthritis in a paw at age 9 took him down, as he wasn't able to play and eventually even walking became difficult. Would I do Apoquel again? If my dog's quality of life was miserable from all the itching and it was causing them to need steroids and stuff, yes I would.

As far as natural stuff, I tried everything I could find research on and nothing worked. But you should be definitely giving therapeutic doses of fish oil with Vit E to help with inflammation, keep the dog off the grass, and wipe down paws after walks, etc. It's a lot of work having an allergy dog!

 Quote: Lori Hall

I have had 2 dogs with environmental allergies. The biggest piece of advice I have is go to a dermatology vet! We wasted SO much money at regular vets.

If your dog is indeed allergic to grass (could be more than just grass, and usually is), then your choices are limited on how to treat. You can get skin testing to determine the source of allergen and then try allergic shots - the fewer things your dog is allergic to the better results you'll have (Kasey was allergic to 43 things and you can't even put that many into the serum, so the results were marginal).

Regular vets used to only use steroids, antibiotics and anti-fungals. Now a lot of them just put the dog on Apoquel and call it a day. We tried everything with Kasey and nothing really worked so we ended up doing the Apoquel because his allergies were year round and we had to think about quality of life vs risks of the drug. It does bring down their immune system so you're obviously taking a risk that cancers and things can appear - Kasey ended up getting a cancerous mass on his back leg, which was removed and it did not come back, but we were always worried it would - in the end arthritis in a paw at age 9 took him down, as he wasn't able to play and eventually even walking became difficult. Would I do Apoquel again? If my dog's quality of life was miserable from all the itching and it was causing them to need steroids and stuff, yes I would.

As far as natural stuff, I tried everything I could find research on and nothing worked. But you should be definitely giving therapeutic doses of fish oil with Vit E to help with inflammation, keep the dog off the grass, and wipe down paws after walks, etc. It's a lot of work having an allergy dog!

Thank you so much for the very sensible advice, Lori As my son said, "Apoquel may turn out to be the lesser of two (or MANY more) evils" !!!

 Quote: Candi Campbell

I tried a course of children's liquid Benedryl, to no avail -- I then tried a course of Zrytek tablets @ 10 milligrams twice a day, which didn't work either ... Next I tried a course of adult Benedryl tablets @ 25 milligrams twice daily, which is a LOT of Antihistamine for a 65 pound dog, but they had NO effect whatsoever (not even drowsiness) !!!

I don't have any personal experience with dogs with environmental allergies, but I have had occasion a few times over the years to use Benadryl. I am not giving any kind of veterinary advice here, but I think you might want to ask your vet what the appropriate dosage is, if you use that in the future. The recommended canine dosage is quite different than that for humans.

 Quote: Cheri Grissom

 Quote: Candi Campbell

I tried a course of children's liquid Benedryl, to no avail -- I then tried a course of Zrytek tablets @ 10 milligrams twice a day, which didn't work either ... Next I tried a course of adult Benedryl tablets @ 25 milligrams twice daily, which is a LOT of Antihistamine for a 65 pound dog, but they had NO effect whatsoever (not even drowsiness) !!!

I don't have any personal experience with dogs with environmental allergies, but I have had occasion a few times over the years to use Benadryl. I am not giving any kind of veterinary advice here, but I think you might want to ask your vet what the appropriate dosage is, if you use that in the future. The recommended canine dosage is quite different than that for humans.

Thanks a lot, Cheri I just DREAD starting down this road with the Vet -- Nothing but horror stories from everything I've heard over the years: folks spending many thousands of dollars, plus an inordinate amount of wasted effort, without much of any worthwhile result

 Quote: Candi Campbell

I just DREAD starting down this road with the Vet -- Nothing but horror stories from everything I've heard over the years: folks spending many thousands of dollars, plus an inordinate amount of wasted effort, without much of any worthwhile result

Agreed. From what I've read here and other people I've talked to, dealing with allergies can be very time-consuming, expensive, and frustrating in general. That's why I totally agree with Lori's suggestion to go straight to a canine dermatologist. Yes, specialists are expensive, but it seems that would be the most efficient use of your money.

As I mentioned earlier, I've not had to deal with allergy issues -- yet -- but I have used specialists for other issues with my dogs, including a dermatologist for non-allergy lesions, and that will continue to be my practice for things I believe may benefit from specialized knowledge and experience. My general practice vet is wonderful and has no problem with referring clients to specialists.

eta: For the first time ever, I saw a TV commercial for Apoquel last evening.

 Quote: Cheri Grissom

 Quote: Candi Campbell

I just DREAD starting down this road with the Vet -- Nothing but horror stories from everything I've heard over the years: folks spending many thousands of dollars, plus an inordinate amount of wasted effort, without much of any worthwhile result

Agreed. From what I've read here and other people I've talked to, dealing with allergies can be very time-consuming, expensive, and frustrating in general. That's why I totally agree with Lori's suggestion to go straight to a canine dermatologist. Yes, specialists are expensive, but it seems that would be the most efficient use of your money.

As I mentioned earlier, I've not had to deal with allergy issues -- yet -- but I have used specialists for other issues with my dogs, including a dermatologist for non-allergy lesions, and that will continue to be my practice for things I believe may benefit from specialized knowledge and experience. My general practice vet is wonderful and has no problem with referring clients to specialists.

eta: For the first time ever, I saw a TV commercial for Apoquel last evening.

OK, here's my new plan for this weekend, at least:

A) No wonder poor Adobe has had no relief nor even any effect from the Benadryl -- I wasn't giving her nearly enough to qualify as the "therapeutic dosage"...

B) I'll wait till Friday after work, so I can monitor her quite closely through 5 consecutive doses before going back to work on Monday morning...

C) Standard K9 Dosage is 1 miliigram PER POUND of body weight, twice or even thrice daily, barring any contra-indicative medical conditions...

If there is still no improvement by that time, then I'll book an appointment with a Dermatological Vet (OUCH) -- THANKS so much for the Dosing tip, Cheri !!!

The 1 milligram per pound of body weight is what I have been told by my vet, too. Plus, that information can be found on any number of reputable sites on the Internet. Since it does sound like a lot, compared to the human dose, when I used it, I was giving my 85-pound dog three tablets, or my 62-pound dog two tablets. I don't think I bothered cutting an extra tablet in halves or thirds to try to match the weight exactly; and I don't think I did the three times a day for more than two or three days in a row; and like you are planning, I was monitoring closely for side effects.

One of the occasions I can remember using it was when my female had a badly swollen eyelid, we think from a spider bite.

Again, I don't want anybody out there reading this to think I am giving out veterinary advice. I'm just passing on information given to me by my vet, as well as information that anybody can find on an Internet search; but common sense and caution are always advised in following any Internet advice! And of course one should always check with their own vet before giving any human meds to their dogs.

 Quote: Cheri Grissom

The 1 milligram per pound of body weight is what I have been told by my vet, too. Plus, that information can be found on any number of reputable sites on the Internet. Since it does sound like a lot, compared to the human dose, when I used it, I was giving my 85-pound dog three tablets, or my 62-pound dog two tablets. I don't think I bothered cutting an extra tablet in halves or thirds to try to match the weight exactly; and I don't think I did the three times a day for more than two or three days in a row; and like you are planning, I was monitoring closely for side effects.

One of the occasions I can remember using it was when my female had a badly swollen eyelid, we think from a spider bite.

Again, I don't want anybody out there reading this to think I am giving out veterinary advice. I'm just passing on information given to me by my vet, as well as information that anybody can find on an Internet search; but common sense and caution are always advised in following any Internet advice! And of course one should always check with their own vet before giving any human meds to their dogs.

Yes, from my initial fear of possibly over-medicating her, I erred WAY too FAR on the Low side out of an Over ABUNDANCE of Caution at first -- Multiple web sources, since consulted at your suggestion, say a Max K9 Dose would be Two milligrams per each Pound of body weight every 8 hours ... So I'll start with ONE milligram per Pound every 12 hours to begin with & see how that goes

Also, when it comes to dogs and antihistamines, it's very different for each dog as to whether they work or not. Benedryl didn't do anything for Kasey, but Chlor-trimeton actually did help to a certain extent (we used the generic version which you can get a big bottle of on Amazon for pretty cheap). My derma vet said antihistimines only help about 50% of dogs

There are some natural things you can try like quercitin and bromelain together - people use those in place of antihistimines and you can google it for dogs. Also Butterbur can help - I use that for myself with hayfever in the spring and it works really well!

I'd try the antihistimines, the natural stuff above and weekly bathes before going to Apoquel. You could do a very short term of steroid and antibiotic once to get her back into a good place while using the antihistimine or natural stuff, and then see if those things would keep her in a good place. There are also Rx antihistimines that are stronger, maybe try one of those too.