Also, I ordered some books and Vetericyn too.

I can't get the links to pull up the articles you posted.

Two things stand out to me:

 Quote:

I called my vet and asked him if he could recommend a derm vet. Instead, he feels like he can handle this himself

 Quote:

I feel like my vet is going to want to just give steroid shots, which is not what I want to do.

You absolutely you don't have to do steroid shots at all John.
If your Vet wants to do this, then I would head out on my own to get in to a Derm Vet( you don't necessarily need to do intradermal testing, let the Derm Vet decide what is needed) because giving steroid shots are merely dealing with the symptom and not the cause. JMO.
What would likely happen is that your dog would get better for the time being, and then when it wears off, you would be back at square one dealing with the next time he is again exposed to what ever allergens are giving him troubles. It can be a vicious cycle. Steroids are steroids, shots or prednisone pills, they can seem like a magic bullet and they are, but you can not sustain them long term without it doing things to the dogs immune system.
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_chronic_steroid_use.html

Of course this is entirely your decision John, but keep in mind that your knowledge is key here as well. You get to decide what is best for your dog and no one else.

If it were me, I would be a bit put off by the Dr saying he can handle this himself. But I am a firm believer in specialists.

---

Joyce Salazar

 Quote: joyce salazar

Two things stand out to me:

 Quote:

I called my vet and asked him if he could recommend a derm vet. Instead, he feels like he can handle this himself

 Quote:

I feel like my vet is going to want to just give steroid shots, which is not what I want to do.

You absolutely you don't have to do steroid shots at all John.
If your Vet wants to do this, then I would head out on my own to get in to a Derm Vet( you don't necessarily need to do intradermal testing, let the Derm Vet decide what is needed) because giving steroid shots are merely dealing with the symptom and not the cause. JMO.
What would likely happen is that your dog would get better for the time being, and then when it wears off, you would be back at square one dealing with the next time he is again exposed to what ever allergens are giving him troubles. It can be a vicious cycle. Steroids are steroids, shots or prednisone pills, they can seem like a magic bullet and they are, but you can not sustain them long term without it doing things to the dogs immune system.
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_chronic_steroid_use.html

Of course this is entirely your decision John, but keep in mind that your knowledge is key here as well. You get to decide what is best for your dog and no one else.

If it were me, I would be a bit put off by the Dr saying he can handle this himself. But I am a firm believer in specialists.

The GP vet has not looked at skin cells from the inflamed area, right? Just "thinks it might be yeast" (but no treatment mentioned)?

I have to say that I'm put off too, by both this and by his brushing you off about a derm referral. This vet has really done nothing, I gather ... did I miss anything?

That paw looks very inflamed/involved to me.

JMO.

PS
Pred can definitely be used to break a cycle, but an injection of it (for me) is for a rare situation.

But again, I would want to know (before now -- you have actually been to the vet, and I would expect to have an answer from that visit) as to whether the skin there had yeast and/or bacterial infection. Malessezia can be diagnosed pretty easily.

There are many methods to confirm yeast overgrowth, including a simple Scotch tape sampling, but it sounds like nothing but a glance and a comment "maybe yeast" and a suggestion of antihistamine happened ....?

 Quote: Joyce Salazar

... What would likely happen is that your dog would get better for the time being, and then when it wears off, you would be back at square one dealing with the next time he is again exposed to what ever allergens are giving him troubles.

I agree 110%.

We have been using hydroxizine with Nico and it thus far works better than anything other antihistamine I have tried for her allergies, I wish we would have done it years ago.

The Genta-spray the vet gave me also did wonder on her hot spots and has kept any new ones from forming as soon as I see a bit of irritation.

 Quote:

We have been using hydroxizine with Nico and it thus far works better than anything other antihistamine I have tried for her allergies, I wish we would have done it years ago.

Same here Jennifer. This whole summer I have just been doing her shots every two weeks with no problems,(haven't had a hot spot in 11 months) But then about three weeks ago, out of nowhere, she started itching like crazy.
I looked at Pollen.com and realized that it was almost off the charts HIGH for several pollens.

I started back up with Hydroxyzine and she is already on the therapeutic dose of salmon oil daily, and it stopped the itch and discomfort in a couple days. It took a few days for it to kick in. I will just keep her on these until I know the pollens go way back down again. This combo has worked so well, her scratching is almost nonexistent now.

Thanks for the advice. Here are those articles again...

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2144&aid=504
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2111&aid=137

Yes, it kind of sounds like my vet just wants to give a steroid shot and antihistamines like Claritin. Although those articles clearly state Claritin is not as effective for dogs. I'll try to find Hydroxyzine, but I just remembered that I did give him Benedryl a few times back in July for his hot spot. So maybe that'll help. The article says it's good for dogs. Besides, we tried the steroid shot route in June/July with Gus' hot spot and obviously his allergies have come back.

I'm kind of at a crossroads with my vet. He's a very nice guy and I do like him, but he's protested a bit when I suggested not to vaccinate anymore. He hasn't insisted on steroid shots yet for these allergies, but who knows. He's out today, so I'll have to wait until Monday to talk to him again.

Believe me, I have no problem telling a vet I don't want to give my dogs certain shots or treatments. However, I have to know what I do want to do instead. Right now I'm still learning, but I already feel more enlightened about the subject.

John, you can try a trial using Chlor-Trimeton from CVS or Walgreens, as it is easy enough to get.

How much does your dog weigh? Mine are around 80 lbs and I have given Kaia 2 tablets, which are 4mgs each in the morning and at night, to see if they work for your dog.

The Hydroxyzine is a prescription only, so you will need to see a Vet for that.

Good for you for reading up on the subject and getting more familiar with everything. I think it is really important to know and understand so when you do get in to see any Vet that you have that information to do what you feel is best for your dog.
As I have said before, my GP Vet really believes that the blood tests are very accurate. But since I have read differently here on LB, I felt really confident that I did not want to do those blood tests.
I am sure that my Vet might think "Who the heck does she think she is?" But I really didn't care because I felt like I was doing the best thing for my dog by getting a referral to the Derm Vet. He was obliging and gave me the name of the Derm Dr we now use.
It is just a gratifying feeling when you know in your heart that you did your research!

I wish the exact same thing for you with your dog. It always pays to be informed!

I took Gus to the derm vet today. A skin cytology told her that he definitely has a moderate bacterial infection. So she gave me some antibiotics (Clindamycin) and a topical spray called Zymox, which contains hydrocortisone. If ya'll have any concerns about these meds, please let me know.

She also took another sample for a fungal culture. She said the results will take 2 weeks. If I remember correctly, she's trying to determine if there is yeast.

Her opinion was that since this is the first time he's had any kind of allergies, then it's better to wait and see how it plays out. She wants to treat his paws so that the infection and fungus goes away, but she thinks it's too soon to do an intradermal. She thinks it's probably an environmental allergy, which will possibly go away soon and come back next summer. Although, she mentioned that since he has no history of allergies, it may just be a one time occurrence. Of course, if it is a food allergy then it'll show up again very quickly.

Hopefully the allergy books I bought on ebay will get here today...

This is the kind of conservative but thorough approach I would hope to see.


"She wants to treat his paws so that the infection and fungus goes away, but she thinks it's too soon to do an intradermal. "


This is exactly what I would hope to hear: Deal carefully with breaking this infection and finding out if there's a malassezia component, and then re-assess.