I had PM'd her suggesting that it could be pain related. I have a dog that has allergies but will also chew on a knee that is arthritic when it is bothering her.

It could also be a combination of both allergy & a pain responce.

Hey guys,

Drift and I thank you for all of your support. I wasn't able to get hold of my vet today. We played phone tag all day.. apparently today was full of emergencies for both of us.

Drift appears to be comfortable today, and her chewed up leg is healing super fast... It will be bald when the scab falls off, but for now, at least, she's not bothering it.

I have been thinking more about the pain thing, and will have hip/spine xrays done when I get her in for the Thyroid panel. It won't hurt, anyway. Drift is calm enough that we should be able to get usable shots without putting her under. I'm not looking for OFA quality, just good enough to see if something is wrong.

I think that Anne is right. I think we have more than one thing going on. Since Drift is no longer showing any other signs of allergies, it's time to find out what else is bothering her.

She won't be going to work with me this week. I want to make sure that it's not stress-chewing related to the stresses of my job. Lord knows it's stressful for the people that work there, and she takes it all onto her own shoulders to make everyone feel better. The kids are disappointed that she won't be there, but they understand that she needs a break sometimes too... they are even making her "get well" cards

I will certainly let you all know what's going on as soon as I know anything. And keep up the healing thoughts for Drift.. I think she likes the extra attention

--Kel

Hey, Kel, I was just thinking about you & drift & was just going to PM you when I saw your post.

Glad to hear that she is a bit better today. Not that I wish any hip issues on her but I sure hope that you can find out what is going on & get her some releif long term.

Keep us posted.

Sending calming, healing thoughs Drift's way. Keep us posted.

Poor Drifty.

OK, finally got hold of my vet. She doubts that a skin scraping will reveal anything, as this problem has been present for a year, and still localized. If it was mites or other parasites, or bacteria or fungi, it should have spread. Made sense when she told me that.

She agrees that it's not all allergies though. It's too focal. Allergies would be more generalized itching and chewing.

So we are down to getting a Thyroid panel and sending it to Dr. Dodds. And doing a full tick borne disease panel. Not sure what she's looking for as far as the tick panel, but Shyner is Lymes positive, so I know at least THAT is in the immediate area. I will seriously kick myself in the butt if I find out this all could have been avioded with 3 weeks of Doxy....

We are going to wait for the Xrays until the blood tests come back. It could be 3 weeks for the Thyroid to come back from Dr. Dodds. I will be taking Drift down on Saturday for the blood draw.

While we are waiting for the tests to come back, she recommended starting Drift on an herbal anti-inflamatory as a just in case kind of thing. I was thinking Yucca would be a good place to start for that, any thoughts from y'all??

Thanks!!

Kel and the Drifty Dog

So I was just reading up on the tick borne stuff. That Ehrlichia crap is damn scary!!!

I'm tempted to get all the dogs a tick panel as this Ehrlichia stuff can be dormant for years and kill your dog within hours when it's activated.

I used yucca long ago..It seemed to help some. But like any of the herbals...I think it's effectiveness would have alot to do with what is causing the allergic reaction. As my holistic/chiro/acupuncture vet has told me...some of these herbals work on one type of allergy & not another. But it sure is worth trying & seeing if it helps give her some releif. I don't think that there is any risk in trying it. Just like any other drug or herbal...just watch for the first 24-48 hours to make sure that there is no allergic reaction to the herbal itself. I think that would be pretty rare, but still worth noting.

Didn't the vet have a suggestion as to what you should try? Or was it their idea or yours to try yucca? Just curious.

The tick born diseases are ALL awful at best! For the animals & us.

Does she do it when you are with her?

Sorry if this was covered; I was thinking of the "coming home to find cone off" part.

Anne, the Yucca was my idea as an anti-inflamatory, not as an allergy aid. Vet's recommendation is Rimadyl, and I WON'T do that. This is just as a precaution until we find out if it's a pain thing... I want the blood panels to come back before trying Xrays.

Connie, are you asking if Drift chews on her leg when she is with us? Sporatically. I will catch her and redirect her maybe once a week. She does it a LOT more with Paul, but he's not as observant and doesn't catch her like I do. I don't have her wear the cone if we are able to watch her and redirect the chewing. She only wears it when we are gone and at night.