Quote: Kristi Molina

So we finally saw the derma vet. I wish we would have gone sooner. I spent half of what I have spent at my regular vet for them to take guesses.

Many of us have been there Kristi. It seems once you seek the specialty of Dermatology, it becomes crystal clear, this is the place to be. As Connie has said a lot, there's a reason why it is a specialty given the vast number of diseases just of the skin.

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And to stop the fish oil and vit e for at least 2 months and then re check him. I don't think that's a good idea. I can try a different meat, but I don't want to cut the supplements.

This is odd and in my opinion, you are right to not want to cut this out from her diet. That would be one of my first questions for this vet, why take away the salmon oil and vit E?
When I sought the Dermvet, I was told that salmon oil was very good and to keep on feeding it, because of the tremendous anti- inflammatory benefits. In fact, I use a therapeutic dose for her, daily.

When used for inhalant allergies, the combination of both the therapeutic doses of salmon oil given with her hydroxyzine antihistamines, they work very well together to create a reduction in symptoms; itching, biting, etc.

Also, if in fact you do an elimination diet, I would stick to your guns about feeding raw, as long as you can find a source that is affordable.
I just want to applaud you for doing these things for your girl, because once you get more detailed info either through intradermal testing or elimination diet, you will be able to better pin point her allergens and make her comfortable etc.

I find it interesting that recently, there have been suggestions made by Dermvet's (this, and one other thread) to seek an elimination diet before doing intradermal testing first.
There may be a reason for it, and I would love to know their response for it.
Just because inhalant allergies usually trump suspected food allergies.
Intradermal testing can be expensive, but so can an elimination diet if you only have one protein source to choose and it is expensive.

If you are not going to do intradermal testing right away, you could ask your vet if you could trial some antihistamines to see if that would help.
Keep in mind that if you are needing time to save for these tests, that doing a trial of antihistamines can help keep the dog comfortable, until you can do the tests.

But getting the staph infection cleared up should help immeasurably very soon.

My female has inhalant allergies and one of the things she is allergic to, is the staph bacteria, I found this out through the intradermal testing.
I use a good shampoo that has chlorhexidine in it and do a once a week bath during times when her allergies are the worst.

I am very interested in hearing more after you talk to the vet again and get some of your questions answered. Looking forward to your update!

I just thought of one more thing and I am past the time lapse on the edit function.

About the antihistamine trial. If there is any chance you are going to do intradermal testing relatively soon, they usually don't want any antihistamines in the system, as it would not be as clean cut when the dog is given the skin pricks of allergens.
I believe they want the system to be clear of both antihistamines as well as any steroids prior to testing. I believe by at least a month.

Thank you Joyce! Yah I really think he needs the fish oil too. For both the skin and his dysplasia. We do plan on saving up for the testing a little down the road. I have a feeling he is allergic to A LOT of different things.

Joyce what do you consider a "theraputic dose?" For dogs? I give him 5 to 6 pumps and he is 88 pounds now. I actually have myself of a high dose of fish oil, it completely eliminated some severe depression I went through about a month and a half ago. The benefits are amazing!