Ever since we've had Marcie she's suffered from allergies. It used to be just a rash she would get occasionally on her tummy. Some benedryl would usually do the trick and occasionally a cortisone shot from the vet would make it all better...for a few months. Then it was back and worse than before.
Since we've moved into our house her allergies have been getting worse and worse. It culminated recently in her scratching herself constantly and chewing on her feet. The scratching resulted in a yeast infection on her head and a bunch of her hair falling out and a bacterial infection in some sores she created on her tummy. So antifungal and antibiotics were on prescribed, along with baths every other day with a special shampoo. Needless to say, Marcie was not a happy dog. She hates baths and the medicine was not her favorite. The antifungal she took fine in peanut butter, but the antibiotic was twice a day and she hated it!! She wouldn't take it in anything more than once and sometimes she even spit it out or threw it up. It was terrible!!
The scratching continued though, since we weren't actually treating the allergies. The solution:
She really hated this, but it had to be done so her wounds could heal! We still needed a solution to her allergies though. I had discussed some options with her vet and one of those was a medication called Atopica. My mom works with vet who was able to get it for me at cost (it is not cheap and it is weight based so my 60# dog needs a bit) so we got a few months worth to try to see if it would help. It does seem to be helping, but she just really hates taking pills and I have to basically force it down her throat most days. Not fun for me or her!
Next option was allergy testing and then allergy shots specially made for her specific allergies. It was going to be expensive but the shots would be cheaper and less trouble than Atopica long term. So we had the testing done. The results:
Marcie is allergic to:
4 kinds of grasses (bluegrass/fescue/bermuda/vernal)
4 kinds of weeds (ragweed/pigweed/lamb's quarters/waterhemp)
4 kinds of trees (juniper/cedar/elm/walnut/mulberry)
5 kinds of fungi
feathers
dust mites
wool
and the kicker...her food allergies:
beef
chicken/turkey
peanuts
kelp
catfish/cod/herring/mackerel/white fish
Seriously...those are my dog's allergies. I can't believe it! I totally realize now why she's been so miserable! Our backyard was completely overrun with weeds and the cedar allergy alone is enough to make someone crazy in Austin! Then throw in the food allergies! Peanuts! She love peanut butter and I know her food and treats just about all contain beef or chicken. Poor baby! So now I am on a quest to get her food allergens out of her diet and he indoor allergens away as much as possible. The outdoor allergies are harder to tackle, but we're going to do our best to get rid of the weeds and then see if some benedryl is enough to help her. If not then we'll start the allergy shots for the outdoor allergies. I know this is a lot to do for the dog, but she's worth it! I just want my happy Marcie back :)
