Saturday, September 27, 2008

Allergy central

Tierce went back to the vet's today to get his stitches out. His skin biopsies showed no sign of any disease or other problem and the "most likely cause of his itching is atopy or food allergies".

The vet advised a "hydrolyzed protein" diet. From what she told me, "hydrolyzed protein" means the protein breaks down into components too small for the body to form an allergic reaction to. This is the only thing Tierce can have. No treats, even his toys have to be put away. He can, however, have sticks to play with.

She wants me to keep Tierce on this diet for two months to rule out food allergies and I agreed, because nothing is working so far. However, I can't wait for two months to be over. The food looks like CORN POPS, for Dog's sake.

And just wait until you read what's in this stuff:

Starch, hydrolyzed soy protein isolate, coconut oil, calcium phosphate, canola oil preserved with TBHQ, powdered cellulose, corn oil, potassium chloride, vegetable gums (gum arabic, guar gum), choline chloride, DL-methionine, salt, magnesium oxide, lecithin, taurine, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, manganese sulfate, niacin, calcium carbonate, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, garlic oil, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.

Starch??! Yeah, that seems like a REALLY healthy main ingredient... oh, but look! Canola oil preserved with TBHQ! Charming. I know that some dogs do really well on this kind of food, but the ingredients make me throw up a little in my mouth. Typically - it's full of crap (I know, I know, sometimes this kind of thing is the only food a dog can handle) - and he LOVES it. He hated the pinto-bean-and-sweet-potato test food we had him on and lost half a pound.

1 bag and that's it. We're going back to RDD Herring once it's proven that it's not a food allergy. He loves that, too.

I'm pretty convinced that it's the vaccine that has caused this, but I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that's what it is. Problem is, we don't know if the vaccine triggered another allergy. So we might as well put him on this diet and see if he does any better.

He also has a new and exciting pill to take: Cyclosporine. The vet said it was better than Prednisone, especially since he is so young. After a look at the side effects of Prednisone, I'm inclined to agree.

So that's where we are with Tierce: pills and Corn Pops. Hope it helps.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Poor little guy! I have a shiba who has seasonal allergies and he is a mess right now. The vet recommended this brand of dog food called "Blue Buffalo" and they only use organic and holistic ingredients. How food can be holistic is beyond me, however, the vet said a lot of dogs can't digest/are allergic to corn, soy, and wheat products so that might be triggering his allergic reactions on top of seasonal allergies.

RedShasta said...

Tierce has never had any wheat, corn or soy products in his dog food - first he was fed GO! Natural, then I switched him to RDD diets - raw meat and veggies. The Purina diet is the first food he's ever had that has any kind of soy or other crap in it. I'm not sure how well it's going to do, but he LOVES it. But once we prove that he's not allergic to food... back he goes on the RDD!

Anonymous said...

I had this same deal with my female shiba at 13 months (she had been itchy all her life). I saw a dermatologist after she developed bald patches (demodex), with constant itching and chewing (lots of raw skin). He suspected an immune deficiency and tested her. She has an IgA deficiency (very common) and is just starting Interferon. Anyways, anything that suppresses the immune system like cyclosporine(atopica) or prednisone and live vaccines, but not Rabies (killed) are totally off limits. FYI. Hope your boy gets better. Beebe also has to eat the Purina garbage to rule out food allerigies-it's so gross but they love it. I chat on Nihonken.org, check us out.

Anonymous said...

Poor Tierce! I hope he finally finds some relief. About your thoughts on the shots having caused his reaction, you may wanna check out this out.

http://www.earthclinic.com/Pets/vaccination_side_effects.html

Unknown said...

Poor Tierce!

Please get well soon...

RedShasta said...

shy_lynx, thanks for the link. I posted Tierce's problems - I am eager for more information on over vaccination, vaccinosis, etc. and it looks like these people are trying to scratch the surface

Anonymous said...

More info on rabies vacinnations and their danger to dogs.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Rabies-Vaccination-For-Dogs---Beware-the-Health-Risks&id=1662692

It would be great if dogs only were required to have them every 5 to 7 years, 7 years preferably, and if it was dose-specific for the breed! A Chihuahua puppy and a Great Dane adult get the exact same amount of vaccine! This is JUST WRONG.

If anyone can find how we can keep from exposing our beloved pets to deadly rabies vaccine much more often than need be, please post here!

Below is a list of people who have reported vaccine side effects.

http://www.earthclinic.com/Pets/vaccination_side_effects.html

Anonymous said...

Sorry, but it just cut off the links to the articles I posted so carefully above. :(