The cure causing a side effect?

^^^^^^^ Exactly ^^^^^^^^

Deb W.

Beejou

he is in misery and nothing has stopped him from chewing himself raw. This is the first time he's had relief for more than a few hours.

Keep this in mind when you're making decisions.  Steroids are powerful drugs and not to be used for every little problem but they're also valuable in treating some conditions and if I had a dog suffering from a problem that steroids could help with I'd go ahead and use them, as needed only and with your vet's advice.   The effects do wear off and I'd rather have a dog acting a  little "off" than scratching itself bloody.

JackieG

I'd rather have a dog acting a  little "off" than scratching itself bloody.

Yeah, a *little off* isn't too bad but the way I was reading it last night it sounded like he was more than a little off.  I've been using steroids with Tessy for almost 3 years now on and off.  Often times large doses and I do notice the side effects but they're generally mild and manageable.  You should also realize that all these steroids will not cure the issue....only mask it.  You should look more into working with the immune system to right it.  A holistic approach would be your best bet.  There's some great herbs out there you could consider.

How's he doing today?

Zebras?

Good point, Jackie.  Coke was not his usual self but if it happened again, I'd still use the pred for that condition and where it was located (terrible hotspot/infection below the base of his tail, too near anal glands and other problematic areas to not treat fairly aggressively).  Most medical conditions to not have a nice, clean, perfect cure.  There are most always going to be side effects, risks, pros/cons that have to be weighed.  Sometimes for immediate relief it really is worth it to risk another side effect.

Johnny&Tessy

Zebras?

Took this from a medical site:

"Every medical student has heard the old adage (which, by the way, I can’t find in any anthology of famous quotations): “When you hear hoof-beats, think of horses, not zebras. ” What this means is that common medical disorders are more frequently encountered than rare ones. For example, if a patient comes in with a “runny nose,” a physician should think of an upper respiratory illness (i.e, a common cold) before considering the possibility of a cerebrospinal fluid leak. Unfortunately, many medical educators often spend much more time focusing on those zebras than the horses during medical school and residency training."

Ahhhh, I see!  Don't think anyone (not me) assumed Zebras though.

I'm straddling both sides of this fence because I've literally faced both problems.

Flea Allergy Dermatitis is literally heartbreaking -- all it takes is ONE flea bite (much less several) to cause them months of absolute agony - this isn't like seasonal allergies at all.  Once the bite takes place you get this HUGE backlash of inflammation and horrifically sore skin, and honestly -- despite my holistic leanings (and I do more than just "lean";) I have seen the time when absolutely NOTHING will work but prednisone (even when a shot starts it off). 

As Jackie so astutely says steroids aren't to be used for every little problem (anc can be seriously over-used at times) BUT there are some conditions where they are just plain the BEST (and nearly "only";) option.

Yes, the effects wear off, and even if you have to use them a bit longer you can mitigate those damages with copious use of milk thistle. 

However -- going back up to the top I understand completely why John reacted as he did.  And ... for "maintenance" (particularly with regards to help control some of the fierce un-relenting itching) there *are* herbs that can help with less damage.  But they aren't going to completely handle it and you do need to usually start off on steroids.

Beejou -- if you want to email me I can send you some suggestions of things to help further take the edge off and not make him feel yucky.  I've had dogs with FAD but I also battle psoriasis (and the itch of that is extremely comparable) and I can actually tell you some stuff that will help a whole lot.  But am at work and can't take more time to type it out now.  That steroid shot is gonna wear off way too fast tho ... I'd be astonished if you get a full 2 weeks of respite for him.

Flea allergy dermatitis is way up there on the itch scale with things like poison ivy and psoriasis and sarcoptic mange.  It is actually very simliar in many ways to psoriasis (except it's not auto-immune, thank heavens). 

Thanks everyone. He is still a LITTLE mopey today but playing with Royce (and at worst tolerating him crawling all over him, lol) so that's good. Maybe lastnight he was really sore from the Rabies and that's why he didn't want to be bothered? He has enough focus that he learned something new today (I showed him "SHOE" vs "BAD CUZ". He knows "where's your bad cuz?" and sat a pink squeaky high heel next to it (I dont have shoes like that so no worries LOL) and said, SHOE.  Very quickly he "got it" that it had to be that since it wasn't his bad cuz. Now "Where's your SHOE?" gets him to pick it up.) Anyway I digress,

Bowel movements are normal frequency but a little runny, I think it could be that he's getting fish oil caplets in addition to his b12 and b6 vitamins now. Last night he really had me worried. Today he is still lethargic it seems but at least in good spirits. He seems to tire out quicker than normal, but get his leash out and that all changes. :)

So I flea combed him and Royce. Royce had exactly ZERO fleas while T-Bone had six. UGH! Callie I think this is exactly what you were talking about. He isn't scratching at all because of the shot so I'm hoping I can get him on his Trifexis before the steroid wears off. It'll be close timing as he had an interceptor about a week into the month and Trifexis also does HW. I don't want to put MORE toxins into him until the interceptor wears itself off.

Guys his coat is so horrible right now. I mean it's gross. I flea comb him and far more dead skin and flaking scabs than hair or fleas. Is there anything I can work into his coat once the open sores are closed to help nourish it?

ETA: On a weird side note, the permethrin spray seems to have killed my sea monkeys. I know it sounds stupid but there's no other explination as they were fine yesterday, I fogged one room with nothing in it but fleas, and today they're all dead and dying. I guess it was just too much even though they're far from the room (AC circulation I suppose) nasty stuff :(

The really nasty scabbing that just seems to spread forever IS typical of flea allergy dermatitis and that's part of what the steroids help. 

I emailed you with some suggestions -- bathing will help -- and the "soaking" (which is kinda a figurative term when dealng with dogs) with a super light amount of boric acid with some tea tree oil in it -- THAT will help.

The other thing that can help prevent the spread of more staph is a similar sort of application of betadyne (or store brand is fine).  There are several different things you can rotate to help deal with this.

This is why I said above that it can take months to resolve this -- simply because the effects of the flea saliva (which is the allergen in this) linger in the blood stream and then cause such wide-spreading destruction of the skin -- getting the inflammation to stop and the skin to heal takes significant time.  And it is SO itchy that it tends to then perpetuate itself and cause more staph infection to spread. 

You'll get this to resolve - it's difficult and it's a whole different kind of "itchy skin problem" than most other allergies because it's so incredibly inflammatory.