Sassy and the continuing saga

  Sally, When Trudy is itchy does your derm vet have you give the shots more often, or are antihistamines enough? Jessie's worst time is the fall, and our derm vet has me go from a shot every 2 weeks to 1 shot a week for September and October, and it helps.
    Poor Sassy. Are her skin infections getting better? Sally is right about spring pollen being a possible cause of Sassy's itching. One of Jessie's worst allergies is yellow dock, which blooms in the spring. If her itching bothers her very much, you might want to call the vet and tell her about it. She may be able to suggest something that would help why you're waiting for the appointment. Prednisone does cause an increase in appetite, which explains some of Sassy's hunger. It's also supposed to decrease itching in allergic dogs, but apparently isn't helping Sassy a lot in that regard.

Geez, now I am worried about the squash.  I know it is an elimination diet but I thought because she has never eaten squash before, it would be okay.  Brandie is still scratching but honestly does not sound like it is as bad as it is for some of your pets, good for her and sorry for your fur babies.  I haven't given her a steroid in about 6 days.  I don't even bother iwth the benadryl as she is not good at taking pills therefor to get 3 in her a day would be a problem.  Just enjoy talking and listening to everyone and looking for advise and will go from here... .  nothing new to report. 

Janice - you could very well be right about the pollens.  It sure hasn't felt like anything would want to bloom around here lately, but I see my cherry tree has lots of little flowers on it.  I would just think that with the prednisone, and all the antibiotics she's been on PLUS the elimination diet, not much should be bothering her.  I've noticed her fur feels tackier again though and I hadn't seen that in several months.  Not sure what to expect when we go back to the vet, but it definitely seems like there'll be more steps to take.
 
Cindy - I wouldn't fret over giving the squash but if you're truly trying to do an elimination diet, you have to avoid any and all extra foods.  It could be that she was allergic to something you've eliminated (that would be helpful information) and then if you add in something new, and she's allergic to that, she'll have a reaction and you'll have confused yourself.  Does that makes sense?  It's been a long day

   Cindy,  Jessie isn't good at taking pills either; as a matter of fact I have to use different ways to disguise them. She seems to be pretty smart about remembering what I put a pill in. I used to put her antihistamines in Velveeta, but once she discovered one in the Velveeta, she wouldn't take them that way. I went through pieces of hot dog, liverwurst, etc. Fortunately, since she has been on immunotherapy, I don't have to give her antibiotics anymore, and she only needs an antihistamine in the fall. If you need to give her a pill, you could try utting it in her food . As you are probably learning from reading Sally's posts and mine, immunotherapy isn't a cure all. During certain times of the year, depending on what allergens effect a dog the most, you may need to give an antihistamine or, if the dermatologist recommends it, give the allergy shots a little more often, which for Jessie means once a week in the fall instead of once every two weeks. However, it makes it much easier to keep the allergies under control, and it is a million times better for Jessie than it was before.

The shots and antihistamine and Nat. Balance food takes care of 99% of Trudy's itching. In Spring the oak pollen is crazy. We have tons of Live Oak here in our area and in our yard.
 
This itchy time passes. No they do not want her to have more shots, but I can up her med to three a day. I just don't. The itching is off and on. I just watch Trudy to watch for any eye problems from the pollens etc... In a couple of weeks, the pollens will be less of a problem.
 
She was SOOOO bad before we got her started with our derm. It was awful. I am so happy it has all worked for her! I feel sorry for doggies with allergies. Sally 

Well, yesterday was the final day of Sassy's Ketaconazale and she wasn't looking any better.  The one week of prednisone didn't do a thing either.  I called the derm vet first thing this morning and she called me back a short while ago and said she thinks it's time to do a skin biopsy.  She seemed dismayed that the meds hadn't worked and of course that makes me concerned.  Anyway, she'll have the biopsy on Thursday morning and we should know something (I hope) in 2-3 days.  Poor Sassy - I hope we come up with some answers this time.

Aweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee  poor Sassy is right!
I'm sorry to hear that she is not doing better while on prednisone...Ollie was better while on it but the day he got off of it he started right up again.  Well, she is in good hands, you'll get to the bottom of it soon!

Geesh, I feel like such a dummy too.  The vet had such a concerned sound in her voice and said "I'm worried that this is something else now" and I said "do you think it could be Cushings Disease?" and she said "no, I don't think it's Cushings, but I'm afraid it might be athero.........." and now I'm not even sure it was "athero....".  I should have asked her to spell it for me, but didn't want to be any more of a pain than I feel like I've been (called twice yesterday because it was getting late in the day and I hadn't heard from them).  She called at 6 PM and their clinic closes at 5:30, so I appreciated that.  I got off the phone and looked in my UC Davis vet book and online for hours, but couldn't come up with anything that sounded like what she said.  It's only 2 days until we go in, but now I'm going to drive myself crazy wondering what it might be.  

Gee Cathy, I know what you mean about not wanting to be a pain, but I would call her back to find out anyway.   She probably has a girl working for her, maybe you can ask her to ask the vet?????