Mollies allergies

Hi Dyan - I think Ketaconazale can cause severe diarrhea (sp?), but I also think that Cyclosporine (Atopica) can cause that too, so it could be either one. I've never used Cyclosporine, but Sassy's been treated for yeast with Ketaconazale a few times.  Fortunately, she seems to tolerate it well. It sounds serious enough to me (noticing blood) that I'd be really concerned about it.  It sounds like the vet is trying to get a handle on it, but why does that always mean more meds?  It's frustrating that the cures sometimes cause other problems.  I know many people claim that giving a small amount of pumpkin can help both with diarrhea and constipation.  I wonder if starting her off on a bland diet (rice and boiled chicken) wouldn't be best too.

Thank you for answering Cakana. I just spoke with Eloise and she said she did start her out eating again with rice and chicken. She was starved and happy to eat. Then threw it all back up!   Darn! I'm sure she hate too much too fast.  
I agree about the medicinces causing other problems,,,I try not to give them because of it.    We finally took our Ollie off of everything because he would have problems as soon as it was finished anyway. 

Yep, me too Dyan.  I just looked at Sassy's vulva area this afternoon and it looks like her yeast infection is back.  I have an appt Mon. to check the other infection (bacterial), so I'm sure they're going to want to put her back on antibiotics for both.  Man - this is frustrating and so darn expensive. 

Awe,,,,,I'm sorry to hear that.
These poor dogs need to have their immune system strengthened, sure wish we could figure out how!!!

       Cakana,  Does your vet ever prescribe a topical ointment for the infection around the vulva? Bactoderm works very well on bacterial infections and also is good for yeast. Jessie has a recessed vulva and is thus prone to infections there. Bactoderm works really well for it and she doesn't have to take an oral medication. To prevent the infections from happening, I clean Jessie's vulvular area twice a week with MalAcetic wipes by DermaPet. They have boric acid and apple cider vinegar and are great for preventing yeast and bacterial infections in moist areas. They also make a liquid with the same ingredients called an ear and skin cleanser. I used to buy the wipes from my vet, but found an online source that is much cheaper, [linkhttp://www.jbpet.com]http://www.jbpet.com[/link]. If you Google, you can probably find better prices.
        Strengthening the immune system by feeding a very good quality food and giving a dog regular exercise helps, but if a dog has serious allergies it often isn't enough IMO. I tried many things to help Jessie suggested in books written by holistic vets such as Martin Goldstein and Shawn Messonier. Angel(forpaws) and Callie(critters) both know of several herbs that they could suggest to try. For us, allergy testing by a good veterinary dermatologist and immunotherapy were the answer. Some people in this board and some vets aren't that impressed with its effectiveness, but I think it depends on who you go to, and some derm vets are better than others.
       If you want to learn about stengthening their immune system, the books written by both of the vets I mentioned above, "The Nature of Animal Healing",  and "The Allergy Solution for Dogs", are very good. Callie and Angel also have good advice.
      I hope the Westie gets better soon.

Molly has the same skin specialist that we took Ollie to. I just asked Eloise what she is allergic to and Eloise said they didn't say, they said it was a yeast problem and that it is common in white dogs. 
I know what we did to improve Ollie immune system and getting him the heck off of antibiotics was a start, however we were willing to take a chance by finding a way and unfortunely Eloise is just a bit skepitcal about some of these things. I can't even talk her into telling the vet she shouldn't have more vaccinations.  I keep sending her the information on the new protocols but she is from the "old school" I'm sure.  I DO believe that is a big part of Mollys problem because everytime she gets her yearly vaccinations, BOOM she is really bad again.  

   Well, of course the vet won't like the idea of not giving vaccinations and it's hard for most people to disagree with their vet. However, if her problems always show up right after vaccinations it seems they could be related. Some dogs are sensitive to them. I guess she won't mention this to the skin specialist to get their opinion? Have you told her about the Great Dane Lady's protocol for yeast?
   If the pills are causing the bleeding wouldn't the vet know that?

 If the pills are causing the bleeding wouldn't the vet know that?
 
I assume that it is the vet who told her to not feed Molly for 24 hrs.
 
Since the Great Dane Lady website is "my doggy bible" I have told her what GDL says about yeast. I have also sent her many time articles and copies of the new vaccination protocols to show her doctor especially since Molly skin turns black in big areas right after vaccinations that her vet insists on annually.  But guess what, just this afternoon, she emailed me with a article that her neice sent to her, said I might be interested in. It was an email that is going around about how ALL 27 veterinarian schools have recommended 3 yr protocols on vaccinations. So if she never read it all the times I have sent it to her, she must have read it now that her niece sent it...so hopefully she does something about it. That alone might be the first step in making Molly better!!   []

Janice & Dyan - I feel like we're all getting to know each other again after the site change, but you had both offered me some great advice from the other site in regards to Sassy's problems.  I order the Malecetic solution but was afraid to use it on Sassy's yeasty area since it looks so irritated right now.  She actually gets upset now when I used the Ketachlor shampoo to clean it, so I know it must feel pretty raw.  I feel so bad for her but I am going to talk to the vet tomorrow about using something topical for it.  I'm  fairly certain that they're going to want to continue the antibiotics for the staph and pseudomonas and I'd rather keep it to treating just that right now with antibiotics, if possible.  This poor dog just doesn't seem to be able to fight much off right now.  I notice that she's itching (standing on one leg, scratching at the ribcage area) a lot right now.  I've got her on this pork & buckwheat diet and can't help but wonder if that's not making things worse, but I don't want to stop this soon either.

Regarding vaccines - Sassy has only had the every 3 year vacs since we got her 4 years ago.  Now I'm wondering about heartworm treatment though.  They said that we can't use Heartguard anymore because of the allergy concerns, so I have Revolution for her but haven't used it yet.  It's been pretty cold here in Sacramento, so I haven't thought it necessary, but it'll be warming up in the next month or so.  I'm wondering what giving heartworm treatment to a dog with a sub-par immune system does.  On the other hand, I don't want her to get infected with heartworm either. 

Any thoughts?

    Hi Cathy; I didn't know you were cakana. [] I'm really sorry to hear Sassy's skin is so raw and that she's having so many problems. I agree with you 100% about just using the antibiotics right now and not doing anything to cause her more discomfort. Animax or Bactoderm are good topicals that you could ask your vet about. Animax has a steroid and an antibiotic, and Bactoderm is a triple antibiotic ointment. About the heartworm medication: when Jessie was on the elimination diet we had to change her from Heartguard, which had beef flavoring, to Interceptor, which doesn't have any meat flavoring. It can be given to dogs at a younger age than Heartguard, as young as four weeks old. Are you giving her a vitamin supplement with the diet, or did the vet think that wasn't necessary? Let us know what the vet says tomorrow. Do you have to stay on the diet much longer before you know if she has a food allergy?

Hi Cathy--- I know, I'm confused about who is who ever here also. I'm not even sure why everyone changed their name and all over here. BUT I'll get to know everyone again soon I HOPE!
I want to tell you two things about HW preventative. We give Bubblegum Interceptor, as it is what is recommended by the Great Dane Lady for Danes, but also many many others that use it. I think dogs have less problems on it than others. Revolution,,,well, the Dane down the street had it last year and her Mom quit using it saying that it caused Sadie a lot of skin problems.  Ollie had it one year and we didn't like it for him either. Personally I would NOT try it FIRST. I would try Interceptor maybe first.   Ollie does not get vaccinations OR HW preventative because of his skin problems. I'm not suggesting not giving HW or vaccinations, but I am suggesting for you to read up on it,,as much as you can. Some dogs might just be better off without some of these meds,,,for sure we think Ollie is.  Ollie,  is getting tested for HW 2 times a year so that if he does come up with it he can be treated pretty much the same way as getting the preventative to begin with..because the preventative does NOT prevent HW, it kills heartworms in their body.
Again, Ollie was skin tested to find out what his allergies are. That was the start of him getting better. He couldn't fight off anything either, and antibiotics which are so important to cut infection, was only helping for a short time, once he was off it for a day or so, his skin errupted again. THAT is when we decided enough is enough.   I just really feel that is what you need to do. I can't see where changing her diet will help anything if she is not allergic to any food, and from what I have read so much that there is so much more of  a chance she is allergic to something other than food.
I want to say  that we had Ollie on really good vitamins also, and Great Dane lady told us not to, that we might be adding to his problems. We took him off immediately and tossed them and they were really expensive vitamins.
You know, just for the heck of it, GDL is really up on NYZMES, we had Ollie on them for well over a year, probably two.  Once he was much better, we stopped using them, it might be worth a try to you.
Did you read this from the GDL? [linkhttp://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/allergies.htm]http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/allergies.htm[/link] She helped us so much.   Good luck, I know how frustrated and worried you are, we went thru it.

Dyan tell Eloise that Ketoconazole is hard on the liver and if her dog is on it she should be giving her milk thistle to help the liver. All in all it's quite a nasty drug with some unplesant side effects. Tender skin and hair loss. Sophie has been on Ketoconazole for 9 months now for her Crytococcus infection.  She is only on a maintance dose now so the side effects arn't as evident as when she was on the full dose.

Thanks, I will tell Eloise today!
She should know that especially since she thinks that Molly can't take anything without some problems.

   Dyan, I think some people thought they had to create a new account, which is why some of the names have changed. The main problem is that the new forum only displays the user names,  instead of our real names and user names. I thought about creating a new account with my real name but I have Jessie's picture back up, so that should help. There is a thread where members are introducing themselves by giving their user and real names : [linkhttp://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=235]http://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=235[/link]. It's "Roll Call".
        
     We did the allergy testing as a last resort too. It is expensive and can sound extreme to those who haven't been through it. When you get to the point where the maintenance injections are once every two weeks, and see the difference in how your dog feels, it is well worth it. It is much better than constantly battling skin and ear infections with antibiotics. It's not necessarily a cure- all. The fall is the worst time for Jessie with the ragweed outside and dust mites inside because of the rising humidity level in the house, so she still needs an antihistamine for a short time, but it is so much better than having her eyelids swell up and lose their pigment and having her feet bleed from her licking them. Keep us posted on Molly.