Completely Frustrated..

Oh man that sounds terrible. Sorry but happy to report my dog isn't miserable like yours!   Allergies,,,,I believe in getting them blood tested to find out what the allergies are. It worked for our Ollie, he was given about 6 months of allergy shots, and he is fine and beautiful now.   We went the antibiotic and prenisone way,,,but to be honest, even though it helped, we realized in the end it seemed to be making him worse because the time "in between" his meds was getting shorter. So it was time for a change.   I wondered if you tried a skin specialist?

Oh yes we have done the entire 9 yards with Alley... she went to a specialist for the first 3 years of her life... we tried it all....If I told you how much we put in to Alley most people would call us crazy....
 
We gave the allergy shots a year and they did nothing....... seems everything Iv tried does nothing.... heck IM homecooking for her now too... and doing the holistic vet..and we are getting no where. I know the Holistic vet is relucant to do much for her as Alley reacts so badly to anything we try....

Kim - I am so absolutely where you are right now.  I've been frustrated for a long time, but the last few months have been the worst.  I've spent over $1,000 since Jan. on Sassy and wouldn't have a huge problem with that if she were healthy now.  She's still got the infection on the tummy though.  I do think it's getting better but lately she's itchier than I remember.  Standing on 3 legs a lot and scratching her sides.  Poor girl, it's so hard to watch.   I've been homecooking this elimination diet for 8 weeks now and honestly don't think it's helped at all.  Now that she's itching worse than usual, I really think it's environmental.  I'd go for the allergy testing if my derm vet were more suggestive of it, but she's not been so far.  Maybe I'll need to push that issue next but just trying to get the infection cleared up and keep her from starting another one....I honestly do feel for you.

I'm so sorry. Keep up the home cooking!
Did you ever look into things like Nzymes?  [linkhttp://www.nzymes.com/Articles/dog_skin_hair_problems.htm]http://www.nzymes.com/Articles/dog_skin_hair_problems.htm[/link]  we used them for Ollie for a couple of years. Also another Dane person on this board used them for a long while.  We are not sure that they helped, but it was one of the things we felt we could do.   Vit. C to help the immune system also.  Did you even read Great Dane Lady website?  She is my doggy biblehttp://www.greatdanelady.com/articles.htm.  And its not just for Great Danes.
I feel your frustration, I don't blame you!  I know how we were with Ollie,,, I always felt so bad for him.   But he DID get better.  Hang in there!

Poor little Alley!!!

Emma's on Benedryll, three times a day, with Benedryll cream rubbed in her ears and aloe plant smeared all over her body. Her belly, ears, etc are angry, bright red. She's not near as bad as Alley, but she's bad..... She keeps yelping from scratching her ears, poor kid. The pollon is HORRIBLE here, and I'm having allergies, too.

Hang in there. Alley's a good little girl. You're a GREAT Mom, and she knows it!

It is very frustrating. I have been through  so much with Trudy. I tried a lot of things and then took the skin testing from a great dermatologist and now I give her a shot each week. Did you have the skin testing? That is the best. Trudy takes Hydroxyzine twice a day and eats Natural Balance Fish or duck. She is doing fantastic. I am so sorry you dog is not doing well.
 
I would see a new derm. Just keep trying things. We can never give up. Best wishes!!![]

I think spring time is the very worst time of the year for allergies.   I know I always am at my worst also.  
I agree, KEEP TRYING!  Don't give up, try not to let yourself get down,,if you are trying something it always lifts your spirits a bit.

thanks guys for all your support....I swear there hasn't been a stone unturned ...Iv done it all... I titer test her... she has been to the very best of Dr.'s... we even drive out of this state into another to one of the top 10 Speciality clinics in the US. Im sure with all my dogs we own a wing at the clinic....LOL Heck I could be sporting a new sports car by now.....LOL
 
It just gets so frustrating and I will again talk to the Holistic vet tomorrow and yet again see what she thinks..... but she knows Iv done it all and this is about it...
 
As for the Great Dane Lady... Love her site... Iv used they nymes etc...drops in the water everything... NO GO.....like Iv said.... Iv left no stone unturned.
 
If I add any kind of suppliments to Alleys food she goes into a tail spin.
 
The holistic vet looked at all of Alley records from her skin testing and she basically said Alley is allergic to her enviorment....
 
Do you think Micheal Jackson still has that bubble he use to sleep in?? LOL Alley needs to live inside of a bubble....

My vet told me to move to Nevada. It's tempting, as stuffed up as I am, and as itchy as Emma is. Of course, we'd develop new allergies....... Even if we moved to the moon.

Don't feel bad about giving Alley Prednisone. You truly *have* done the best of everything for her. It's all about quality of life. If she can't be comfortable, what is her quality of life? I've given Emma some drugs that I'm sure will shorten her life, with her liver being compromised, but what's the point if she's not happy? My vet and I have had the discussion several times that if she needs strong NSAIDS to be comfortable, we BOTH want her to have them. Forget the liver. I'd rather have her three years, and have her happy and comfortable, than have her 12, living in a cage because I don't want her to strain herself. You're doing a great job, Kim. Most people wouldn't have gone half the distance you have to make Alley's life so wonderful.

    Kim, I can't imagine how it must feel to have tried everything like you have and still not found the answer for Alley. Do you know how many allergens were in the shots? If too many allergens are in the vaccine it won't be effective. Jessie's has 12, which is the maximum my derm vet will allow. There has to be an answer for Alley somewhere. What did your derm vet say when the allergy shots didn't work? Did they suggest anything else? Sally's suggestion about trying another derm vet may be a good idea but your reluctance to do so is certainly understandable. In some of the old threads on the old forum some i-dog members found help from a holistic vet named Dr.Kruesi. I know of one named Dawn who contacted him after trying everything else. Here is a case history from his site dealing with a dog with allergies:
                                     [linkhttp://www.crvetcenter.com/allergies.htm]http://www.crvetcenter.com/allergies.htm[/link]

Dawn had actually tried more treatments than the person with the case history before taking her dog to Dr.Kruesi. It had come to the point where he was her dog's last chance, and his treatments completely turned her around. He does work with clients on the phone, as he did with Dawn. He will require a copy of your vet's records and some blood for a BioMedical profile. Here is the home site of his clinic:
      [linkhttp://www.crvetcenter.com/index.htm]http://www.crvetcenter.com/index.htm[/link]

  If you read the Case Reports you get an idea of how he diagnoses and treats dogs. I know you are working with a holistic vet now, but I think it may be worth a few minutes of your time to take a look at this site to see if this may be a possibility for Alley. The phone number of the clinic is on the site. I hope Callie sees this thread. She knows about a clinic that will work with you over the phone and has good results with chinese herbs.

    I agree totally with Jennie that you have tried everything and if the Prednisone is the only thing that works, you have to use it so Alley can enjoy her life. IMO,  if you don't use something to keep her skin infections in check they can endanger her health more than Prednisone. I feel foolish suggesting another vet when you've seen so many, like it's the last thing you need is another vet, but it was the only thing I could think of that may help, and he does work with clients long distance.

Yes, pred is the answer if you gave tried everything else.  You can only do what you can do!  I wish you luck!
However, I just thought of something else,,,I know I mentioned it to one of the allergie Moms a few weeks ago. Moducare...did you ever hear of  it? I supposed if you are going to a holistic vet, you might have tried it. But if not, check it out.  There used to be a fellow on this board years ago.  His dog had horrible allergies, and he couldn't control them no matter what.  His dog was fed raw food too, for anyone that  might have told him to try that.  I have a few emails printed out from him. He said he tried everything, read books and papers, went to numerous doctors and  ened up with Milk Thistle and Moducare, and his dog was allergy free for more than a year at that point.  I honestly don't know what happened to him eventually, whether the dog was still doing that well much later or not, but I know I saved the website to it because I thought one day we might try it for Ollie.
 [linkhttp://www.moducare.com/prodfaq.asp?process=GetQuestions&catID=27&LangID=2]http://www.moducare.com/prodfaq.asp?process=GetQuestions&catID=27&LangID=2[/link]

 Kim, here is the link for the Chi Institute that Callie often recommends:
 
    [linkhttp://www.chi-institute.com]http://www.chi-institute.com[/link]
 
  They have a locator so you may be able to find a holistic vet in your area that uses their methods, and they will work with you over the phone.

That is how I found my holistic vet... Callie already sent me all kinds of info and I tried all her suggestions...Nothing worked in fact the bathing routine was the start of making her really bad with the tea tree oil rinse...so I went back to my old way of bathing and it got her back in check but took some time.
 
We go tomorrow so I will let you guys know how it goes and what we decide to do .... I love my holistic vet.... all we are doing right now is accupunture...but that is only 30 percent of helping she said... she said the same about Benedryl. The rest needs to come from herbs but........ we tried that and Alley's skin went nuts and we had to do antiboitics for a month