Food Allergies, Ringworm & Staff Infection...Oh MY!

[Hooligan]

Bubble, the AmBull we are fostering went to the vet again today. She was on TrimethoprimSulpha 1 time a day for 14 days and she is now 7 days into the meds and there is no improvement. In fact she has gotten a bit worse. Her nose is oozing yellow snot most of the day and that was not going on before.

Well while at the vets office they did another skin scraping, since she has patches of hair missing. Dr. Stokes (the vet who saw her before) had done this when she was there the first time and there were no signs of mites so he thought she may have been losing her hair due to poor care and the staff infection she had. This new vet said he was sure she had mange but after two skin scrapings he came up with nothing. He said she "smelled" like a mangey dog, but she has no mites. So she has been switched to 500mg of Cephlexan (misspelled) twice a day for 10 days. Since the staff is not improving at all. He also said she may have food allergies. So since there is no way the HS is going to pay for special food for her Lucas and I will have to get her something ourselves. This is what the closest PetCo has, please recommend something from this list:
Hill's Science Diet Canine Sensitive Skin
Nature's Recipe Allergy Formula Dog Food venison meal & rice
Nature's Recipe Allergy Canine Formula vegetarian
Pro Plan Extra Care Sensitive Skin and Stomach Formula for Adult Dogs
Purina ONE Sensitive Systems Adult Dog Food
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Potato & Duck Formula for Dogs potato & duck allergy formula


But he did say that if the meds don't help her skin at all it might be a good idea to treat form mange mites anyway, what do you guys think?

I also pointed out a round crusty spot in her ear, it was ringworm so now she has some drops that have to be applied 3 times a day as well.

Poor girl, she is just falling apart! I need advice in all these matters, as I really haven't had to deal with any of this with dogs. The worse we've had is Hooligan getting on antibiotics after her spay!

[concreterose]

I would definitely NOT go with the Hills. Don't know much about the other kibble. Could you try a raw diet? If you don't want to go totally raw, you could boil the meat to make it medium rare. When I want to put my dogs on a bland diet, I boil hamburger or chicken with a sweet potato. Sorry I couldn't give you a kibble recommendation.

[barbponys]

Ok Hooligan,

I would use the Natural Balance duck and potatoe, get her allergy symtoms under control. The ring worm is treatable with an athletes foot fungal cream.........it's a similar fungus. Be careful with bedding and such it's very contagious and you can get it too. Wash what ever she uses in really hot soapy water and bleach.

I had a boxer with bad allegies, she would get really snotty, green, yellow it was disgusting. I used Tavist D to get her sinuses to drain, it worked like a charm. Kept her from having to do the cortisone shots and it helped with the other allergy symptoms as well. I told my vet about it and he didn't say it would do any harm sooooo. As far as the staff infection?? I can't help there.

If you get her immune system strong she will be better able to fight everything else. Hope this helps.

[Hooligan]

I would definitely NOT go with the Hills. Don't know much about the other kibble. Could you try a raw diet? If you don't want to go totally raw, you could boil the meat to make it medium rare. When I want to put my dogs on a bland diet, I boil hamburger or chicken with a sweet potato. Sorry I couldn't give you a kibble recommendation.

I may be able to do some raw but not all the time. Since Barbponys suggested the Duck & Potato food maybe I could do a mix of the kibble and raw.

I had a boxer with bad allegies, she would get really snotty, green, yellow it was disgusting. I used Tavist D to get her sinuses to drain, it worked like a charm. Kept her from having to do the cortisone shots and it helped with the other allergy symptoms as well. I told my vet about it and he didn't say it would do any harm sooooo. As far as the staff infection?? I can't help there.

do you think the snotty nose could be allergies? I just assumed it was accossiated with the staff, since they seem to think all this MAY be related to the staff infection...
Could Benadryl help? I have tonz of that stuff around for my allergies. Also could there be any bad results with mixing the two drugs (her antibiotic and the allergy med)?

The ring worm is treatable with an athletes foot fungal cream.........it's a similar fungus. Be careful with bedding and such it's very contagious and you can get it too. Wash what ever she uses in really hot soapy water and bleach.

You know the vet told me it wasn't very contagious from dogs...just cats. Grrr....she has been all over EVERYTHING in the house. I will get her bedding out ASAP (we have no W or D here, so I take my stuff to my mom's). So if I run out of this TINY bottle of drops there is something I can use thats OTC for this? Any suggested brands?

Thanks so much for the help guys!

[barbponys]

I would assume the snotty nose is allergies not staff. Benadryl may help but I used Tavis D cuz it's a decongestant specifically. Ring worm is contagious period, I've picked it up from horses on a couple of occasions.

I would use Lotrimin AF.......it's works real well. I use it on my horses for rain rot(fungal crap from being wet) and it works like a charm.

I woudn't mix the raw and kibble, they won't get the benefits from it that way. If you can only do it occasionally it's better than nothing. Fed it in a separate meal though. They will get the most bang for you buck that way. Good luck.

[Rumpley]

Heh Hooligan, do we own dog twins?!?!? I've been down a few of these roads already with my super allergic dog and some fosters recently, so I can lend some insight. A lot of those things are allergy related, and some are immune suppressed related. I've been forced to really research and explore alternative therapies and starting thinking "build from within, don't just treat outside" sort of mind thought.

My dog is on the Duck and Potato formula and that's the ONLY thing he can eat. Every other kibble sends him into itching fits and congestion. That means, he only gets that brand of cookies too (no other snacks, and you must, must stick to that!!) If I slip him an occasional treat, (heh, I'm only human )the dog is all red and itchy by morning!

I wouldnt' go with the veggie kibble just yet, plus it's really not that good for dogs anyways. Even these allergy formulas aren't the best long term, but they are a good start to rule out what she's allergic to. Some people have suggested raw to me, and that's an option as well for you, as most dogs are allergic to the grains in kibble, not the proteins (mine is allergic to both.) You could use either to eliminate the congestion your dog has.

If the allergy kibble doesn't work, go to raw. Or go straight to raw, whatever your preference is. I don't think you're supposed to feed raw with kibble in the same meal, split one in the morning, one at night? Benadryl or the other drug suggested will keep some of the congestion down and ultimately make the dog probably way more comfortable until you can get a grip on the problem. I use Benadryl daily on Cedric and can give you the dosaging if you need it! You need to check with your vet if it's compatible with her other meds.

On the other things, if the dog isn't showing mites after 2 scrapings, she probably doesn't have mites. The internal allergies could be causing the crappy coat, smelliness, hair loss. Pumping more drugs into her won't help her overall system necessarily get stronger and healthier, so I'd potentially explore other options. I've incorporated holistic care with traditional with this latest dog, and that seems to work best.

Did you do a ringworm test on her ear, or did the vet just assume that's what it was? It's VERY common for pitties to get those staph infections on their ears too. Staph is SOOOO common in this breed!

Feel free to 'PM' me if you have more specific questions. I feel like I've "been there, done that" when reading your post!!

[bluesky1966]

In all my vet classes I went to I learned that the smaller the protein is the less allergic reactions a dog or cat has to it. That includes vegetable proteins not just meat proteins. Some dog food breakdown the molecular size of the proteins in the kibble and it seems to help. the raw food would help if the dog is allergic to additives or preservatives [manufacturers can be really sneaky about the wording so don’t trust them when they say "no preservatives" for dry kibble, on the other hand canned dog for does not require preservatives so maybe look for a canned dog food from a reputable company who advertises for "small molecular sized proteins". Just a guess


Julia

[Hooligan]

I woudn't mix the raw and kibble, they won't get the benefits from it that way. If you can only do it occasionally it's better than nothing. Fed it in a separate meal though. They will get the most bang for you buck that way. Good luck.

Yeah, I didn't mean literally mixing it together. I meant mixing the diet. Like meat in the morning and kibble in the evening. We had already been doing a little of this, and she loves the chicken and I hadn't noticed her getting any redder or snottier after eating it.

Her snotty nose has cleared up, so maybe that was connected to the staph infection.

Did you do a ringworm test on her ear, or did the vet just assume that's what it was?

Yep, he just assumed. It was a spot in her ear about the size of a nickel and the inside of the circle, just looked like regular skin but the "ring" was yellow and crusty. We have been doing the drops on her ears, but it looks just the same.

My dog is on the Duck and Potato formula and that's the ONLY thing he can eat. Every other kibble sends him into itching fits and congestion. That means, he only gets that brand of cookies too (no other snacks, and you must, must stick to that!!) If I slip him an occasional treat, (heh, I'm only human )the dog is all red and itchy by morning!

Yeah I figured all normal treats would be out for her...since she couldn't eat regular doggie food. After looking at Petco Lucas and I thought about feeding her Nature's Recipe-Vegetarian and giving her a meat dinner as well. That way if she is really allergic to meat we won't have to put her through switching her kibble all over again.

She is looking and acting better though. And where there was no hair at all, there are little stubbies growing back. So could this be just a staph causing all her issues? She seems to be gaining a tiny bit as well, and she needs to!

I am open to any and all recommendations!

[barbponys]

I'm glad to hear it's clearing up. That's great news

If you decide to change the dry regardless I would avoid vegetarian diets...........I strongly recommend you don't go that route. They are usually real low quality and since allergies are usually grain you will be exacerbating the condition since that's all that is in them. The Duck and Potatoe has no grain so is less likely to cause a reaction, as is the duck since it's not a common protein.

[Rumpley]

Yup, I concur. I was quickly steered away from the Veggie Kibble Diets as well for those exact reasons. I would try the Duck or Fish formulas first, then maybe convert to raw if you're so inclined or when you figure out what the dog is allergic to. That's sort of been my action plan.

The Duck and Potato has served my SUPER allergic dog well so far. He was allergic to the fish in the other allergy food, so the fish option was out.

Honestly, having an allergic dog, really forced me to research and educate myself. I believe I avoided a lot of unnecessary vet bills and medications and pills, trying to fix external problems that were manifesting internally really. I think as well that with the staph infection getting under control (I'd have to wonder if it was even ringworm?), her immune system is getting stronger and she's consequently becoming more and more healthy.

So she can eat raw chicken and doesn't seem to be allergic at all so far?

[bluesky1966]

Ringworm question.........If you have one dog with it, wouldnt your other dogs get it as well? Because I know how fast it spreads....
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It depends on the breed of the dogs in the household, their health, age and individual immune system abilities. There are some breeds that are very susceptible to ringworm like Maltese [I think that’s the breed]. And as you may know this is also true for cats like Persians.[

[Hooligan]

So she can eat raw chicken and doesn't seem to be allergic at all so far?

I have been cooking it for her. Mainly chicken breasts. She also gets raw bones that have a bit of meat on them as well. She's probably eating about 2-3 cups of chicken a day plus her kibble (which is regular, as we haven't switched yet). And she is also growing back her hair as I said before. Which I am happy about! She has little tiny stubby hairs where there were none before. No snotty nose and most of her scabs and sores are clearing up. Not shedding as bad either.

Ringworm question.........If you have one dog with it, wouldnt your other dogs get it as well? Because I know how fast it spreads....

Yeah I was paranoid about that as well, but All our doggies are in good health and I have been cheking them out everyday for any spots so hopefully they either 1, don't get it or 2 it isn't ringworm at all.

Has anyone tried the Venison and Rice food from Nature's Recipe or Natural Balance? They are both listed as allergy foods.