Does your dog have an allergy?
Recently I spoke to a pet parent about their very itchy dog with allergies and thought that I must share their story!

A Very Itchy Pooch

This dog owner gave me a call after their dog trainer passed them my details. They explained about their little sausage dog who was so itchy and uncomfortable. He was struggling with severe allergies causing hives on his skin, uncontrollable scratching, and yeast infections. Multiple allergy testing for food allergies and environmental triggers with their vet, had shown different triggers each time they tested. Their list of triggers to avoid was getting longer and longer. More importantly though, avoiding all of these 24 things which tests had shown their dog had a positive allergy for wasn’t improving this dog’s itching and allergy symptoms.

A Lost Cause

Steroids were prescribed for this little sausage to help to manage his itching. Unfortunately, the effect of the regular steroid treatment was wearing off earlier and earlier each time. He was only 2 years old. It was a worry for this pet parent that if the steroids didn’t last the full month now then this wasn’t going to be an effective long-term treatment.

Different diets, supplements, shampoos, and products. They had tried everything they could think of. Speaking to vets, other nutritionists and even a veterinary dermatologist, but unsuccessfully. Nobody was able to find a solution to these allergies. The owners felt like their dog had been labelled as a “lost cause”, with nobody knowing what to try next.

During our call, I spoke to this dog owner about allergies. About using a diary to monitor what their dog came into contact with and any noticeable effects on their allergies. We discussed that because of this pooch’s wide combination of food and environmental allergies it would be very tricky to find a solution which removed them all. Different foods and treats were suggested which avoided each of the positive allergy triggers which had come back in testing. General advice for allergies was provided. I hoped these steps would be helpful. With the extent of this dog’s allergic reactions however, I wasn’t confident that these changes would be able to address enough of the causes of the reactions to give this pooch any reprieve.

A Solution

A little while later I checked back in with this owner to see how they and their dog were getting on. I was interested to know whether there was any improvement to their itching and allergic reactions.

To my amazement, they had found the answer.

The main cause of the allergic reaction in this little sausage was a latex ball. A ball he had had since a puppy. This pet parent had done a great job in identifying this ball as something which had been a constant throughout their pooch’s itching and allergies. With the latex ball removed, the dog’s symptoms amazingly reduced by over 95%! This dog still has some food allergies, but now they can work through each ingredient with a trial and error approach to see which he reacts to, and which can be fed successfully. A wonderful outcome.

The owner had also been wearing latex gloves to apply the shampoos and products which had been recommended to help to sooth their dog’s skin. Again the latex was aggravating the itchiness.

The Takeaway Message

The takeaway message from this story: that dogs can have allergies to almost anything in their environment. Not just their food or flea bites. If your dog is struggling with allergies, remember to take a look at their toys, their bed, and anything else they come into regular contact with.

Thank you very much for this owner and little dachshund for allowing me to share their story! We hope that it will help other pet parents to identify their dog’s allergies with more success in the future.

If you’d like to schedule a Pet Parent Problem Solving Call with me, follow this link to my calendar!