Monday, September 24, 2012

Bald Spot


As many of you know I have some severe allergies going on and Mom and Dad have tried EVERYTHING they and the vets can think of to help me. We have done diet elimination, de-allergerizing the house as much as doggily and humanly possible, allergy testing and shots that cost 1000's of those green things, prednisone, allergy medications, natural remedies - every kind of shampoo and itch treatment and the list goes on - all to no avail and my hairs is still getting thinner and thinner.  Mom is even more worried now that I have a huge bald spot on my back. My skin has been checked for mites, bacteria, infections and so on - and nothing. Apart from moving to another state (which wouldn't be at all easy) we just don't know what to do. Mom says she could cope with a bald me or even a short haired me - but she wants me to be happy and not scratching all the time and she just wants something - anything that could help control that.  (Mom - the more Reilly scratches the more he risks his skin getting infected and he has already had to be on a couple doses of antibiotics already because of that). If anyone has any more ideas - please leave us a message.

21 comments:

  1. We just had a bought with allergies as well. Nothing like what you seem to be going through, but someone suggested to us to use Gold Bond baby powder on the itchy spots, and that seems to have done the trick.

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  2. Oh reily I don't have any suggestions other than the raw honey thing I sugested a while back. Guess that did not work either. I sure hope you find some relief soon pal.
    Blessings,
    Goos

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  3. OH Reilly, we are so sorry for all the scratching. Don't really have anything. Mom had a Scottie that they gave over the counter Walmart brand equate allergy pills, just say it worked for him.
    Please get better, we DON'T need a bald Reilly, we like you as you are.

    Your Furends
    Susie & Bites

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  4. We've had luck with fish oil, although I would check with your vet first since it can act as a blood thinner.

    Sam

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  5. Oh dude, I feel so bad you're going through this! My Uncle Harley Pug is on the allergy shots. Have they tried testing his thiroid level? They found that was the underlying issue with Uncle Harley, as soon as he went on meds for that, and the allergy shots and a dose of benedryl a day, and a bath with special shampoo every other week, he's all better! Wish you the best of luck buddy... it's no fun being itchy.
    -Corbin

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  6. So sorry we don't have any ideas to help you Reilly!

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  7. Oh Reilly, you poor thing.

    It sounds like you've tried EVERYTHING!

    Chewy had a couple small bald spots last fall, I used this:

    http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=1808&ParentCat=218

    and the bald spots cleared up after about 6 weeks, no problems since.

    I did have one dog who was very sensitive to flea/tick topicals, and he would scratch himself raw. Once I stopped using those on him, he stopped scratching. However, if you have a lot of fleas where you live, that can be hard to do, because then they start scratching from the fleas.

    I really feel for you, as its awful to see our pets in discomfort.

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  8. My human was talking to a lady who had a pup with BAD allergies, she said the only thing that work was to put him on a raw food diet... All fresh meat, nothing processed... Have you tried that?

    Hope you find a solution!
    Waggles, Dougall.

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  9. Sorry about your allergics. Ceilidh had seasonal allergies, all the hair on her front paws and legs fell off one year. She had to be on steroids, luckily that helped her a lot.

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  10. Oh man! That sounds miserable. I don't have any suggestions but I know that you will find a solution! You will for sure.

    Slobbers,
    Mango

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  11. Oh these allergies are the worst! Freddie still itches and I just keep giving him the benadryl and telling him no all the time. I feel so bad for you as I know how frustrating it can be. Our last basset had severe allergies his whole life and we never did figure it out. Good luck!

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  12. Oh poor Reilly, we wish we knew some secret remedies which could help you a lot.

    As you know that Mika has been suffering from yeast problem for so many years but lately, his condition seems to get better. We had tried many diets from different companies to raw diets and finally we came to Addition Grain Free, Salmon Bleu and we use Dermacton Soap Bar http://www.aromesse.com/.

    Hana had seriously skin allergy after delivery Eva and she had many bald patches. As we live in tropical country, the vet told us to give Hana a total shave so her skin can be kept dry easily. It was much more than a summer cut and she looked all bald. As her body was kept clean and dry all the time, she recovered in a short time. However, I'm afraid it doesn't suit you as you are having autumn and winter is just around the corner.

    I hope you are free from itchiness and scratching soon.

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  13. Oh Reilly, wish we had an answer for you! We wondered too about the thyroid, but we figured that would have been one of the first things the vet would check.

    Good luck, we hope you can get some relief soon.

    Woos - Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning

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  14. I take fish oil tabs in my food - it helps with my allergies, arthritis and also is good for my heart.

    Hope you feel better soon!

    Your pal, Pip

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  15. Sorry about your allergies. We don't have any solutions. We are going thru allergies with Benji -- and are learning a lot from reading the comments that others left on your blog.

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  16. I'm sure you probably know all of this (sounds like you have tried everything!) but I thought this was informative: http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/7_8/features/Canine-Allergies_15640-1.html

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  17. We think your only hope is to become wuzster-fied. Once you become a wuzster, the itching will go away.

    If Reilly needs to stop itching, socks on the paws work. Dad did it to Essex & Deacon to let things heal. But once the socks are off.

    Essex & Sherman

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  18. This is so awful for you, Reilly, and unfortunately we don't have anything to suggest. We hope someone chimes in with some help.

    Love ya lots,
    Mitch and Molly

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  19. Reilly,

    I have awful environmental allergies. grasses, plants, flea saliva, Arg. Anyway, about three years ago, shortly after I was adopted, my allergies became known by a huge flare up. Mom took me to the VET and they gave me a steroid shot. Fixed the problem for a day. Then came back. Mom was determined that I would not have any more steroid shots. She found Skin-eze, an herbal supplement for itchy skin. After reading the ingredients and testimonials, she bought some. Two weeks later (6 pill in morning and 6 pills in evening), I was rash free and my hair was growing back. Since then I've been taking a maintenance dose of 3 pill in AM and 3 pills in PM. Result? Very rarely have a flare up and when that rare instance does come, increasing dosage to 5 pills AM and 5 pills PM makes it go away completely again in about a week. I can't rave enough about this product. Without it my life would be either miserable or impaired by the nasty medication vets typically recommend.
    If you want to see if it will work for you too, go to allergicpet.com and check out Skin-eze.

    Wishin you itch free my furiend,
    Roo

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  20. In trying to help Ludo's allergies i came across this artical on the English Shetland Sheepdog club's site. These are obviously quite advanced extreme cases, but could it be something similar?

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  21. http://www.essc.org.uk/pdf/dm.pdf forgot thelink!

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Thank you for woofing at us - we read each and every one of them