# Allergies?



## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

I am wondering if Henry could have allergies. I "dognapped" ( ) him from my mom's house yesterday on my way home from a job interview because it's been a few weeks since his last groom. I figured he could use a bath, blowdry, face shave, and nail clipping. Oh, and maybe I'll try my hand at scissoring his lovely coat.

Anyway, none of his symptoms are new persey...but now that I just live with _my_ 2 dogs (who are the healthiest 2 tanks I've ever known) it does sort of stand out to me how much dandruff he has on his paws when I shave them...

how gunky his ears were (until we shaved them in his new haircut), and how he gets a _persistent_ Staph infection in his same nostril. It goes away when treated with antibiotics, and returns shortly after. And this is not because of the raw food...because we tried feeding non-raw foods too, (The Honest Kitchen and some canned - we are afraid to feed non-moist food to him given his torsion history). And remember how he had that lip staph infection? And his belly staph infection? My (non-holistic) vet mentioned before...that repeated infections like this..it's probably an allergy, keep an eye on it. Oh, and he has lots of eye goop. Sometimes yellowish, sometimes just clear. But neither Millie nor Tiger ever have eye goop. 

Well, I think it's time to take him to the holistic vet. Does this sound like allergies? What does it sound more like, food or environmental? I've never had a dog with allergies...


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

It sounds a little like allergies, particularly if it is worse in the warm weather months, but it could also be an underlying staph infection that has never truly been cured. Flaky, itchy skin? Allergy. Yellow/green discharge? Infection. Eye goop in a poodle? Very common. 

Some staph infections are hideously tough to kill. You treat with antibiotics, think they are gone and then they develop into harder and harder to treat infections. I hope your vet runs a culture on his goopy eyes or nostril to see exactly what he has. Allergies aren't staph infections, but allergies can mimic them.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

outwest said:


> It sounds a little like allergies, particularly if it is worse in the warm weather months, but it could also be an underlying staph infection that has never truly been cured. Flaky, itchy skin? Allergy. Yellow/green discharge? Infection. Eye goop in a poodle? Very common.
> 
> Some staph infections are hideously tough to kill. You treat with antibiotics, think they are gone and then they develop into harder and harder to treat infections. I hope your vet runs a culture on his goopy eyes or nostril to see exactly what he has. Allergies aren't staph infections, but allergies can mimic them.


Staph is an opportunistic infection. It is a naturally occurring bacteria on the skin and infection generally only occurs from other conditions, chronic inflammation from allergies _can_ be the underlying cause of the "opportunity" for the staph to multiply and infect. Because he has had multiple cases of staph infections on different parts of his body, it hints at an underlying cause, not just a random staph infection.

I do know that eye goop can be normal in poodles (though honestly neither Millie nor Tiger have it), and that green discharge in eyes _can_ indicate an infection, but I also know that that infrequent yellow discharge can be from an allergy. Remember, an eye allergy can be "allergic conjunctivitis" which is the same as the bacterial conjunctivitis in symptoms, but allergic and noninfectious in origin. He does not have any eye discharge at the moment...but occasionally will.

Swung him by the vet this evening for his annual well visit (no vaccinations!) We agree that he probably has some mild seasonal/environmental allergies. Not really much to do about it besides give him benedryl as needed...but I don't think that's worth it.

The vet did not culture the nose because we already did that before and found it was staph. He's on a longer term dose of antibiotics.


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

If you want to find out if it is an allergy, the vet would prescribe a round ofsteroids. (I overheard a vet explaining this to a client over the phone).

Steroids are, well, nasty. But so is long-term antibiotic treatment.

If it is outdoor environmental, rinsing the dog thoroughly with water after any time outside can greatly reduce symptoms.

If it is indoor environmental, try to eliminate factors - detergent, fabric softener, carpet, carpet cleaner, febreeze type products, air fresheners, etc.

I hope a solution is found for this dog. No fun.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

tortoise said:


> If you want to find out if it is an allergy, the vet would prescribe a round ofsteroids. (I overheard a vet explaining this to a client over the phone).
> 
> Steroids are, well, nasty. But so is long-term antibiotic treatment.
> 
> ...


It's really not an extreme situation...It's unlikely that my holistic vet will suggest that I give _steroids_ to find out if it's an allergy. That sort of goes against the whole...holistic idea. It's not like he's itching and scratching himself all the time. Then I could see that. I just think he may have a minor environmental allergy.

My mom does not use febreeze, air fresheners, fabric softeners, carpet cleaners, etc. in her house. We are an allergy family - the humans are allergic to everything.  She uses special allergy friendly detergent, too, as do I.


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## paisley pup (Jul 12, 2012)

a friend of mine had a dog with really itchy skin so much he would scratch spots raw.He then started getting ear infections. All ended up due to a food allergy.She had to due limited ingredient food till she narrowed it down to chicken.Your have to be careful when figuring out the allergy to include treats as well


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

paisley pup said:


> a friend of mine had a dog with really itchy skin so much he would scratch spots raw.He then started getting ear infections. All ended up due to a food allergy.She had to due limited ingredient food till she narrowed it down to chicken.Your have to be careful when figuring out the allergy to include treats as well


Vet said she highly doubts a food allergy. He doesn't really have food allergy symptoms. He doesn't itch or scratch much, except his eyes.


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