Posted by admin | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 28-01-2010
Tags: flickr, photo, photography, photos, sharing
Hair Loss Golden Retrievers
Golden with severe allergies?
We have a golden retriever with sever skin allergies. He has hot spots all over his paws that he constantly licks (we have to keep a cone on his head), He scratches his face (around his lips and eyes) until he bleeds, his hair is falling out in clumps, and he has constant ear infections.
We’ve tried every food other than kangaroo meat which is expensive. The vets given him steroid shots but they don’t seem to work. We give him 3 allergy pills 3 times a day and that doesn’t seem to help, the vet gave us medicine for his ears but it seems to only lessen the infection not get rid of it. We’ve tried vinegar water and that helps but again just lessens its. My dad just lost his job so we can’t really afford really expensive options. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do? We’re at a loss.
I have a friend whose Golden went through this, as well. She was spending a fortune in medications (one was $550/month!) and foods, and to no avail. She consulted with this clinic over the phone: http://wholehealthvet.com/ as well as this person: http://ktk9.com/ who guided her through elimination diets/homemade dog food. They were able to pinpoint the dog’s triggers, and develop a diet that worked for her. The only dog food this dog has been able to tolerate besides the homemade diet is California Natural dry food, and some packaged raw foods.
Has the vet determined what the allergens are? Call the vet and talk about pricing for allery testing. For the ears, a good preventative for ear infections can be dosing with Tresaderm on a regular basis (daily for 2 weeks or until the infection is GONE, and then on a once or twice a week basis permanently). Tresaderm is only about $10 a bottle and it goes a long way. This may help with your dog’s ears, but it is not going to solve the problem…a holistic vet (such as the one I linked to above) could be a big help…many will do consults over the phone for people not in their area. For now, it sounds like maybe your vet isn’t too sure about how to treat allergies-perhaps you could shop around for one with allergy experience?
Another Addison’s Dog – Another Missed Diagnosis