Thursday, July 30, 2009

Any ideas for alternative therapy for grass allergy in dogs ?

I have a 3yr old labrador who suffers dreadful itching and a red spotty rash, when she has been in contact with grass. The vet prescribes antihistamines, steroids and an anti-inflammatory injection but it only works for a short while. I try to keep her away from grass of any discription but it's not easy, we live in the countryside and she is a working breed, bred to retrieve in shoots(although we dont shoot) she adores being out in the fields, running around and sniffing out good smells. I feel so bad for her sometimes I would be grateful for any advise.
Answers:
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evening primrose oil is great for skin conditions, you must check with the vet how much to give as it is very fattening for dogs, good luck i have a dog who cant walk on concrete and has to wear shoes!!!!
You could try putting aloe vera on her skin. It won't stop it but it might help with it.
I have the same problem with my Coon Hound. She looked like Rudolf with her nose bright red. I finaly got it under control with Prednisone 10mg every day. My vet does blood workups on her and she is doing fine. It took a year to get it under control. I tried other methods and they did'nt help her. She loves running full blast with her nose pointed at the ground and she doesn't get red anymore.
Steroids are pretty bad long term.

2 alternatives exist:
Immunotherapy (injection of pollen extract to desensitize the dog) or Cyclosporine (medication caled atopica), less side effects than steroids.

Cyclosporine is great but expensive. You cant get it without seeing a vet but if you get a written prescription, you can get it cheaper on the following link:
http://www.vetstoria.co.uk/templates/ato...
Has the vet not offered you the immunocept (not sure of spelling) route? They take a blood sample which is sent off to a lab and the allergens analyzed. A vaccination is then made up to act as an antihistamine and make the dog immune to the allergens. It's expensive and will take months to sort but definately works in the end.

2 comments:

  1. Very thoughtfull post on alternative therapy. It should be very much helpfull

    Thanks,
    Karim - Positive thinking

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very thoughtfull post on Alternative medicine .It should be very much helpfull.

    Thanks,
    Karim - Creating Power

    ReplyDelete