update on barney's itchies
First, they LOVED Barney. Said he was a very sweet, great tempered old english sheepdog (which made me think maybe she had a prejuduce against sheepies thinking that it was unusual to have a nice one). So, she says he has a severe infection, and a yeast infection on top of that. She thinks it's allergies causing it, but in order to figure that out we have to treat the infections first. We'll be putting him on a 6-week antibiotic treatment, plus a medicated lotion, plus something called selamectin, which I think is to treat mites since she said that sometimes even if tests come up negative for mites they could still be there so it doesn't hurt to treat for it. So I hope this works! |
|
|
| Be patient. That is the key. They may have to get the infection cleared up first before they can zero in on the cause. Better to take your time & have them find the real culprit. |
| Yes patience will be necessary as skin issues can take ages to settle.
It took around 8 weeks of oral antibiotics, lotions and bathing to get rid of the infection in the skin around Tiggy's nail. good luck.  |
| Thanks for the update Steph, keep updating on how Barney is doing and hoping they can find some sort of trigger and he improves in leaps and bounds with his coat and skin and hopefully in the longer term no cone.
Hard with all this but so glad you are seeing a specialist to hopefully help your boy. It is so sad to see him this way, when you do look back on earlier barney photos, he looked so different. Keeping fingys crossed you are on the right path with him and he will be a lot more comfortable. Keep us updated to how all is going, only early days but will be interesting to see how he is doing.  |
| I was really excited to see an update on Barney!
Sounds like your allergist had some great ideas, hopefully they work! Keep the pictures coming so we can see his progress. As others said, be patient. We will be here to support you. (fingers crossed) |
| That's good that they started doing something right away and you don't have to wait for a bunch of tests while nothing happens. I hope all this stuff gives him some relief while you guys can search for the root cause. Is the lotion for all over his body? Am I a dummy for asking how that works without turning him into a greased pig? |
ButtersStotch wrote: That's good that they started doing something right away and you don't have to wait for a bunch of tests while nothing happens. I hope all this stuff gives him some relief while you guys can search for the root cause. Is the lotion for all over his body? Am I a dummy for asking how that works without turning him into a greased pig?
Lotion is probably for the affected area. To help with the healing. So they can get on with any testing. When Melody was tested, we had a lotion that was non-steroidal as she had to be off all steroids for a certain length of time before they could do the skin punch test to get a true reading. |
It's a vicious cycle. It itches, so they chew/lick, it becomes a perfect environment for yeast and bacteria to take hold, it itches, so they chew/lick... The cycle has to be broken by controlling yeast/bacteria and finding what's causing the reaction in the first place so it can hopefully be avoided. It's going to take time as Marilyn says. If he's anything like Panda, he may start seeing relief from the yeast in maybe even a week but it's a long process of changing the dog both inside and out. It takes patience and perseverance. Understand too that the dermal testing will only provide clear answers if the test includes the thing triggering the reaction. We are about 2 months post-test and are still having issues. Negative/nonreactive to dust mites, molds, grass, trees (except slightly reactive to one that's not very common here) on both dermal and RAST testing. No yeast, no bacteria, no parasites but intense itching at times. While we continue to search for the cause, we protect his skin with clothing. This way if he itches or chews, it's decreasing the possibility of secondary skin infections that would again require antibiotics. We were lucky we did finally get an answer through dermal testing on Darby. She's very allergic to ragweed, exactly what I thought because of when the itching starts, but it never showed up in Heska RAST testing. She ended up having a delayed reaction to the dermal testing. It's hard to avoid it because it's in the air but at least we know. With Bumble, it's going to be a process of elimination. We've gone to homemade laundry detergent and no perfumes/aftershave allowed in the house now. After last week's vet visit, she prescribed Virbac Resisoothe which should have soothed his skin but instead made him extremely itchy and hot to the touch. Another perfume-free topical used last night did the exact same thing. I made a list of ingredients and hope the findings might shine a light on the trigger.
Allergies are very frustrating to deal with and the only hope at avoidance or desensitization is to find what's triggering them. Hoping both your boy and mine will be well soon. |
| I'm glad Barney is on the road to recovery! |
| More info on Barns.
We got the results of the bloodwork back last night (and this is just from what they left on voicemail, I haven't had a chance to speak with them in person yet), and they said Barney is hypothyroid. Do you all think this is a good thing, in the sense that it's something that can be treated and should help out with all his skin issues? I haven't had a chance to research it, so I know very little. Anyone with experience with this, I'd appreciate your insight. |
| From what I have been reading this past week, it is very common for dogs with hypothyroid to have skin issues... so perhaps his skin is dry and irritated instead of it being allergies? |
| Heather, that's what I was thinking. Or maybe a combination of the two, but making the allergies part of it less severe. |
barney1 wrote: Said he was a very sweet, great tempered old english sheepdog (which made me think maybe she had a prejuduce against sheepies thinking that it was unusual to have a nice one).
Not at all uncommon an attitude here in the Northeast. They see a lot of BYB dogs with severe temperment issues. And older vet practices remember the temperment issues of the past. Now, hypothyroid - Morgan has it. He never had the dry skin etc, but we caught it before he was two which is I guess pretty early. If you are consistent with the treatment the symptoms do abate, so I would assume the skin would go back to normal. |
I hope Mr Barney feels better soon. We too will be bringing Foz to an allergies...just after I make an appt to get his teeth cleaned  |
ChSheepdogs wrote: ButtersStotch wrote: That's good that they started doing something right away and you don't have to wait for a bunch of tests while nothing happens. I hope all this stuff gives him some relief while you guys can search for the root cause. Is the lotion for all over his body? Am I a dummy for asking how that works without turning him into a greased pig? Lotion is probably for the affected area. To help with the healing. So they can get on with any testing. When Melody was tested, we had a lotion that was non-steroidal as she had to be off all steroids for a certain length of time before they could do the skin punch test to get a true reading. His whole body is affected though, isn't it? |
| I was scrolling down to ask about a thyroid test........and there was the results. Yes, I think hypothyroid could very well be a good part of Barn's problems. Thyroid controls so much of what happends in our dogs (and us) that if it is low, the body cannot function properly including fighting infections.
I'm amazed how well Glacier is doing since we put her on thyroid meds and I was wondering about MO for her various "issues." Turns out, she's also border low. If another test in 6 months shows the same, I'm insisting on the meds. Glacier is a different dog......I kinda liked the laid back old lady......suddenly there's a pesky pup to contend with. |
ButtersStotch wrote: ChSheepdogs wrote: ButtersStotch wrote: That's good that they started doing something right away and you don't have to wait for a bunch of tests while nothing happens. I hope all this stuff gives him some relief while you guys can search for the root cause. Is the lotion for all over his body? Am I a dummy for asking how that works without turning him into a greased pig? Lotion is probably for the affected area. To help with the healing. So they can get on with any testing. When Melody was tested, we had a lotion that was non-steroidal as she had to be off all steroids for a certain length of time before they could do the skin punch test to get a true reading. His whole body is affected though, isn't it? Yeah, the majority of his body is affected, but there are definitely spots that are worse than others where the lotion can be applied (like the backs of his back legs--which, in doing research on the hypothyroidism is a typical spot for dogs to lose their hair if they have the condition). So now I'm wondering if he has allergies at all and if it's all related to the thyroid. The stuff I read said dogs typically start showing symptoms at age 4 and up, and he started as soon as we moved houses--he had just turned 3, but it got worse as the year progressed, so pretty much right on time. The allergist was closed today so I couldn't get his RX called in, but I hope to be able to tomorrow. And start the healing process! |
| Sounds promising now steph for barney and his skin, keeping fingers crossed for you all now you have some sort of explanation to his itchys.
Hoping all will settle soon.  |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|