Seasonal Allergies

Rakka gets seasonal allergies and the day before yesterday, I forgot to give her anti-histamines before taking her for a walk down by the river (with all the blooming plants! Major fail). Today when I woke up, her cheeks were huge and puffy and she's scratching like crazy! I've been giving her anti-histamines and ibuprofen and it really does not seem to be doing the trick. I know preventing these outbreaks is much more effective than treating them, but it's too late for that now.

Anyone else have this problem? Any suggestions?

ETA: She's also licking her paws. Is that another allergy symptom, or do I have another problem to deal with? There's nothing wrong with her paws that I can tell.

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Comments

  • licking at those paws is another allergy symptom. At least in Reilly it is. I spray her paws with Relifor spray and boot her if i allowed the allergy to get out of hand. but like you said already - prevention is better- so she gets benadryl daily this time of year.
  • My shiba has bad seasonal allergies, it gets worse once all the trees and grass grows in. Itchy paws, stomach, arm pits, face, can all be allergy symptoms.

    What antihistamine are you trying? The vet recommended trying one type at least 3 days to see if it's effective. If it isn't doing anything you can then switch to another medication. For example, if you are using benadryl now, you can try reactine later. If you don't see improvement, I would visit your vet.

    You can also use a bedatine wash, to clean the dog's paws when you come back indoors. It should also help relieve the itchy paws. Video here: http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2009/12/16/thirty-seconds-to-relieve-your-pets-itchy-paws.aspx
  • licking at those paws is another allergy symptom. At least in Reilly it is. I spray her paws with Relifor spray and boot her if i allowed the allergy to get out of hand. but like you said already - prevention is better- so she gets benadryl daily this time of year.
    Relifor spray - never heard of that. Looks good. I need something like that for her face, too, but I don't think she wants to be sprayed in the face. I'll look for a cream or something.
    What antihistamine are you trying?
    Currently, diphenhydramine (generic "Benadryl"). It has always been the one that works the best. I tried cetirizine (generic "Reactine") a few years ago and it didn't seem to work.

    It's hard to tell, though, if the anti-histamine isn't working, because maybe she'd be even worse if she weren't on it and sometimes the puffiness just goes away on its own. So if it doesn't go away, is it still helping? If it does go away, is it because it worked, or did it just go away? All I know is, Benadryl before an outing always seems to work.
    You can also use a bedatine wash
    Good idea, thanks!
  • Hana got a cream from the vet- its a steroid cream but i dont know what its called @thegela
  • My last chi had horrible allergies... grass was the worst because she had to go outside to potty. She didn't swell, but she broke out in hives pretty bad. I used an oatmeal spray (benadryl sedated her a lot because of her size) and foaming waterless shampoo on her when she came in. The foam never dried her skin out, so maybe out could be an option if the allergies get a little out of control.

    If you're curious, I use the Paul Mitchell brand spray and shampoo... they test on humans, not animals.
  • It seems like Hana has a little bit of a mild seasonal allergy. This year I feel like it only got bad because she irritated it when we were at the vet she had to get muzzled and was trying to pull it off and scratched her muzzle area. Her muzzle (and eye) then got progressively worse and benedryl was kiiiinda working but it wasn't really healing so we went back to the vet. The vet gave us Maxitrol for eye drops and Viaderm K.C. cream (which, like @wrylybrindle mentioned, has a little bit of steroids in it). They are both anti-inflammitory/antibacterial to de-congest her sinus so she can stop itching it to give the skin around her eye and muzzle a chance to heal.
  • Saigo (JA) has bad seasonal allergies. We also have lots of forests where we live so the pollen and allergens are especially worse for him.

    Saigo will take 1 benadryl in the morning and 1 at bedtime. For his itching we use a cortate cream (he itches in his crotch area, probably because this is the only spot that touches plants when he pees on them). If it gets really bad, he goes on Vanectyl-P (which is a steroid) and this eases the itch quite a bit. The cortate and benadryl you can get at a drug store.

    Last year, we switched him over to a raw diet with lots of fish oil supplements. The oils and raw diet did wonders for his skin and itching. I noticed that on kibble, Saigo required a LOT more water - I'm wondering if kibble in this sense might have caused some itchiness too.
  • This forum doesn't have an allergy category like the Shiba one does, so I'll link it here -
    http://www.shibainuforum.org/forum/categories/allergies

    I've documented what we've tried with Kouda in depth over there, but I can give the highlights.

    Antihistamines: benadryl made him sleepy, but didn't help much for his itching. We've also tried claritin, zyrtec, hydroxyzine, and clemastine. Clemastine works the best, and is non-drowsy.

    Steroids: good for temporary relief. But use only if necessary. Including sprays like Relifor and Genesis. Kouda is sensitive to them, and they make him incontinent, wetting himself in his sleep.

    Testing and therapy: We did the intradermal allergy test, where they shave an area and inject various allergens for a reaction. With the results, instead of shots, we opted for sublingual immunotherapy - liquid drops that go under his tongue. He gets them twice a day, and thinks it's a treat. We started this in March, so are a long way from seeing full results. We also monitor his thyroid levels.

    Cleaning: We wipe his feet and face after every outing with hypoallergenic wipes, and rinse his feet before bed with a baking soda solution. He gets a bath every 2-4 weeks, as needed. No oatmeal products, which can feed yeast. Could use iodine soaks, but I don't want to stain his feet.

    Diet: food trials to eliminate additional food sensitivities. We avoid grains and goitrogens (because his thyroid levels are in the low range). He eats Real Meat Company and Vital Essentials.

    Omegas, supplements: To naturally fight inflammation, he gets krill and coconut oils, and vitamin E daily. He also gets apple cider vinegar, pumpkin, and kefir. And a few squirts of Allerderm spot-on after a bath, which makes him really soft. :) I'm always researching for more and have recently found goods things on quercetin, bromelain, nettle, and butterbur. Also local honey and bee pollen, which I was giving him up until his severe reaction to a bee sting a few weeks ago.

    Moisturize: We've noticed his outbreaks are worse when the humidity is low. This coincides with our own hands getting dry and cracking, so we've started moisturizing his feet as well. We use musher's secret, and emu oil. Coconut oil can be used, but he likes the taste too much. I've been thinking I will try aloe as well.

    Antimicrobials: I avoid using these unless there is an actual lesion. We've used Vetericyn, tea tree spray, and chlorhexidine.

    And finally, if he's so itchy that he won't respond to a "leave it," he gets coned.
  • One of my dogs gets seasonal allergies and what has worked so far to prevent him from licking his paws and having watery eyes is by adding a little local honey into his food.
  • @hondru - for ours we do a wipedown after every walk (body and paws), a lot of vacuuming, and use the air purifier. Baths too. If they get worse or remain bad, we bite the bullet and go to the vet. We've gotten prednisone to get them over the hump so that they are healed enough to switch back to preventative measures. This has worked well for us but both our dogs have comparatively mild or moderate allergies and we've only had to do it once for each of them (they are 5 and 7). I understand why one would want to avoid steroids, but I found them useful when used sparingly. Being able to quickly get them over the hump of their peak reactions was really helpful.
  • All very good tips to try, thanks! Rakka seems okay now, except the scratches she gave herself are still there and she is healing from that. She's a pretty sorry sight. I feel really bad and stupid for forgetting the Benadryl before taking her out. Ugh. Oh well, can't change it now.

    I also just remembered that last year I was feeding her salmon oil and that helped, because it's so dry here, it seems to keep her from getting as itchy.

    I'll probably try all this stuff. She doesn't even want to go outside these past few days. It's really sad. On the plus side, the kids let the dogs out this morning and she only ran around a little bit before just coming right back to the door and wanting in, lol. Poor girl.
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