Possible Carpet/Food Allergy

scientiste

Hello all. I need your help!!!!! This may be a repeat for some of you, who read my intro post.

I adopted my female Shiba Inu, Tsuki from a foster home in NC (six hours away from where I live! good thing she's great in the car!) on Sunday the 17th. So, I am very new to all of this, though I of course, researched the breed heavily.

The woman who fostered her, was very familiar with the breed, had fostered and shown them, etc. She mentioned that the people at the shelter thought Tsuki had carpet allergies but that she hadn't exhibited them at all in her carpeted home when she took her in as a foster six weeks ago.

In my correspondence with this woman I asked her specifically if she thought this was an issue and she said "no, Im nearly certain they had Tsuki confused with another shiba".

So I did end up adopting her. When I came to the woman's home in NC - it wasn't very clean (could just be my opinion, I am very fastidious), but her five dogs looked very healthy (including three other shibas). Tsuki had a small bald patch on her abdomen and some thinning on her thighs, but the fosterer told me this was due to her being on a diet containing corn, which she had recently been swtiched off of. She provided me with a vet checkup done the day she took her in as a foster (6/7/08) that deemed her as healthy.

Now Tsuki is itching like mad, teething her legs and paws, and shaking off as though she is wet. Her scratching is pretty significant, it happens all through the night. I should also mention that she is sneezing - maybe this rules out food allergy and suggests a chemical allergy?

I have her on Pet Promise dog food, which is supposedly high-quality, here is a link to the ingredients
this food contains chicken, brewer's rice and corn gluten meal as the first three ingredients - in addition to oat, soy and egg, not found in her previous food.

Previously, with the fosterer, where she was apparently showing no symptoms, she was on Purina One Chicken and Rice: ingredients
This food contains the same first three ingredients, chicken, brewer's rice and corn gluten meal, but no oat, soy or egg.

I gave her a bath this morning with her medicated shampoo (given by the fosterer), thinking it might possibly be mites. Also, the carpet in our home was professionally steam cleaned Tuesday 8/12/08 - and I definitely noticed a significant chemical smell afterward. Do you think as the chemicals disperse, she'll improve? Should I use a carpet shampooer to clean the carpets with just hot water?

Her appt with the vet is today - but I'd appreciate any feedback!

brandon_w

Right now I would say it's to early to tell exactly what he allergies are, but it seems that they might be food related. I don't know if I have ever heard of a dog being allergic to carpet, but it could be possible. Also a lot of dogs exhibit allergies during this time of year because of all of the blooming going on from flowers and what not. Another thing she could be allergic to is fertilizers in grass if they use a lot of them on the grasses where you live and where you walk her.

Pet Promise is not a great food, too much filler (corn, rice, barley, and oatmeal) not enough meat. I would suggest switching her to a grain free food. There are a lot of good brands out there with different grain free formulas. Wellness, Solid Gold, Orijen (my dog probably does best on this), EVO, and many more. You might want to try a formula with fish in it because of the extra oil. It could take a couple of months for the diet to start showing results if it is going too, so pick one food and stick with it for awhile. I'd go with the Orijen 6-fish formula. Also start her on fish oil capsules (or liquid). A supplement such as Seameal (solid gold) or Missing Link would also be beneficial.

To learn more about food and why quality is important I would suggest purchasing the last two or three years worth of dog food special issues of The Whole Dog Journal. The back issues are kind of pricey but the information is worth it, then buy a subscription for future useful information.
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com

I'm not sure about cleaning the carpet, you could call and ask to see what they cleaned with.

If the vet says she does not have mites you might want to try washing her with a soothing oatmeal based natural shampoo. However washing her twice in such a short span might dry out her skin.

If your vet tries to push Hills Prescription or Science Diet on you, do what you can to avoid it. It's not good food.

Leonberger

Can't add anything to what Brandon said.

The carpet allergy might not be to the carpet itself but possibly to mites living on the carpet fibres.
The chemicals used to clean your carpet might have an influence on her, but check like Brandon said, to see what they are, and then perhaps speak to your vet.
To reinforce what Brandon said, definitely look into changing her food.

lindsayt

My clinical experience in Vet medicine has taught me that you can't have a discussion about allergies without involving foods (again). As a breed, shibas are highly allergic to dust mites (which are everywhere). Shibas are genetically prone to atopic dermatitis and any animal can suffer from contact dermatitis. Wool carpets are generally worse than synthetic fibers. Cleaning chemicals can worsen underlying allergies and can cause acute injuries evidenced by chemical burns. Dogs with chronic underlying allergies have flares that emerge as face rubbing, diarrhea, body rubbing, chewing (paws, tail head and tummy), chronic licking with saliva staining of fur, eye discharge, hair loss on abdomen, legs and tail (wherever the dog chews or licks chronically), puritic yeast/bacterial infections at areas of chewing and "cheesy" odor. These dogs are figured to have hypersensitive immune reactions to common things. There are contact allergies, inhalent allergies and food allergies. It is very likely that shibas with atopic dermatitis are unfortunately affected by all of these types of allergies. Common triggers in shibas are pine pollen, dust mites, grasses and probably non-native foods (pork, chicken, beef, many grains like corn, and wheat). I think the best food sources for the primitive breeds of Japan include high amounts of unprocessed high quality protein like fish, venison/lamb, brown rice, and lots of raw veggies and seaweeds. You can keep your house very clean using mild or pet safe chemicals and avoid harsh cleaners or chemical shampoos, perform allergy testing, place your pet on steroids (undesirable) and antihistamines for itching, do a food elimination trial with a high quality single grain (rice) and single protien source (fish) food, or try allergy shots to desensitize her allergic reactions, this aside from verifying there are no lice, fleas, demodex, sarcoptes, walking dandruff etc. Hope this helps. I hope she doesn't have atopy, yuck!

tsukitsune

but what about a dog's inability to properly digest raw vegetation?

lindsayt

Dogs indeed are not able to efficiently digest grains or veggies unless they are predigested (like wild dogs eating the digested contents of the deer stomache). As we all know, their teeth are not designed for grazing/chewing and the bulk of the canine diet should be protein. Therefore, I like to puree any veggies I give my dogs otherwise they will pass right on thru due to their short GI tract. Hope this helps.

scientiste

lindsay thanks for the info. After my vet visit yesterday (this practice sees tons of Shibas and has a breeder working as a tech), they seem to be nearly certain its a mite infection, most probably mange or fungal simply because of the immediate nature of the hair loss (the foster said it happened a week before I picked her up, not that I trust the foster much!).

They have her on a mange injection that will be repeated every two weeks and an antihistamine, I sincerely hope this is the issue and not a chronic allergy.

JessicaRabbit

Janaki,
You may want to give Tsuki a bath using Neem shampoo. Neem is incredibly healing and soothing. My dog Piglet gets sunburn if she is out too long and I put Neem on her to calm it down. And all my dogs are bathed with the shampoo when they get baths (Moto and Miko get bathed once a season at most, but even still)

Here is the one I use and swear by
http://www.organixsouth.com/theraneem.html

scientiste

thanks Jessica - I did just bathe her yesterday, so Im assuming I shouldnt try this anytime soon as it may be drying?

StaticNfuzz

Happy Friday everyone!

Others have provided good advice. Get your Shiba on some good quality food (named above by Brandon) with some derm caps or salmon oil. Bathe in gentle shampoo (oatmeal shampoo) if you must or get wipes and wipe down the dog once returning from walks.

Work with your current vet to rule out immediate obvious causes such as fleas or mites (like you are doing). Beyond that you should take your pup to a veterinary dermatologist who has experience working with Atopic dermatits. Most vets are not specialized in this area so a seasoned practitioner in the field will be your best bet.

(Pulling you house or yard up will not necessarily work for inhalation or derma allergies (if that is the cause), unless you plan to move to Antarctica or have your dog live in a bubble. You can't control the rest of the world outside your home and even the cleanest house will have some residue the dog may be allergic to. Avoid any additional chemicals in the home that the dog will inhale, this includes air freshener plug ins and carpet deodorizers )

Don't despair there are treatments that can usually be worked out though! We have worked with three Shibas who have had some sorts of allergies that directly compromised their skin and fur. Thankfully today there are some variable treatment options that allow you and the pet to live comfortably. There is no real cure for allergies but it can certainly be managed on a combination program to the point that the allergy appears gone.

(Side note: Unfortunately allergies are becoming a common occurrence in dogs and Shibas in general. It is not just only mill dogs that come down with these type of problems. Some of the best breeders have had allergies crop up in their lines. Sometimes the flair ups do not occur until a dog has reached 3 or 4 yrs of age. Way after the first breeding. I don't think at this time there are any tests to know before breeding if a particular gene pool is carrying a propensity for allergies. Over immunization is one thing that some people feel maybe contributing to hyper immune responses to the environment. However, this is speculation at this time, more testing may reveal better understanding down the road.

In the duration here is some info so you have an idea about canine allergies etc. What is reiterated on the links concurs with information provided by our Veterinary dermatologist.

http://www.labbies.com/atopy.htm

http://lowchensaustralia.com/health/dermatology.htm

http://www.vin.com/WebLink.plx?URL=http://www.priory.com/vet/vetatop1.htm

http://www.vspn.org/library/wwwdirectory/Dermatology.htm


Good luck, and stick with a program to get it worked out. It will take a little time to pin point the cause.
Snf

sunyata

SNF - (or anyone who may know the answer)

I know they have started doing blood analysis on humans for allergy testing (as opposed to the old fashioned scratch test that I had to undergo as a child). I was wondering if they might be able to do this type of test (I am assuming it is a type of anti-body test) on canines.

TeamLaika

Sunyata
Yes, there is blood testing available for environmental allergies (weeds, pollens, trees, house dust mites, flea saliva, molds). One company that offers it is HESKA. There are geographical region panels. They also will manufacture a specific allergy serum for your pet.
http://www.heska.com/allercept/pr_info.asp

Blood testing is worthless for the determination of food allergies, but it is available. Most veterinary dermatologists will tell you to save your money and do an appropriate food elimination trial for a minimum of 8 weeks.

sunyata

Sarah - Thanks for the info. That is good to know!