Tsuki's Allergy : Mold, Mildew and...
In the last few months, Tsuki's been showing signs of some irritation on her face. It started around her eyes (eyebrow area) then started on her jaw line. She then started to itch her elbows. She rubs all over the carpet after a walk and itches and itches and itches.. as a result has been lost some fur on and around her face.
We've tried just about everything, naturally. We even tried benedryl for a few days. No relief.
We went to the vet yesterday. I told them about Henson, how he had sarcoptic mange diagnosed, but left our house in April and our dogs showed no signs of infection for at least a month after.. it was early to mid May that Tsuki started to get the redness around her eyes.
The vet said, per our timeline, that if they had gotten mites from Henson, we would have saw it immediately regardless of their health and diet compared to Henson's weakened immune system. A sarcopies infection is fast and furious.
She also said that the past two years more than others has shown a significant increase in dogs coming in with sarcoptic mange on their face. She believes due to our fox population being completely debilitated with mange, they can give it to the animals they kill or chase, and should a dog stick their head down that animal's hole in the ground, they can pick up mites.
Is this true?? It seems logical.
And Tsuki is notorious for this type of "exploration".
Our vet took two separate skin scrapes (one from her face, one from her leg) and neither showed any mites (this isn't a definite negative for mites though).
We decided to hold off on anything like Promeris just yet and try a 8 day course of antibiotics in case its some sort of irritation-turned-infection from scratching.
Kitsune isn't showing any signs of infection whatsoever. Neither is Hachi.
Is any other dog having new issues this season/year?
We've tried just about everything, naturally. We even tried benedryl for a few days. No relief.
We went to the vet yesterday. I told them about Henson, how he had sarcoptic mange diagnosed, but left our house in April and our dogs showed no signs of infection for at least a month after.. it was early to mid May that Tsuki started to get the redness around her eyes.
The vet said, per our timeline, that if they had gotten mites from Henson, we would have saw it immediately regardless of their health and diet compared to Henson's weakened immune system. A sarcopies infection is fast and furious.
She also said that the past two years more than others has shown a significant increase in dogs coming in with sarcoptic mange on their face. She believes due to our fox population being completely debilitated with mange, they can give it to the animals they kill or chase, and should a dog stick their head down that animal's hole in the ground, they can pick up mites.
Is this true?? It seems logical.
And Tsuki is notorious for this type of "exploration".
Our vet took two separate skin scrapes (one from her face, one from her leg) and neither showed any mites (this isn't a definite negative for mites though).
We decided to hold off on anything like Promeris just yet and try a 8 day course of antibiotics in case its some sort of irritation-turned-infection from scratching.
Kitsune isn't showing any signs of infection whatsoever. Neither is Hachi.
Is any other dog having new issues this season/year?
Comments
I have seen a lot of mangy foxes here in PA...
As a thought maybe allergies have kicked up in regard to pollen or grass. The rain has let up and now we are in serious bloom with flox, grasses, ragweed and other summer plants. I know I have blathered on about allergies before but I have seen so many Shibas with the symptoms I would not be surprised if that is an issue that many are unaware of.
Usually inhalation allergies start with rubbing of chin and face with hair loss around eyes and the ear tips. It can be bad enough that there is a distinct ring of hair loss around the eyes like an outline of glasses or a raccoon look. The symptoms are remarkably similar to that of mange. Later the dog will bite paws and underarm areas to the point of open wounds.
It is known that allergies progress over time as the dog ages. They symptoms may go away initially and then reoccur later in a season or down the road with a vengeance.
It also causes what I call the "scooty toots" where the dog has irritated glands and rubs its bum across the floor or grass regardless of what you feed. Once it is severe there is the additional progression of reddish infection in ears and between toes becoming stained and smelly from the scratching and mild bacterial build up there.
If it is inhalation allergies, even with a food change the dog most likely will exhibit symptoms.
It is worthy of checking into beyond what seems obvious such as mites.
Snf
SnF - allergies are a nightmare. They are freakishly hard to pinpoint and even harder to remedy... u-g-h!
I assumed inhalant allergy, but the pattern of hair loss on her face (around eyes like you said, but also in little knicks here and there on cheek and forehead) had the vet worried about mites. What could we do/give her to trial and error an inhalant allergy diagnosis??
**I thought having given her benedryl for 3 days would have made a difference should it be allergies, she just kept on itching.
***could she potentially be allergic to geranium/oil?
Our allergy vet indicated that Benedryl and most over the counter allergy meds are only about 18% effective for dogs with inhalation allergies. The histamine receptors respond somewhat differently on dogs is my understanding. Therefore, there is a need for trial and error with use of various antihistamines that really should be combined with other treatment for reducing allergy flairs. (Talk to your vet about which allergy meds are safest to use for dogs.)
PS: We switched a low allergy foods and cooked as well and added omega 3s. Those trials proved not to change a thing regardless type of product ingested. Our course went basically to treating with revolution first. Then we moved to antibiotics to treat the infections of the ears feet and skin. Next we combined with with steroid shots and used various OC allergery meds. Eventually as steroids wore off and we changed allergy meds we were still in the same boat. We had to go hard core Atopica with one dog and for a few of the rescues the steroids shots worked since the symptoms where end of summer low end. The over the counter allergy meds had little or no effect for the dogs treated.
Over time we also logged all changes, food, meds, outdoor time and meds.
Based on a two yr summary the symptoms for my own dog, we found that flairs occur within three days of each other each year and also went away with the first frost. Thank goodness to good record keeping.
Snf
PPS: Does Promeris work for mites..... I have not heard that it does?
Our vet just gave us the OK to try benedryl for a few days before applying promeris. I might even ask about a trial and error with other antihistamines if there is no difference after a few days before the promeris is put on (I am really trying to avoid that!)
She also said that omega 3's and 6's in combination help allergies a lot. We already give Tsuki fish oil capsules every other day, I think we'll up it to once a day for a while.
I'm going to email them, I'm fairly certain they have strict quality control as they raise their fare themselves.
She never got to a point where she had the raccoon rings on her eyes-that seems really suspicious for sarcoptes. Sometimes skin scrapings won't show any mites and a skin biopsy sent to a lab is required for a diagnosis. Have you tried Tavist (clemastine I think)? Our dermatologist suggested that as a better alternative to benadryl, but no stores here carry it. Poor girl! I hope this is will be quickly resolved.
Can dogs be allergic to cedar?
I'm really hesitant to just put the Promeris on her to rule out mites, because we did put the Revolution on them the week after we found out Henson was diagnosed with sarcoptic mange. I think all this started thereafter because these strong (especially multi like Revolution) spot treatments really do a number on dogs. I blame it for her susceptibility to a possible allergy that she never had before this spring/summer. These chemicals do crazy things..
Cedar and beauty bark is supposedly a horrible irritant for many allergy dogs. The doc suggested I remove all the bark in my yard because Beebe had one of the highest scores to that. I can't remember where I read this, (it may have been the Shiba dog site), but I guess Shibas as a breed may tend to be much more sensitive to cedar pollen and bark. That may just be hear-say however, but it was true in Beebe's instance. The other Shibas don't seem bothered by it, but I know what their breeding is. Hope that helps. Let us know what you find out.
We noticed after our walk in the community park (where lots of cedar chips are) that Tsuki's eyes were really running after, in the car home. The repellent spray we use on us and them also contains cedar. This might explain the intense itching... I've been putting it on her!
Yeah my creamie has a super reaction to Frontline spot treatment and sprays with cedar oil, citronella etc. Her eyes just water and she is literally ill.... Off food and froths at the mouth for 24 hrs or more. She normally is not allergic to things in the everyday environment.
On the other hand my highly allergic dog shows no symptoms to the spray or the topical. However, like Lindsay's Beebe she will rub on concrete, grass, and rough surfaces scraping her face and body if we do not control her seasonal allergy flairs with medication. (Literally when she came in to rescue she was and seeping from her legs and feet leaving blood all over her blankets. It was assumed that no hair would ever grow back due to hyper pigmentation. We got lucky on that, she has full fur on face, ears, feet etc. now since we managed to reduce scarring.)
One has to find what works....it really is somewhat of a task to rule out potential causes...basically it is a trial type thing in finding the right solution for the itching.
Yes some mange looks very very similar to allergies....it can be tricky ruling it all out since both things can cause rings or crusty lids and skin that flakes scabs and fur that has small patchy ticking of missing hair.
If you can find it take look at Small Animal Dermatology - A Color Atlas and Therapeudic Guide by Dr. Linda Medleau 2006 or Color Atlas of Small Animal Dermatology by Dr Barbara Kummel 1990.
There is a difference that is hard to see unless you look at photos or actual dogs side by side
Snf
We've tried Benadryl to see how she would respond to anti-histamines.
We've tried Promeris to rule out Sarcoptic Mange. Kitsu shows zero signs of mange.
Her preliminary blood work came back normal.
At this point, none of the above made any difference and we have come to a few conclusions:
1. It is definitely not mange.
2. It is definitely not a food allergy.
3. Tsuki is experiencing atopy due to an inhalant/environmental allergy. To test this theory, we have decided to put Tsuki on a week's course of steroids. Should she respond to them, we may to an allergy panel to determine what is causing the itching and hair loss.
4. Imbalance somewhere in her glands or other internal function. If she is not responsive to the steroids, we will have to do more comprehensive blood work.
And her itching, hair loss, and "hot spots" are only getting worse... Tsuki starts her steroids tomorrow, which I also dread doing, but at this point, I only want her to experience some relief while we figure out the problem.
Tsuki's "relief" (in which you can see the redness of her face)
*edited to add: this was taken tonight, 7/23. I usually stop her itching, but I wanted to show how she goes at her face, after rubbing on the carpet for a minute or so.
Photographic evidence:
This was one month ago, approx, when we first got to Maine:
This was two weeks ago, the red eyebrows are starting (notice right eye... it runs a bit, but not the left eye?)
3 days ago:
Tonight:
It is just her face really.. not ears, not paws, just face. I feel so helpless for her...
**EDIT** sorry I didn't see you didn't start steriods yet until tomorrow...is it topical or oral?
*2nd Edit*Past 2 days, Shao New's allergies have been on overdrive in the morning (before Claritin)..it may be the rain/mold giving the allergies a flareup...maybe that's why her eyes are so red?? How about poison ivy? can dogs get it?
Poor Tsuki!!
I've no idea what to say. If it's not mange, and it's not food allergies.. :( then it's a big tough one.....
Sometimes when Lantis used to get mystery hot spots, no medications would help it get better. They just seemed to happen and the only thing that fixed it was to put a e-collar on him till it healed completely (so he wouldn't itch it more). Sometimes they tend to make small irritations worse by itching it.. I know Lantis'll pick at small cuts that could go away on their own until they became larger open cuts that he just made worse and worse..
I'm sorry, that's all I can think of. I was thinking of you on the other forum so I'm glad I found you here.. :)
I know Tsuki would hate it, but the e-collar idea to stop her from itching might be a good thing :P
Sending happy healthy healing vibe to Sooks!
E-collar! That is such a simple solution for the itching part of the problem! Why in the world did that not come to me?!?! THANKS!
When Bella showed her allergy to corn, did she show it in other parts of her body? Tsuki got red and itchy under her arms, in her ears and her paws when she had food allergies... never her face like this
However, she still has inhalent (seasonal) allergies. Mostly it seems to be pollen and grass that she is allergic to. She sneezes quite a bit and has the runny eyes and nose with it.
Me, I am allergic to mold. And my allergy actually presents itself with symptoms that are similar to Tsuki's. I get red around the eyes, my face, chin, and throat itch and ends up having a slight rash on it. I also get a little congested and get sinus headaches with the mold allergy. But mostly, itchiness. Like right now... All this humid, rainy weather has the mold count way high here...
Wait, so what can you do for a mold allergy? Air purifiers in house? Claritin for outside?