allergy shots for paw chewing

[tem]

hello all golden lovers, please share you experience with me.
.I have an appointment in 10 days to have allergy testing for my 2.5 year old golden. he is chewing his paws until they are raw and is limping. he will lie down in the middle of a walk to chew at his feet. 2 monts ago i took him into the the vet dermatologist and blu was given steriods and pills for yeast on his feet. this immediately cleared everything up but once he finished the week of steriods, he could not tolerate the yeast tablets and lost 5 pounds in one week. i discontinued them but his feet were okay for a while
anyway, here we are again with big problems and I just don't want him to have to live(or eventually die) from taking steriods. so, i have made this appt to test and get allergy shots for the puppy. It will cost between $500-850.00. i am sure that all of you understand that i am more that willing to spend this money if it helps my little boy. my question is, does anyone know of any success with allergy shots or had experience with this that I need to know about before taking this big financial step? thank you so much, ahead of time, for your knowledge and input.
teresa

[johnwa]

Here are the discussions already in progress regarding your issue:
<a href = "http://www.topgoldenretrieversites.net/forums/showthread.php?t=8594">thread</a>
<a href = "http://www.topgoldenretrieversites.net/forums/showthread.php?t=8138">thread</a>
<a href = "http://www.topgoldenretrieversites.net/forums/showthread.php?t=6195">thread</a>
<a href = "http://www.topgoldenretrieversites.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4846">thread</a>
<a href = "http://www.topgoldenretrieversites.net/forums/showthread.php?t=770">thread</a>

[tem]

thanks for the threads. it was helpful but not much infor on the shots. i will continue with the plan & hope it is the right decision. there was one link from the 90's that said it was 60% effective & took up to 9 months to work. maybe things have improved since then.

you are very deligent in keeping up with the input and i appreciate your help.
teresa

[konabear]

Have you first tried changing his food? Im surprised the allergy test is so expensive, have you tried calling around? Our GR had allergy testing last year after she lost most of her fur. It cost us about $300, if that, for the allergy test. She has been getting shots for 6 mos now and we've recently tweaked her serum because she was still getting skin scabbies and losing her hair. It will take time, its definitely not qwik fix. She was on an every 2 week shot regimen but is now at once a week. It will all depend on your dermatologist as to what the schedule will be. If shots are in your future and your GR loves to play, I would do play time first, then shot after they've calmed down a bit. Very rarely do they have a reaction, but your derma will probably tell you to limit their play activity about 2 hrs after the shot and watch for any reactions. Be sure, just in case something should happen, that your vet or an emergency hospital is open should he have a bad reaction. Kona (GR) gets a slight fever after so its no playtime after her shot. She hates that part. Communicate with the derma vet though, with any questions you have or slight reactions your GR might be having. Even if you think they might be dumb questions, ask. I'm real good at asking any silly question that comes to mind! Good luck!

[HeatherM]

so, konabear, did you find out exactly what kona is allergic to? are the shots to build up a tolerance to that allergen?

[konabear]

Oh...its a laundry list. They did not test food allergies because we did not think it was food. She is allergic to dust mites, house mites, bermuda grass (our new house is ALL BERMUDA hybrid grass), and several other pollen type things. Yes, the allergy serum has all these things and it is suppose to build her immunity to them. She is on her fourth round of antibiotics to kill whatever skin infection keeps coming back. And it STINKS, I mean the pills. She is taking people antibiotics. They take a swab of the infected skin area and grow a culture, then try to "kill" the culture w/ an antibiotic. Its been a long road, she's finally growing her top coat out. She only had her thin undercoat for the last few weeks, so she's not a fluffy GR (only in her butt fur area!). We keep her on Solid Gold anyway and I stay away from anything that has wheat, corn, and other crap stuff.

[konabear]

This is what she looked like last year this time before we saw the Derma Vet. Makes me tear up just looking at the pics. And she smelled HORRIBLE a day after a bath from the skin infection.

[konabear]

sorry...forgot to include the pics. :o

[HeatherM]

oh, poor thing! but she must be doing better if you are showing last year's pics, so that's a good thing! do the allergy shots seem to be helping? i think she's beautiful, fur or no fur! :)

[tem]

my vet does not think it is food and we are raw feeding so i do know exactly what he is eating. i am in dallas and all the vets around her refer the this one main vetenary referral center that has specialties of all kinds so i went to the dermatologist. i hope that is the going fee for the tests. glad to hear that they are slowly working as I was advised they would take some time. right now it is pretty bad because i am not suppose to put anything on them or give him benydral for 10 days before the testing. i have just been putting long socks on him and taping up his legs so he looks pretty pitiful but gets around just fine. hearing of your experience makes me feel better that there is hope. good luck with your progress and i will keep you posted
teresa

[konabear]

Excellent! Yes, we live in Dallas area as well and Kona goes to the Vet Referral Center off the tollway. She sees Dr. Crow. She's been to so many dr appts, she loves seeing drs. they are very good with any questions you may have. Note: they will give your GR a mild sedative before the allergy testing, I had never seen Kona out of it so it was very upsetting to me. After her testing was over we went across the Tollway to Whataburger and got her a dry cheeseburger for her troubles! She was a trooper!

[tem]

yeah,we are sort of neighbors. Blue is going to see dr. garfield but i am glad to hear that you were able to get all of your questions answered at the referral center. we will also make a stop at the burger kind if he feels like it. will there be a problem getting him in the car or will he be wide enough awake to walk out etc.
teresa

[konabear]

Its a very low dose sleepy shot, and you can't leave until after it has worn off. I THINK they gave her another shot to help wake up, but it takes a few minutes for the allergy shots to be administered and then read, so there will be time.

[tem]

blue started his shots today and i am very hopeful. Like Kona, blue is allergic to 4 molds, 3 grasses, 3 kinds of trees, and dust. I am very hopeful that we are one the right track. until the shots start to work he has to take the predisone and pills for yeast again. But he had chewed a piece of his pad off so we had to do something to give him some relief until the shots start working. How long was it before you noticed Kona getting better.
Teresa

[konabear]

Well, like they say....it takes time. She was on shots every two weeks but her skin condition did not completely go away. The scabbies came back and her hair fell off so back on antibiotics she went, she's been on cephlexin for 1.5 months now and we've changed her second vile of serum. She's on a weekly shot schedule now in hopes it will build her immunity more to the skin infection. Time....time....and more time. This time last year is when she lost most of her hair and was covered in skin infection. So, we're hoping by time time NEXT year, we'll have this infection figured out.

[tem]

i am so sorry for you and Kona. It sounds like you guys have been through so much for the last year. The yeast meds that they gave Blu this time and last time are really hard on his stomach. He lost 5 pounds in one week the last time and i can tell he is not feeling well again. It just makes me feel so bad for him. I have another golden that has none of this suffering(thank heavens) & he is so full of joy and love of life. It is so unfair for these allergy guys.
Teresa