Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 2/19/2010

Question
Hi Dr Gotthelf, I have a 12 year old wheaten / chow mix. He has pretty much scratched himself all his life. It seems to get worse when he is stressed out. We have tried all sorts of dermatology shampoos and antihistamine but the only thing that seems to work is Termerol P. I have weaned him down to 1 tablet every other day and that is working but no one has ever told me the cause and maybe there is a more holistic approach I can give him?

Answer
IF the Temaril-P works, then it is allergies.  The "P" in temaril-p is prednisone, which is good for treating the symptoms of allergic dermatitis.  If it is helping at a very low dose, then contimue it, theis is pretty safe.  You might also just ask your vet for Prednisone 5mg and give that the same way you were giving the teparil-p