Expert: Jennifer Date: 2/20/2004 Subject: allergies in dogs
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Followup To
Question -
Hello I have 2 labs one is a border collie black lab(very cute:)) and the other is a yellow lab/mastiff(very cute too :)) anyway, my question is my yellow lab/mastiff has very bad itching on one ear,the vet told me on the phone that it was not ear mites but it was most likely allergies,we have given benadryl and used special anti itch shampoos but they dont work very long at all,do you have any suggestions,he is up most nights trying to scratch his ear and shakes his head alot. thanks for your time!
Answer -
Did your doctor rule out an inner ear infection? Does the ear smell bad or have any discharge? What color is the discharge if any? Allergies, in my experience, do not affect only the ears, are any of his other areas affected, if so what? And also, an allergiy, unless a reaction to something like a bug bite or topical allegries, do not affect only one ear. Sounds to me more of an infection. Did the doctor do an ear smear? Q-tip the ear and smear it on a slide to look at under the microscope? Food allergies affect both ears and usually the skin, so it wouldn't be that. Answer these questions and I can try and help. Jennifer
Jennifer,
thanks for your fast reply! No, the vet never did an ear smear we talked on the phoneand she said she could basically rule that out from what she knew about it but my dog does bite his feet alot(actually sometimes to the point they bleed)the vet said this was due to boredom although the dog does have chew toys,etc. My dog does not have any ear discharge or a bad ear smell.thanks again and have a great day :)
Answer Biting the feet a lot would make more sense for allergies. Does your doctor have you on any type of prednisone (steroid) or has she considered doing medical tests to find out what the allergy exactly is, ex. grass, food, etc. A lot of times they will start with food just because it is normlly cheaper that medical evaluation of blood work and skin scrapings. That would be the next step as far as I know. I would test for food first then do the medical stuff. Sometimes prednisone does help, but it is a steroid which is not good for long term use. Word to the wise, medical testing is fairly expensive so don't go into it unless you are financially ready, you don't want to stop once you have started, it can screw up the results. Good Luck, if I can be of further assistence let me know. Jennifer
