My pup needs help.

[180ls1]

We adopted a 3/4 chocolate 1/4 silver lab who has a ton of skin issues and ear infections. We had an allergic panel done and it seems like he is allergic to almost everything. He is currently on Royal Canin Hydrolyzed Protein HP and immune therapy shots. I am looking for other ideas you all may have to help out. Raw diet? Anything else?

We are inn San Diego and may travel a bit to get him real help. Thanks in advance!

 

[PredatorSlayer]

Straight raw meat diet?

 

[180ls1]

Straight raw meat diet?

I am open to it. Do you know much about it or just tossing the idea out there?

 

[PredatorSlayer]

I am open to it. Do you know much about it or just tossing the idea out there?

I have a buddy whose dog had similar issues. Started giving the dog nothing but raw red meat and it all cleared up. Sample of one, but it may be worth trying.

Doesnt seem to far fetched since the carnivore diet has similar results in humans.

 

[Dos XX]

Food allergies or grass, dust, etc? Was it a blood test? My vet says food allergies are hard to test for with a blood test.

 

[Gseith]

Straight raw meat diet?

I had two dogs that lived long healthy lives on raw chicken hindquarters. Bone and all. One lived 16 years, the other 15 years. No excessive trips to the vet.
It wasn’t until they were in their final year that they actually started to slow down.

 

[180ls1]

Food allergies or grass, dust, etc? Was it a blood test? My vet says food allergies are hard to test for with a blood test.

Grass for sure. Food too, I believe. My wife is the scientist and on top of it more. I can find out.

 

[Dos XX]

Grass for sure. Food too, I believe. My wife is the scientist and on top of it more. I can find out.

Look into Nextmune. I know of a couple of dogs that it has helped with grass, etc.

 

[180ls1]

Look into Nextmune. I know of a couple of dogs that it has helped with grass, etc.

Thanks.

My wife said he has only been tested for environmental which he was allergic to like 1/2 the things they test for. The vet (pet dermatologist) said its very likely he has food allergies also but we have not tested for that yet.

 

[pacoalcracker]

Many, many times it is a food related allergy. I worked in the pet food industry for a long time and there is a lot of different things that go into pet food, wet or dry. That includes a lot of vitamin and minerals that pets need to stay healthy, so raw meat daily isn't always good for every pet. There are any number of things in a specific brand or even type of pet food that can cause this issue. I would recommend trying several different brands and types within a brand to see if it improved his condition. The hydrolyzed protein may even be the culprit. In many instances, it doesn't take much to set off an immune response. Starting with his food is the easiest and least expensive route.

It is not a good idea to feed any dog chicken bones...period.

You didn't mention how old your Lab is.

Make sure if he is indoors your humidity isn't real low drying out and irritating his skin.

 

[180ls1]

Many, many times it is a food related allergy. I worked in the pet food industry for a long time and there is a lot of different things that go into pet food, wet or dry. That includes a lot of vitamin and minerals that pets need to stay healthy, so raw meat daily isn't always good for every pet. There are any number of things in a specific brand or even type of pet food that can cause this issue. I would recommend trying several different brands and types within a brand to see if it improved his condition. The hydrolyzed protein may even be the culprit. In many instances, it doesn't take much to set off an immune response. Starting with his food is the easiest and least expensive route.

It is not a good idea to feed any dog chicken bones...period.

Any guidelines around that? Try another similar HP from a different company or even lower ingredient formula for 3 months and see?

 

[Yoder]

I had a Golden with really bad allergies. We tried Apoquel pills, they helped maybe 10-15%. Then we added Cytopoint shots and she was maybe 30% better. At that point we were paying about $200/month for vet bills and she was still itching. We tried about 10 different kinds of food and even prescription food and it didn't make any difference. We finally took her to a pet dermatologist, and they created a custom allergy shot for her. At this point she was about 8 and they told us it would have worked better if we had started her younger. The shot really didn't help much. I wish I would have started at the dermatologist. I used to call her the 6 million dollar dog. After seeing people with immune system problems being cured by the carnivore diet, I wish I had switched her to a raw meat diet. Dog food is so ultra processed, it's probably like eating Cheetos your entire life.

One over the counter product we found that worked extremely well for her ears was Zymox. She would get this awful yeast smell in her ears, red and raw. In maybe two days in would be gone with Zymox. It worked even better than the rx ear medication.

 

[ADR]

As a practicing vet, I would suggest finding a vet/dermatologist that you can trust and ask these questions to. You are paying for their time and knowledge. Allergic dermatitis is a very complex disease and often times treatments take weeks to show improvement. There is no blood test for food allergies. Response to a food trial is the suggestive, however it can take 3 months to show a response. Many people aren’t that patient. My $0.02

 

[KurtR]

Above is the right answer.

I know some one with a silver lab that sounds about the same and it’s been 4 years of issues get one under control and next one pops up. Hopefully you have better luck.

Stories like these are way to common and sad with silver labs , any of the doodles. For some reason people will pay stupid prices for mutts when they could get a healthy well bred dog for a fraction of the price.

 

[jimh406]

Based on what I’m hearing about people, I’d try a diet change to mostly meat and see if it works.

 

[Decker9]

A good friend had a silver lab for a bunch of years who had skin/hair problems. Daily CBD seemed to help a lot.

If you’re interested I can find out which brand he used. Hope you find answers for your dog!!

 

[Bolt]

Let's just start with our German Shepherd has chronic skin and ear issues. It didn't start until we moved to VA almost two years ago.
I have never tested for specific allergies but I did try about everything food related for the first year.
If you go this route it takes about 6 weeks to run a trial meaning change food and feed nothing but that food for weeks or it's a waste of your time.

What does work. Cytopoint injection is costly but it does work. However, my dog didn't react well to it and the benefits wore off quickly.

Apoquel works great I currently have my dog on this with success for 6 months. Cost for dog under 90 pounds will run ~$1000 a year. It has completely stopped the itching and all of her hair returned.

Now for ear infections. I wouldn't assume they are related to allergies but could be. My dogs ear problems are not allergy related as she has always had ear issues and her allergies started after 7 years old.

Wash dogs ears every other day with TrizUltra + ketoit is OTC and I buy it on Amazon.

For treatment when they have an infection. Mometamax works okay but only treats some bacteria.
Posatex is the best and treats a wider spectrum of yeast fungus and bacteria. It's my go to so I do not have to pay for an ear exam.

At this point I just call the vet and say what I want and they write me the prescription as long as I have the annual health check.

Good luck and get ready to spend some money. At this point I probably have $8000 in here ears alone but she is worth every penny.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

 

[BadDogPSD]

Our GSP had allergy issues. After trying Apoquel and the Royal Canin specialized food I put him on a raw diet. His skin issues cleared up quickly. We used We Feed Raw for about a year, feeding beef, lamb, and venison. WFR must have changed something as he started to refuse to eat it. We also tried the food by Midwest Legacy Beef but it had a very strong odor (preservatives?) and he wouldn't eat it. started making his food about a year ago. So far so good. It's not cheap, but neither are prescription food and vet bills!

 

[gbflyer]

Our yellow is allergic to a lot of stuff. There is a blood test that our vet ordered. It isn’t as accurate as the full allergy panel deal they do but it’s a place to start. My wife makes food for ours. The biggest triggers were corn and peas which is in nearly every commercial dog food. We found a Costco salmon kibble that works and he gets half that and half the home made. He can have fish and rabbit protein. We get by with 2 cytopoint shots a year now.

They have bred these dogs improperly. Labs especially. The sire and dam of ours should have been sterilized or knocked in the head. I told that to the breeder. I am not on her Christmas card list.

 

[northernmadman]

My lab has some issues as well. Ear infections happen especially when at the cabin for the week with the swimming that happens. My wife is really good at cleaning them out on a regular schedule.
Allergies are a pain. Like mentioned above it can take a long time to find them. We make all our own food for the dogs now using the scraps and waste from butchering moose and caribou in the fall. Here is the mix I use
%70 protein - the waste meat and connective tissue from the moose
%15 organ meat - chicken and beef, kidney, heart, liver I just purchase from the grocery store
%15 fibre - sweet potato and peas and carrots usually.

In case we missed something we give them a small amount or Origen 6 fish dry kibble and they get lots of bones to chew on to clean their teeth.

Good luck.