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Post by bectil on Feb 7, 2015 11:04:41 GMT
Hi brummiedog and Oreo, welcome to the forum Oreo looks a very happy dog and by the sounds of things, she is very lucky to have found you! I'm Bec and I am owned by Tilly a Border Collie and Alfie a Whippet X Staffy. Hope you like it here
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Post by tonib on Feb 9, 2015 2:22:57 GMT
Welcome to the forum brummiedog I'm sure you'll you enjoy it here. Hope you don't mind a welcome from, a cat only owner (well I was brought up with dogs so always enjoy hearing about them as well) I'm Toni with 4 rescue cats aged between 5 & 15
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Post by brummiedog on Feb 9, 2015 11:26:53 GMT
Hi all thanks again for your welcomes Welcome to the forum! Oreo is lovely! Sorry to hear that she likely has allergies though. Has your vet not offered you any allergy tests to determine exactly what she's allergic to? Both of my dogs have various allergies - both are allergic to gluten and rice and they each have an allergy to certain meat. I had a hair analysis done which gave a full breakdown of everything they're allergic to, including environmental allergies. This was much cheaper than having allergy tests done at the vets, and quicker than an elimination diet! I can definitely recommend having one of those done if you want to find out what she's allergic to. Finding out will enable you to cut those things out of her diet/environment and hopefully that would stop her chewing at her feet. Yes and no in all honesty. We've been to three different vets and ended up at the same point. They have basically said that it is an allergy, but to what they don't know. As she only chews one paw I suspect that it probably isn't an allergy because surely she would be itchy on other feet? It just doesn't make any sense. We had her hair tested after the groomer had it done and the list that came back was as long as your arm. If we kept her away from everything on that list she'd wouldn't be able to move from her bed and only drink water and eat chicken lol. We have worked through the list and it doesn't seem to have an effect. The only thing that hasn't changed is the fact that we have budgies. We had them before Oreo and it's the only constant in all of this. Is it possible that dogs could be allergic to bird feathers/danders? She is such a loving dog and she really does make me laugh. She is almost the perfect dog and it's such a shame she's had such a bad start in life. We do spoil her a little but I think she deserves it.
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Post by lotsofcats on Feb 9, 2015 11:41:58 GMT
Oreo looks lovely. I hope that the vet can sort out her allergies and other problems. She is lucky that you have given her a forever home after being in rescue.
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Post by zahada on Feb 9, 2015 19:12:04 GMT
Sorry to hear about Oreo's health issues.
When she first came to you, was she chewing her paw? I'm sure dogs can be allergic to birds feathers, dander or faeces. Have you been offered medication? There is a new drug called Apoquel, which has made so much difference to a Weimaraner I know. This dog has been chewing herself most of her life (about 8 years) to the point that the owner was considering pts to stop her suffering. Apoquel has made so much difference it's unbelievable she's the same dog.
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Post by brummiedog on Feb 9, 2015 20:15:17 GMT
Fortunately Oreo isn't too bad, although her licking has left her bald on the top of her paw.
We have been offered steroids (which didn't really help) and autopica and after speaking to the vet and someone who has tried it with their dog we opted not to go for that mainly due to the side effects.
Well we don't know when the chewing started, but it was within a few months because my partner was with her and she noticed that she was limping and found that she'd chewed her foot that much her pad was hanging off. We would notice wet patches on the sofa where she'd been lying.
Looking back I don't think she chewed in the rescue as I'm sure she'd have had a damaged paw before that stage.
It's all very strange and it seems even the vets are stumped.
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Post by orpheous87 on Feb 9, 2015 20:30:05 GMT
Hi all thanks again for your welcomes Yes and no in all honesty. We've been to three different vets and ended up at the same point. They have basically said that it is an allergy, but to what they don't know. As she only chews one paw I suspect that it probably isn't an allergy because surely she would be itchy on other feet? It just doesn't make any sense. We had her hair tested after the groomer had it done and the list that came back was as long as your arm. If we kept her away from everything on that list she'd wouldn't be able to move from her bed and only drink water and eat chicken lol. We have worked through the list and it doesn't seem to have an effect. The only thing that hasn't changed is the fact that we have budgies. We had them before Oreo and it's the only constant in all of this. Is it possible that dogs could be allergic to bird feathers/danders? She is such a loving dog and she really does make me laugh. She is almost the perfect dog and it's such a shame she's had such a bad start in life. We do spoil her a little but I think she deserves it. Oh dear, that doesn't sound like much fun for either you or Oreo. I don't think she necessarily would be itchy on her other feet, but then again, I don't know for sure. I know that one of my dogs tends to nibble the same patch if she's itchy, so it could be the same for Oreo. Lol I know what you mean. Poor Oreo. One of my girls has more allergies than the other, but the one who has less has never seemed to react to much anyway. Which is odd, but I'm cutting the things I can out anyway. Like zahada said, I would think it is possible for dogs to be allergic to bird feathers/dander. Is it possible to do a trial by keeping her out of same room as the budgies for a little while to see if her symptoms ease? Have you tried neem oil? I used some of this on Pepper's latest itchy spot and it definitely helped clear it up. It stopped the itchy, which in turn stopped Pepper nibbling so it got chance to recover.
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