My dog's skin issues keep returning. Are these really allergies?

If this is a recurring skin issue, he most likely had an underlying allergy. It could be an allergy to environmental things, or an allergy to the protein in the food. You can treat the infection, but it will keep returning if the underlying issue isn't also addressed. I would talk with your veterinarian about allergies. The antibiotics are not too harsh, and won't cause kidney damage

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. What year did scribing sounds like a bacterial skin infection. It sounds like it had done okay on the prescribed course of treatment. Unfortunately, sometimes infections may require several courses of antibiotics or several different antibiotics before an adequate response is achieved. I would suggest going back in to see your veterinarian who initially prescribed the antibiotics and shampoo. The shampoo that I'm most recommend is duoxo chlorhexidine PS combination and bathe twice weekly until the infection is resolved. You can find this shampoo online if you're vet does not carry it. I hope this helps! Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions or concerns. I am also available by phone or text baste consultation if needed.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

This is probably due to a severe allergy, although it could also be fleas or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat her with a high quality flea treatment (e.g. advantage), then get her to the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try discovering the cause of the allergy. Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair the skin lesions (steroids and antibiotics). simultaneously you should start her on a prescription hypoallergenic diet for at least 2 months. Hopefully you will see some results after all this, if not you and your vet should consider putting her on a long term allergy treatment (Atopica or Apoquel).

Hello, sorry to hear about AVA. Allergic skin disease can be very stressful and frustrating for owners, pets and veterinarians. As you probably know by now, allergies in dogs can arise for 3 sources. However, one must rule out non-allergic causes for itchiness such as mite infestations and ringworm. Flea allergy dermatitis (FAD) is one that causes very severe itchiness over their back and tail base. Ava should be on strict, monthly flea preventative and your environment should be treated with insecticide at least once monthly especially during the spring and summer months. Remember, you don't need to see fleas on your dog in order for her to have FAD. A single flea bite can produce enough flea saliva to induce an allergic reaction. About 75% of the dogs that do not have FAD, have an allergy to something in the environment. i.e pollen, grasses, cat dander, human dander, trees, house mites, flies, etc. These are the hardest to diagnose and typically involve doing an expensive allergy test. There is a blood allergy test and skin allergy test for this. Once we have obtained results for this test, we typically recommend following up with desensitization injections which work by injecting a small dose of the allergens AVA may be reactive to with the goal of creating immunity so that she no longer responds with an allergic reaction. Treatment for this may last up to 8 months and the success rate is about 60-70%. The remainder 30% have also shown reduce degree of an allergic reaction. The last category involves food allergies. These are typically the least common kind of allergy in dogs and require a food trial with a novel protein diet (something your dog has never beed offered such as rabbit, duck, lamb, venison, or kangaroo) or a hydrolyzed protein diet. Diet trials should be administered for a period of 6-8 weeks without any other food source. (no treats, table scraps, or different kinds of food). Clearly, determining which kind of allergy your dog may have can take severe weeks to a few months. Therefore, in the interim, allergic pets should again be on strict flea preventative, allergy medications such apoquel, atopica, steroids, Cytopoint injections or antihistamines. Any secondary yeast or bacterial infections should be treated as well with antibiotics and anti-fungals. Best of luck and hope this helps.

A few things to consider. She should be tested for hypothyroidism to make sure she doesn't have a thyroid condition. She probably needs to be on some type of allergy medication long term to control any allergies that are contributing to her skin condition. Your vet could try an antihistamine, like hydroxyzine, and see if that helps. There is also a new medication called Apoquel which seems to work very well. She should also stay on the antibiotics for at least 3-4 weeks before stopping. Adding Free Form Snip Tips may also help keep her skin healthy. You could also try a hypoallergenic diet like z/d for 8 weeks and see if that helps. Lastly, you could take her to a veterinary dermatologist if your vet can't get her condition under control.

If the medications helped and it came back after 2-3 weeks of stopping the treatment, it is probably an allergy, this means he will probably need to take those medications long term at least until the cause of the allergy is detected. this could be a food allergy, environmental allergies or flea allergy, this is the hard part- to discover what is the cause.