Atopic Dermatitis or skin allergies...

Nytemare

Dee Dee is our 2 year old.
She has been diagnosed with severe atopic dermatitis. Once it's back under control, with medication and a short term steroid, which I expect to be within the next few weeks, what do you do/recommend to help keep it that way? I would like to find a remedy that is not only affordable, but easy on Dee Dee as well.

Weimwayz · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 6:52 pm Post subject:

For the Atopic dogs at our clinic we used to use traditional steroid therapy but yet it can be harsh on the system and causes so many side effects. Just this past year there has been a new medication from Novartis called Atopica. it is a cyclosporin based drug that helps suppress the immune system so the allergies do not bother the skin and body. We have had HUGE success and have made so many owners very pleased and best of all made dogs comfortable again and can enjoy life. HOWEVER, it is very exspensive but most of our clients have been able to look past the cost once they see the difference in the dog. You must commit to 1 months and then go fro there. it's usually once capsule once daily and after 1 month you can decrease the dose if the dog is doing well. You might want to google Atopica or ask your vet about it!!! All the best

DenverDog9 · Young Weim Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Posts: 130

Our Denver girl had mange before and it is gone now but now she has bad allergies. She has sores on the bottom of her feet and her skin is red most of the time. We went to to the vet and he has referred us to a dermatologist. We haven't gotten there yet but we plan on it. It is rather expensive. The vet gave us something to at least curve the sores and it has helped a ton. I just want her to me a happy and healthy dog. Its hard to exercise her becuase she cant run or walk for a long period of time because the sores on her feet bleen sometimes. I hope you can find an easy sure for your dog.

Pinchc44 · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:57 am Post subject:

Hi guys, I'm new to the board but thought I would chime in. Our 3 year old girl has atopic dermititis also. She started at age 8 months with it. We have used the Atopica and it worked well if we gave it to her daily but when we started to cut back then she would flare up again. She is currently on allergy shots every 10 days. We have gone the steroid route and also the antibiotics. When we had her tested for allergies, she tested positive to almost everything outside that you could imagine. She even tested positive to Staph bacteria. Thankfully, we have a great dermatologists here in Dallas TX and he is working with us to get things under control. I also give her a tbs of local honey a day. I figure it works for humans why not for dogs. Mostly, we just try to keep her in door during the heat of the day as the heat seems to make things work. I also bath her with Malaseb shampoo that I get from the vet weekly. I also have her on a grain free diet even though she has no food allergies and wipe her feet each night before bed to try and get the pollen off. It's always going to be an uphill battle with her allergies but we hope to give her a comfortable life. On top of all this last year we had her thyroid tested b/c she was gaining weight, sleeping all the time etc... Her thyroid levels were low so now she take thyroid pills twice a day and is doing well.

Hope some of this helps. I'm always interested in talking with people who have dogs with skin problems to get new ideas on how to help our girl.

Christie