Allergy tests for pets?

[ericasheridan]

We have a 6 year old Westie and he has a very bad skin condition, common in Westies. He has started another course of steroids this morning. I am wondering if anyone has been able to have an allergy test done on their dog? Our vet said it was not possible???????

[lankeela]

http://www.animal-allergy.com/

But no doubt your vet wants you to keep paying him for expensive drugs and tests.

[RATTER15]

We have a 10 year old Shih Tzu that has had a skin condition since a puppy, we tried every treatment and tests to find out what the problem was to no avail. .
A friend told us about about a raw feeding diet, just fresh meat, bones and fish, yogurt and a little cottage cheese, all raw.

We tried this diet and within two weeks the skin condition was gone!

We now feed our four dogs on this and they eat with enthusiasm they are looking fantastic and even top breeders say how well they look and they are winning shows.

Research the diet and do your dog a favour, the stuff that goes into kibble is so full of cereal and rubbish that cause dogs so many problems, their digestive system is not designed to cope with it! it is designed to eat meat!

Kibble needs to stay in the laboratory that created the stuff, we even make our own liver treats, even our 10 week old wolfhound is eating raw.

[wolf63]

Ratter - hope your dogs don't suffer from flatulence. Raw meat bum burps would knock you out in seconds.

:-)

My cat is asthmatic and I asked about getting him allergy tested to see what the root of the problem was. She wasn't very positive about allergy testing. It is a good practice and I trust them in such matters. Frankie was getting steroid injections for a while - it gave him the munchies.

[RATTER15]

Well wolf63, that's the good thing about feeding raw, they very rarely fart and their poos are half the size and don't smell, Poos are smaller because they are actually digesting their food instead of it just passing through their body.

[yelenots]

Hi we have a Westie with skin problems. When she was a pup she used to chew her paws so much that they would bleed and we had to put baby socks on her. She had a sore mouth and ears and was in a terrible mess. She was on steriods nearly all the time along with antibiotics. We tried all sorts of different foods and diets. Our vet recommended a allergy test which was done at a specialist vet hospital (dont ask how much!) They shaved her side and gave her 52 injections - had a fit when I picked her up! She is allergic to 3 types of grasses, dust & house mite and all types of feathers! She is now on a desensitizing vaccine which we have been taught how to give, every 2 weeks. Its was the best thing we have ever done as its worked and looking at her you would never know she had allergies - shes beautiful! The worse part of it all is - she wasn't insured! She is now.... but the allergies are an exclusion on the policy.

[jules77]

This my help.

http://www.sfbaywestieclub.com/tips_6.htm

[jules77]

I should say MAY help!

[NoMercy]

I'm not sure about that. I know my little boo boo had a very bad pollen reaction and had to go on a drip, etc., but that was in Spain. He's back in England now and, touch wood, has had no further allergic reactions.

[thumberlina]

My mother in law had a westie with the same problem, nothing the vet subscribed worked and she did not like him having lots of steroids so she took him to an animal healer/ naturapath worked out cheaper in the long run and the condition improved to the point that it nearly went away completely. Look up in the telephone directory for one, might be worth it! Good luck

[cailin20]

we had an allergy test done for our westie has it suffers with bad skin and it come back she was allergic to dust mites!still has bad skin, it did clear up for a couple years after i changed her food, but its back again and nothing i do seems to make any difference.