Before I had a dog of my own I had heard about other dog owners struggles with allergies and treatment. When Avy first started exhibiting some symptoms of allergies I was concerned but I wasn’t immediately convinced that was the problem. It started with her ears. Avy has ears the size of satellite dishes, they’re beautiful, but they’re also prone to infection. She loves the water and mud puddles and despite my best efforts at cleaning them she started to fuss with them a lot – scratching them until she cried.
When I first took Avy to the vet with a suspected infection the vet looked the ears over and gave me some drops to clear it up. We talked about the possibility of allergies but decided to wait and see how the medication went. The drops worked and all seemed well in our world again.
The next time Avy developed an ear infection we were visiting family on the island. At the same time she started scratching a lot – almost non-stop. I thought that maybe she had picked up fleas from the yard. So off we went to a local vet (the Sunrise Clinic in the Comox Valley – they were AMAZING and if any readers are from the island I highly recommend them). I asked the vet to check for fleas while checking ears. What he found was that she was having a histamine reaction – it was allergies.
What followed the diagnosis was a month on an elimination diet. I cooked meals of pork and quinoa or rice with veggies (Avy LOVED this!) That and medication cleared up all the problems and Avy was a happy dog. Then came the process of adding foods back in to see what she could tolerate. Chicken was out, beef questionable. Fish seems like a good fit and Avy enjoys it so that seems to be our win win. Next up we have to follow the process with treats, to make sure that none of her treats or chews spark a reaction. It’s an interesting process.
If anyone out there has had experience with dealing with pet allergies I would be interested to hear your stories!