i need help w/ my yellow labs allergies. Please help me?

Question

she has dry skin, she flops her ears constantly, she has whelts on her stomach, have been giving her treatment for mites w/ predizone and she has had a hematoma on her ear from flopping her ears this past summer and has had surgery on that which was horrible. I had heard in June that Glucosamine is also good for Labs. Could the Glucosamine be the problem, she is also diabetic? Please help. she is my baby

Answer 1

I'm so sorry about your lab. My dog once had really bad allergies, which went away after I moved to a new town. It turned out she was allergic to something outside in the yard . She also had a horrible ear hematoma...both ears, actually. They had to be drained by the doctor, and now they are horrible looking and permanently wrinkled even 6 years later. In addition, she also got the nasty welts on her tummy from the allergen in the grass.

Here is my suggestion: Your dog's ears need to be treated with ear drops, for example otomax, to kill any infection until you get the allergies under control (the infection and inflammation is what causes her to flop her ears and develop the hematoma). The prednisone will also help with this inflammation.
For her allergies, she needs an allergy test to tell you exactly what she is allergic to. This will save you tons of money. Then, she needs to be on a daily allergy medication to prevent allergic reactions. Some dogs take benadryl tablets.
For her skin welts, I used a benadryl cream for my dog. It was recommened by my vet and worked wonderfully.

I hope all of this information helps you. I have a lot of experience with dogs and allergies, so I know what you are going through.

Answer 2

If the vet didn't ok the glucosamine i would cut it out. Did the vet recommend any allergy medication? A lot of the itchiness could be caused by the diabetes. Make sure you really follow the diet she should be on, no extra treats, or people food.

Answer 3

For the allergies I recommend all natural Alfalfa Complex and for her skin condition to bathe her regularly with all natural Basic H solution. These products have helped many other dogs with the same or similar conditions and will not cause any side effects.

Hope this is helpful and feel free to contact me with questions.

Answer 4

I found a really good website that explains several ways to combat allergies in dogs. I would talk to your vet about any treatment you start that might affect her diabetes. I would transfer them here, but you really need all the details. Take a look and I hope it helps!!

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1587&articleid=137

Answer 5

Have you been told to avoid foods containing soy or to try her on a raw food diet? Have you consulted the vet again since she is not getting better?