What could be causing the allergy?

Question

I just took my dog to the vet again because he develops staph infections from a contact allergy. This has been happening off and on for about two years. My vet and I are fresh out of ideas as to what he could be allergic to.

He is up to date on flea prevention and the vet found no fleas. It's heavy winter here, and there isn't a spec of grass to be seen anywhere. We do not use carpet fresh, febreeze, or any such products. He is not crated during the day and so he isn't laying on dirty bedding all day. He has a dog bed, but never uses it. We do have carpeting (plush and berber), but it's new within the last two months, and this has been going on much longer than that.

Any other ideas or suggestions as to what could be causing these allergies? The vet says she hasn't seen a case this bad or frequent before. She says it is most definately a contact allergy, NOT a food allergy.

Our floor cleaner is swiffer wetjet.

And our doggie has been damp a lot lately. Like I said, there's snow everywhere, and he likes to tunnel through it.

Answer 1

It could be a lot of things. Has your vet recommended an allergy testing series? I think at this point that is where you should probably go. They should take a blood sample and send it to the lab. They will run an allergy series on it and test your dogs blood for all allergens including contact and food allergies. Then when they get the results back your vet will call in to get a series of shots. Then you will bring your dog in on a schedule to get shots. The shots slowly desensitize the dog to the allergens. It is usually saved as a last resort on allergy cases because it can be very expensive (600 dollars+ at our old clinic). That would be my suggestion because one of the allergens they test for is...I know this may be funny but human dander. Just like people can be allergic to dogs, dogs can be allergic to people or other animals. The allergy series lets you know a whole range of things like different trees, molds, foods, and about anything else the dog could be allergic to. I would ask your vet about this option. If it were my dog and I was dealing with her allergies as long as you have I would be willing to pay the money to make her feel better. That is the best option I have for you. Good luck

Answer 2

How would the vet know if it's contact allergy and not a food allergy? Any allergy can cause skin rashes, and other problems. Other allergies that do not go away with winter weather are mold and mildue which can come from your house and even the dirt if you get a sunny day where the soil heats up enough.

Also, allergies can combine with each other to reach your dog's thresholds where a single irritant may not. Something like a contact allergy combined with a food allergy might trigger a response when the single allergy alone might not. Although, food allergies are actually pretty rare. You could rule out the food allergy by putting your dog on prescription diet with an unusual protein source like rabbit.

I would have my dog tested. I did not find allergy shots helpful either for myself or for my dog but having the dog tested helped me to find out what was causing the problems.

You may also want to keep a diary for your dog which may lead to some insights into cycles or triggers that you might not otherwise notice.

Answer 3

Ok I had this problem with one of my Goldens and this is what I found.
My dog it seems was allergic to the floor cleaner I was using to clean my floors with. He would lay down on the kitchen floor and within a few days the rash was there. the culprit was MR. Clean.
I changed to a earth friendly product and made sure I rinsed the floors a couple of times. Also now it's winter time so I always make sure his stomach is dry right after he comes back in from outside. Moisture on the skin only makes things worse.

Check what you are using to clean with and try to eliminate them one by one until you find the allergy causing product. A really good place to start is where your dog rests the most!

Also guess what the new carpets are made of chemicals! They do release into the air even though we can't smell them they are there. So if he's laying on the rugs it just may be them too. don't let him lay on the rugs unless you place a towel or something else on them to form a barrier between him and the rugs.
There are allgery tests that can be done on your dog too. Talk to your vet about these tests too.

Answer 4

Whenever I've had a problem with an allergy, it almost always traces back to floor cleaners or carpets. I've had two dogs allergic to nylon, which is the fibre in most carpets. We put down cotton mats on top of the carpet, for them to lay on, which solved that problem.

Floor cleaner is a tougher one. You will have to keep switching cleaners, if you think that might be the problem. See if you can find a hypoallergenic cleaner, without perfumes etc.

Good luck! I know this is a hard one to track down.

Answer 5

It could be your laundry detergent or even the flea prevenative. Alergies are some of the hardest problems to find answers for. Does anyone in the house use hand lotion or perfume? I had a pup who broke out in hives because of a hand lotion I used. Good luck and hope you find the culprit.

Answer 6

It could be a type of cleaner you use.
It might even be a type of food you have.
People food or dog food.