Hi SG- thanks for the reference to Dr. Kummel. I will browse the vet library for her book. About the food trial and not being on meds- The problem with trying to assess a response to the food trial while the patient is on meds is that you'd expect the patient to get better because of the meds, regardless of the effect on food. And then you don't know if they got better because of meds or because of diet change. Truth be told, if food allergies are suspected, it makes sense to change the diet ASAP, and that's usually what happens. But you just can't assess the effects of the diet until the secondary problems (ear infection, hotspot, etc.) and meds (especially steroids) are cleared. When I was trying to get Aleksander's allergies under control, I switched his food while he was being treated for a hotspot and ear infection. He was on steroids at the time (he had food, environmental, and flea allergies- I have no idea which one set him off this particular time, but it was before he was allergy tested). His original diet was chicken and rice, and I knew beef didn't agree with him, so I switched him to lamb and rice. Because of the steroids, he wasn't itchy, and the antibiotics helped clear his ear infection and hot spot. But as soon as the meds were done, he blew up in a major way- worse he had ever been! Turns out, he was VERY allergic to lamb, and had been on it for a month while under treatment. But this time I switched him back to his original chicken and rice diet while he was under treatment for another hotspot/ear infection combo, and waited to start a novel diet after his treatments were done, and in the winter when his environmental allergies were not a factor. Turns out, he wasn't allergic to chicken or rice at all, and the first flare up was most likely due to environmental and/or flea allergies. I've seen similar things happen to other people too. Now when I suspect a food allergy with environmental allergies, I tell people to not bother doing an official food trial until whatever season the environmental allergies are at their lowest. But it doesn't hurt to switch foods before that, with the understanding that major flare ups in environmental allergies may require medical intervention and make us unable to judge the effect of the food.

Atopica is VERY expensive and has side effects such as vomiting and diarrhea. I have two friends with dogs on it. One discontinued it very quickly because of the side effects, the other's dog is still on it and doing fairly well. It would be the very last resort IMO. My Doberman also has atopic allergies. He was on several cycles of Temaril-P this summer and I'm trying to avoid steroids in the future. It is difficult to tell if food allergies are also involved because if you do a food trial and the dog still itches, you can't tell if it's from the food or the environmental things the dog is allergic to (which in the south can be present most of the year). My dog is raw fed and I do not feed grains. I have spent thousands at the dermatologist and the dog has been on allergy shots for over a year. This summer was very bad so I don't think the shots are working. I've looked for other solutions and many of the things my regular vet suggested have helped. I've had some success with antihistamines. Zyrtec works for my dog and I only give it when he's very itchy (about once a week right now). You can try different antihistamines to determine if one will work for your dog. Do some research on this first to determine which are safe for dogs. I am also giving him Quercetin with Bromelain. This is a flavenoid that is an antioxidant and an H1 blocker. It helps some. I've also tried to deal with environmental exposure. I have removed the carpet from half of the house and am in the process of getting rid of the rest of it. I am replacing upholstered furniture with leather as my finances permit. I use mite-proof covers on the pillows, mattress, and box spring. I run dehumidifiers to keep the house at 40% humidity. I also wash the dog's bedding at least once a week with Borax and Tide Free. And I use a vacuum with a HEPA filter. These things all help with the dust mite allergies. For the pollen allergies, I rinse the dog off with water after his walks. Once he's dry I wipe down his coat with Thayer's Witch Hazel with Aloe. This is soothing and helps keep him clean. Then I brush him and spray him with Neem spray (5 days a week) or BioGroom Mink Oil (twice a week). I shampoo him every week or two with Duoxo Calm. I've tried the hexadine and Eqyss shampoos, but they dry his skin out and he seems more itchy. Allergies are horrible to deal with. Good luck to you and I hope this is helpful info.

Hi annz, the injection was dexamethasone for the allergy and she started the prednisolone pills 24 hours later. The vet suggested we just try to settle it down and see if it is a one off event, if it happens again, he suggested a skin scrape and perhaps some allergy tests. Apart from the redness the skin isn't showing much, he said there were no signs of infection, there are no welts or bites that can be seen either. The strange thing is that she had a c5 vaccination about a month ago, then two weeks later I found a lump on her neck where she had it, and about that time she started scratching. she doesn't have any history of allergies and has never been an itchy or scratchy dog at all so this was really strange. When I rang the vets office they said it sounded like a mild reaction to the vaccine and to give it a week or two for the lump to go down. Over the next week the lump stayed the same, but the following week it started getting smaller and just as it went away she had this skin reaction. I just can't shake this feeling that it's connected to that. I've read that these lumps after vaccination can be the body encapsulating the vaccine because it thinks it's a foreign invader, but perhaps as the body absorbed that lump it might have set off a second reaction??? The vet thinks it's unlikely they are connected, but this skin reaction just came out of nowhere and because of the timing I can't help but wonder if it's all from the vaccine shot? In a way I hope it is and that she isn't going to have to go through this again once it settles. Thanks so much for posting that link! It fits the atopic dermatitis description exactly, and I've been googling for the last couple of days and couldn't find anything useful about this. I've just rang the vet as you suggested and he said to keep going with the pills as she has to taper off them anyway, and then see where things are at.

Flonase nasal spray. It works. I am not a brand queen... I just know that this stuff works, it smells like flowers, it is not aggravating or drying to the sinus passages like nasal decongestant sprays. Use it when you need it. I am chiming in because I did do nasal irrigations during a aggravated allergy situation I had ongoing... and it did not work for me. In fact, I made it worse (not to get gross - I am sure you can figure it out) . So caution with the irrigation making matters worse, particularly when the nasal tissues are reacting to irritants that are causing the allergic reaction. The irritants will still be in the air if pollen is high. I am thinking the strong point for nasal irrigation is that it is good for washing out bacteria that produce colds (rhino virus etc) and moisturizing the passages and loosening up mucous that is congested. Drinking more water also helps congestion. My story is that I was taking the wrong meds. Finally, I have found my sinus happy zone with Flonase (and on the severe inflammatory situations like mowing the lawn, or in a very allergy aggravating environment I take Zyrtec). However, finding my "fix it" was not before I got a sinus infection and a horrible hacking and wheezing cough that would not go away because I delayed in treating initial the symptoms properly. Earlier this Spring I could not wrap my head around the idea that I developed pollen allergies. Never had a problem with pollen before. I innocently thought I had a never ending cold and I was treating it with cold meds... The decongestants helped a little bit BUT the sinuses were so extremely aggravated and then post nasal... ugh, it was a mess and I was a mess. I went to the DR. she prescribed me cough syrup. (?!) As I was filling the prescription the pharmacist said I could get Robitussin- the same thing my script - for less over the counter... I guess that my Dr. did not listen to me- that I had tried all those cold meds(thus I was visiting the Dr. in desperation for help). I asked the pharmacist for a recommendation based on my symptoms- I was visibly suffering symptoms- and I knew the cough syrup was going to be a waste of time. Pharmacist recommended: over the counter Flonase nasal spray, over the counter Zyrtec 10Mg ... behind the counter Sudafed ( short term use to alleviate the massive congestion that I had). All to be used in conjunction until symptoms get under control. Then use Flonase or Zyrtec as needed. If it was not for that awesome pharmacist who knows how long I would have been suffering the detached head, sneezing, ears popping, non-stop snotting, dry weary eyes, voice hoarse, post nasal drip choking me when I slept, lungs hurting from coughing so much, etc... really I was just barely functioning. I am so grateful for that Pharmacist's help. Paying it forward and I hope this helps someone else. :)