allergies....ugh
Hi
I am new here,(first post) I am in Ga also, 45 min north of atlanta. Since I have experience in this area thought I'd respond.
I have a one year old cavalier, Penny, who has an allergy to chicken. When she was a few months old, my vet noticed that her skin was very pink. She suggested I try a different food. Since her food had chicken she suggested trying another protein. I switched her to natural balance venison and sweet potato. After about a week, I noticed a huge difference. Her skin was no longer that dark pink. She never did the foot licking, but she would chew her hip area. she has been better ever since I switched so I have kept her on the NB venison.
BUT I have 2 goldens as well. My female gr is another story entirely. She has awful allergies. She was a big time foot chewer/licker. So much so that her fur on her feet was stained pink from the saliva and she would get secondary infections from the licking. In her case her allergies are the inahled kind. In the spring and fall she flares up the most. During those seasons we bring her to the vet for steroid shots, b/c she gets ear infections, hot spots, eye infections, just suffers miserably.....its a disaster. :cry*ing: Changing her food never helped. But the shots last for several weeks and gets her through the bad times of the year.
Try to find a vet that is well versed in dermatology. it makes a big difference, than going to a vet without that knowledge. Also, you may already know about doing the food trials, but just in case...Make sure when you switch to a different food, that you only feed that food and nothing else. No treats. Feed just the new food for atleast a month, and watch for any changes. If you make too many changes at once, you won't be able to tell what the dog is allergic too. Cutting out the grains is a good idea as well. There are many foods out there now that are grain free. Petco has a wide variety of high quality foods.
I never went the route of allergy testing, my vet felt that the results were mixed.
Sorry this is long.... I hope you find some relief soon. I know how very frustrating allergies are!:bang: