[Dailydrool] Need Allergy Advice

[Celine Rupka]

Okay fellow droolers... I need some advice from the masses ('cause I  
think we have all dealt with allergies at some point!)  I am owned by  
Mathilda, a 1.5 year old basset.  She started to show some minor  
allergy issues early on in her life (around 8 months.)  We did the  
quick dose of Prednisone to get things under control, but a few weeks  
after she finished this, the allergies would be back.  We did this a  
few times, but didn't want to put her on a constant dose because she  
is so young (...my other basset, Belle, was 10 when we had to go the  
constant Prednisone route...)  At the vet's suggestion, she was put on  
Atopica.

The Atopica worked well during the initial month (1 pill every day),  
and then for a couple months after when she was down to 1 pill every  
other day.  However, lately, it doesn't seem to working as well.  The  
day she takes the Atopica, is a very itchy, scratchy, chewy day for  
her.  It will calm down by late that evening, and then be not too bad  
during the next day, but by the evening, the rashes/hives are starting  
to come back.  To my thinking, the Atopica is not working the way it  
should (especially considering the price... which don't get me wrong,  
I am willing to pay, but I would just like the Atopica to work the way  
it should.)  She is to the point where she has very little hair under  
her chin and on her chest, is starting to chew all the hair off of her  
paws, and the wrinkles on her legs are getting quite red.

I bathe her twice a week with medicated shampoo (which helps the  
itching) and use canine anti-itch ointment.  She also has very  
"gooey" (sorry, can't think of a better term) and waxy ears.  I need  
to clean them every day.  My other basset was able to go 4-5 days  
between cleanings... but maybe this was abnormal...

Any suggestions to different solutions?  Medications??  Allergy  
shots??  Diet??  Lotions??  Mathilda and I are open to any ideas!  It  
is frustrating for both of us!

Thanks so much Droolers!

Celine and Mathilda
(...you can meet Mathilda at the link below!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkwowpAYe-g
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.dailydrool.org/pipermail/dailydrool-dailydrool.org/attachments/20090727/c364559e/attachment-0002.htm>