[Dailydrool] Itchies and Preventatives

[Swartz]

Hello Droolers.  Director Ruger has asked me to put out a public drool notice that the squirrelistans have kicked off their 2012 Itchiecyde campaign.  On Sunday after a bath the boys started to itch.  Colt is blaming this on the bath...that we washed off his dirt body armor to protect them from the itchies. So I started decon procedures but Monday morning after the boyz had only been outside for 15 minutes Ruger came in with a horrible contact dermitis reaction...whelt upon whelt, upon whelt. His whole belly and chest.  Colt had some irritations but not as bad.  So busted out the benadryle and the Gold bond powder.  After 3 doses of benadyle four hours apart I finally got Rugers down to a dull roar, next morning after walking him into the back yard on a leashh to ensure that he didn't lay down he still ended up with a bad reaction to whatever it is in the yard that he is allergic to.  So went to the vet and got a dexamethasone injection and a small dose of prednisone.  Ruger is doing much better but is not happy that his outdoor time is extremely limited and confined to a leash.  This year the itchies came much earlier then normal...3 months early. Last year I started the boyz on zyrtec and decon procedures in May to try to get ahead of the itchies in hopes to make it less of an issue for the boyz. This hit us by total surprise.
So for any hounds out there that has an issue with the summer allergies, I suggest start them on preventatives now.  This is what we do.
1. Generic Zyrtec; Cetirizine 10mg (you can get this at SAMS Club for a lot less then the name brand Zyrtec...I got 400 tablets for I think $35.) Given after breakfast in a pill pocket
2. Very Limited time outside
3. Everytime they come in from outside they get wiped down with a wet wash cloth. EVERYTIME!  This is 75% of the battle.  Get the contaminate off of them ASAP.  Less time on the skin the less time for a reaction.
4. When skin irritations do break out I powder them with Gold Bond Body Powder - Extra strength/triple action (in the green container)
5. When the skin irritations get to bad I take them to the vet for a shot of dexamethasone to cool down the irritations before they end up scratching it into an infection. 
6. I have also added a teaspoon of coconut oil to their meals...Read a lot of research about it, supposed to help prevent allergies, and protect the skin & coat along with a laundry list of other heatlh benifits.  Does anyone else use coconut oil???  DH & I have also incorperated it into our diet as well.

My vet did mention that if Ruger had another bad breakout or if Colt broke out that we would try a new treatment. Appearently they found a good side effect to a medication that is given to Kidney transplant patients to prevent their bodies not to reject the kidney. If the patient had allergies before the transplant then the medication helped relieve their allergy symptoms with out the drowsiness effects of other allergy meds like Hydroxine. So the medication: Atopicia (I don't think that is spelled right) has just been cleared for treating dogs with allergies.  Unfortunetly it has now gotten expensive but they found that used with another med....sorry can't remember the name. That you could use 1/2 the dose of the Atopicia...making it a lot cheaper.  Two years ago Colt spent the summer as a Hydroxizine zombie!  I really don't want that for either of my boyz, so the news of this new treatment is good news to me if we need it.
If anyone is interested in the new medications for alleries just let me know and I'll be more then happy to call my vet and ask for the correct names & spellings of the 2 drugs so that you can ask your vets about it for your dogs.

I am also entertaining the suggestion of my vet tech...to buy the boyz t-shirts and shorts and cut out appropriate holes so that they can go outside and enjoy thier yard and the nice weather.

Good Luck! 
Love & Drool 
Michele Momma to the Bad Ass Basset Brothers
Colt "momma here's my belly wash me and powder me"
Ruger "I WANT TO GO OUTSIDE!!!!"

Women are Angels...And when someone breaks their wings..They simply continue to fly....on a broomstick...They are flexible like that...
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