Allergies

Last summer was Ajax's first summer.  He spent a lot of time outside on the dry grass and we noticed he scratched often.  He did not have fleas, and we read that with such a wet spring, Bowen had a high level of grass molds which could affect your pet.  So we figured that was it.  His scratching went away in fall, and then by Christmas it had come back again.  Drove us crazy.  At first I thought maybe it was the ticks as they have been the worst ever this winter and we walk in tick country for sure, and he gets lots of ticks. 

So we bought tick control/repellent for his skin and that's been good, no more ticks.  We had him bathed at the groomer.  We went to the vet.  Vet explained the causes of scratching are usually one of the following:  food allergies, skin or coat problems, fleas, environmental allergies, or psychological habit.   The vet said his coat and skin are fantastic, no problems; he does not have fleas, and she said that it is rare to have a tick allergy on a dog.  So that left food or environmental allergies or a habit.

Determining food allergies is a long process of diet elimination and reintroducing it takes months and months.  He's on a raw diet for the most so there are no grains or additives etc.  Environmental allergies they do have tests for.  We have had such a wet late fall and winter that there is mold everywhere in the bush.  The moss is taking over in the bush as you can see above.   That said, blood tests for environment allergies are expensive but they are done out of town for the specific areas you live in, like our westcoast rainforest!!  After much discussion, we decided to put food allergies on the back burner, and start with a 21 day course of medication with antihistamine and prednisone.  It is not a long term drug,  but it is to see if it helps.  This med would have no affect if it were food allergy.  If it works, we know that it is not a mental habit, but rather environment or seasonal allergy.

So the first dose was Jan 24th and guess what - he has not scratched once since that first dose.  Go figure.  The dosage is on a decreasing scale, so we have to see at what point he starts to itch again, if at all.  When we are done with the pills then we can figure out what comes next.  Seasonal allergies are way up on Bowen for pets this year due to the wet.  I guess time will tell.