Allergy testing

Hi
Anyone advise re this, Bob still poorly. Wondering if he allergic to something.
Since Monday has been on jwb lamb and veg only. nothing else at all.
today very bad, wont eat - sick and diarrhoea - stretching out and slight loss of balance etc.
what does allergy testing cost?

vet about to medicate with oxytetracycline and possible hill science diet.
i just wonder if this is ibd or an allergy?

(again not insured)

Hi,
I'm sorry to hear Bob is still so poorly.
Allergy testing can give you some good pointers but it can't test for everything.
One thing I found with Milo is that he could not tolerate dried food at all. His allergy tests did show he was allergic to storage mites which are in dry food but I think it was more than that as well and allergy tests cannot cover everything only the most common.
He had to be fed Naturediet and that did sort out the food problem.
All this money you are spending on treatments and vet visits I would honestly say if you can get the lump sum together to see a specialist and get an endoscope done. It will certainly tell you if its IBD or not and may spot something else and may save you money in the long term.
I really feel for you as I know first hand how heartbreaking it is to see them so ill and not enjoying life.

It is so difficult to watch your dog not feeling right. I am not sure allergy testing is going ot give you all the answers I guess I feel it is a matter of where you are at, if you are desperate I would say yes and as Madmare said maybe an endoscope would at least rule out IBD or if it is and get the right medication for him, otherwise I would be trying an exclusion diet one where you cook it yourself, a protein source and a carbohydrate and that is it and see if that helps. I know with Scratch he went on to allergenic free crunchies and tin, it still didnt make him much better (he was itchy and bowel problems) but when I started an exclusion diet his itchiness has halved and his bowel movements are right (bad when you feel you are getting a bit poop orientated to try and see how they are going ).
It can be such a long road of trial and error and it could be IBD which an endoscope could answer for you.

When my dog was having gastric problems my vet suggested a diet of steamed chicken and rice for a few days to start with, and then to reintroduce each item of food separately to see if there was a reaction to anything.

Unfortunately I think she was a bit allergic to chicken so not the best food for us to try but you can give fish and rice instead or fish and potato.

Sorry I cant remember the exact cost as it was a few years ago, but not cheap, they initially test basic indoor and outdoor panel, if anything shows on that they then progress from there. My dog was allergic to dust mites and several meat proteins.

Hi, I haven't read all of your threads, yet am getting the impression from header titles that you've been having quite a few different problems with Bob?

Would you mind giving me a complete summary of everything that is going on with Bob over the last year? I would then be able to recommend a holistic regime that will really help him I'm sure.

Things like what do you feed? What meds is he on? Any recent dewormings, flea meds, vaccinations etc?

Madmare: he has tolerated tuna and rice for 48 hours, even a few (4/5 wafcol salmon and potato bits dropped on top).
Have Naturediet for him now - he was bad the next day after having the white fish, pot one so have got a turkey one to try later today.
Which flavours do you feel are the most popular as Im new to naturediet.

Ziva; here goes... adopted him from border welfare in nov, very scrawy, weighed 7.5kg i know thats ok for a border but he looked thin and boney not stocky like my experience of them (friends etc). He apparently was being fed once a day with tinned winalot or butchers, smacko for breakfast! well he just wouldnt eat even from day one - very fussy - had early morning sickness - just bile really, never really diarrhoea as a major prob, tried jwb lamb and veg thinking that gutting out cereals etc would be healtheri for him, he was also given a positive result in dec for campylobacter (which has now shown negative in 2nd round of faecal tests). he was on marbocyl antibs for that - 5 weeks.

however after all that he is still same, so vet feels underlying issue such as ibd. he was tested for addisons, pancreatitis, bloods - b12 levels were very low so he had 4 shots over a month for this.

all of this was covered by welfare trust - they have been incredible, we could not get covered on insurance as he was so ill week we got him and insurance hadnt kicked in.

he was flee treated every 3 months (bob martin) it seems, worming not sure but all tests for that ie worms, giardia etc were clear.

he had been eating jwb lamb and veg well for a couple of weeks or so, sometimes happy to eat sometimes not. he doesnt rush to the dry - but looks much more int in wet foods.

i cut out all treats that were bad ie smackos, i have jwb treats now but may hold off giving for a while.

was trying him on live yoghurt, not sure if made much difference.

he is on no meds at mo, but vet wants to start oxytetracycline this week, he was better when on former antib's but then it was treating a condition so cant be sure now.

havnt had border before he does also role around floor/carpet at different times of day, also nibbles/licks feet etc. checked his skin and no inflammation anywhere.

when he has a bad day it usually starts by him having been sick early morning (which is why i have been feeding late at night and couple of times tho day). he then wont eat - walks away as if urgh cant face it, doesnt matter what the food is. have to coax him to eat later in day, he arches back, stretches all the time, sometimes lifting back leg out, other day shaking and slightly wobbly.

would welcome any help/suggestions... thanks

What vaccinations has he had and when?

The feet nibbling and licking is a common sign of vaccine adverse reaction, so that's where I think the problem could be coming from.

Skin problems etc are also common from vaccinations.

BTW - a holistic vet will tell you this, but a conventional vet will deny it!!

Its a case of trial and error to find which nature diet protein he can tolerate, if you have no success with naturediet then try wainwrights trays of fresh as they do other flavoures and proteins.
The arching back, shaking and stretching leg sounds like he is in pain.
I do hope you can find something soon that will suit, but as I have said all along I think the only way you are going to get the right treatment and diagnosis for him is an endoscopy, he can't continue like this any longer.
Perhaps ring round some other vets and see if any of them have an endoscope and can take biopseys from the stomach and intestines in thier practice as it will be cheaper than seeing a specialist although obviously a specialist would know more and pick up on a lot more than a normal vet, even just on examination.

His annual booster was due in Nov but due to his problems i have not had this done yet - as advised by vet also.

no other vaccinations have been done.

he must have had rabies at some point as he had a pet passport and had spent time in france.