House dust mites and storage mite allergy?

Hi everyone,

First of all I want to say a massive thank you to everyone that's give me their expertise, advice and things to try over the last 7 months with Demi.

Today I have finally got her blood test results back. The vet explained that anything graded over 150 is classed as a positive reaction and demi tested at 186 to storage mites, 226 to one type of house dust mite and 386 to another kind of house dust mite (sorry I don't know the names, I couldn't pronounce them even if I did lol)

I know carpets etc contribute really bad to the mites and eventually I will look into hard floors but right now that will need to wait.

At the minute I have her on piriton 3 times a day, I have a steroid spray for her feet but personally I think this just encourages her to chew them. I have coatex shampoo and am bathing her once a week. I have memory foam in her crate and in the living room, which has an anti allergy plastic cover over the mattress then the fleece cover on top of them.
She is currently on eukanuba dermatosis fp from the vets, in dry form. The vet has suggested I put her food in plastic containers and buy it in smaller bags to prevent the storage mite. And to wipe her face with a wet cloth each time she eats.
She no longer needs the food trial foods as we have found the problem however I don't want to jump straight back in the deep end and start feeding a food with loads of different ingredients incase a food allergy appears too.
She is also having yumega plus on her breakfast.

What I want to know is if anyone has any advice, opinions etc on what food I can try her on, from what the vet said it sounds like she will be better on meat than on biscuit because of the storage mite but I'm not sure I want to put her back on raw so ideally tinned meat or Home cooked if anyone can suggest anything.

I'd also really appreciate ANY help where the dust mites are concerned. The vet has said bits but I want to hear from people that have been here and know what they did about beds etc. Is there things I can buy to get rid of the mites or at least cut them down. Sprays, covers etc. Literally no matter how small it will be a great help

Forgot to mention I'm down the vets with her Monday to get her steroids or atopica. Just to put her on them for 4 weeks and see how she gets on. Originally I was dead against the steroids cause of the side affects so I was going to try atopica.
The vet has left a voicemail on my phone with prices for atopica, it's very expensive and I've just read some shocking stuff on Google about it so now I'm unsure what to go for. Obviously if the atopica is better overall I will somehow manage to get that but not if it's going to cause liver failure and all the other horror stories I've read tonight.

So another thing I need to know is if I'm better going with the steroids orthe atopica. Either way I'm hoping it won't be long term. It's just right now she needs some relief so which is the better option?

Hi Sara it's good to know the cause of the problem isn't it, at least you have something to work with.

What about a prepared raw frozen food like natural instinct

http://www.naturalinstinct.com/

Good to hear you have the allergies pinned down now

For storage mites grain free is another option if you want to stay with dried food. I do find that buying food in smaller bags, regular face washing after eating and keeping storage tubs clean does help a bit but it tends to be a bit of a battle at times. Some people find that freezing batches helps with the storage mites but I have not noticed much difference with that.

Doesn't steam cleaning carpets and bedding etc. kill off dust mites? Also keeping the room temperature down and windows open as they thrive in warm and moist conditions.

Hi There,

Good to here you found the culprits

Ima has the same allergies plus another, her sister has a few more...

We feed her natures instinct, it easy (frozen in tubs) it's good quality and more than anything she loves it.

As your dog has been tested and your vet knows the specific problem have they not suggested immunotherapy?

My vet has always been dead set against steroids if we can help it so he started with immunotherapy, then we went onto topical products now eventually after 7 years we have just started on steroids, this is in the hope that a new drug that has been tested will be released in the next 12 months then we can use that. My vet didn't want to use Atopica as it has more side effects.

House dust mites are worse in winter as you have less ventilation, if you can get windows open at any time it helps (a bit) obviously no carpets helps, less soft furnishings, blinds instead of curtains etc, also when you vacuum try and keep the dog out of the way as much as you can (hoovering stirs it all up) frequent bathing (of the dog ) all this stuff helps but short of living in a plastic box there is only so much you can do..

Good luck with it all

....yes it helps my niece is allergic to dust mites and carries out these procedures regularly including vacuuming the mattresses and curtains with her filter cleaner .
Her house does have carpets, she has small children and a cold house

I didn't realise steam cleaning killed the mites so thanks for that

The immunotherapy has been offered but I'm not keen in trying it as the vet explained in 30% of dogs it makes no difference whatsoever, in the other 70% you'll get 40% only have a very slight improvement and the other 30% that do get fairly good results from it takes around 2 years to get there. Personally I'd rather revamp my whole house to eliminate the problem as much as I possibly can.

Thanks for the tips on food, that's something I'm going to look into