Possible allergy?

We are at the vet again monday as Toby is possibly allergic to something. I'd be interested in any comments or opinions about his symptoms.

In late January he had a definate anal gland infection, treated with antibiotics and fuciderm cream which is probably unrelated but seems to have been the starting point.

Early Feb was licking again so took him back quick as assumed it would be same thing. No obvious infection but given antibiotics with no affect.

Since then he has been licking bum, chewing back feet which sometimes have red patches between toes, scratching ears (one of which has lots of wax), occasional pink eyes, dry skin with dandruff. Poo can be varied, usually starting solid and getting runier

We have a collar to use if he starts licking. Spoke to vet approx 2 weeks ago and it was suggested that we cut out everything except his food which is JWB junior turkey and rice. He also gets the jwb turkey flavour treats (mini jacks and lightbites)

He also had a test done for skin mites (negative) and was given an injection to calm itchiness. Still using cream on bum when sore

Symptoms are sometimes worse than others, can't see any obvious pattern to it though

He is 7.5month cocker x springer currently 14.5kg and we are feeding 300g per day + a small handful in his treat toy. He has always been skinny (assured by vet that he was not too thin, just "lean") but had lost a little when got him weighed this week (down from 14.7kg).

Any comments welcome. I want to be sure I have all the right questions when I see the vet monday

I had a dog with allergies, food ingredients that made him worse were Turkey, Chicken and White Fish, the environmental allergen was Dust Mites.

Try a fish and potato diet such as Wafcol's Salmon + Potato. I believe that Arden Grange and Wainwrights also do a variation of this diet. For treats justg use nuggets of food until you see how the new diet goes. Change over 3-5 days on the new diet.

Rice and turkey [and chicken] can cause allergies. One of ours is allergic to chicken/turkey.

I am sure your vet will explain there are four types of allergies, and it is a process of elimination, plus they can do allergy testing while it doesnt cover everything it can cover the common ones, and if it is food it can be changed, if it is environmental you can lessen the impact.
There are elimination diets that can be done to see if it is food related, one protein source, and one carbohydrate source and build up from there. Sometimes even the allergy free diets don't work, my dog was on them and it still had no effect on his bowels, he was straining and going frequently up to 8times a day. I ended up putting him on kangaroo mince and potato and wow what a difference. So not always on size fits all. As others have said some of the meats we think they will be ok about isn't, chicken is such a common meat for allergy dogs to be allergic to.
There is a few medications your dog can go one, just makes sure if your vet outs your dog on one to ask about the possible side effects, and long term use. Allergy testing needs to happen before medication othewise it is in effective as the drugs suppress the immune response.
They can make up serum if it is an allergy (really expensive) to try and get the immune system to not react to the allergen so much, not sure about the effectiveness of it.
As for mites they can be tricky and don't always come up on screening for them, so it is not always ruled out even if the skin scraping is negative.
There is normally not a quick fix with allergies, I have a dog who has them, if you havent guessed , it can be frustrating and a long road as it can often be difficult as you need to get to the bottom of what is causing it so you can reduce the allergy response, but the secondary complications of it seem to need to be treated on a regular basis (infections, anal glands itchiness)
I really don't like it when my dog flares up I can't stand watching him itch, let alone how he must be feeling being so itchy
Good luck and hope your dog gets less itchy soon

http://www.allergyvet.co.uk/

Cherry at 9 years old (Kerry Blue) had skin problems for the first time this year. We used to feed her on organic chicken and rice food but have changed to "Barking Heads" Salmon and potato as the vet reccomended changing both the protein source and the carbohydrate source. She is so much better now but I am not sure if it is the change of diet or the other changes we did such as not using "Shake and Vac" .

This MIGHT help.
Sam, our Border Terrier, has an alleged grass allergy. Whatever it is, he scratches a lot and can break out in a bad rash on his belly. Vet prescribed "Fugigem" but that has to be applied very sparingly. However rash kept coming back.
Put him on to a Hypoallergenic dry food but still no change. Was originally on Butchers and Pedigree tin food.
After trawling the internet. Decided on the following course of action.
Bought fresh lambs liver, lambs hearts, lambs mince, rice and mixed veg. All cooked with a little Oxo stock. Quite a load cooked at one time. When ready we divide into portions and freeze down then defrost for daily use.
We also give him a daily tablet of Tesco's version of Piriton. Mixed in with his food he has a daily capsule of Evening Primrose Oil.
A lot of hassle you may think BUT it seems to be working. We examine him every day after grooming and the slightest evidence of any reddening we apply a film of Sudocream.
A much happier dog !
Glenrock.

Our little dog has been with us just over a month now, and when he first came home from Dogs Trust he was nearly demented with itching - biting legs and paws; scraping his tummy across the carpet and digging into his ears. His skin was very very pink. He was on Arden Grange Lamb and Rice at DT, but we gradually changed him to JWB Turkey and rice............no difference to his itching. We then went on to Wafcol Salmon and potato, with Fish4dogs treats, and he is 90% better. Most of the time his skin is a lovely pale pink, and there is only the occasional little flare up - there is no obvious pattern to it.

I think that you will have many different responses, and what suits one dog may be no help at all to another. The only thing that I would say is that whatever food you try, make sure that is all that you feed Toby, or you may not get a true picture of what suits him.

By the way, Jimmi also had one good poop and then a sloppy one (still does sometimes) which can be an indication of a food allergy rather than an environmental one

im going through the same thing with jake just now. he for a few months now, has had problms with hairloss around his eyes, ears and muzzle. and around his eyes gets very sore and bleed, and he also did the ear scratching too. at first, the vet thought it was a mite. she didnt test, just gave me stronghold. the sores he had cleared up, but the hairloss got worse. now im seeing another vet that thinks it is an allergy so he is on steroids for a few weeks to see if it clears it up. then we will find out the cause...

it can be very difficult and frustrating when there are problems like this, and you dont know what is causing it. hope you manage to find out soon.

Thanks for the advice. The vet today is fairly convinced he has an allergy. I will look into salmon/potato foods but vet wants to stick with the same food and nothing else for 6weeks, and as I am hoping insurance will pay out we had better follow vets advice for now. Symptoms have eased a bit over the weekend though so guess it is wait and see for a while.