Thing is tho J, its not a maybe about the side effects, they are very real & do happen

Heres my experience of them with my dogs in the past & what I found was they kept getting infections of 1 kind or another, seemed to be always at the vet. This happened because steroids suppress the immune system & leave the body vulnerable/open to attck from bacterial & viral pathogens. At the end of the day they do not cure & think they should be used as a last resort when all other avenues have been tried.

In my sister they caused osteoporosis, we then went on to learn another side effect of them is they cause joints to crumble, most commonly the knee joint but also others & they also caused that to happen to her hip & wrist joints.

I`m not dismissing them out of hand but for a young dog to go on them now for the rest of his life needs serious consideration of those side affects.
Who knows maybe 1 of the alternatives might just work

Great age you got your dogs to tho J, well done

Did not dismiss the other methods C, think you try anything that may help, just need to let your vet know what you have in mind, nor do I doubt there may be side effects, almost anything can cause side effects even water can kill if you drink too much.

Also the problem with such things as steroids is the body becomes lazy when provided with hormones etc that it already produces and will eventually stop producing the hormone meaning a gradual increase is needed in the medication, which means side effects are more likely and may be more severe. This relates to humans, not sure if it's the same with dogs but can't see why not.

Personally I would try the steroids for so long and then for a long term solution go over to something more natural like homeopathy.

The problem with conventional medicine is it treats the symptom rather than the cause of the symptom. With such things as homeopathy the dog/human is treated as a whole, so should find the underlying cause of his itchyness and deal with that therefore ridding him of it.

At least I think that's right!

Can you tell I'm not a fan of Steroids!

I know this may sound stupid but is homeopathy what the skin specialist who the vet could refer me to does or is this something else

No don't think so. Here's a little link for you, sure Christine can explain it better though!

http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/homeopathy.html

Hi Foxy, if you are thinking about trying homoeopathis remedies it is worth speaking to Ainsworths Homoeopathic Pharmacy in London. Their telephone number is 020 7935 5330 and they have a advisor on hand to answer any questions regards treatment etc. I would still carry on wth the steroid treatment for the time being as the important thing is to get Benji feeling comfortable because otherwise you will be back to square one and run the risk of a secondary infection setting in....Cheers...Ian..

No, the specialist would try to find out what was causing the problem but would probably keep the dog on steroids anyway so as to make sure the dog did not do anymore damage to the tissues of the ear whilst he was making his diagnosis.

Unfortunately skin problems are the most common complaint that vets have to deal with and one of the most difficult to diagnose, your breed is known to carry a problem that involves a skin problem with the paws but as far as I know not the ear. It could be your own vet does not have refined enough equipment to make a diagnosis that the specialist may have, that along with the fact that the specialist may well have experience of the problem in your breed and know how it was dealt with it. No one can really suggest which way you should go, let the vet continue to treat the dog, go to a specialist or try a herbal route or even a combination of all three, unfortunately the decision is yours.

Hiya F

No the 2 are not the same, skin specialist is just that, a vet who specialises in skin, don`t know what qualifications they have to have.

A homeopathic vet is a vet who`s gone on to train further & qualify in homeopathy as well. Rip gave a very good description
They would also advise you on diet for him as well. Ainsworths are very good but I really think he needs more than a phone consultation & wouls suggest if you think of using h/pathy to see a h/pathic vet first. Whatever you do tho you need to finish the course of steroids he`s on now but that wouldn`t stop a h/pathic vet seeing & treating him. You would need a referral from your vet first tho

Hers some links about it

http://www.caberfeidh.com/Wonderland.htm
http://www.bahvs.com/whatis.html
http://www.canineworld.com/drdym/articles.htm
http://www.irishwolfhounds.org/homeopathy.htm#intro
http://www.personalhealthzone.com/homeopathy.html
http://www.caninenaturalcures.co.uk/homoeopathy.htm


http://www.caberfeidh.com/Allergies.htm
http://www.caberfeidh.com/Itch.htm
http://www.caberfeidh.com/Truth.htm

Don`t know if many people know of the side affects of steroids so thought I`d put a few links on them so people can be aware & be informed.

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...=1&SourceID=42
http://www.newmanveterinary.com/ster...eroids...Title
http://www.vetcentric.com/magazine/m...?ARTICLEID=979
http://www.provet.co.uk/health/disea...costeroids.htm
http://www.peteducation.com/article....articleid=1422