Allergies - $500-800 dermatologist appointment???
Submitted by jamesjago on April 24, 2010 - 1:33amHello all, our little one year old sweetie, Nola, seems to have some allergies. As soon as she wakes up in the morning and comes out of her crate she is scratching her face and chin like crazy. She's been doing this for a while now. Her eyes also get irritated quite easily and we noticed an improvement in her irritation and less eye 'gunk' once we started feeding her plain, natural food (ie: boiled chicken and veggies).
I called a dermatologist that the vet and eye doctors recommended and the dermatologist said that it would cost $250 for an initial consultation, and that on average 1st appointments cost $500-800. This seems outrageous and frankly we aren't going to pay that much right now b/c Nola is happy, playing, eating, but she just seems to have some slight allergies. Does anyone have any advice/ideas about how we can experiment from home to identify potential causes??
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks all,
James and Nola ![[linked image]](http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/jamesjago/th_IMG_0169.jpg)
you can have your normal vet
Run a AVLR allergy blood panel.
Sounds more like a seasonal or local allergy.
You can give 1mg of benadryl per 1lb of body wt. So if she is 50 lbs she gets 2 25mg pills
Food I would go grain free for a few months no other treats and see if that helps. The get worse before better
Vicky,
Bosco, Bella, Breve' & Holly
www.LangagerBulldogs.com
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We go through this every year with Maggie!
Itching, Nasty green eye gunk and more skin issues. We just do the Benedryl (2) tablets twice a day till we get through the worst of the Spring pollen.
Yes, have your normal vet do the allergy testing....
Dermatologists are very expensive (went to one with my Cocker Spaniel years ago) because they are specialists.
![[linked image]](http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd291/FFZoey305/librlogo-1.jpg)
I feed my dogs Wellness Core Low Fat and have found that it is a great food. Our bulldog had mild allergies that went away with a food switch.
My male bulldog, Cain, has some more intense allergies. Tear stains, red paws so we give him 1 Zyrtec (not the decongestant kind, the regular kind) a day and Omega 3 fish oils that we purchase from Drs. Foster and Smith. That helps to calm down his itchies a bit.
Good luck!
We paid about $400 I think for Hooch's derm appt. but
our regular vet did the testing...we resorted to derm because nothing was helping.
my suggestion,,,,,,
try using a bendryl 1 in the am one in the pm....get a note book and try to note when allergry type symptoms occur....
i would go to a diet elimintion....chicken boiled and brown rice for a week then add in some veggies....careful with milk products like yogurt...
after a week add one thing to her diet.... only one a week till you see a reaction or non reaction...
now you also need to see what your washing her bedding in.....
i would use arm and hamer...or get a detergent that is all natural....
alot of food allergies are really contact allergies....to air freshners,carpet cleaners, smoking,all these need to be looked at....its a bit of work but alot cheaper that 800$
THANKS ALL!
I'll post if I figure out causes or uncover any other good ideas!