Thanks for letting me know what your vet said. I feel like I am up against a brick wall with my vet. I had also told him I didn't want Dozer sedated again because in the last 3 months he has had 2 surgeries (neutered and soft palate surgery) and the last time he didn't seem to do as well with the anesthesia. He also just finished antibiotics for a staph infection, and now I worry with all the scrathcing and open areas, he's going to end up with another infection. I've told our vet how many people have had good results from the blood testing, but it gets me no where. I think tomorrow I am going to call around to other vets and see if anyone locally will do it, and if not, it's another road trip to Lansing.

Hope you get your results soon and your bully is feeling better!

Thanks for letting me know what your vet said. I feel like I am up against a brick wall with my vet. I had also told him I didn't want Dozer sedated again because in the last 3 months he has had 2 surgeries (neutered and soft palate surgery) and the last time he didn't seem to do as well with the anesthesia. He also just finished antibiotics for a staph infection, and now I worry with all the scrathcing and open areas, he's going to end up with another infection. I've told our vet how many people have had good results from the blood testing, but it gets me no where. I think tomorrow I am going to call around to other vets and see if anyone locally will do it, and if not, it's another road trip to Lansing.

Hope you get your results soon and your bully is feeling better!

Waiting to get the results back, but the dermatologist we went to recommended the blood test for our situation. He said that one test is not better than the other, they are just different. The blood test is less stressful on the dog, and since Herc has been dealing with infection and allergies for a few months, he did not recommend putting him through sedation & the other test. Glad to hear that others have had good results with it, we should hear back in a couple of weeks.

Waiting to get the results back, but the dermatologist we went to recommended the blood test for our situation. He said that one test is not better than the other, they are just different. The blood test is less stressful on the dog, and since Herc has been dealing with infection and allergies for a few months, he did not recommend putting him through sedation & the other test. Glad to hear that others have had good results with it, we should hear back in a couple of weeks.

Goodness, go for the blood test on the allergies. Since I've had my bulldog, Hampton tested my vet visits have been reduced by 75%. His food allergies were causing all sorts of ailments - hives, vomiting,the runs,red skin, itchy spots, etc. The test I had done was very comprehensive in the results and covered food as well as environmental and outdoor triggers. I had him on TOTW Pacific Stream and turns out he is very allergic to fish. the cost of this blood test was $250 cdn, which really seems reasonable and it was so nice to know what his 'triggers' are so we can keep him as comfortable as a bulldog was meant to be. If you would like to see a scan of the report, feel free to contact me and I will email it to you. I had a previous dog of mine tested with the skin test and found it to be complex and inconclusive overall.

Goodness, go for the blood test on the allergies. Since I've had my bulldog, Hampton tested my vet visits have been reduced by 75%. His food allergies were causing all sorts of ailments - hives, vomiting,the runs,red skin, itchy spots, etc. The test I had done was very comprehensive in the results and covered food as well as environmental and outdoor triggers. I had him on TOTW Pacific Stream and turns out he is very allergic to fish. the cost of this blood test was $250 cdn, which really seems reasonable and it was so nice to know what his 'triggers' are so we can keep him as comfortable as a bulldog was meant to be. If you would like to see a scan of the report, feel free to contact me and I will email it to you. I had a previous dog of mine tested with the skin test and found it to be complex and inconclusive overall.

when the grass would germinate he would scratch himself bloody. We finally used Tavist which was a little better than the other antihistamines. We had the blood test done on him by VARL and it told us what he was allergic to - unfortunately, there was no way to keep him from grass. It was definitely worth the money to do the testing, but we didn't opt to do the shots as he was only bad for 4 weeks out of the year.

Kathy, Ollie and Chester

when the grass would germinate he would scratch himself bloody. We finally used Tavist which was a little better than the other antihistamines. We had the blood test done on him by VARL and it told us what he was allergic to - unfortunately, there was no way to keep him from grass. It was definitely worth the money to do the testing, but we didn't opt to do the shots as he was only bad for 4 weeks out of the year.

Kathy, Ollie and Chester

Thanks for all of the positive responses! I was hoping to hear good things about VARL. I'm waiting to hear back from our local vet to see if he is willing to do the testing. He wanted to run it by an allergist in Indianapolis before he does it. If he won't do it, I'm afraid we are going to have to find a new vet. This vet has always taken great care of our animals, but I'm to the point that if he won't do it, I need to do what's best for Dozer and find someone who is on the same page as us.

Thanks for all of the positive responses! I was hoping to hear good things about VARL. I'm waiting to hear back from our local vet to see if he is willing to do the testing. He wanted to run it by an allergist in Indianapolis before he does it. If he won't do it, I'm afraid we are going to have to find a new vet. This vet has always taken great care of our animals, but I'm to the point that if he won't do it, I need to do what's best for Dozer and find someone who is on the same page as us.

do it. i had it done for my percy & i wish i would have done it sooner. i found out everything from food ingredients to plants & trees & molds & pollens. the best thing was it gave me a list of foods that were "safe" for him. definitely worth the money!

do it. i had it done for my percy & i wish i would have done it sooner. i found out everything from food ingredients to plants & trees & molds & pollens. the best thing was it gave me a list of foods that were "safe" for him. definitely worth the money!

Still won't agree to the blood test because he doesn't think it is accurate enough. He consulted with the allergist who also thinks the skin testing is the only route to go. He doesn't agree with my (an another vets) thinking that this would at leaast give me an idea of what may be causing this so that I could make adjustments. He offered a prescription antihistamine to get him through the bad months and then wants us to have testing done in the fall. I just don't know what to do at this point. I have a lot of thinking to do tonight!

Still won't agree to the blood test because he doesn't think it is accurate enough. He consulted with the allergist who also thinks the skin testing is the only route to go. He doesn't agree with my (an another vets) thinking that this would at leaast give me an idea of what may be causing this so that I could make adjustments. He offered a prescription antihistamine to get him through the bad months and then wants us to have testing done in the fall. I just don't know what to do at this point. I have a lot of thinking to do tonight!

It was great. I got a completely listing of what she's not allergic to, what she's mildly allergic to and what she's highly allergic to. The report also listed all of the dry & canned foods she could have and what treat she can have.

Well worth the money.

Sue

It was great. I got a completely listing of what she's not allergic to, what she's mildly allergic to and what she's highly allergic to. The report also listed all of the dry & canned foods she could have and what treat she can have.

Well worth the money.

Sue

My dermatologist says it is the best lab to do it through. I found out all the things my bully was allergic to including food. This test is a life saver. Little did I know that he was allergic to flaxseed and almost every premium food contains that. Once you find out his allergies, they make up a serum for you to administer shots. This may not be 100% successful and takes a long time,but it's a step in the right direction. Good luck!

My dermatologist says it is the best lab to do it through. I found out all the things my bully was allergic to including food. This test is a life saver. Little did I know that he was allergic to flaxseed and almost every premium food contains that. Once you find out his allergies, they make up a serum for you to administer shots. This may not be 100% successful and takes a long time,but it's a step in the right direction. Good luck!

With my girl. The allergy specialist said the blood test isn't as reliable as the skin testing but in order to do the skin test they were going to tranquilizer her. That was NOT going to happen! I've heard of too many bulldogs dieing from that so I opted for the blood test. Also my vet said the blood test wasn't reliable on food allergies.For those they recommended trial and error.
I got the allergy serum and do the shots myself. Just like people allergy shots you work your way up to a maintenance dose. I could not get her to that dose without her having a reaction. The maintenance amt is 1 cc. I can get her to .6 cc and she's fine. So there we are. Our regular vet saw her this spring and was really happy with how she looked. I'd say it's helped. But I had to modify what the allergy specialist wanted to do.

With my girl. The allergy specialist said the blood test isn't as reliable as the skin testing but in order to do the skin test they were going to tranquilizer her. That was NOT going to happen! I've heard of too many bulldogs dieing from that so I opted for the blood test. Also my vet said the blood test wasn't reliable on food allergies.For those they recommended trial and error.
I got the allergy serum and do the shots myself. Just like people allergy shots you work your way up to a maintenance dose. I could not get her to that dose without her having a reaction. The maintenance amt is 1 cc. I can get her to .6 cc and she's fine. So there we are. Our regular vet saw her this spring and was really happy with how she looked. I'd say it's helped. But I had to modify what the allergy specialist wanted to do.