Nell's "Itchies"

As I've mentioned many times, Nell has had "itchiness" issues since she was a puppy. To make the story of a long journey short, we've tried food trials, medicated baths, Benadryl, Atopica, another rx antihistamine (the name is escaping me right now). None gave her any relief at all. We did an allergy test and the only thing that came back was a moderate yeast allergy. She's had numerous skin scrapes over the years and they usually always result with either yeast, bacteria or both. She's never had demodex. So that's the history.

A few months ago, she had a dental. They sent her home with an antibiotic called Delta Albaplex. A few days into it, we noticed she wasn't itching. I looked up the med and noticed it also has a steroid in it. I called the vet and told her what we'd discovered. She said it was fine to continue giving it to her but to work on getting her down to the lowest possible dose and we'd do bloodwork every 6 months to keep on top of her liver. Problem is, she needs a whole pill every day to stay comfortable. The difference is really night and day and in 6 years this is the first thing we've ever found that works. Obviously though, my concern is having her on a steroid, daily for the rest of her life.

Not sure now, after I typed all this out, what the point was. I guess I feel like there has to be another, safer option. Our vet hasn't been terribly helpful with options. I guess I'd also like to hear your experiences if you've used a steroid long term.

My other thought (and perhaps viralmd can comment) is whether she could be helped by simply taking an antibiotic long term. The majority of skin scrapes she's had over the years have come back positive for bacteria. Could there be something going on that is making her system overrun with bacteria? Although I guess that doesn't really make sense as she is taking an antibiotic now in the Delta Albaplex and after all this time, the bacteria (if that was the issue) should be out of her system. If she misses just one pill, she basically falls apart (ears start to itch, anal glands act up, she smells like a dog).

Ugh! I don't know! :wine:

In my research on canine allergies I've seen several places where they recommend long-term antibiotic use for certain types of allergies. I asked my vet about it once and she said it wouldn't help for Izzy. We never really got into what type of allergies they were for though. I wonder if you could get just the antibiotic part of the med without the steroid part to see which is helping??

Sophie's been on various dosages of steroids for over a year now (tomorrow is her one year gotcha day with us). It is not something we, or the vet, would like her to be on forever, but we have no options so we just try to get her down to the lowest dose possible, and supplement with Atopica. Right now, she is on 1/4 of a pill of medrol, every other day. Maybe your vet could try a combination? The combo of Atopica has allowed us to really lower the steroid-the Atopica has side effects too, but again, our vet said given the choice she would rather Sophie be on that long term.

We go in every few months for blood work and we go in to see the vet about once every 6 weeks or so. So far, everything is normal. It's a struggle-the last few times her bumps have ballooned up, we have had to increase her dosage for a few days.

I guess that wasn't much help! But I hope you find something that works. It's awful seeing them uncomfortable!

I don't know if this will put you at ease, but my cat has been on injectable steroids since he was 1. At that time it was the only solution and they told me that he would probably only live to be 8-10 years old, which is young for a cat. It was a quality of life issue as his allergy test revealed he was allergic to many things I could not eliminate from his environment, the main one being human dander!

So since he was about 1, he has gotten a steroid injection every 3-5 weeks. He is going to be 11 next month and every single blood panel we've done has been near perfect.

The only side effect I see with the steroid injections is increased hunger and thirst. It's a very real side effect, if you've ever had to take steroids, you'd know. I have to watch my cats weight very carefully as when he gets obese he gets type II diabetes, but that is a whole other story.

I hope you find a solution for Nell that you are comfortable with. Let me know if you have any other questions about long term steroid use.

I can't answer as to whether an antibiotic will help her or not. However, the two things that kept Pugsly alive for four years was Clavamox and pred. During that time, he would sometimes need 5mg twice a day, 5mg once a day or 5mg once every other day. While I hated him having to take it, I tried everything from holistic meds to inhalers which didn't help him. I wanted him to have the best quality of life possible, and that is what I gave him. I would do it over again and only wish he could have lived much longer. I always look at it as what would I do if it was me? I would not allow myself to itch to death, cough all the time or whatever without taking whatever I needed to take to feel better.

Did you happen to see a dermatologist just verses your regular vet? If not, that is the only thing I can suggest.