A dog question. Help!

[Raven]

My dog, Shelta, got an allergy shot for her extreme itching last Thursday. I believe it was cortisone. It's now been 6 days since the shot and she is peeing all over the place. I know that peeing is a side effect but does anyone know how long this side effect lasts?

[RebelOne]

1. I don't know about the peeing problem, but

I had a dog (now deceased) that had an itching problem. I switched his dog food and that cured his itching. He had been scratching so much that he had raw spots.

[hunter]

3. Our dog is like that.

Some foods make her itch. I think it's soy, but I'm not certain. I've been feeding her meat-and-rice dog foods, along with the usual people food. She hasn't broken out since I quit buying foods with soy.

Like people, dogs can be allergic to different foods.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. I'd call the vet if I were you, my dear Raven!

I have no idea how long that side effect might last, sorry...

I hope that at least she's no longer itchy!

:hi:

[Raven]

4. Thanks Peg. I did call the Vet. Said to wait another 2 days. The

itching and chewing is gone...I'd rather mop up the pee than watch the poor thing chew herself! I'm also limiting her water which should help.

[LisaM]

5. You can also get floor pads for the peeing

I had an older dog that had some problems. I got her some pads at PetSmart and put them on the floor and she just naturally used them.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. Or some of those doggy panties with disposable pads in them.

My dog used to get a shot of diuretic and I got that for him for the first few hours while he was "leaking." :( :hi:

[nadine_mn]

10. our older dog had to wear those little diaper panties

oh the look of horror on her face - the indignity! But like all great dogs, she got over it

[RebelOne]

7. Pee Pads. I have them all over my house.

I have 3 small dogs that pee all the time. I spend a fortune in Pee Pads.

[Avalux]

8. self-delete.

[kwiland]

9. A dog question. Help!

It's a steroid. So they will be very thirsty, and pee more. A better idea is to determine what your dog is allergic to. If you can eliminate the cause, then your dog won't suffer. Many dogs are allergic to corn, and some are allergic to chicken. My Golden is allergic to chicken, corn, and most grains. So, we give him a very specific diet. It helps him a lot. He no longer has hives, hot spots, and skin infections. My mutt can happily eat anything. Check your dog's diet, and eliminate the allergens. This might help you solve the problem in the long term. And good luck! It's no fun seeing our fur babies suffer.

[Raven]

16. This is an airborne allergy that seems to flare in the late summer.

I have a large field that the dogs play in and I suspect it might be something like goldenrod that is bothering Shelta. My other dog does not seem to be bothered at all. Last night was the first night in almost a week that Shelta got through the night, so things are looking up.

[PRETZEL]

11. We have a miniature poodle who has allergies

she's been on a steroid 3 times this summer. We give her a half tablet each day. Our vet suggested during those times in between steroid use to give her a benadryl each day.

[RebelOne]

15. Yes, Benadryl is what the vet recommended for my dog

with skin problems. Plus, switching his food helped immensely.

[livetohike]

12. Sadly in my experience with one of our female dogs it lasted

three weeks! That's when I decided I would never subject any of my pets to that again :-(.

[wysimdnwyg]

13. I'll give my vote for grain-free food

Won't help with the peeing, but it really did a great job clearing up my dog's allergies.

[KurtNYC]

14. Like Evo?

by Innova. Or which one?

[wysimdnwyg]

17. I buy the Nutro Natural Choice brand for large dogs.

Been using it for about six months, and she has no issues with her allergies now.

http://www.nutro.com/natural-dog-food/natural-choice-dog-food/grain-free-large-breed-adult-lamb-meal-potato.aspx

[TorchTheWitch]

19. there are a number of grain free dog foods

Canned or dry. Wheat is a common allergen for dogs, but rice is normally not. You may not have to go with something completely grain free since rice or oats may be just fine. You would want to stay away from any foods that have either corn or wheat though.

Taste of the Wild, Blue Buffalo, Natural Balance, Diamond... all good human grade foods that are either entirely grain free or corn and wheat free, but there are a lot of different good ones. These are just the ones that come to mind immediately and are the better human grade foods without fillers and are high in nutritional value.

They are a bit more expensive than the junk you can get in the supermarket, but I kid you not, it ends up being cheaper because the dog will eat less. When I first switched my dog from Iams to Natural Balance there was a $20 price difference, but even though the bags were the same size for some reason instead of a bag only lasting him about a month it was lasting a month and a half to a month and three weeks. But he actually gained a little weight and had more energy. He pooped less, too.

I was absolutely baffled about this for months, but apparently the reason is that because what he was eating had so much more nutritional value he didn't need (or want) to eat as much so his body was using so much more of it so he didn't lose weight (and actually gained a bit more muscle mass). This makes me understand why the usual commercial dog foods put so much fillers in them... to make you have to feed them more and thus buy a lot more food! Ah HA! All that those fillers do is add volume, but they just go in one end of the dog and out the other, so they need to eat more of it. I kid you not, feeding him the much more expensive grain free dog food ended up being a lot cheaper in the long run because of how much less of it he needed to eat, and I only had to pick up half as much poop.

I tell ya, this made me loony for months. I just could not figure out how in the world the same sized bag of the better food was lasting him so much longer nor could I figure out if he was eating less of it why in the world he actually gained weight even when he had more energy and had to be burning off more of it. I even tested out the bags between the old food and the new food to see if one seemed to have more air in it, or if the bags of the old food were made out of some sort of thicker or heavier material, but no, they were just the same. I finally had to ask the vet what the hell was going on here and assure me I wasn't crazy, the dog was as healthy as could be, and the bags of grain free food didn't have magic invisible hidden compartments that kept putting out more food for free.

You may have to try some different foods at first to see which one your dog seems to like best especially if they're a picky eater, but there's lots of different good ones with lots of different varieties to choose from.

[KurtNYC]

21. Had a similar experience when we went from Iams to TOTW

Feed less, poop less, more energy, better fur. After factoring how much less volume they eat, the price difference is small and totally worth it.

[Akoto]

18. You should call the vet, but for our dog ...

When he goes for his shot, we have to dose him with Benadryl due to an allergy. It works like a charm.

We didn't know the first time, of course, and the result was frightening! His skin got blotchy all over and he was itching like mad. I believe he had the peeing issue, too. Poor guy.

[TorchTheWitch]

20. sounds like a steroid

They seem to have that particularly horrible side effect. Hopefully since it was just the one shot it will clear up. I went through something similar with my old dog years and years ago, and not only did the steroid not help much but the poor guy was just peeing GALLONS. Thankfully a better treatment was discovered so I could take him off that stuff. Poor guy tried soooo hard to hold it and was so embarrassed by his accidents. He was a hell of a lot happier when he didn't have to take that drug anymore and another treatment ended up working better anyway.

I don't know, this is a rather tough decision on whether or not this is the best thing for the dog. Maybe there is something else that would help the itching without such a bad side effect? I think the bigger problem with my dog is that his massive peeing bothered HIM a hell of a lot more than it bothered me... I could have figured out a way to live with it ok, but it made him so miserable. But if your dog doesn't seem to have a problem with it and seems comfortable and you can live with it, maybe that's something to also consider since it does seem to be helping with his itching. Talk to the vet about this. Maybe there's some other sort of treatment that would work for him just as well or a way to make it an ok thing for both you and the dog. Sometimes it just so hard to figure out what the best thing to do is.

[Raven]

22. Shelta doesn't seem to be all that upset by the peeing...actually

I'd rather clean up after her than watch her be so miserable with the itching. I talked to the Vet again yesterday and he said to wait another few days and this side effect would probably be gone. If not, I'm to call him. Meanwhile, the shot worked like a charm so next year if she has to have it again, I'll have some doggie diapers on hand.