Holistic vet allergy testing

[StarIsMyBaby]

Holistic vet allergy testing – our experience

Star has had many, many allergy issues – licking, scratching, chewing, ear infections. We were taking Star to a regular vet ever since we’d gotten her, and we swore we would never return after an incident last October. We were trying different types of food, and when I mentioned we were going to try Wellness Simple Food Solutions Rice & Duck, the vet all but laughed at us, and told us that Royal Canin was our answer. If you take a look at the ingredients of that junk food, it contains by-products & corn for starters. Any vet that pushes that food is not a vet for our family.

So, we decided to take Star to a holistic vet yesterday. It was quite an experience! He tested around 55 items on her and found that she is allergic to more things than not. The allergy testing they did was definitely something I’d never seen before, but if this all works, I’ll be a definite believer. Has anyone had allergy testing from a holistic vet? I’d be interested to hear how s/he did it.

So anyway, he told us that her gut is extremely inflamed, and has been for a long time. He recommended a shot of steroids to help calm her gut to start with. He also recommended giving her 2 tsp per day of Flax Oil (she’s not allergic), and Cod liver oil (also not allergic) – eventually it will be 2 tblsp, but he said to work her up slowly or she’ll have diarrhea, so we’re currently giving her a ¼ tsp twice a day. We also are mixing 3 oz per day of aloe vera in with her water supply. She has a multi-vitamin, some other capsule (something like Pancr-ease?), and then some other one I can’t remember the name. We are now using Canidae grain-free salmon kibble, just a small amount though. The vet recommended starting with 20% kibble, but eventually getting to totally raw if we can.

I’ve got lots of questions but I suppose that should be directed to another forum. I seriously hope this works out for Star, she so deserves to be comfortable and not itch all the time. Please share any holistic or alternative allergy testing experiences!!

[LILYLARUE]

My recent rescue has had so many allergy problems that she couldn't be housetrained due to the internal inflamation and irritation and with all the misery she was in, she wasn't capable of learning either. After many boughts of tests and training, I went directly to RAW overnight. No supplements, no vitamins, no steroids.......right to raw meat and bones.

After 4 months, she is a totally different dog! Not one issue except the sniffles every now and then. Allergies all gone!!! As soon as she has something she shouldn't, the symptoms emerge almost immediately. A meal of raw flushes out the allergens and she is in like flint by the next morning.

For her, RAW was the way to go and with no transition either. It really was the best thing I could ever have done for her.

Good luck to you and your baby. Maybe consider switching right away as well?

[StarIsMyBaby]

We did the same thing about switching - the vet told us to toss her Wellness Duck & Rice food, and we only got a small bag of the Canidae. He said the key was to "keep her stomach guessing" as to what we feed her, and never feed the same thing day after day. He said to have maybe a fish day, then a beef day, then a pork day, then chicken day, and alter all the veggies as well. This whole raw thing is all new to me, but whatever works for her I'm willing to try. A lot of the supplements are just temporary, to get her to a point where she's not inflamed. It was expensive to do all the testing, the supplements, etc, and I told the vet we want to do what's best for her, but we've got to make it affordable. She takes more supplements than I do right now! I think we'll gradually wean her off some of the supplements as we use them up, but maybe keep the fish oil & multi-vitamin. And we'd like to do 100% raw too eventually.

So what kind of testing did you have done? The method this vet used was an alternative method, so no needles and things. Just wondered how all that transpired for you. And congrats on getting rid of the allergies! We'll hopefully be there soon!!