seasonal pet allergies

My dog gets awful skin allergies every September. About the first week of September every year, it starts. In a matter of a few days, he'll lick all the fur off his paws and belly and becomes extremely uncomfortable. This started four years ago. That first year, it got so bad that we almost lost him, in a few days, he had chewed almost to the bone and was very infected. He ended up wearing a cone for months, while we tried to figure out what was wrong.

Now it was late November. And after many many different meds, lots of vet visits and almost losing him, the allergist said: Well, we do have a medication, but it's very expensive. I don't know whether or not you want to try it." So I said, how much is it? And she replied, about 35 per box, each box lasts 3 weeks..... What? You must be kidding me, I thought. You have something in your arsenal that you haven't told me about, and it's only 35 bucks??? I'LL TAKE IT!!!!! (I would have paid 3000 bucks for it if that's what it cost)


It's called Atopica. It is amazing stuff. I know it saved his life. He still gets the allergies every September, but now as soon as we see the first paw lick starting, we start the Atopica. He'll usually take it for about 6 weeks, or two rounds, and he's done. After about a day, his licking is dramatically reduced and we can remove the cone.

I've recommended this to a few other people and everyone has had success with it. I had to order it ahead, as the vet doesn't keep it stocked. When I picked up the pills, I asked why they don't use it more, and they said because of the high cost of it. Because my dog is small, he takes less, and it his usage is only seasonal. But if he was bigger and it cost more and he had to take it all the time, then we'd still use it.

I hope maybe this will help someone else's dog who has allergies. I thought to put this on here because we just started our Atopica round yesterday, so my buddy is cone-bound for a few days.

I'm happy to report that, after three days of Atopica, he's back on the job! (you can see the missing fur on his drivers-side front paw.)

Such great advice. Need to get some for my Dobe. where do you order yours?

I get it at my Vet's office. They usually have to order it in, and it takes 2 business days to get. Russell is 13 pounds and he takes one 25 mg pill/day.

My sister also uses it for her llasa apso on a permanent basis. Louie licks everything until his tongue is raw and he has no fur. He does this all year round though, so it isn't seasonal.

She spent tons of money for him, testing, special foods, vitamins, meds -- and then finally listenend to me and asked to try the Atopica and his licking was under control in a matter of days.

I was told that it is probably due to mold spores in the fall grass from the leaves on the trees falling and mulching in the grass, the summer flowers dying off and rotting, and spreading pollen. Whatever it is, it's always September and lasts until our first frost which could be any day now. And in a few weeks, everything green will be brown and dead, except for some mums and pansies, and we'll be off the Atopica for another year.

Glad that works so well!

You might also want to look into this dog food for dogs with sensitive skin and allergies.

Nature's Recipe Healthy Skin Dry Vegetarian Dog Food | NextDayPets.com

Don't be put off by the fact that it is vegetarian because you can add your own meat scraps to it if you like. My dog has been on it for supper along with sweet potato. For breakfast she has grass fed beef that is ground especially for dogs. Not very expensive - no corn fed to the animals so less tendency for allergy.

Here she is



Good luck and thanks for sharing!!

G