My Golden Has Allergies--What Should I Do?

contributed by Helen T. Redlus

Allergy problems and Golden Retrievers seem to go hand-in-hand. I was once told by a vet that Goldens are THE most allergic dog. As many of you already know, my Golden Boy, Mozart, suffers from thyroid and auto-immune problems which manifested as severe skin problems-constant scratching, licking, biting of himself until he was raw meat and chronic ear problems.

By all means, the very first thing you should do is consult with your veterinarian. Determine whether or not your dog would be a good candidate for allergy testing and subsequently, allergy shots. We tried this, but unfortunately it didn't help in our situation. Here are the things that helped us the most:

  • A book by Alfred W. Plechner, DVM, titled "Pet Allergies: Remedies for an Epidemic". Check your local library. If they don't have it you may be able to find it at a health food store. If all else fails, you can order it by calling 800-222-9932. Price is around $11 including shipping and handling.
  • Changing diet to a hypo-allergenic kibble such as Nature's Recipe Lamb, Rice and Barley. There are several excellent hypo-allergenic diets available...Nature's Recipe is just one of them. When you change food, do it gradually by incorporating the new food with the old over a week or two. Abrupt changes can cause upset tummies and diarrhea. Also, while you are testing for food allergies, do not feed any other food (no milk bones, rawhide, table scraps, etc.). Give only the hypo-allergenic diet.
  • Have a thyroid test done. Make sure that T3, T4 and TSH are tested.

Things that helped Mozart while he was very itchy included:

  • Frequent baths using Allerseb-T shampoo by Allerderm.
  • Keeping him flea free. I can't emphasize enough how important it is to keep your allergic dog's environment free of fleas. This includes the interior of your home as well as the yard, and the dog. I use TORUS for treating inside and outside premises and on Mozart I use DuoCide L.A. also by Allerderm.
  • For those pesky ear problems, my vet showed me the proper way to clean the ear using ChlorHexi Derm Flush and a cotton ball. While the ears were infected we also used Topagen ointment. After the infection cleared up, cleaning the ears once or twice a week with the ChlorHexi Derm Flush will help keep those pretty ears nice and pink instead of red and hot! Ask your vet to demonstrate the proper way to clean ears and apply the medication. The physiology of the dog's ear is quite different than humans. Also, keeping the hair trimmed inside the ear to allow better air circulation will help a great deal. Careful with those scissors though.

Another great source of information on Thyroid and Auto-Immune Disease is Dr. W. Jean Dodds. You can find some of her articles in various dog magazines as well as the GRNews.