Atopica alternatives

[WalterAndTheAstronauts]

Our gorgeous male yellow lab has been on and off Atopica over the last year due to allergies.

He's recently had his bloods done and originally the vet thought it was seasonal, grasses etc as its worse when it get warmer. The tests have come back and he's allergic to storage mites, dust mites, etc some meats but he's raw fed chicken so that's under control.

I've read up on Atopica and I don't really like the idea of him being on it long term, so I'm wanting to find a holistic/natural alternative!

Does anyone know of something I could try?

He has Omega 3 capsules once a day, not sure it helps though.

Are you doing the dust mite and storage mite control so washing bed covers every 48 hours, freezing toys and in washable beds for 24 hours once a week.
If you have blood results confirming allergens you can use immunotherapy to desensitise to the allergens has your vet discussed this with you.

My golden retriever has allergies to storage mites and house dust mites. He scratches a bit, but not enough to damage his coat or his skin, and he has a problem with waxy ears. The vet prescribed Atopica, plus Omega 3 capsules, and immunotherapy injections once a month.

After giving him the Atopica for two days, I read up about it, and decided not to continue. The potential side effects seemed to outweigh the benefits, since his symptoms were minor. Also, after two days on Atopica he started to have horrible loose stools.

So, now he continues to have his Omega 3 and his immunotherapy. According to the vet, we won't know how much good the immunotherapy is doing until he's been on it for a year, which will be next October. The vet also recommended spraying the house for the dust mites, and buying dog food in small rather than large bags, to reduce the number of storage mites in his food.

Their bedding is washed regularly but his teddies probably need doing more often, I didn't think of them!

The vet seems quite happy to keep giving him the Atopica even though I've made it clear that I'm not too keen for him to be on them. I have reduced it down to every other day.

I'll have a look into immunotherapy, it's not something I've heard of.

Their food is frozen so I think that will kill any mites.

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.

It's the beds and toys that need to be frozen to kill the dust mites. The results of the allergy testing enable the immunotherapy to be made.

Thanks. Not sure I can get his bedding in the freezer though.

I'll see what the vet says tomorrow.

A daily anti-histamine helped my allergic Tibetan terrier, as well as the omega 3 capsules, I'd tried Chinese herbs, immunotherapy, and steroids.
Steroids were the most effective though I wasn't happy with the side effects.
He was allergic to house dust mites and grasses.
I do sympathise, ours was a life long problem