Melvin man will be turning nine in March. Don’t even get me started on trying to figure out where time goes. Anywho, we go to the vet so much for so many random things that I recently realized I don’t think we have ever gone to discuss ‘future’ issues. It’s always been ‘today’s conundrum is…’. So a few weeks ago I took Melvin for what I like to call his ‘he’s-turning-nine-how-are-we-doing-and-what-can-we-do-to-make-sure-his next-nine-years-run-smoothly’.
Almost-nine looks good on him. 
The good news is that aside from allergies and his stupid liver, Melvin is pretty darn healthy! His joints are good and limber and aside from his stupid liver, his blood counts are all good. His eyes are growing older, the vet said that he likely can’t see very well at night. I have night lights all over the house (cause I trip a lot) so he is covered there.
Since moving Melvin to a raw diet, I have been able to get him off a couple of his allergy meds (yay!). We decided to test his allergies again (it’s been almost six years). When the report came back in, our vet was afraid to share the results with me. I assumed it was because he was now allergic to me. It turns out, he is NOW allergic to the two things he’s been eating and doing so well on – beef and pumpkin. Oh Melvin.
Raw worked for us for a couple of reasons, the main one being that Melvin has colitis and on kibble his urgency to go #2 is often frantic. With raw, that urgency was gone. We have had much fewer skin infections and his energy level has been awesome.
After the allergy test we moved Melvin over to a prescription kibble that contains stuff he is not allergic to (kangaroo and oats) but the urgency issues and accidents are back. I have finished my study of which raw diet to put him on and think we will try lamb. We are also starting back on allergy shots (that I will give him). Before, when we did shots, we were never able to get him off any of his meds and I had serious doubts the shots were doing anything that they meds weren’t taking care of. Now that he is off so many of his meds, the shots might be just what we need to get him off the dreaded prednisone.
In the meantime, I tested the new kibble on Jake. I try to feed Jake the same protein source as Melvin just in case Melvin ever gets to Jake’s bowl (I mean I’m very vigilant but sometimes I am pouring wine distracted). Jake seems to have an iron stomach and handles food transitions really well. This time, Jake had an allergic reaction and itched so much he developed an infection. No Kangaroo hunting for him. Oh….Jake.
Oh gosh. You poor thing! Have you heard of stella and chewy’s? They are a frozen raw diet with various options for allergenic dogs. Everything from rabbit to venison to duck etc etc. Lots of options to try, very easy to portion, and dogs LOVE it!
We LOVE S&C! That is actually the diet that Jake is on. They have a couple veggies in them that Melvin can’t have which bums me out since I am such a fan of theirs!
You and your boys. Thank goodness they have you!! You’re a saint!
I’m the lucky one! Ok, they are too!
Melvin, you don’t look a day older than 3! Woooowoooooo!
Exactly!!!
Holy cow, you poor thing. Hannah’s right, you are a saint! I went through allergies issues but minus all of Melvin’s other issues and I still felt like it was a nightmare. My thoughts are with you!
Allergies are so…annoying! Not just the symptoms but the steps you have to take to identify, food trial, treat. Oye vey! Glad we are in good company! (well not glad but you get it!).
Don’t give up on raw! Maggie has allergies and digestive issues and raw has made such a difference. Maybe Melvin needs rotation of 3-4 different proteins to avoid developing an allergy to the next protein you try him on? I do that with Maggie (we rotate between beef, rabbit, pheasant, duck & quail currently but I hope to expand into goat and some fish sources soon). Feel free to hit me up if you’ve got raw/rotation questions. Also, it may be worth a discussion with your vet as to both accuracy and practical application of these allergy tests. An allergen appearing on one of those tests and that same allergen causing an allergic reaction in real life are two different things due to each individual’s sensitivities. If Melvin didn’t have allergy symptoms on the raw beef and you were able to get him off some meds, then what happened with his health/allergies in real life seems not to correspond to what the test said. I have heard many stories of dogs who were allergic to a protein in kibble being able to tolerate that same protein in raw form. Good luck!
I am not giving up! There are times I ‘just know’ that something is right or wrong for Melvin and raw has always felt (and proven itself) to be right! We are moving to Lamb tonight and once I see how he does with that I am going to start rotating (and including beef). The pumpkin part I actually do think is causing some of his general itching (literally the only treats he gets are ALL pumpkin and its been a tad mysterious why they still make him itchy) so I do think it’s more that than the raw beef. It’s just hard to explain to someone who has never tried raw how spectacular their digestive system can be on it. He is sensitive stomach (and soul) man and the last year on raw has completely sold me! Thank you for reaching out!!!
Wow, it is so amazing to read about other dog moms who feed their pups raw and how the allergies decrease or fully subside…Congratulations on getting him off some of the meds…that is such a huge victory!!!! Trev and I think silver is sophisticated!!!! 🙂
Thanks Trev!!! Kisses!
Oh my! Guys… enough with the allergies! I know easier said than done, I just had allergy testing done on myself and am still trying to wrap my head around the results. I really do hope you find the right combo of meds and foods though and soon.
Melvin would be happy to be your personal allergy buddy!!! Good luck!
Thanks! 🙂
What type of allergy testing did you use? We need to look into it for Maggie & her itchy feet.
Almost nine looks amazing on Melvin!
We had the SPOT blood test done and are getting the serum from Spectrum labs. The list of allergies they test for is extremely extensive – both environmental and food. Good luck!!
Hi Melvin and Jake – we are visiting from Corbin’s! It’s nice to meet you!
Monty and Harlow
Monty and Harlow! We are honored to have you stop by! We love the Corbs!