The Zim Family Cocker Spaniel Forum

Hi Guys-

Ever since I adopted Oliver as a little puppy, he's seemed to be a pretty sneezy little guy. He also gets the gunky red stains on his eyes, which I know a lot of Cockers deal with too...but recently he's even begun to chew his feet. All of these symptoms are leading me to think that the poor thing has allergies. He isn't sneezing incessantly or anything, but I do hear him doing it maybe half a dozen times throughout the day...and the foot thing that has me really thinking he's allergic to something. I took him to the vet for a check-up last year and mentioned his sneezing and a tiny bit of a runny nose from time to time. The doctor prescribed a cycle of antibiotics, but I really didn't see much of a change whatsoever.

He's been on several different foods (currently Taste of the Wild) and doesn't get any treats with grains. Nothing has really seemed to worsen/improve his sneezing or tear stains. If he's fine and healthy, I won't worry about it. I just want to make certain I'm not ignoring classic allergy symptoms and making him suffer through them! :-) If this does scream ALLERGIES, what do you reckon he is allergic to? We live in NYC, so he's hardly being exposed to lots of pollens/natural irritants...but then again, he's had the same symptoms regardless of our current location, which has changed from the big city to rural America...heck, I adopted him and we spent the first several months of his life in France. Poor thing just doesn't seem to improve! =P

Thanks for your thoughts!

Hi Adam,
Foot chewing is usually indicative of a food allergy. I was reading through the post and I see that you changed Olivers food to TOTW a couple weeks ago. Having used TOTW on Snicky I know that there are a lot of ingredients in that food so it would be kind of difficult to choose which food source is the culprit. I tried TOTW on Snicky and she did poorly on it, she was throwing up bile everyday so I put her back on a limited ingredient diet and she has been fine ever since,which was a year and half ago. As far as his sneezing goes that is probably an inhalent allergy and an allergy pill may help,but that would best be advised by a vet.

Have you ever tried giving him a Benedryl? It might be worth a shot to see if it helps. I've already read here on the forum (though haven't had to try) that apple cider vinegar mixed with water helps with the foot chewing. Maybe search through the posts and see if you can find the vinegar/water ratio mixture and maybe someone who has used it with success.

Hi Adam you can use 50/50 vinegar and water to dip his feet several times a day. When things improve taper it off. I use white vinegar because Zoey has white feet. I also give zyrtec when allergies are bad. I give one whole zyrtec(generic) once a day. Zoey is 20.5 pounds
Good luck
Becky

Adam,

Find a good reputable dog dermatologist. Sounds like you may be dealing with both food and environmental allergies. Or you may find that it is neither. A dermatologist will be able to guild you. And it won't cost as much as you think it might... example... my last dog was scratching like crazy... so off to the vet I go... office visit, flea meds (no sign of fleas) back home. Week later dog is still scratching like crazy... back to vet.. office visit, skin scrapping, meds for mites (no sign of mites) back home. Week later dog is STILL scratching like crazy... back to vet... office visit, more skin scrapings, dip the dog, medicated shampoos, meds for sore spots, steroids, still no idea what is going on. Back to vet several times for dips... the dog is miserable and looks horrible! Her fur is patchy, her skin is red and raw. I cried she looked so bad. I finally had it (it would never have taken this long now... but I was young and dumb and trusted my vet) I got lucky and found a wonderful dermatologist. ONE appointment.. office visit, skin scrapping, medication, medicated shampoo and finally... a diagnosis! She had sarcoptic (sp) mange picked up either at the vets office or groomer. I paid for each vet visit... the dermatologist included follow up visits and believe it it was a lot less that I paid out to the vet. But the best part is she was able to give me that diagnosis quickly and the proper treatment so my dog could feel better.

Like I said... find a good dog dermatologist.

Our Cocoa has been into the vet 3 times this spring. His symptoms have been foot chewing, ear gunk, and sneezing. For his foot chewing the vet said to use a bitter apple spray from the pet shop. Dogs don't like the taste or smell. that has worked as well as an allergy pill. She said at least here in the Midwest it has been a nasty allergy year.

Thank you all for the help! We're going to play it by ear and try a few of the different remedies to see if we can't find a fix :-)

I really appreciate all of your input! :-D

Bruce has allergy problems in the Fall and Spring (but oddly not in the Summer, when Theo has problems?!) and I have found that I usually have to give him 1/2 a zyrtec a day and then I take him to the vet for a cortisone shot about twice a year for a bacterial skin rash he gives himself by constantly grooming his itchy places. I think this Fall I may up him to a whole zyrtec, as he is 33lbs and I'm sure he can handle it (after reading on here about others who give a whole. Bruce's allergies seem to be primarily related to pollen, while Theo's kick up every time mold and mildew are high. Theo only gets a half, and I think that's about all he can take. The zyrtec seems to help everything but the eye "goop" problem. It reduces the sneezing and itching a considerable amount. Bruce also has allergies to wheat and chicken, so I switched both boys to a lamb and rice food that they seem to tolerate well.

Max is on benedryl year round for the itchies. (I suspect it's the cats, frankly, that he's allergic to.) We're looking at going holistic with bioflavoniods since some of the compounds act like antihistamines, maybe that's an option for Bruce if you don't get good results with traditional drugs or just don't want to use those.

Usually if they're biting their feet..take a look very closely between the toes and pads. If it's red it hurts and it could be yeast. I keep a bottle of Chorhexidene wash too clean it up and if it's still red next day I use Animax.