Yup I am now a official crazy boxer mom....
I drove 2 dogs a hour away for a dermatologist vet for Mason...of course we had 2 dogs Mackie hates to be alone and Mason needed moral support,,lol
ok the vet was in the middle of the country and brand new,,, guess I know how they are paying for that.....
OMG
$171 and all she did was look at him and do a slide of ear wax,,, which of course came up as yeast, which I already knew since you could smell it...
then she brings out the whoopping bill for meds, I hope I didn't insult them when I asked if I could get the meds cheaper at my vet.... but I did!
list of the meds:
1. Apoquel 16mg 84.88 my vet 72.00
2. Trizultra + Keto 12 oz.. 54.08 my vet 16.00
3. miconazole 1% 25.98 my vet 10.00
that is ridulous, I don't think I will be back..
I understand good vet care can be expensive but to be honest she didn't do any different of a exam then my vet and he charges 35.00 not 115.00 to walk in the door...what if you can afford this care should a animal suffer? I am thankful I can afford good care for my babies but to be honest it wasn't really worth the money..
I feel I paid for the new building and all its new toys and not the care..
the exam rooms had granate tables/counter tops an d the thing was set up like a executive desk... new furniture and a fireplace, lots of big computers and TVs hardwood floors and Adirondack furnture .... Hate to say it but I will take my vet anyday...give me a metal table and regular chairs and good vet care where they get down on the ground and get all that boxer loving... ok Vent over
Then they didn't do a thorough job. They should be asking WHY your dog is having yeast issues and what are the CAUSES for his allergies. That's what a referral to a dermatologist is suppose to do, get to the underlying cause in an area that is beyond what a normal vet can offer.
Then you can make up a plan to find a solution, not just steroid and mediate him for life.
He gets yeast in his ears from his allergies, his allergies are all in his ears, nose and eyes but then he rubs against the floor and gets a rug burn on his tummy/chest... so far we have only treated him steroids every 3 nights and benedryl everynight.
but so tired of medicating him, and the continued use of steroids aren't good for him.
The med apoquel is a med that blocks the itch without the side effects that steroids get. the vet says about 80% of dogs do well on this medicine. I will see progress the first 2 weeks.
I didn't get the meds from them, I got from my vet!
I am hoping this works I am so worried about my Mason
I agree with Kari - What exactly is causing the allergy? If you can find that out and eliminate the trigger you have won most of the battle. What Apoquel, Benadryl, or pred is doing is really putting a band aid on the problem. You are asking your dog's immune system to do something different and if you don't remove the allergen you are asking too much.
I would stop all drugs...benedryl, steroids etc and invest in some allergy testing. I believe you need to be off medications for 30 days prior to testing.
In the mean time ACV rinses twice a week. Including foot soaks. Wipe his face 2-3 times daily with a damp cloth. What is he eating? Usually facial swelling is a food allergy.
Have you tried raw? This way you can start with one protein source at a time.
you have to be steroid free for 3 months, we already did testing last year, came back with nothing. he is on a homemade diet. we think its seasonal allergies because he has year round but different degrees and symptons with each season. possibly allergic to something outside I reside next to a nature preserve, possibly allergic to the cats but we cant get rid off them, the oldest cat is 16yrs.. I am going to research the meds somemore
It has got to be frustrating! I don't mean to alarm you about Apoquel but I was on a drug that is similar for an autoimmune disease and it caused me some serious issues. I just want you to be a well-informed doggy mom! Sometimes when we want to get well, or have our fur kids get better, we will try anything. Keep on trying to find the right answer!!!
I have a friend with a boxer mix that has seasonal allergies. For a few years she's had the dog at the vet several times a year. Vet was always giving cortisone shot, and putting the dog on prednisone. I recommended she buy Olewo Beets - they are all natural and supposed to help with seasonal allergies. My friend said she'd think about and every time I asked - she still hadn't gotten any to try..........So... I bought some for her - gave them to her back in December. She's been keeping the dog on them ever since. Her dog has shown a lot of improvement. In fact she recently had the dog at the vet for a check up and even the vet was impressed with how well she was doing and told her to keep doing whatever it is she's doing because it's working. No steroids needed. And the vet had been considering putting the dog on apoguel.
I'll post a link on the beets for you - you can also order them from Amazon - I didn't check to see the price difference.
Maggie has very severe allergies. We tried just about everything (including Apoquel, which did not work for her). Eventually we did a skin test at the dermatologist and due to the long list of unavoidable allergens, started immunotherapy. She's been getting injections for about a year now and has shown some (though minimal so far) improvements.
We chose to do immunotherapy because we decided we didn't want her to be medicated forever. Immunotherapy is supposed to train the dogs immune system to deal with the allergens. It takes a while to begin working and until it does she needs to be on a very minimal dose of steroids, but very soon we expect to be able to take her off of the steroids.
Just another option
PS- I drive an hour to our dermatologist and ALWAYS bring Winston for moral support (and because we don't want to leave him alone)!
$171 is cheap! I took Bunny and it cost over $400.. Same thing a few slides, a quick look over and a lot of talking. I don't get the purpose, if I were to get her the patch test the purpose would be to do the injections and there is not a strong chance of that curing anything anyway. I had best results with trial and error, and doing things like adding Vit. e and salmon oil (omega oil) and daily rinses/foot rinses. A follow up appointment was $210 for sale thing. I am also a crazy boxer mom, but, aren't we all?!
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Boxer Breed Dog Forums
676.7K posts
39.6K members
Since 2006
A forum community dedicated to Boxer owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about breeds, health, behavior, housing, adopting, care, classifieds, and more!