My dog has allergies? Part One

Meet Tootsie the Chi, my precious, adorable Chihuahua.  Six pounds of cuteness, my pride and joy.  The last thing I ever expected to hear was that my dog has allergies.  What? My dog has allergies?!

To give you a little background, I adopted Tootsie in May of 2016.  Tootsie was a breeder dog who could not conceive and was passed from one breeder to another.  At 2 1/2 years of age, she was passed on to yet another breeder, who took her in to find her a forever home.

The minute I saw Tootsie's photo, I fell in love with her.  I set up a day to meet Tootsie and counted the days, hours and minutes until our first meet.

When I first met Tootsie, she was a little shy and nervous.  I sat there on the couch, talking to the breeder and slowly Tootsie made her way into my lap.  Tootsie curled up in a ball and fell asleep in my lap, as I petted her.  At this point, I knew it was meant to be.  Tootsie had melted my heart and after hearing her story, I wanted to give her the life she deserved.

It would be a few weeks before I could pick her up, as I was in the process of moving. A story for another time.  I counted the days, hours, minutes and seconds until our big gotcha day!

Fast forward two months, Tootsie is settling in wonderfully and loving every minute of her new leash on life.

Then the unexpected happened.  Tootsie began licking at her paws, digging at her left ear, sneezing constantly and shaking her head so as to flop her ears back and forth.  I knew something wasn't right.

I immediately contacted her veterinarian to schedule an appointment.  Fortunately, they were able to see her the very next day.

My initial thoughts were that Tootsie had an ear infection, the veterinarian would give her some antibiotics and we'd be on our way.

At Tootsie's visit, the veterinarian looked at Tootsie's ears and stated there were no signs of an infection.  Which was wonderful news!

 They took some samples from her ears with a swab and checked them under the microscope.  Luckily, she did not have any ear mites, just waxy build up.  The veterinarian cleaned Tootsie's ears to remove the debris.  Tootsie was a great patient!

Tootsie's doctor then explained to me that she was prone to waxy build up in her ears, most likely due to allergies.  I would need to clean her ears with an ear cleansing solution, each time after bathing.  Because Tootsie had some dry skin issues, it was suggested that I only bath her every two weeks, instead of every week,  as I had been.

The doctor also mentioned that Tootsie's diet was a major factor in her allergy symptoms and condition of her  skin and coat. I would need to change her diet and also administer Children's Benadryl to ease her allergy symptoms.

Do you have a fur baby with allergies? What symptoms does your dog display?

To recap, here is a list of recommendations from Tootsie's veterinarian:

• Administer Children's Benadryl as needed, every 8 to 12 hours, for allergy symptoms; head shaking, sneezing, paw licking, scratching.
• Bathe Tootsie every other week to keep allergens off skin and coat.
• Clean ears with an Ear Cleansing Solution, after bathing.
• Elliminate the top food allergens from Tootsie's diet and offer a high quality food.

What treatment plan has your veterinarian recommended due to allergies?

 Remember, it is important to consult with your dog's doctor if allergies are suspected.  The treatment plan I have outlined for Tootsie, may not be suitable for your dog.  Do not take this post as medical advice, I'm just a pet parent sharing my experience.
Always consult with your veterinarian.

Thank you for stopping by today and hope you'll check back in next week, when I'll be sharing with you my journey to finding Tootsie a new and improved diet.

Until next time...

                            Hug your furbabies ❤