Hi:
This Topic is for recording Allergies, if your Koolie suffers from any type of sensitivity to food, grass, dust, pet products other animals etc
It would be good to list the various reactions and their causes, this will be a great help to people who may have a problem but as yet have not been able to identify it.
Here's to a thriving healthy Koolie breed and all their dedicated owners. :littlehearts:

Hi -
Don't know if this is much help, as my guy's pedigree is a bit blurry, so we can't really see how he connects genetically to other Koolies, but... my Wal has allergies, which are not severe, and are quite managable (with a very, very low cortisone dose) which result in ear infections, sore crusty corners to his eyes, ulcers at the 'dribble spot' on the outside of his mouth and (once only) break down of the skin around the nails on one foot.


Libby B

Thanks Libby B, this is exactly what I'm after, maybe other Koolie owners have had similar problems, would you mind giving me more information it would be a great help.
Does he get the allergies all the time, or are they seasonal, is there something in particular he is allergic to such as grass, or food intolerance, what are you using to assist or control it.
You have been wonderful by responding. :gleam:

Tjukurpa -

He has itchy, slightly grotty ears most of the time, and I can't see any pattern as to when it's worse (apart from when I get slack about cleaning his ears). The ulcers on his eyelids and mouth only form when his ears get infected. The skin break-down on his foot happened when his ears were infected about 18 mths ago. I guess that whatever triggers the ear infection, triggers the other symptoms.

I haven't actually had him tested to find out what it is that bothers him.

I made a mistake about the cortisone (sorry). When his ears were infected they were treated with anti-biotic drops. I clean his ears up to every second day (it's lucky he's such a forgiving dog - mayby I should just say it's lucky he's a Koolie - if I had to do this with my Foxy she'd be thoroughly peeved with me) with Bayer Clean Ear Solution and this generally controls the itch, I guess by removing the wax/goop.

When his ears start to get itchy he rubs them on the ground. This has got increase the chance of infections, I think, putting dirt and germs into the ear.

My 'feeling' (for what it's worth) about this is that the fact that he is a really sensitive, stressy dog contributes.

Libby B

Thanks Libby B:
With your permision I'll run this by a couple of vet friends and see if they have any thoughts.
And your thoughts are just as valuable as anyones.

Hi tjukurpa - that's fine by me - Libby B

Thanks for your thoughts, Sam.

It isn't ear mites.

Last week the ulcers in the corners of the eyes and crustly spots on his mouth flaired up (he has good timing - exactly when his vaccination was due). When my vet looked back through his records she saw a seasonal pattern. Now he's on Panalog on his eyes/mouth, and Dexone (added to Clean Ear) for his ears. Kerry - I worked out where my confusion had been about the Clean Ear/Cortisone thing - I forgot they'd added Dexone to it. At the moment his eyes are still sore, but his ears are much less itchy.
My vet thinks, and I agree, that as this is quite controllable, and sometimes lots of testing doesn't reveal any really useable information, it's not worth doing allergy tests at this point.

Thanks - Libby

Thanks Libby: I have heard a couple of other owners comment on seasonal allergies, my red merle girl Titch gets red eyes and tummy, at the change of seasons, mostly coming into summer, we give her 1ml of Claratyne a mild antihistamine upon seeing the symptoms and it picks her right up, I don't normally have to give her any more than the one treatment.
Maybe there is a genetic relationship, we are looking into the many options of DNA testing related to health problems, I will certainly be asking question about allergies in dogs.