Okay. Im so upset and frustrated with Lincoln. He had a small window of improvement and then he broke out in a staph infection so severe I put him on 6 weeks of antibiotics.

Allergy testing will cost $287 and the injections there after will run about $300 a vial that will last 4-6 months depending on how much he needs. So that option is out because I do not have that kind of money hanging around.

Second was keeping him on long term antibiotics or use them as needed which will be all the time

Three was trying staph lysate injections. Its affordable the last I checked but is this something that would be worth trying?

Staphage Lysate (SPL) Veterinary Information from Drugs.com

Im changing his kibble as well but I will do another thread on that later in the food section. Acana is not working for him. I do not think its food related as dogs with food allergies generally dont respond well to steroids and hes a whole new itch free dog on them. So with the help of waschampionfan I am figuring out what formula to feed.

I feel like im trapped and playing with fire no matter what direction I choose . I just want him to be happy and some what healthy.

If he is getting staph infections, have you had him tested for Addison's or maybe some other autoimmune disease. I know you have been fighting this for quite a while, but from what I remember you have always thought is was food related.

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Hes been tested for Autoimmune thyroiditis and that came back positive so hes been on soloxine for a number of months.

I just do not feel his issues are food related after doing more research on it. Dogs with food allergies typically do not respond to steroid treatment. He responds well to it. Plus, its the same story no matter what food he is on.

I will do some reading into Addisons and see what I think

I browsed through some links on Addisons/Cushings. They dont fit his symptoms at all. But I will still ask my vet about it Monday

Poor Link

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I do what I like and like what I do. Yorkies- Cozy (4/1/06), Roxy & Zoey (2/11/08), Lucy (4/6/09); Golden- Buddy (4/13/09- Rescued 12/11) Maine Coon cats- Mika (1998) and Tallulah (2000)

Have you tried a holistic vet?

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Yes the one vet at the clinic im at is Holistic. We tried a few things and nothing helped.

You are correct that a food allergy dog is not going to respond well to a steroid. Remove the food allergen and the dog should not have the particular issue. The steroid should keep the inflammation down that attributes to the biting, scratching and the infection. Ruby is on Soloxine for her AIT and believe me it did not eliminate the need for a long term daily dose of a steroid. I have gone above and beyond treatment for her and nothing has been 100%. Her quality of life outweighed the possibility of a shortened lifespan.

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Vicky, mom to Ruby-5 years
Birthday 9/1/07

So the fact that Lincolns itching vanishes while on Vanectly P tells me chances are this is not a food issue were dealing with but rather something in his environment?

Im to nervous to do steroids again because the last time I put him on steroids he started to vomit blood and poop out black stools. The vet said the steroids caused this and he was on the lowest dose to.

Is Vanactly-P the same as Temaril-P? Ruby is on Temaril-P & started out on 3 pills a day (all 3 at one time) for one week. Then 2 a day for the second week & then 1 a day from herein out. She is doing extremely well at this dose. She has not had any lesions or skin infections since starting on this protocol. The scratching, biting & chewing are at a minimum. She still is on a raw diet, Soloxine, AllerG-3, ACV & weekly baths with Micro-Tek.

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Vicky, mom to Ruby-5 years
Birthday 9/1/07