Case Study

Chris has a flat-coated retriever, Brooke, who kept having ear problems. She would scratch and shake her head and had “black gooey/gungy stuff” in her ear. Chris took Brooke to her usual vet a few times, but they couldn’t resolve the problem. Then they discovered yeast infection– aspergillosis – which Chris was very concerned about because it can be very serious and can spread to the brain.

As a result, the dog was referred to Anita at Dermatology Referrals. Anita treated the ear infection and diagnosed the underlying condition. She ascertained that the most appropriate thing was to try immunotherapy for Brooke. This involves monthly injections (that Chris now does). This treatment doesn’t ‘cure’ Brooke, but it does reduce her allergic responses to the eight environmental allergens she tested positive for.

Previously, Brooke also had some skin issues, but Chris notices she has far fewer problems now thanks to the immunotherapy. Anita prescribes topical treatments for these lesions when they appear.

Chris says: “Brooke is never going to be 100 per cent, even after treatments. But we got her to the point where she’s certainly not uncomfortable and she’s got a good quality of life, which is what I’m looking for.”

Whisper: Hotspots
Chris’s other dog, a German shepherd called Whisper, was consistently getting hotspots (like eczema in humans). He would start scratching and the spot would keep spreading and getting itchier. It would get to the point where the skin was “gooey and horrible”. Chris describes the situation: “At one point, the hotspots were moving so fast and he was in such discomfort that we could barely get him to come for a walk.”

Whisper’s vet prescribed steroids for a while, but he continued to get worse. “We weren’t getting a handle on it for long enough,” says Chris. Because Anita was already seeing Brooke, Chris decided to bring Whisper too, and her vet was happy to refer him.

Anita discovered that Whisper had allergies to some environmental factors that couldn’t be removed. Because of his age and as the condition wasn’t curable (as he was older than five, immunotherapy was not appropriate). It was a case of managing the allergies instead. Anita prescribed different medications, the minimum dose of steroids and various topical treatments, to keep the issues under control.

Both dogs were put on an elimination diet. Through this, Anita identified that both were allergic to chicken – a very common allergen – and salmon.