We have an appointment to see Doctor #6

We have an appointment March 11th to see Dr. Senter at the VADC clinic in Overland Park, Ks. He and his partner are the only board certified dermatologist in the KC Metro area. Vet number 5 was a total waste of time and money.We went to him because that is where our breeder goes. He basically said if the prescription food doesn't help there is nothing else he can do for us. When I looked at his profile on his web page it said he specialized in allergies and skin problems, really ? We have spent so much time and money trying to resolve Preachers ongoing skin problems.With each new vet there has been new hope only to end with the end result being we leave with less money and no solution to our problem. We never dreamed we would have this kind of problem with a pup of his caliber and bloodline.This experience has been both mentally and financially exhausting.The first two vets simply blamed his skin problems on the type of shampoo and flea & tick we were using. Changing that did not resolve the problem so we went on to vet #3. She made an attempt with shots, pills, medicated baths and finally a prescription diet food trial. Still not seeing results so on to vet #4 a specialist. We put our faith and confidence into this doctor not to mention paying him almost $500.00. He diagnosed Preacher's skin problems being caused by an inner ear infection, took him off the prescription food and said we should see improvement in 2 weeks. When very little improvement happened he put Preacher on prednisone and a short time later recommended generic Prozac. When I expressed my dislike of prednisone and questioned the Prozac he sent me a text saying I could get someone else to handle our case since I didn't trust his methods. From this point forward he would not respond to my calls or text messages. So now we are ready for vet #6, we hope once again to get the correct diagnosis and some relief for Preacher.

 

I’ve kept up with and read many of your posts. I am so sorry you are going through this. I pray that this vet will help your boy.

 

Thank you for your kind words, here is a picture taken Dec 23rd to give you an idea what we are dealing with.

 

Wow. I am so sorry.

Is the breeder offering any type of assistance? I know Archers girl (they’re from the same breeder correct) has extreme allergies- why is the breeder still breeding this line? (Sorry I don’t know if I’m using the correct terminology). I’ve read many of Archer’s posts where you were tagged and all the stuff she’s been through I’m sure that thousands and thousands of dollars. I know it’s not about money but we’ve been in that position with a sick dog without insurance and it crushed us.

 

The last vet you dealt with sounds completely unprofessional. I wouldn't hesitate to "fire" him. That picture is crazy. I can't offer any suggestions, but I can empathize with the frustration you must be feeling. I have had a similar experience with dog "specialists" who really didn't help more than my average vet.. Keep us updated

 

Our breeder is aware of the problem but has not offered any assistance. She said she is baffled by Preachers problems. Unfortunately we do not have insurance so it is all out of pocket. I worry that he may end up needing long term maintenance medication if we do figure out what he is allergic to. On the phone yesterday the dermatologist's office mentioned a serum could possibly be developed if they can figure out what he is allergic to. That all sounds very expensive to me. All I know is it cost $120.00 just to walk in the door and be seen the first time. I will be faxing them 7 pages of Preachers records before we get there.

 

We were not impressed with vet #5 and he also owns the animal hospital. We were suppose to go back in a month for a follow up but that is not going to happen. I have heard a lot of good things about this animal hospital so it was a big disappointment to have the experience we did.

 

We are going to see the same doctor that treated Archers girl Faith. This doctor is almost 200 miles from our house round trip, hopefully they can help us.

 

This may be a stupid question but did you do a blood test to see what he is allergic to? Our male had skin issues and we had him tested. It came back with all kinds of things that he couldn't have. Took about 6 weeks after changing food and skin cleared up.

 

Have you done any blood work to see what he is allergic to ?

 

None of the 5 vets wanted to do any blood work. Vet #3 came the closest by suggesting doing it after doing a 12 week food trial. She also advised that blood work wasn't that accurate and suggested the pin prick test being more accurate. He was only on the food trial for 4 days when the specialist took him off of it. We are now back on the food trial for a 2nd time which started Feb 11th.

 

I would insist on the blood work so you have an idea instead of playing the guessing game

 

That's crazy, blood work was one of the first things we did. He is allergic to things like turkey, fish , chicken, sweet potato, kelp, green peas, peanuts. Things that you wouldn't think of and would have taken forever to rule out. The lab is called the Spectrum group, think the testing was about $400.

 

I’m shocked that you’ve been to 5 vets and not one has offered to do that.

 

Just curious with all those things that he’s allergic to, what are you feeding him?

 

Natural Balance L.I.D Lamb and Brown rice. Not my first choice for food but was hard to find something he could eat.

 

I agree and I feel like everything else has been tried with no success. I've got to get him off of that prednisone asap.

 

Not doing the blood test is crazy on the vet’s part. My last girl had horrible allergies and that was the first thing the vet suggested because he owned and treated many Doberman’s for allergies. Back then almost 14yrs ago, it cost me around $350. for the testing. Poor Gracie was allergic to everything. Spinach, tobacco rat and cat saliva, peanuts, green beans, peas, chicken, duck, soy, turkey, Johnson grass, Bahia grass, western cedar, kapok, it was a long list.