Pet Spotlight/Case Study: “Bella’s Itch”

Bella Before Treatment

Bella first came to ADRC in Aug 2015 as an 11-month-old, spayed-female Golden Retriever with a history of steroid-responsive, year-round itching, skin infections, and ear infections since 3 months of age that didn’t resolve with a Z/D diet trial.

We performed intradermal allergy testing, started injectable allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT, “allergy shots”) to control her environmental allergies, treated her bacterial and yeast skin infections, and started Apoquel for temporary itch relief.

Bella Is Doing Great Now!

She flared with itching and infections in Nov and Jan 2016 so we added NexGard flea and tick prevention, to alternate 15 days after their Advantage Multi topical product. After that, she improved but continued to flare up once every summer (June 2016 and June 2017), so in July 2018, we changed from NexGard to Simparica, since this flea preventative seems to last a little longer in our highly-sensitive patients. After that, she had no more summer flares! She takes ASIT injections every 14 days and doesn’t need any other medications besides flea control! We’re so happy that she’s doing well!

If you have questions about a pet with similar skin changes in your household please contact ADRC to schedule an appointment.