Poor Preston

Preston had a rough couple of months late last year, and we have finally managed to get his health under control. For two months, I would come home from school to find that Preston had scratched his face around his eyes. At one point in time, he scratched so hard, that the fur around his eyes was gone.



I tried to put socks on his paws, and we always keep his nails trimmed down. We made about 4 different trips to the vet for the same problem. Each time, she would give him eye drops and Benadryl, which worked temporarily, and then he would start scratching again. It made me so sad to see him like that. Finally, I got a second opinion from a different vet, who suggested allergy testing. I immediately made an appointment with the only pet dermatologist available in Oklahoma. We had to wait a month to get in, and Preston had to stop his eye drops and Benadryl a week before the appointment, so it wouldn't interfere with the testing. I was worried about him not being able to have medicine. Fortunately, it was the week of Christmas break, so I was able to monitor his scratching. Here is what he looked like after the testing, 68 injections later:





They had to shave a large area of his side for the test. The dots are Sharpie marker, so they could tell what he reacted to. They put him under anesthesia while the test went on. He was only allergic to three things: dust, dust mites, and clover. I felt like a terrible housekeeper when the dermatologist told me the results. However, she said that no matter how much I cleaned, there are still dust and dust mites present in the air. The solution: an injection. For the first two months, we did twice weekly injections, and now we do just a once weekly shot. Yes, we give Preston the shot ourselves. For the rest of his life. Is it worth it? Absolutely. I was sick of going to the vet, getting the runaround, paying for a temporary solution, watching my dog suffer. After just 3 months, Preston is completely back to his old self. His fur has grown back around his eyes, his dark coloring around his eyes has returned. We are all very happy he is well!