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Big Daddy's Story

December 2006
Big Daddy is scheduled to go in for testing on December 28th.
The cost will be in the $700+ range & this will identify the specific things he is allergic to & will get us the 1st batch of injectable serums, specially mixed up for him, to help him overcome his allergies.

January 2007
1st off, Big Daddy is sending big slobbery kisses to all of you who donated to make his allergy testing possible. He had the test today & now he can get on the road to getting some much needed relief!

What we found out is he is allergic to all but 2 of the grasses & all but 2 of the weeds they test for. He is NOT allergic to any molds. He is allergic to cats (BD says that is ok as he didn't want to live with any silly cats anyway), fleas, cedar elm, mesquite, and box elder trees. He is HIGHLY allergic to staph, house dust, and house dust mites. and right now he also has a skin yeast infection from all the biting & chewing he has done for the past 3 wks because he couldn't take any meds in preparation for this test. We are treating him for the yeast infection and to get him some immediate relief, he goes back on prednisone & benadryl.

They mixed up a serum just for him & we start the injections on Saturday. He will get a shot every week for 8 wks & then we go to a shot every 2 wks. We start with a small dosage & then increase it each time to try to desensitize him. It is very likely that he will have to take these shots for the rest of his life; the cost will be about $14.70 per shot. I am going to take him to my vet tomorrow to be bathed & I will donate that. it is too cold to bathe him outside & at 130#, he is too big to go into my shower, so it will be money well spent.

The total bill was $607.50. They gave us a 10% discount because we are rescue. All of the people there are super nice & I would recommend Animal Dermatology Referral Clinic
to anyone with an animal with dermatology problems.

So once again, a big pyr 'thank you' to all of you who made this possible for Big Daddy. All of us SPIN members and all the SPIN pyrs, past, present, and future, do so appreciate your kindness in helping us help our Big White Dogs.

Big Daddy is a 3 1/2 year old who spent virtually the first 2 years of his life living in a crate nearly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When he arrived you virtually saw through what little hair he had to his nasty, weepy skin. He weighed in at a skeletal 90 pounds. It was determined that he has a staph infection of the skin, pretty bad ear infections and what was suspected to be some mange.

He was started on Revolution, cephalexin and daily betadine scrubs. He has been on 12 - 18 benadryl a day since his arrival and is now on his 3rd round of steroids. He was fed a diet of special duck and potato food for 8 weeks to rule out food allergies Attempts to wean him off the steroids resulted in Big Daddy reverting to an itchy, miserable mess.

The only way to be certain what is causing his severe allergic reactions and get him the relief he so deserves is to have him see a doctor that specializes in canine dermotology and have extensive testing done which would result in producing the serum he needs for shots to alleviate his misery.

We are establishing the Big Daddy Big White Dog Relief Fund to aid us with this endeavor. Any and all donations to this fund will be used directly for our very special young gentledog. All of the SPIN members, SPIN fosters and Big Daddy himself will send you a huge "Thank You" (along with a big ole slobbery kiss from the young man himself) for helping us restore this very special dog to the glorious BWD we all know he can be.

Click the PayPal button to donate to the BDBWDRF.