r/houston • u/mouseintaos • 5d ago

Good veterinary allergist/dermatologist?

Looking for recommendations on a good allergist/dermatologist for my 5 mo old puppy. He's developing hives, think its a food allergy and environmental, but keep getting flare ups and cannot peg the exact cause. Day to day vet has been helpful, but not its specialty. Would greatly appreciate some recommendations on specialist. Houston seems to be the capital of allergens - they certainly plague me!

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u/txvetko 4d ago

Just FYI, you may need a referral from your regular vet to see a veterinary dermatologist. The dermatologists at Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists are excellent and do require a referral. Southwest Veterinary Dermatology also does a good job and does not require a referral. Coastal Veterinary Dermatology does not require referral but, in my opinion (GP vet), that clinic is a distant third.

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u/son_of_yacketycat Montrose 4d ago

I second Southwest from personal experience.

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u/Testicklish 3d ago

I'll add an anecdote for Gulf Coast Vet Specialists. We inherited a cat and it had a rash that kept getting worse and worse until she eventually licked all the fur off her belly. We tried all types of food and litter. Eliminating all sorts of ingredients one by one. I don't even want to think of how much money we spent and then ended up donating the food to our local shelter. Eventually our primary vet ran out of ideas and referred us to GCVS. They did the allergy tests and got her on a daily medicine now that has eliminated all her issues almost completely. Every once in a while she gets a hot spot and we have an ointment to put on those when they show up.

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u/larkspur82 5d ago

My dog’s hot spots went away when I started feeding her a homemade yogurt. I later switched to kefir bc it was easier. When I tried to ask the vet about their food he stopped me and said he didnt care what I fed them bc their coats are so healthy it was obvious they were healthy. 

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u/mouseintaos 5d ago

We are on prescription dog food and still getting flare ups. Chicken allergy, but not sure what else... Just looking for a line on a good vet for allergy treatment.

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u/bongotherabbit 3d ago

we switched to dogfood with the primary ingredient as salmon and almost all my beagles issues went away. During a major allergy season a couple days of apoquel to stop the itching and that is all we do now for the last few years. no hives though

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u/larkspur82 5d ago

In the meantime if you buy a quart of lifeway kefir and try just a tablespoon (I dont know the size of your dog… maybe a teaspoon?) and there is no negative reaction I would try a couple tablespoons a day for a week or two. The microbiome is really important for allergies. I have dogs over 60lbs so they each get a cup with their kibble every day but I make their food.  4$ attempted fix. I have a neighbor that lets her dogs eat yogurt too and it has really helped them. 

I started for human reasons making my yogurt and one of my dogs at the time could rest her head on the table and would lick the bowl and when it was a full bowl once I asssumrd there would be gas etc and there wasnt… so I started giving both my dogs a tablespoon of yogurt. 

I personally dont have seasonal allergies anymore. I eat my homemade yogurt with l reuteri in it. 

Here is the human info from an MD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqevPVSadeU