[PeggyTheParti]

It's taken 6 months of identifying possible suspects, controlling variables, and keeping meticulous notes, but I think I've finally determined that Peggy has an allergic reaction after being groomed.

It's been tricky to pinpoint, because the symptoms don't show up for almost 48 hours after each appointment. But first one eye will get goopy, then the other, and then sometimes back to the first. It starts out minor and then sometimes gets so bad that an eye will be crusted over in the morning. The discharge is greenish and resolves over the course of 1-2 weeks. It's sometimes accompanied by a runny nose (clear discharge, no colour).

My question: What can we do to fix this? At our last appointment, our groomer did a double eye flush, in case it's small hairs irritating her eyes. But Peggy shows no sign of discomfort other than blinking a little extra in the affected eye. No pawing or rubbing, except (understandably) when her eye was sealed closed.

Then again, she shows no others signs of contact allergy: No rash. No excessive scratching. But I tend to react to the fragrance with stuffy sinuses for a few days. Maybe she does, too?

I'm not sure if this is the correct terminology, but I believe the groomer said she uses soap-free products only? All hypoallergenic, designed for very sensitive dogs. From talking to her, it seems there's one product for the face, another for the body. Would that be correct?

Could Peggy be properly groomed with no products at all, even just for one appointment? So we can rule that trigger out? Or does the poodle coat absolutely require something?

I don't know enough about grooming to know quite how to tackle this.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

Robin

 

[Raindrops]

I don't know. Misha started developing the yellow eye goop issue when he was maybe 8.5 months. I know a lot of young dogs go through a heightened allergy thing as teenagers and grow out of it. I had it happen with a foster previously. I'm not sure what causes Misha's as nothing changed. It could be something outside. But my way of dealing with it is to just put a drop of Dexamethasone in each eye when I do his daily brushing. It will clear up with that. Just get some from your vet. One bottle should cost like $30 and should last a few months. I'm hoping Misha's will go away eventually. After a while you can slowly taper it off and see if the goop stays away. You may need to use the drops for a week or so before it clears if she's got a severe issue.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

I'll ask my vet about those drops. Thank you!

I'm happy to have at least linked this particular reaction to the groomer's, but I know it's possible there will be other triggers in the future. She does also seem to have an egg allergy, but that manifested in extreme itchiness. No goop.

I'm considering giving her a bath today with just water. If the fragrance is irritating her sinuses, I'd assume that would resolve the reaction pretty quickly.

But I feel like I saw something here about always using some form of conditioner on poodle coats. I'm wondering if there's a downside to skipping this.

 

[Raindrops]

I'll ask my vet about those drops. Thank you!

I'm happy to have at least linked this particular reaction to the groomer's, but I know it's possible there will be other triggers in the future. She does also seem to have an egg allergy, but that manifested in extreme itchiness. No goop.

I'm considering giving her a bath today with just water. If the fragrance is irritating her sinuses, I'd assume that would resolve the reaction pretty quickly.

But I feel like I saw something here about always using some form of conditioner on poodle coats. I'm wondering if there's a downside to skipping this.

I think you'll be okay just using water. Using shampoo without conditioner may not be so good. It's possible that the water getting in her eyes is just being an irritant and maybe washing other stuff into the eyes. I'm not saying it's not related to the grooming, but I do think there is something about the age that makes them very susceptible to allergies. I cannot stand the yellow goop. When it showed up in Misha I had him in to see the vet the very next day

 

[PeggyTheParti]

I think you'll be okay just using water. Using shampoo without conditioner may not be so good. It's possible that the water getting in her eyes is just being an irritant and maybe washing other stuff into the eyes. I'm not saying it's not related to the grooming, but I do think there is something about the age that makes them very susceptible to allergies. I cannot stand the yellow goop. When it showed up in Misha I had him in to see the vet the very next day

Yet another reason to loathe adolescence!

We took her to the vet when this first happened and she immediately said ALLERGIES. Since it was the summer still, we assumed seasonal, especially since we'd only recently taken her from the breeder's home in eastern Washington. The climate out here on the peninsula is very different from where she was born.

The worst part for me is cleaning her eyes in the morning. This is really gross and maybe not actually all that sanitary, but I started letting her lick my fingers after and that made her much more tolerant of the process.

I figure dogs clean themselves all the time with their mouths so....

¯\(ツ)/¯

 

[Raindrops]

Yet another reason to loathe adolescence!

We took her to the vet when this first happened and she immediately said ALLERGIES. Since it was the summer still, we assumed seasonal, especially since we'd only recently taken her from the breeder's home in eastern Washington. The climate out here on the peninsula is very different from where she was born.

The worst part for me is cleaning her eyes in the morning. This is really gross and maybe not actually all that sanitary, but I started letting her lick my fingers after and that made her much more tolerant of the process.

I figure dogs clean themselves all the time with their mouths so....

¯\(ツ)/¯

Yes, Misha likes to eat the eye goop as well. I like to at least show him what I'm doing so he understands the purpose of it. When he was little he insisted on eating his fur whenever it was removed from him with clippers or scissors! Thankfully he has slowly stopped that. And yes I do wonder whether it's environmental at all. The foster dog I had before actually went to an eye specialist and they told me it was just follicular conjunctivitis and that it was very common in young dogs. But it sounded like pinpointing the cause was very difficult and it was easier to just treat. I've seen a lot of dogs with the yellow goop in their eyes and owners often seem to just be like "yeah his eyes are always like that" but I'd rather do something to prevent it if possible! It must irritate the dogs.

 

[rkj__]

I always let Willard lick his eye goop. He likes it.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

I truly thought I was the only one! I've never done it with other dogs, but Peggy's made it clear she expects a payout for all unpleasant things.

 

[Jbean]

We used to have a spoo with seasonal allergies (that slowly morphed into year round in SoCal allergies). He would rub his face and eyes on people, furniture and walls. A daily Claritin usually kept him comfortable or if he was really rubbing his eyes a drop of Zaditor (OTC antihistamine eye drops) did the trick. I love Zaditor for my own eyes in the spring. It works so fast that I feel like my eyes have gone numb, but they aren't numb, they've just stopped itching almost instantly.

I also flush eyes with sterile saline after a face shave.

 

[Zesti_V]

Jessie likes getting her eye goop back, too...

 

[PeggyTheParti]

We used to have a spoo with seasonal allergies (that slowly morphed into year round in SoCal allergies). He would rub his face and eyes on people, furniture and walls. A daily Claritin usually kept him comfortable or if he was really rubbing his eyes a drop of Zaditor (OTC antihistamine eye drops) did the trick. I love Zaditor for my own eyes in the spring. It works so fast that I feel like my eyes have gone numb, but they aren't numb, they've just stopped itching almost instantly.

I also flush eyes with sterile saline after a face shave.

That's the odd thing. No rubbing at all. And the groomer did an additional eye flush on Saturday, but I'm not sure what she used. I'll ask.

Here's where we're at; I wipe it and it's back within the hour:

And my nose still tingles every time I go near her, from the lingering fragrance. It's very mild compared to the smell from other grooming products my dogs and I have endured over the years, but ick.

Maybe we should both try an antihistamine before her next appointment.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

Jessie likes getting her eye goop back, too...

This is so funny to me. Sometimes I really love the internet.

 

[Starvt]

Raffi gets eye goops too, but generally only first thing in the morning, and not every day.
I'm no poodle grooming expert, but I do all Raffi's grooming myself and only use water on his face. I don't see why it should need product. I feel like something would be more necessary on the feet and belly though. I have been using Almond Crisp from Nature's Specialities (?) highly diluted as recommended by.... Johanna I think. I can smell a very faint pleasant almondy scent for a few days afterwards but that's it.
Anyways my point being that you might want to ask your grromer to dilute more, try something else (maybe order and bring in a sample of something that is low or fragrance free), and/or not use anything on her face.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

Raffi gets eye goops too, but generally only first thing in the morning, and not every day.
I'm no poodle grooming expert, but I do all Raffi's grooming myself and only use water on his face. I don't see why it should need product. I feel like something would be more necessary on the feet and belly though. I have been using Almond Crisp from Nature's Specialities (?) highly diluted as recommended by.... Johanna I think. I can smell a very faint pleasant almondy scent for a few days afterwards but that's it.
Anyways my point being that you might want to ask your grromer to dilute more, try something else (maybe order and bring in a sample of something that is low or fragrance free), and/or not use anything on her face.

Thank you! That's what I'll do. I bring my own shampoo and conditioner to my hairdresser now, so I don't see why this would be any different. As long as it still allows the groomer to do her job.

 

[Charlie's Person]

It's taken 6 months of identifying possible suspects, controlling variables, and keeping meticulous notes, but I think I've finally determined that Peggy has an allergic reaction after being groomed.

It's been tricky to pinpoint, because the symptoms don't show up for almost 48 hours after each appointment. But first one eye will get goopy, then the other, and then sometimes back to the first. It starts out minor and then sometimes gets so bad that an eye will be crusted over in the morning. The discharge is greenish and resolves over the course of 1-2 weeks. It's sometimes accompanied by a runny nose (clear discharge, no colour).

My question: What can we do to fix this? At our last appointment, our groomer did a double eye flush, in case it's small hairs irritating her eyes. But Peggy shows no sign of discomfort other than blinking a little extra in the affected eye. No pawing or rubbing, except (understandably) when her eye was sealed closed.

Then again, she shows no others signs of contact allergy: No rash. No excessive scratching. But I tend to react to the fragrance with stuffy sinuses for a few days. Maybe she does, too?

I'm not sure if this is the correct terminology, but I believe the groomer said she uses soap-free products only? All hypoallergenic, designed for very sensitive dogs. From talking to her, it seems there's one product for the face, another for the body. Would that be correct?

Could Peggy be properly groomed with no products at all, even just for one appointment? So we can rule that trigger out? Or does the poodle coat absolutely require something?

I don't know enough about grooming to know quite how to tackle this.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

Robin

Good luck! We have a small condo and an 80+ pound poodle who is allergic to all kinds of mystery things - including grass. Exercising him indoors is just not an option! Doing the food elimination puzzle .....no great success so far

Sent from my STV100-3 using Tapatalk

 

[PeggyTheParti]

Good luck! We have a small condo and an 80+ pound poodle who is allergic to all kinds of mystery things - including grass. Exercising him indoors is just not an option! Doing the food elimination puzzle .....no great success so far

Sent from my STV100-3 using Tapatalk

It's not easy, that's for sure! But keeping detailed notes has helped.

It seems so obvious now that this particular reaction has happened within a day or two of every grooming appointment (and at no other times), but it wasn't until I reviewed our notes that I finally saw the pattern.

My husband prints up a blank chart every Monday and we enter her age and weight at the top, and then fill it in with daily meals, snacks, pees and poops, and any additional notes, such as health concerns, training issues or accomplishments, etc. It seems borderline nuts, I'm sure, but it's been super helpful.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

(We began this system with our senior dog, when we were struggling to stay ahead of her housebreaking regression and constant hunger. It was the only way we could efficiently communicate between us what had been done and when without feeling like we were CONSTANTLY talking about pee, poop, and kibble.)

 

[For Want of Poodle]

Annie had awful goopy eyes as a puppy. The best thing for Annie's goopy eyes was a few weeks of keeping on top of them with a flea comb. Since then, they've turned from goop to easily removed hard things I can just flick off. I use Wahl Pure n Clean shampoo (it has a slight scent, but my very fragrance sensitive self can handle it), and if I remember, condition her hair with my own Carina Organics unscented conditioner, diluted. If I'm having a very bad asthma day, I use my own mint-scented Carina Organics shampoo instead of the Wahl one, just in case. I can handle the scent of some of the earth bath products, but they are way more expensive than the gallon of Wahl I bought!

 

[For Want of Poodle]

Good luck! We have a small condo and an 80+ pound poodle who is allergic to all kinds of mystery things - including grass. Exercising him indoors is just not an option! Doing the food elimination puzzle .....no great success so far

Food elimination is HARD!! After a lot of confusion, I've finally discovered that Annie is sensitive to both chicken and fish - but ONLY if they are "fish meal" "chicken meal" etc, in a dog food. She throws up any food with too much fish, and is quite gassy with chicken meal. She's completely fine with cooked or raw chicken even in large quantities, or canned fish, or dried fish treats. I feed Acana Classic Red, and also had success with Taste of the Wild Puppy (the red meat one). I'm trying really hard not to convince myself I shouldn't switch her to homecooked food. I've been spoiling her with cooked veggies + canned food as a reward for taking her medicine, and her digestion has improved. She's from multi generations of raw-fed poodles, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

 

[Charlie's Person]

It's not easy, that's for sure! But keeping detailed notes has helped.

It seems so obvious now that this particular reaction has happened within a day or two of every grooming appointment (and at no other times), but it wasn't until I reviewed our notes that I finally saw the pattern.

My husband prints up a blank chart every Monday and we enter her age and weight at the top, and then fill it in with daily meals, snacks, pees and poops, and any additional notes, such as health concerns, training issues or accomplishments, etc. It seems borderline nuts, I'm sure, but it's been super helpful.

Honestly I think I have reached that point of frustration! Poor Poodle! Nothing but chewing feet and itching here. Finally got the runny poop issue solved with $100/bag premium organic duck and no gluten food. Still struggling with the skin and feet

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