# Cherry Eye / Itching Eyes / Dust Mites



## Lizarduva (Nov 8, 2012)

Hey there,

I know there have been other similar threads out there but I thought my experience might help someone else since our dog doesn't have any known or suspected food allergies. We have a 4 year old male Havanese and he's been blood tested and found to have severe dust mite allergies. He has had intermittent cherry eye due to rubbing his eyes with his paws but his cherry eye would always pop back into place on it's own or we could gently rub it back into place if not. We discovered after a blood text that he has severe dust mite allergies which is causing him to paw at his eyes to the point where he didn't have any eyelashes at one point! Poor fella.

Here is what we've done to mitigate this issue - some of which I've pulled from previous posts on the topic:

1) Wipe him down with a wet cloth every time he comes in from outdoors
2) A puppy cut helps cut down on the pollens/dust/etc.
3) Bathe weekly with a medicated shampoo - my vet recommended Duoxo Calm Shampoo - others have suggested Virbac's Allegroom Shampoo (no conditioner)
4) Daily dose of Omega 3
5) Dust & vacuum EVERYTHING weekly
6) Freeze all stuffed toys for 24 hours once a week (kills dust mites)
7) Clean all bedding, etc. once a week in hot water (again, kills dust mites)
8) Bausch + Lomb suspension drops when he's really pawing at his eyes - or even putting a luke warm cloth over his eyes for a few seconds really helps soothe the itchies
9) special allergy / dust mite encasing for mattress, pillows, and duvet cover and weekly washing of these items on high heat. I've also bought an extra dust mite mattress cover for his dog bed.
10) dehumidifier in the bedroom set to 45% since it looks like dust mites thrive in environments at 50 % or higher and they love heat too FYI
11) hepa filter in the bedroom

The above steps have really helped reduce his symptoms but haven't gotten him to 100% - I think in most cases allergies worsen with age unless other measures are taken.

Some things we've tried with less success:

A) giving him biotin - our vet says it won't hurt and I think it did help get his eyelashes to grow back quicker I just don't think it did anything to help reduce his allergy symptoms. 
B) I've tried giving him local honey daily but didn't see any real results though he freaking loved it! Maybe I just didn't do it long enough to see real results.

He's been on Apoquel at a low dose for about a year, but we've further lowered it (after consulting with the vet of course) because he started to get skin tags - NOT COOL. Our vet has 100% confidence in this drug and I believe it is a wonder drug if your dog has hot spots but it's only been around for a little while and when I reduced his dose - low and behold his skin tags went away - I don't think that's a coincidence.

We've also recently started him on allergy injections since it was pretty clear that his number 1 issue BY FAR was dust mites - he has some ragweed and other things but dust mites was like off the charts. I'll keep you guys posted on how this goes. 

Hopefully this information helps anyone else experiencing the same type of symptoms.

Hopefully we'll see improvements with the shots - if not I might decide to completely rip up all carpet in our house and lay down some laminate lol, I'm just that dedicated to helping him feel comfortable in his own skin.


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

Thanks for sharing your experience; lots of good info, but sorry you're having to go through this with your furboy.


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Thank you for this post. Sounds like a lot of work! By the way, I love your avatar picture!


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## Tux's Mom (May 24, 2016)

I don't know where you live, but dust mites thrive in warmer climates. We live in Naples, and have stone floors throughout our condo. When given the option of 1.) a feather down pillow with cotton cover, 2.) water proof pee pads, 3.) Stone floor, Tux opts for the stone. My Akita was the same way. We keep the house at 75 degrees with low humidity. He prefers sites that are fuzz free. I'm letting his hair grow long. Maybe in some way more hair is more protective of the skin? The hair acts as an insulator, and built-in padding. I found this post about long double coated dogs online:

"AS a groomer I refuse to shave ANY double coated dog. First of all, YES, that coat does insulate the dog from heat and, protects them from sunburn and insects, as well. Dogs skin is very sensitive and shaving can damage the hair follicles permanently. We have a number of dogs who come here routinely for grooming who have major bald areas where they had previously been shaved OR they have sparse, brittle hair where it was once thick and healthy. 
I am not adverse to shortening the feathers and skirts on a golden retriever or collie or a breed like that and I absolutely believe the insulating properties of their coat are enhanced by keeping it clean and free from matts and shedding undercoat. But, when I am asked to shave a LABRADOR or other short-haired dog or a collie or a husky or a GSD, I absolutely refuse to do it. I have had several people who ended up getting their dog shaved somewhere else call me and tell me they wished they had listened to me."


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

goldanimals said:


> I found this post about long double coated dogs online:
> 
> "AS a groomer I refuse to shave ANY double coated dog. First of all, YES, that coat does insulate the dog from heat and, protects them from sunburn and insects, as well. Dogs skin is very sensitive and shaving can damage the hair follicles permanently. We have a number of dogs who come here routinely for grooming who have major bald areas where they had previously been shaved OR they have sparse, brittle hair where it was once thick and healthy.
> I am not adverse to shortening the feathers and skirts on a golden retriever or collie or a breed like that and I absolutely believe the insulating properties of their coat are enhanced by keeping it clean and free from matts and shedding undercoat. But, when I am asked to shave a LABRADOR or other short-haired dog or a collie or a husky or a GSD, I absolutely refuse to do it. I have had several people who ended up getting their dog shaved somewhere else call me and tell me they wished they had listened to me."


I don't believe that Havanese should be shaved to the skin unless they have been allowed to become so matted that there is no option. That said, while the do have an undercoat, this is NOT the type of coat being talked about in this coat. Those are all breeds with dense undercoats that sed out twice a year. That is not how a Havanese coat works. Clipping or scissoring a Havanese coat into a puppy cut length does no harm to the coat, though it can take a long time to grow back out. I prefer long coats in general, though Pixel is in a longish puppy cut, because her coat matted badly while she was blowing coat, and now we just think she looks cute that way. She's a tiny dog, and I think it suits her. Kodi and Panda will continue to be in full coat.


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