Free to good home

Our sweet little Zachary has had eczema for about 2 years now. We've fought it and fought it. Medicated it, moisturized it, bandaged it, etc. We couldn't figure out what was going on. Some days he would be fine for days on end and then one day, it would flare up and become raw and he would scratch till he bled. Recently, I started suspecting it was an allergy of some sort. When I took him in for a cough a few weeks ago, the doctor (not our regular doctor) saw it and mentioned it. He told us to cut wheat, soy, milk, corn, fish, nuts, chocolate and something else I can't remember out of his diet. All of it. Gone. And then he said we could slowly re-introduce those things one at a time to see if it caused a reaction (assuming the eczema cleared up after cutting them out). I was a little overwhelmed by that idea, and made an appt with our regular pediatrician to discuss it. He said that that sort of elimination diet was a little drastic and said that there was a blood test we could do. Makes me wonder why that other doctor insisted we put Z (and me!) through an elimination diet when all we really needed was little blood.

So we got the results yesterday. I was 99% sure this eczema was a result of a food allergy. Alas, he's allergic to dog. He also has a mild allergy to peanuts and mold.

We have a dog. We got her right after we got married. Honestly, she hasn't gotten near the attention in the last couple of years as she did the first couple of years. We haven't been responsible pet owners. Having her around the kids makes me nervous, and I've become super-aware of what little germies she contributes to the household. We've come to the decision that she can't live here anymore. Zachary's been miserable with his eczema and we want him to get better. We don't know how to let them co-exist happily without sanitizing the house every single day. And who has time for that?

And so, we're looking for a good home for our four-legged family member. I want to make sure she goes somewhere where she gets lots of love and can run around. I'm scared to take her to an SPCA. I'm afraid she won't get adopted out and they'll put her down. I'm scared to put an ad in the paper because I can't guarantee who ever takes her will be good to her. So I just don't know what to do.

I've broken the news to Stephen. He seems to totally understand that our dog is what's causing Z's rash and that for him to get better, she has to live somewhere else. He's a little disappointed, I think. I'm not sure it'll set in until she's not here anymore.

I'm a little sad, too, I guess. But I'm really looking forward to a day that Z doesn't scratch himself to shreds. My poor little baby.