A allergy shot and a cortisone shot?

Can you guys tell me what's the difference between a Allergy shot and a cortisone shot? And what are the side effects?

Cortisone is a steroid which reduces inflammation and can last anywhere from 4-6 weeks depending on the severity of the symptoms.

Allergy shots can mean many things. I would ask the vet to be more specific. There are allergy shots like Benedryl which are short term and do not remain in the system for long or Allergy shots which are a type of allergen immunotherapy. Meaning they take the allergens that the pet is allergic to (like grass, or oak tree pollen) & try and build up an immunity to them over time by weekly shots. We had to give my cat shots for a year. What finally worked was a mixture of Cortizone injections and oral medication. He is very old so I didn't want him to ever be uncomfortable.

Check out these sites for further info...

http://www.thepetcenter.com/gen/itch.htm...

http://www.animaldermatology.com/...

http://www.dermvet.net/

Corticosteroids or Cortisone since it is long lasting can have detrimental effects if used too often. Most vets will not give it freely. It can cause liver failure, kidney disease, or Diabetes. They will often run blood panels between injections.

Other medications do not stay in the body as long and are less likely to cause damage to the animal down the road.
1-3 injections of Cortizone may be the only thing to help your pet go on medication like Atopica sucessfully.

I would suggest finding a specialist such as an Animal Dermatologist. You can ask your vet for a recommendation. They often have better long term treatment plans for skin and allergies in animals.

By allergy shots do you mean prevenitive shots or after symptoms appear? If you mean the latter then these are called "Epinephrine" shots and are used to treat a condition known as "Anaphylaxis", Severe anaphylaxis is called Anaphylactic shock, and is deadly if untreated. Epinephrine helps to lessen the constriction of the airways and keeps the heart beating at a steady rythm. (Even with Epi, your pup requires medical care.).

Cortisone is used to treat topical conditions, it's a steroidal product that reduces swelling and skin irritation and usually these conditions are not life threatening.

Both anaphylaxis and dermal irritation can result from allergies, so these are two treatments for two different illnesses.

Hope this helped clear somethings up.