My dog is itchy like crazy

[maestoso]

My dog is itchy. He itches so bad sometimes he gnaws at his feet. He doesn't have dry skin that I can see, and the groomer has checked him for fleas, none. He's has a moisturizing bath a couple times and he's been treated for fleas and ticks.

I did little research and I think it might be a food allergy. It said that dogs with food allergies tend to have more bowel movements than normal(which my dog seems to) and that the itchy areas with allergies are usually the legs, feet, armpits, and ears. I'd say at least some of those areas apply to my dog too. He's on a natural feed, so no preservatives or fake products.

Anyway of you have itchy dogs? Or dogs with food allergies? What can you suggest?

Thanks

 

[mydaddysjag]

My Boston Terrier Bella has TERRIBLE food allergies. Cost me over $600 at the vet when I first got her from the shelter. We initially treated with an antibiotic (she scratched herself raw and got an infection) and also a steroid, and I forget the other pill. We also changed her food. when I brought her home she was on a high quality lamb and rice food that my vet reccomended for allergies. He didn't sell it, but said it was good. It was royal canine, but I cant remember what kind, we also tried wellness and blue buffalo, and none seemed to help. I finally put heron a grain free food, and the itching stopped. We started her on Taste of the Wild Pacific stream, which is salmon and sweet potato, and every two months I switch her to a different taste of the wild variety. Taste of the Wild is the cheapest grain free dog food, and tractor supply carries it which is local for me to buy. I could buy a grain free that costs 2 or 3 times as much, but shes doing great on it, so why change.

Occasionally she does get into something and gets a rash (house guests feeding table scraps despite me telling them its a no no) and we give her benedryl to get rid of the itching and rash. My vet recommends 1-2mg per lb. Depending on how bad the rash is, I give 1mg for a mild rash and itching, 2mg for a bad one. The dollar tree sells generic benedryl, you get 80 25mg tabs for $1. MUCH cheaper than walmart.

 

[RobinRTrueJoy]

Matt, it does sound like a food allergy. Many dogs are allergic or become allergic to normal stuff in dog foods like beef, chicken wheat and corn.

There are many sensitive skin diets on the market that you can try, I tried so many, and either they didn't work well enough or my finisky Great Dane would not eat them.

I dd end up with Eukanuba Naturally Wild Venison and Potato. He eats it well. There are other flavors, like Salmon and I think duck.

Also remember not to feed regular dog treats... get ones that are free of those offending foods, and do not give rawhide and beef bones, as they are beef.

You can get pork bones instead.

Good Luck!

Robin

 

[wildoak]

Matt, I've had the same problem with my Papillon/Aussie. He scratches and bites to the point that he has bald spots on his back. The first steroid shot helped temporarily, but they lose their kick pretty fast and I'm not really happy with giving them as often as he would need. I've been through a number of the high end "good" dog foods - the best I found was something from the grocery store, which they promptly quit carrying and no one else has it. He's now on Purina Pro Plan for sensitive skin & stomach (salmon based) and I think it would help if I could keep him away from well meaning table scraps.

My vet said it looks more like a flea allergy to him - Bailey is in and out of the house, and with this many animals yes there are some fleas but I've combed him through and never found more than a couple. He may just be hypersensitive to them. He's a smallish dog, and I've gone to keeping a t shirt on him most of the time so he can't chew on himself so.

Jan

 

[Aristocratic Minis]

If it is a food allergy, the special diets such as Duck and Potato are very good. Foods which the dogs do not have a sensitivity will help the dog heal.

We once had a dog who had rashes inside her ears. The vet checked her for many ear problems, but he said that sometimes Inhalant Allergies caused the ears to react. We had to give her an antihistamine for the rest of her life. Check your dogs ears also. If it is an inhalant allergy, your dog will need testing and treatment or you'll have to give an antihistamine.

In addition, some itchy dogs get a habit of biting or chewing certain areas of their body. If it becomes a habit to chew feet or a certain area, you'll have to use distraction or other alternatives to help your dog drop that habit.

 

[anoki]

Another thing to check for in the food is beet pulp. It can cause an allergic type reaction in most dogs, smaller dogs especially.

But I would also look at getting a grain free product to see if that helps any. There are some 'natural' feeds on the market that are really no better than the company's 'normal' food, so it can be difficult figuring out what food is 'good' food.....

~kathryn

 

[luv2ridesaddleseat]

Matt, I meant to ask you when you were at my house, what you are feeding him and I spaced it. It's time to change your food. The grains in his food must be making him itch. Don't feed the Eukanuba naturally wild venison and potatoe, there are alot of grains in it and he will not stop itching. Blue Seal had a great selection and prices of top quality food and you should see a huge difference. Taste of the wild, is excellent! Wellness core is another as is Blue Buffalo. I think they've been mentioned. I'm obsessed with labels.

 

[Pepipony]

My Heeler is like that, we just have to get him an allergy shot about every other month. No more itch. A bad thing about that allergy is it can manifest as ear infections, gotta watch for that.

 

[Bozley]

My golden retriever I had years ago had the same problem. She would scratch constantly and chew herself raw. She would keep me up all night scatching and chewing on herself. It also manifested into constant ear infections. We tried changing her diet many times and it didn't work. My vet put her on Prednisone which worked to get rid of all her allergy symptoms but it caused her to gain weight, act more hyper and urinate constantly and unfortunately didn't always make it outside. We ended up bringing her to Tufts and they put her in an allergy study. Come to find out she was allergic to EVERYTHING. I had to give her monthly allergy shots which was very expensive. I sure hope you find a simple solution Matt. Poor Mambo.

 

[minie812]

Well, I have four dogs that have been biting and scratching around their ears and toes and have been reading this. They have a doggy door and can come and go out onto 5 acres fenced and Tinker and the mini Aussie , Kirby like to lay on the top of the tall round bales of hay

so I thought grass allergies? Then they ALL like to get in the feed buckets when I am mixing the BEET PULP in with the feed and warm water...mmmmm! The other two are Mini greyhounds. Then I have been told by my vet that S E Kansas has a microscopic mite in this area and it is H--- on dogs and to bathe them with stuff to help?

Now I read this about it being in the dog food? I have been adding apple flavored vitamin enriched oil as a top dressing to my horses slop (course the dogs lick on that too) and now they aren't itching as much. I just started adding that in the last week. So could the oil be helping?

Gad, How come when I was growing up and we had our pet dogs NONE of them ever had issues like this and they got a rabies shot once a year and worming and lived to be 15? Hog wash on the new and improved stuff. Even in the natural stuff their is JUNK?

 

[love_casper]

Poor baby. Definitely the food. Exactly what are you feeding him? And what breed is he? Some have more tendencies toward specific allergies. Natural is good but a lot of natural products still contain allergy causing ingredients. I am actually really interested in this topic, I am obsessed with what people feed their animals, due to owning a sensitive yorkie.

I have a yorkie that is allergic to wheat (which a suprising amount of dogs are), corn, soy, rice, and chicken!!!!! So I have to keep her on a grainless fish based diet. She is on Acana Pacifica now and doing fanastic.

My Shiba Inu was on Taste of The Wild, which I liked because of the high meat content and she loved it, but I just switched because I didn't like the preservative they use in their fish meal. She's on the same stuff as my other girl now and doing great.

Here is a really great site to help you choose. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/ I wish I had this when I got my first dog! It will also make you laugh at most tv dog food commercials. Seriously, look up anything you see on tv, they are all in the 1 star category. Disturbing information. I wouldn't feel comfortable feeding anything less than their 5 star rating.

And here is one about preservatives regarding fish, very interesting. http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/...bels/Page1.html

And I know what you mean minie812 - when my dad was growing up they fed their dogs pancakes and table scraps, not one of them had problems! LOL!

Good luck, let us know how he does!

 

[Marty]

Might not be the food at all.

I went through this with my beloved Tracey GSD that passed away.

She itched until she stunk so badly that no one wanted to even pet her. Everyone would tell me to give her a bath and tell her to go away and lay down because she smelled like rotting flesh and actually she stunk up my entire house. It wasn't a bath that was needed and nobody got that! Very frustrating.

She too was put on prednisone and was given a shot of cortisone once a month. That did help considerably and also an antibiotic. It was an auto-immune problem in her bloodline on her sire's side. It never stopped.

As said, this caused a lot of urination and she did get fat but there was nothing else that worked, nothing topical and not a change in feed.

I was really careful before we bought Amy to check that out as I never want to go through that again.

 

[HGFarm]

Ok, well I am shocked at the 'high quality' feeds that STILL use this as a preservative!!!! (ethoxyquin) I do not generally feed a fish based diet, but am disturbed that to get away from 'allergic' type foods for dogs, that many are still using this in their feeds.

Do pet food companies have a 'dont ask, dont tell' policy on the ingredients or something? Unless you ASK them, they are not going to tell you??!!

 

[Ellen]

I have a Shih Tzu and a Lab that were having terrible itching issues. We put the on Blue dog food. It is wonderful. Pricey, but worth it.