ITCHY DOG!

All about the animals that are in our lives that are NOT horses
Chancellor
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ITCHY DOG!

Postby Chancellor » Mon Oct 12, 2015 1:07 pm

Hello, here's hoping for some collective wisdom. Miss Scarlett came to me with serious skin problems which we had been able to maintain with tar baths and Ultraviolet (aka Sunshine) activation for 10+ years
Suddenly in the Spring, she started developing serious itchiness. Vet diagnoses food allergies. I took her off all commercial dog food. She is currently on ground lamb and rice. Yes, I mean, actual ground lamb that I grind myself and Chinese rice that I make for her. That didn't help a ton and I finally had to do a course of prednisone. She finished the course of prednisone and her skin was doing great. Now, a month after the prednisone end, she is back to itchy. She is scratching the hell out of her eyes. I've now removed the vitamin she was getting to see if that is the cause.
I don't know what to do for her right now. My vet keeps recommending a non-reactive dog food...whose first ingredient is chicken which we believe she is allergic to. (my vet is also my aunt)! I've started her on an anti histamine to see if that helps but as yet, it has not.

Any ideas?

gypsy still flies
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Re: ITCHY DOG!

Postby gypsy still flies » Mon Oct 12, 2015 3:05 pm

Laurie, from what I'e been told if she has a chicken allergy then she's probably allergic to everything with feathers.

If she's itchy with lamb you grind, is it something that was fed to the lamb that she's reacting too?

What about trying to feed buffalo or venison? What about feeding just protein to see if she's allergic to rice?

There's also some prescription food where the protein source is broken so small that it isn't recognized by your pet but it's by Hill's Science Diet.

Chancellor
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Re: ITCHY DOG!

Postby Chancellor » Mon Oct 12, 2015 3:32 pm

gypsy still flies wrote:Laurie, from what I'e been told if she has a chicken allergy then she's probably allergic to everything with feathers.

If she's itchy with lamb you grind, is it something that was fed to the lamb that she's reacting too?

What about trying to feed buffalo or venison? What about feeding just protein to see if she's allergic to rice?

There's also some prescription food where the protein source is broken so small that it isn't recognized by your pet but it's by Hill's Science Diet.


The Hill's food is the one that my aunt is recommending. I just can't do it.

Last night we took her off her vitamin....and she appears less itchy today. So, it is perhaps that....Pit bulls......delicate stomachs, delicate skin.

Avola
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Re: ITCHY DOG!

Postby Avola » Mon Oct 12, 2015 4:04 pm

My Lab developed itchy skin a few months ago. Old vet told me to change the diet, which didn't do anything. New vet is of the opinion food has very little to do with itchiness, put him on Apoquel for one month then we'll revisit. We are on week two and no more itchiness.

ZinniaZ
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Re: ITCHY DOG!

Postby ZinniaZ » Mon Oct 12, 2015 5:45 pm

try wellness simple-- the salmon and sweet potato recipe. It is a novel protein source that he probably has not had and it will probably help. for Falco, itchy sad dog that I had, we switched to that and it helped a LOT, plus we did periodic medicated baths with special conditioner that helped. I'll go find the shampoo bottles.

I took him to a veterinary dermatologist-- $1500 bucks later, that was the treatment protocol and it did work.

ZinniaZ
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Re: ITCHY DOG!

Postby ZinniaZ » Mon Oct 12, 2015 5:49 pm

this: http://www.amazon.com/Malaseb-Shampoo-B ... og+shampoo

looking for the conditioner. it had cortisone in it and you had to put it on and leave it for lie ten minutes and then dry the dog. quite a trick, but it helped so much.

Snork
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Re: ITCHY DOG!

Postby Snork » Mon Oct 12, 2015 6:39 pm

Laurie, I totally understand the reluctance to go to Science Diet because I had the exact same reservations for years. Then my one dog got sick. I knew something was wrong with her long before bloodwork shower much of anything - she just wasn't right and eventually she was diagnosed with kidney failure.

Three different vets *very strongly* suggested that i go Hills K/D until at least she is stabilized. I can't tell you how obvious the change was in her as soon as we switched. When she was better I tried to switch to a couple of different foods and each time she got sicker again, so I'm keeping her on K/D indefinitely. She is doing great on it.

Sometimes, the food that might not be the greatest food in abstract, is the absolute best food for that particular dog. If you've tried a bunch and nothing works, maybe do give Science Diet a try. You never know.

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Re: ITCHY DOG!

Postby Fatcat » Mon Oct 12, 2015 7:18 pm

I've been through the food and environmental allergies hell and back with our cat over the last ten years. Finally had some allergy testing done by my new homeopathic vet which showed he was allergic to all grains and most protein sources, along with lots else. We had been battling this for years, steroids, allergy shots by a vet dermatologist, and nothing worked until we changed his diet. He's now on Wild Calling canned cat food and is off all meds and doing great! I strongly encourage you to think about this differently than traditional medicine, the allergy testing my vet used was also inexpensive ($100). You can do the testing yourself and get the results sent to you. Here's the testing service we used:

Glacierpeakholistics.com

P.s. A friend of mine had her allergic cat tested by glacier peak, has switched diets, and noticed a huge improvement.

Racetrackreject
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Re: ITCHY DOG!

Postby Racetrackreject » Mon Oct 12, 2015 7:43 pm

Royal Canin also makes a prescription dog food that is supposed to be good for allergy dogs.

Or you might try something like the Instinct limited ingredient foods. They have venison and rabbit, if your dog can't have feathered proteins.

I tired Wellness Simple for my JRT and it made him ill. He can eat the Wellness Core small breed just fine though. Of course he typically can't have fish or pork or lamb proteins but is fine with feathered protein, venison, and rabbit.

pKOR
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Re: ITCHY DOG!

Postby pKOR » Mon Oct 12, 2015 11:50 pm

I usually do a shot of depo medrol for acute flairs.

As for food, corn is sometimes another culprit but if you were feeding lamb and rice (literally) that's probably ruled out. But yeah, chicken and corn will usually do it so I'd avoid those. I have a friend with a dog that has the corn allergy and also has lupus. He does well on Fromm Gold which is grain free. Sometimes it's just trial and error until you find what works.

Are you sure it's food? Itchy eyes in the spring can be pollen. Itchy body with hair loss could be fleas. And yes, it can still be fleas even if on preventatives... it just takes a random bite to trigger the reaction.

Chancellor
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Re: ITCHY DOG!

Postby Chancellor » Tue Oct 13, 2015 10:55 am

Thankfully, not fleas. I've looked!!

I *think* I might have found the culprit. I was giving her a vitamin pill to supplement her food. I took her off it on Sunday and she is much less itchy!


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