Very itchy doggie.

[Raindog]

My dad's dog Tess is scratching all the time. She has cut her head with her nails, chewed the fur off her legs, and is licking her feet all the time. The skin under her fur looks very pink to red in color. She has been to the vet many times. We have changed her diet, tried different medications and nothing seems to help. Now all the vet does is give her prednisone, which does nothing except make her gain weight so she is now 40 pounds and should be 32.

The vet said maybe a poultry allergy so we changed her diet, which was not easy- everything has chicken in it. No change. She went on the sweet potato diet- no change. Took her to an allergy specialist, maybe grass, but medication didn't seem to help. Couldn't find anything else.

She is currently being given Benedryl. She had 2 today and is either knocked out sleeping or- you guessed it- scratching! No way to live.

We have no idea what else to do for this little girl. She just got off the latest round of prednisone on Christmas eve. She cut her head open a couple of days later. I wonder if it is dry skin. She is on medicated shampoo and gets groomed regularly. Or some kind of anxiety, but there doesn't seem to be a pattern. It's all the time.

She is a little white dog. She is a Cavalier King Charles and Bichon Frise mix. She is called a Cavachon.

Here is a picture of her. Any help or advice will be so appreciated. Thank you so much.

 

[dragongirl653]

How long has this been going on? And how old is she?

 

[Raindog]

She is 4 years old. She has been itchy probably since she was 1 or 2 but it wasn't so bad at the beginning. And the prednisone used to work, she would be okay for a couple of months after. The past year or so it has been pretty bad, numerous vet visits. And is getting worse. Now its almost constant.

 

[Snickers]

Maybe she has food allergies. I have one out of four dogs that I think is allergic to wheat. When I gave my chins shredded wheat and one falls she will eat it. Then later on she will be rubbing her back against the wall. All the dogs are free fed Natural Balance grain feed.

Also when she starts scratching a lot I will bathe her and let her soak in Tea Tree oil, plus give her benedryl

I know Riven had a problem with one of her dogs being itchy you can always ask her what worked for her.

Good luck.

 

[dragongirl653]

Has your vet done a skin biopsy? I've been doing some research for you, and have come up with a few things it might be. Not sure if shes been tested for any of these or not, but here is what I've found so far for you.

Mange
Allergies

Heres a website I've been reading. Take a look and let me know if any of the info relates to your pup

EDIT- Might help if i post the link.. http://www.2ndchance.info/allergicskin.htm

 

[chinchillalover0927]

One of our boxers has severe food allergies and she fits the same description.....

 

[pants567]

My german shepherd is allergic to cedar, his treatment is about the same as what your vet did. A course of steroids and any other time benadryl. It is strange that if it is allergies they haven't been able to give you a specific thing. Hopefully you'll be able to find something that helps!

 

[Raindog]

Thanks for all the help so far! The article was very interesting. We have not had a skin biopsy or the skin test for allergies. We have done the skin scrapings and blood test. Both came back showing no allergies. And she was also tested for mange and that was negative too.

She is fed Natural Balance sweet potato and fish dry food with Natural Balance beef stew and usually unseasoned ground beef.

We are going to try a different shampoo, Omega fatty acids and baby wipes for her feet right now.

It sounds like allergies, either environmental or food, but everything so far is negative. How did you all find out what your dog is allergic to? Did you have to do the skin test?

 

[Snickers]

I forgot to let you know our dog looks just like your dog. We got her before she made it into the pound as a puppy. The owner said she is Maltese and Terrier. I just knew she was allergic to wheat since she would eat the shredded wheat that fell on the ground. The Natural Balance grain feed works for us. I usually mix 2 of the bags together to give them a variety.

 

[Riven]

I would say a grain allergy and try a grain free food. If it was just dry skin, you would see that the skin is visibly very dry.

My dog as it turned out had a flea allergy. Although they were all frontlined, we finally come to figure that when he'd go out ( we have a lot of stray cats and such around, tall grass, etc) he would get bit, and although they couldn't live on him, they would bite, and it would set off an allergic reaction. He has been restricted to their pen ( which is the size of most people's yards anyway ) which rabbits and cats can't get into ( I guess the cats could climb the fence, and I know fleas could get in if they wanted to, but it's not an ideal environment for them) and with frequent bathing, it went away.

 

[pants567]

For my dog, we ended up needing to do the skin test to find out what he was allergic to, without it they couldn't figure it out.

 

[chinchillalover0927]

We ran test on our dog but not sure what id have to ask my mom. she can only be on lamb and rice foods and things like that. she gets flared up horribly if she gets table food or anything like that. For her treats she has sweet potato fries and lamb and rice treats...poor thing LOL she hates it but we try go do what's best for her .

 

[Annieo]

I'll agree with the others about the food allergy. Before I had my dog Mudslide, my dog Sadie had terrible allergies. Switching her to Natural Balance helped a lot but one thing the vet said is she had a bad allergy to crab grass. I had to hire a gardner and make sure the grass didn't get too long.

Also, your wiping down her paws when he comes back inside is a great idea even if it's just plain water.

Dogs lick their paws to help soothe the allergic reaction. It's terrible to watch isn't it? Plus its maddening to the humans.

Good luck.

 

[LeoMonster]

Is there a certain treat you give her every day?

My mom used to give my first lab a pigs ear treat for him to chew on every day...he started developing these wart like bumps on his paws where he would hold the treat....it turns out he was allergic to pork.

It didn't show up for a year or two though. So maybe if you give her a certain treat thing every day that might be the root of it.

Also, does she go outside a lot? What kind of area is your house in? I know it's winter but are you in a development that uses a lot of pesticide?

 

[Dreamlite]

Its deffinetly a allergy. Does it seem worse any time of the day? Or worse from month to month? Food allergies are usually found when a dog rubbs their face after eating, or seems worse after eating, so it sounds more of a contact or outdoor allergy than a food. What allergy test was done? I would find a vet that does RAST testing. At my vet we have great reasults with it. It tests for indoor, outdoor and food allergies in 1 test. And through that company if there are outdoor or indoor allergies you can desensitise with allergy shots.

 

[fanofdmb84]

How long did you try different foods? It takes about a month or longer to see positive results from a new food when you are working with allergies. I would definitely try a grain free food, look for something that actually says "grain free" on the packaging. A lot of foods will hide them in their ingredients - rice is a good example - some companies will take corn as a filler out of their food because people are finally realizing it's junk - and replace it with rice which isn't really much better, its still just a filler with little/no nutritional value. There are also limited ingredient diets available now that are aimed towards dogs with food allergies.

 

[ChilliPepper]

Have you considered a raw diet? As mentioned, it can take a month to get all the toxins out of the system. Each diet change needs to be done for at least that long to see how the dog reacts. As far as symptom relief, another thing you can do is cold wraps to bring the inflammation down. I will do this when the shepherd is having a flea reaction. I put a damp towel in the freezer for a few minutes and then place it on the irritated area.
Also, looking at the ingredient listing on the Natural Balance, it seems that the fat content is pretty low. She may need more oils in her system to prevent dry skin. Another possibility, what do you wash her bedding with? Do you use fabric softener? It is possible she could be allergic to products used for the humans.
Good luck, it is really hard to see our pets suffer.

 

[Andrea]

Grains do not cause all food allergies so grain free/raw is not guaranteed to help. You need a skin test to find out what the allergy is specifically, then work from there. Good luck!

 

[ChilliPepper]

Very true Trio, one shepherd I know is allergic to chicken. It could be a preservative in the food. Since they have already tried grain free and also tried different protein sources, that is why I was suggesting raw. It is a personal choice to feed raw, we don't. I know many people with itchy allergy dogs have had great success with it. And as I already mentioned, it could be environmental- even something used to fertilize the plants or grass or a bug spray. Some dogs are also allergic to carpet. You have not mentioned pest control- what type of flea preventive if any are you using? And have you tried a course of steroids long enough to break the habitual licking and itching? Damaged nerves can take some time to heal, so even if the dog is feeling slightly better, she may continue to mutilate herself because of inflamed nerves. Think about a mosquito bite- they itch, we scratch, they itch more, we scratch more until what was a small bump on our skin is now an open raw sore that still itches. Just some food for thought.

 

[Raindog]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. We really really appreciate all of your help.

Is there a certain treat you give her every day?

Also, does she go outside a lot? What kind of area is your house in? I know it's winter but are you in a development that uses a lot of pesticide?

She does get regular treats. Cookies from PetCo and these blueberry yogurt crunchies. She goes in the backyard which is fenced in and doesn't get sprayed very often. When it does we take her out front.

Its deffinetly a allergy. Does it seem worse any time of the day? Or worse from month to month? Food allergies are usually found when a dog rubbs their face after eating, or seems worse after eating, so it sounds more of a contact or outdoor allergy than a food. What allergy test was done? I would find a vet that does RAST testing. At my vet we have great reasults with it. It tests for indoor, outdoor and food allergies in 1 test. And through that company if there are outdoor or indoor allergies you can desensitise with allergy shots.

There is no worse time. The only time she doesn't chew is when someone is holding her or if she is asleep. She often rubs her face on the carpet after she eats. We thought it was her way of washing her face. Is RAST testing the skin test or a blood test. She had some kind of a blood test. Not sure of the name.

You have not mentioned pest control- what type of flea preventive if any are you using? And have you tried a course of steroids long enough to break the habitual licking and itching?

She gets frontline every few months. The last round of steroids was a month. Previous rounds have stopped the licking for a while, but the last one did nothing.

How long did you try different foods?

Everyone who mentioned food changes we have tried different foods. I am not sure how long. The main problem with that is she refuses to eat the new or different food. I believe that she will eat when she is hungry and honestly she can stand to miss a few meals. But she is really my dads dog and if she doesn't eat he will make her something else, usually table scraps.

I am pressing to get an allergy test done. It could take a really long time to get to the bottom of this on our own.