My Dog Won’t Stop Scratching (its Not Fleas)?
He scratches the crap out of himself to the point where he is all red and bleeding. He’s been to the vet several times to try and figure out what’s causing it. All they can think of is that he has some type of allergies. We’ve tried frontline, advantage, and prescription pills from the vet to try and clear it up. Now they just suggest that we give him benadryl everyday, which only helps a little. I feel so bad for the poor guy! This has been going on for months and I just want him to feel better. I’ve tried eliminating household cleaners and laundry detergents, his shampoo, bath soap, etc to see if I could find the source of the allergy, but so far no luck. The vet seems to think its a seasonal allergy that’s worse in the hotter months (we’re in Texas so it’s still pretty warm). We’ve also tried creams and ointments on the affected areas, which are his head, his ears, his eyes, his neck, his groin, and his inner thighs. Has anyone else had a dog with unknown allergies and what did you find that helped? Any suggestions are appreciated! Thanks a lot!
Tagged with: Fleas • Scratching • Stop • Wont
Filed under: Flea Allergies In Dogs
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my border collie once had flea allergies. if she got bitten once, all of her fur came out in that place, the skin turned a weird purple, and she scratched the same as yours. only difference is, the vet’s pills worked. it could be a food allergy though. try changing his food to see if it clears up.
Check the label on the dog food bag. If wheat or corn are ingredients, change the food. Wheat and corn are common allergens to dogs, as well as cheap filler for lesser dog foods. Change to a low grain (Kirkland or Diamond are pretty good brands) or a grain free dog food.
You should see some improvement in less than a week if the food is the source of the problem.
It sounds like a food allergy. Don’t jump right in to steroids. Try changing his food to one with few to no grains. California Natural Lamb & Rice is a great formula for dogs with allergies. It will take some time to show improvement a few weeks to a month, but it’ll will make a great difference in cost if the food helps over medicine.
Have you had him tested for mange? I had a dog that had this problem and he was tested for it but luckily it turned out that he had a nervous problem that meant he needed to be exercised a lot. The vet had given us some special shampoo to help him. Good luck. Its not his diet. He could be allergic to gluten.
Has anyone thought about food allergies? May need to try a hypoallergenic diet. Rinse with cool water only, maybe daily. Your vet can run blood work to check for allergies to many things, food and otherwise. This should be done so can get some relief for him.
Maybe dry skin…? My dog had dry skin once.. And then we found out she had some kind of skin condition. I forget what it was called, but they gave her medicine and it really helped.
I would change to a grain free food. A vet recommended food is no good, vets are not nutritionist, it is probably science diet, iams, or purina brand food. Check those ingredients, they are no good.
Evo, Orijen, Solid gold barking at the moon, california natural, innova are all good foods but that list is not complete, some of these foods may not be available around you, but it will give you an idea of what to look for. http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?… http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?… http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?… http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?…
Check out these other sites as well since you have checked everything it can possibly be but his food:
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com
http://www.bigdogsporch.com
a lot of answers are suggesting trying a hypoallergenic diet. i think this is absolutely a good idea.
what no one’s mentioned is that not only will it take at least 6 weeks for you to see a response (if any) .. you also have to feed ONLY that diet. it is important to adhere strictly to the diet regimen .. this is important because if your pet doesn’t respond to a change in protein source, you have to be able to say “my dog ate ONLY this food for six weeks, and there was no response.” if he has had even a few bites of anything other than the new diet throughout the 6+ weeks, you cannot consider it a valid food trial.
if you decide to go this route, ice cubes make good treats .. and i hear that you can find online recipes for making dog treats out of your pet’s dog food.
My neighbor has a dog that does this. All in the same areas you speak of. What breed is your dog? This dog is a chow. The vet told the neighbors that it was a nervous condition as these breeds are high strung. Unfortunately, they do not excersize this dog because it is not good around people she doesn’t know and may bite. Between the nervous condition and the lack of excersize to run off the nervous energy, this dog continues to scratch. I have one dachshund that scratches a lot and doesn’t have fleas as I use advantage on her. I have given her fish oil and her coat is beautiful and it has helped. It takes a while to take effect though. I would say to be sure the dog gets a good amount of excersize. It couldn’t hurt.
u should check the breed of your dog
eg. Cavalier spaniels have a big problem with syringohydromyelia. this can cause scratchin to the point of ………DESPAIR. its actually awful watchin it, its where the brain doesnt quite fit into the small breed skull, and it pushes on some nervous system and dogs start scratchin.
most likely not that if ur dog isnt a cavalier. but somethin to be acknowledged for the welfare of these dogs.
It could just be an OCD of some sort. if the vets cant find anything, most likely in the head.
i see u live in texas so do I. So i know it’s hard to find some of these dog food that every one is saying to try. And i can’t cook for mine every day so what i went back to is pro plan i got it at pet co and pet smart. What’s sad is all my dogs have allergies and and my rott. is worse. I should have know since his mom and dad have food allergies. But i had him since birth and every single time I try to change his food the worse comes out. He starts scratching, goes bald in behind his ears, legs, and some part of his stomach and sides. and then he looses alot of weight. So I came to realize if I can’t cook food for him then i will get pro plan it usually takes a month for it to clear but it works. So maybe that will help.
probably mites or bacteria, which can only be examined through skin scrapings. Maybe its not soap or shampoo, have you ever thought maybe it could be a food allergy? beef, dairy products, wheat, eggs and chicken can skin allergies for dogs, since some are sensitive to foods like that…maybe you can try changing the bedding and cleaning the areas the dog lays on, just in case “things” hiding in these places are bothering your dog. But its probably the weather. its hot, things are in the grass, ur dog lies on the grass, he scratches.
The best way to combat allergies is from the inside out. Make sure to get your dog on a premium, human grade food like Wellness or Canidae (or a raw diet if you can). Do some research on holistic animal care and see if there is a holistic vet in your area. I would ask you to think long and hard and do lots of research before using steroids on your dog. Long term use of steroids, which are often the only route taken by veterinarians dealing with this type of thing, is thought by many to do more harm than good in the long run.
That’s if it’s allergies you are dealing with. Honestly, what you’re describing sounds an awful lot like sarcoptic mange, which is often misdiagnosed as chronic allergies because it will SELDOM show up on a skin scraping, the test for sarcoptic and demodectic mange. Check out this website site:http://www.petplace.com/dogs/sarcoptic-m…
When you rub the ends of her ears, do her back legs jerk up and down? It’s not a conclusive test, but if yes, you may really want to talk to your vet about sarcoptic mange. I’ll tell you that it is a pain to deal with, but is very curable and is actually better than allergies in the long run.
Whatever you are dealing with, I hope it gets better. If it is allergies, you may see a lot of improvement with a change in food to something that is all natural.
Good luck!
I read in a dog care book that dogs can do this kind of scratching that you describe because of an allergy to their food. It’s possible that your dog could be allergic to something in his dog food, if you feed him dry food. My dog had to be put down a couple of months ago, but near the end, I had to boil skinless and boneless chicken breasts and shread the meat. I mixed it in with gravy and some of her canned dog food. She really liked that. Try that and see what your dog does.
What are you feeding your dog? Usually when the dogs have this kind of allergy and their skin is so irritated it is caused by an allergy to their food or something that is missing from their diet. I would try switching to a food for allergies, or one with lamb and rice or even try home cooking for a little while to find out if an ingredient could be causing it. See if corn is the number one or two ingredient in your food. A lot of dogs are allergic to corn.
Our dogs eat Precise which is high quality and comes in several formulas. It is also high protein, so our liver shunt dog cannot eat it. She eats prescription Royal Canin Hepatic LS14 for Liver Shunt dogs.
Good luck to you and your dog. Have you given your dog any fish oil (Omega 3’s) to help his skin? You can also slowly add some Vitamin E to his food. Sometimes it is a vitamin deficiency that causes the itching, B-12 or Zinc might also need to be added to the diet.
I would discuss using some steriods – Dexamethisone injection can be helpful, or oral Prednisone. I’m sort of surpised your vet hasn’t gone there.
Temeril-P is a combination steriod and antihistamine – there are other antihistamines besides diphenhydramine that may work better.
There are many, many reasons for allergies, including food, environment, fleas, etc. It might be worth changing to a hypoallergenic food to see what happens. It will take several months to see the effect, but it might save you some grief next year.
Fish Oil or another Omega-3 Fatty Acid is really helpful for skin conditions, and can be used with any meds.
You may want to consider allergy testing, so you can treat the cause (just like people). It does tend to be rather expensive, but if this is an annual thing, chances are the cost will work itself out in the end.
ETA regarding steriods: No one likes to use steriods. For one, the positive effect is from depressing immune response – which can be a scary thing for dogs exposed to outside conditions. Long term, unregulated use, can also cause severe damage (i.e diabetes). However, they are cheap (prednisone tends to run about $0.08 per 5 mgs) and can really be extremely beneficial while you look for a cause and a treatment. Some dogs do just use it on a seasonal basis, although most vets would prefer allergy testing and treating for the appropriate allergen.
ETA… regarding mange… very easy to test for. It is a simple skin scrape, quick check under the scope, and you will or you won’t see critters. It should absolutely be eliminated – those are popular places for mange. Now this is something that NEEDS to be tested for before steriods. All dogs have small amounts of demodectic mange, but with a depressed immune system (or development during early stages) it will explode. Promeris can be used off-label to treat mange, which is the least invasive. Ivermectin is a common treatement as well, but can have temporary neurological side-effects. There are other, more aggressive treatments as well. A fungal culture may also be beneficial.