Why Does My Shih-tzu Always Scratch Herself?
Friday, February 12th, 2010 at
2:46 pm
I feed her Wellness puppy food, with no corn or soy or wheat or added sugar, so I don’t think it is food allergies. I’ve checked her multiple times for fleas and I’ve not ever found any on her. She’s never around other dogs and the only time she goes outside is to go to the bathroom in my fenced in backyard. I bathe her every 2 weeks or so with Johnson’s baby shampoo… She doesn’t appear to have any red irritated spots from excessive itching, but she does scratch quite a bit. Do I just need to take her to the vet?
Tagged with: Always • Does • Herself • Scratch" • Shihtzu
Filed under: Flea Allergies In Dogs
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It could be environmental. Have you used a new detergent lately? Changed sheets?
Food allergies aren’t necessarily limited to grains. Your dog can be allergic to chicken, beef, etc.
I would also limit her bathing. Excessive bathing can cause dry, irritated skin. Try bathing just once a month.
She’s itchy..
you smell
Regardless of what you are feeding, if the proteins are a certain size, the body can still recognize them and mount an allergic response. The only way to tell if she has a food allergy is by feeding Hill’s Science Diet ZD for a periond of 8-10 weeks and nothing else (no treats, no flavored medications, no raw hides, no plastic toys, etc). You dog should be fed out of glass, ceramic or stainless steel bowls and should only play with cotton toys while on the food trial. If she gets better, that means she has a food allergy. Food allergy can appear at any age despite previous or current diet. The blood test for food allergies is only 40% accurate and not worth the money. Only a food trial is a good way to diagnose a food allergy.
If you are not treating for fleas with Frontline, Advantage, Revolution, or Advantix then you need too. 90% of the flea population is the form you can’t see — eggs, larvae, and cocooned larvae. It only takes 1 flea bite every 36 hours to make a dog very itchy.
Your dog could also have an inhaled allergy (or a combination of food and inhaled), especially if your dog has seasons of itchiness. Inhaled allergies typically begin between ages 1-3 years and progessively get worse.
You shouldn’t use human shampoos on dogs as their skin is very different from ours. You need to use a pet shampoo. I like Hylyt shampoo and conditioner.
You should have her evaluated by your veterinarian and possibly refered to a veterinary dermatologist.
Ok…as long as you are using a mild shampoo on your dog, then she is fine. You can even bathe them once a week. Baby shampoo will NOT strip her essential oils. I use tropiclean shampoo as it does not have any detergents in it. I also have a shihtzu and I do have to get him allergy shots every month. I have tried the Atopica that is a non steroid sold through the vets office, but I had no success with it. So I would recommend getting an allergy shot. Here in Okla. we have allergies year round, so it is horrible for allergy suffering pets too. I would let your groomer know of your problems that you are having so that she wont put any extra irritants on her like perfume.
Shih tzu’s are prone to skin problems. Just like bostons are prone to epilepsy and cockers are prone to fungus.
FYI: I have told my customers for years to not feed any beef products to their pets because of the high allergy content in beef. But, I recently read in one of my magazines that this does not apply to organ meat. It said to feed a few pieces of cooked beef liver a few times a day to your dog to rid them of the red tear stains under the eyes. WOW, I did this and not only within 3 weeks did the tear stains disappear, but he is not scratching as much. So, get some beef liver and cook up a patty for her. I put mine in a tupperware dish in the fridge and I give him 2 square pieces 3x a day. Good luck to you!
Her skin may be dry. If you are bathing her every 2 weeks, you may be doing it to often for her skin……. I’d ask your dogs vet what they think.
Only bath her about every 5 weeks you are taking away the good oils on her skin this could be the problem.