Best answer:

Answer by cheyenne beckman
you know if they itcj it may be scabes i think that how you spell it..

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My heat is not on, nor is the air conditioning. I have a gauge to tell me the moisture in the air, and the humidity is a little above “comfort zone,” so the air is not dry.

His diet is a homemade diet that includes fatty acids and his coat is glossy and healthy. His skin is not dry. Once in a while, I put coconut oil on his coat and massage it into his skin.

I do not bathe him hardly at all because that seems to make it worse, even with benadryl shampoo. So, he barely gets washed, but his coat is clean.

No fleas, no mites, no ticks. It doesn’t seem to be an allergy since it’s so predictable in when it starts and goes.

He doesn’t get hot spots or sores; he just scratches all the time.

Your thoughts?
As added info, I live in the Chicago area, so it gets really cold and there are no plants really doing much in the winter. My other thoughts were: a) the cold, as one person suggested, b) maybe an allergy to dead leaves or something… a stretch, I know, c) he stops his daily swimming in winter d) maybe it is nerves. No idea. He’s outside on off-leash walks about an hour and a half a day.

Best answer:

Answer by RaceGirlRandi1
this may sound stupid but i do believe its a real possibility maybe he is allergic to cold weather it possibly could affect his nerve endings in such a way to cause an itch i would ask your vet if hes heard of such a thing cuz all else seems normal. Its also possible that the weather change alters his mood and its a nervous type disorder

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Best answer:

Answer by earthangel_candy
Sounds like he has dry skin or even dust mites.
Ask your vet to check into those things.
Many dogs have the constant itching no matter if they have fleas or not. I’m just concerned about the eyes itching…..he may have an allergy they have misdiagnosed.

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The vet originally told us he just has “allergies”, and told us to give him an antihistamine everyday, which we do. It doesn’t help. This problem hasn’t ever gone away, and its December. All airborne allergens should be frozen off by now anyways… live in the midwest and its been well below freezing more than 10 times at night so far.

We tried a limited ingredient diet too, in case it was his food he was allergic to…no luck there either. Never got better.

No, he doesn’t have fleas or ticks, and yes I am sure. The vet checked, too.

WHAT ELSE COULD THIS BE? I feel like we are getting no where, and the poor guy is miserable. Just looking for some other things to ask the vet about…

Oh and no it isn’t mange, we checked that.
About the limited ingredient diet – They have dog foods that are for dogs with food allergies i guess, and they only have one kind of protein and one kind of carb. This particular food is Duck and Potato (by Royal Canin)
No new things i can think of…we have all hardwood floors, no new cleaners or anything…

Best answer:

Answer by Girl from the North Country
You said you tried a limited ingredient diet; does this mean you changed his protein source? I.e. from lamb to fish or something along those lines?

Maybe you’ve already explored this, but you could try another protein/carb source until you find something that works. My dog has food allergies and so I had done a little research. See attached link. Our dog is on fish and potato…there are various protein sources out there….venison, kangaroo, etc. Also, be sure to have your dog on the diet for at least 12 weeks to notice an improvement–we noticed around 8 weeks. You’ll see all of this in the link.

Also, vets can do allergy testing on dogs just like they do on humans. If you’re willing to spend the money on the tests, you might be able to figure it out. Good luck! It’s hard to see our buddies suffering!

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We have changed his diet constantly, tired bathing him more, tried bathing him less. Tried preventing him from being around certain plants, and he has no fleas.

Is there anything anyone knows of that will at least ease his itchyness a bit.
Also, he looses so much hair! Not to baldness, just his coat, which is healthy and generally shiny apart from the itchy bits, but we sometimes even vaccum his hair off because there is so much hair loss.
Any suggetions I would be grateful for, thanks
im not asking fo a vet opinion, im mearly seeing if anyone has the same problems with their animals to see if they have a new idea i could try.
im not stupid, im not going to try anything that is unsafe, i would ask my vet about any of these ideas before undertaking them

Best answer:

Answer by Tiffany
have you tried grain free dog food? a lot of dogs have allergies to grains. like taste of the wild. also, adding omega 3 vitamins (you can buy them at pretty much any store in the vitamin section) will help ease some of his skin problems. your vet should be helping you with an elimination diet. those take a while, but should help you figure out what he’s allergic to. there’s also medicated shampoo that helps our puppy for a few days with his itchiness. or you could try an oatmeal shampoo.

and beagles shed a lot, so i’m sure that’s normal. when dogs have skin allergies their coats will be sparser, but it shouldn’t cause excessive shedding.

also, if it’s really bad, occasionally (not every day) you can give him benedryl. it’s 1 milligram of benedryl for every pound your dog is. like a 20lb dog would take 20mg of benedryl. this can’t be used every day, but if he’s having a really itchy day, i give it to my dog.

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