Hi my 5 year old Jack Russell/Spaniel has, for the last year, developed itchy skin.  I havent changed his diet.  His fur is white but I have been giving him EPO as a liquid in his food, bathing him with oatmeal shampoo, he's being given the horrible 3 injections for ringworm (which I totally believe was not needed) and regularly fleaed (plus bedding and house!).  All was well for around 3 months but he's started again! Now I'm just wondering whether to give him Vitamin E as well to help with his coat.  I've used 'stinky stuff' on him as a massage and bath but I am at the end of my research now!!! Thank you in advance!

You need to find the cause of the itchiness, rather than just keep throwing stuff at it.  Is his skin dry and/or dandruffy?  If not then things like vit E probably won't make much difference.

Itchiness can be due to allergies and these can start at any time, so this would be my first stop now fleas have been ruled out (assuming you've used flea treatment that's still effective - not all are).  What does your vet say?

Also, what are you feeding him at present?  Food allergies are common and can certainly cause excessive itching, I'm dealing with that in one of my dogs.

Hi his skin isnt dry or dandruffy.  He's been under consultation from the Vet since it started.  He's been put on hydrolysed food and still no avail.  So instead of going medical, I've gone down the herbal route!  He was on evening primrose with his food but he didnt like it so I give him a capsule with some meat and I've changed him to Natures Menu for dogs just in case he's allergic to grains.  He seems ok this week!!

It may not be food if the hypoallergenic kibble hasnt changes  anything after 8 weeks of feeding (8 being the usual test period ) .it may be environmental allergens which need blood tests to identify. If u can get to the bottom of them u then need to either discuss with vet a medical route or try and remove the allergens. Often easier said than done.  Omega 3 with vit e can help . Google one of the yumove products or the vet may sell nutramega which I use. If u are treating yourself and can't remove the allergens it's trial and error using different products. One of mine is on immunotherapy because we can't remove the numerous allergens that affect her. Might be worth seeing a specialist dermatologist vet which is how we got sorted out

pjpowell;

I would have suggested trying a raw diet but it looks as if you are already doing that.
Results from doing this can be surprisingly quick, but do give it a few weeks longer just to be sure.
Keep the raw diet absolutely free of grains and rice and take care with any treats that may be manmade which could be loaded with cereals/grains too.
Natures Menu is a good place to start, but do be aware that some of their complete nuggets contain RICE !!
Their "Hunters Menu" nuggets are rice free.

And watch their bone content it can be high .even they don't seem to know what's in it and often quote ash content which isn't any use .  
If that doesn't help and u are still looking at food you may need to look at an elimination diet of 6 weeks on one protein .

If that doesn't show anything then I would seriously consider looking at environmental allergens

> Their "Hunters Menu" nuggets are rice free.

Do you mean Country Hunter?  I just used a bag of these last night and they are very good.

Re. treats if you do an exclusion diet, these must be included as well.  I follow the same rules - novel foods, although depending on what I'm using, there may be grains in there but these are novel too.  For example, I've made a semi-moist cake type thing to chop up using the tinned Country Hunter food (will use the nuggets next time, I didn't realise they existed when I made it), quails' eggs and spelt flour as these are all 'safe' for my allergics.  Next time round I'll be trying homemade apple sauce (unsweetened, from cooking apples) in place of the eggs.

Alternatively I have chopped up sprats and semi-dried them in the oven (I find fully dried sprats not chunky enough and too flaky); I've also bought Meatlove horse and buffalo meat&treat sausages and I'm about to buy chunks of horse, boar and venison meat from The Dog's Butcher to chop up and cook for treats.

What started out as a major headache trying to think what I could use (and spending a lot of money on the Meatlove, although it is very good), I've found that there are actually a lot of options!

Yes I did mean "Country Hunter".
I have no idea why I wrote "Hunters Menu", oh how stupid!

Meh, close enough!