rosie my westie scratches quite often, she hasnt fleas or anything , i heard they get irritated skin , any advice on what cream i should buy for her ??? she was cut for the first time last week , could that have irritated her skin ??

Is she itching in any particular place ( ie ears etc) or everywhere?

she does itch her ears but its generally everywhere

Have you checked  her ears for possible ear mites and that they are clear and clean - if you're really sure she doesnt have fleas could it be you,ve changed your washing powder or anything ???

irritated skin can also be caused by an allergy to something in the food - for some reason Westies seem to be prone to it - better to sort out the cause than treat the symptoms.

Hello
I have a Bichon who has just been allergy tested as she was very itchy. They found that she is allergic to Dust mites!!, very hard to get rid off but can be controlled.

I also give her 2 piriton and oil of evening primrose a day, this has helped a lot.

Best thing to do is go to the vet and if you can afford it get your Westie allergy tested at least then you can rule out a food allergy etc. It cost me about £200, but is worth it.

Another good thing to use is Malaseb shampoo. you have to buy this from the vet though.

Good luck, let us know how you get on

Jo

Our previous collie x was allergic to hide chews! it took ages of diet variations to find the cause.Hopefully we are wiser now regarding diet and feed Spice on nature diet,free of additives etc.But as others have said it could be almost anything and perhaps the best way to find out is to have a test carried out,possibly your insurance may cover the cost or at least some of it,you would need to read your policy carefully.
:) Jacqueline

I understand Westies are prone to malassezia skin prob.www.animal-allergy.com-downloads-canine_malassezia. Not saying it is that.. never seen it and would not know a malassezia if it jumped up and bit me on the bum :-D  What do you feed? since changing to Burns food my dogs itch skin has gone completely. it contains no additives or artificial ingredients  :-)

If you have had her checked and she has no fleas etc I would suggest you give Quistel a try...really did work wonders for my dogs and very quickly
Archer

where do i get quistel ? .. she defo has no fleas and i check everyday , she has no irritation marks on her but dont like to see her scratching .....   thanks

It is becoming more available....try putting Quistel into 'search' at the top of the page and also try putting it into a search engine...should give you the website.
Archer

I had the same with my shih last year, couldnt find any fleas, so reflead her, changed her food to James Well beloved a hypo-allegenic (sp) food, & now bath her in an aloe vera shampoo. Though ive changed her shampoo recently she seems ok. She did start scratching once the weather picked up but ive started her on garlic tablets & it seems to be doing the trick.
All the best

Quistel

Our quistel arrived in the week, and Millie has had one bath with the shampoo, and I have sprayed a couple of times with the lotion.

I don't expect too much too quick, but my mother-in-law who has always taken a real interest in Millie's itching remarked yesterday that already she doesn't seem to be scratching as much.  She's still itching a lot in the mornings but m-i-l is convinced she isn't scratching as much during the day.  Maybe a fluke, may also be because I changed from JWB Turkey to JWB Lamb last week (as I discovered that was the flavour you are meant to buy for itchy dogs, doh!) but so far, so good!

Hi Archer,
   Do you think this might work for my Aussie?  For the second time in six months he is nibbling at his rear legs and front legs (both top areas).  Both times it has been whilst moulting, don't know if that's co-incidence.  Have had steroid cream to put on, but after three weeks, not looking better or worse, just the same, so I think really there should have been some improvement.
  Hilda