Lady my 12 year old gsd is itching like mad, i took her to the vet and she suggested that i bath her in a vet shampoo which i did, but it did nothing, she has been on prednisalone for about the last 4 years, for her skin and artheritis, but i dont like to see her like this scratching all the time, i have even trimmed some of the coat off to try and help, it is very red in places where she has licked it, and there is a lot of big chunks of dandruff, i keep brushing her, and also giving her evening primrose capsules, has any one else got any ideas.

What do you feed her on. I know Nutro is very good for skin problems - and it's a good food too. Could be worth a try.

Pam n the boys

she is fed on nature diet and james wellbeloved ( the one for itchy skin )

I'll second the Nutro Adult Maintenance for clearing up problem skin - certainly in my dog after I'd given up thinking it was anything food related. I was astonished! and I've never looked back. I've even cut out the Evening Primrose supplements that she had been on for years.
Sounds like you must have been round the mill trying to get to the bottom of it before settling for long term steroid use! The only thing that I would suggest is dusting antiseptic powder onto the moist red patches and trying to keep them dry. I found that really helped - but it's treating the symptoms and not the cause. Itchy skin must be one of the hardest things to successfully deal with permanently!

A friend of mine has just discovered her Setter is reacting to the bone meal in Nature Diet :-(

I didnt know there was bone meal in it, can that make a difference, and why would it cause them to scratch, very strange.

it couldnt be rabbit mite could it, do you itch when youve been handling her, you dont need a rabbit to catch it but its nickname is walking dandruff, its posh name is something like cheyatellia !!!stick it up on google and see if anything fits, ---ive had dogs nearly scratch themselves inside out with james wellbelloved, its not for all dogs, ive had very good results with nutro too, -let us know when you get it sorted,

No its not that, i have seen that before, if it was it would be easy to get rid of, problem over, it couldnt be that simple could it. Trouble is with skin problems there are so many causes, its working out which one it is.

I have given lady another bath in the vet shampoo, taken her off nature diet and james wellbeloved, so see how we go.

What are you feeding her now? You could try a completely bland diet for a couple of weeks and see if it makes a difference... like plain boiled rice with a bit of fish or chicken?
If you are interested in trying the Nutro they have a freephone number 0800 068 0608 and home deliver the next day for free if you order before 12.
Hope something helps - it's really distressing to see them in so much discomfort and misery.

I am trying her on what you have said, natural things so there are no unexpected little extras that they seem to put into dog food, hopefully this will work.

Hi Metpol,

one of my GSDs recently had severe skin problems, and nothing stopped the itching (he was on high doses of pred) until I tried massaging him with tea tree and lavender oil. I just used a dilution based on what you would use for a human and within 30 minutes of massaging it onto him he had stopped the scratching.

Hope this helps with the itching, there is nothing worse.

I think i'll try that as she is still scratching herself to death, i dont know what will stop it, she woke me last night at 2am scratching and i gave her another pred just to stop her a bit, i dont think it did much, thanks for the advice Diane.

Diane,

Sorry, forgot to mention that your dogs coat will get a bit matted with the oil, but I used a tea tree shampoo to combat that.

My GSD was also scratching so badly that he woke me up in the night as well, the best thing about the oil was that it stopped the scratching and therefore stopped him tearing his skin open. After a couple of massages, I would say massage time and he would start wagging his tail!

Good luck!

Theresa

When our dog had red patches my mother (who is a nurse) put talcum powder (Johnsons baby powder) on the sore patches. It seemed to help. She said they do that to their patients!

Michael
11 June 2002

First time Ive posted so hope Ive done this right. I was very pleased to see that someone had suggested tea tree and lavender. I am an aromatherapist and animal healer, running workshops on natural healing for pets and animals and this is just what I would have recommended. There are a couple of other ones if these two do not work.

My own dog suffers from an alergy to fleas, and last year it was really awful. She lost a lot of hair from her back near her tail. It spread to the middle of her back. We did not find any fleas, but the vet says it only takes one bite. I always use aromatherapy oils as a preventative, so I guess one got through and then dropped off. But that was enough to start the process. She itched all the time leaving clumps of hair everywhere. Our silver grey carpet looked like it had a blanket of black hair.

I personally find tea tree and lavender very drying. Although it looks awful if using these oils and you find the same thing, put a few drops in some oil and rub on the area.

I do hope this may be helpful and that by now your dog is having some relief from the itching.

Dawn W

Welcome to the forum Dawn :-)

Hello Dawn hope you stay around I find this a great subject :)

Hello Dawn- Can I just ask which oils you use to prevent them. I have an 11 week old GSD and I was planning on taking her to the vets on Monday for Frontline but there's a post that makes me think maybe I shouldn't but obviously I need to 'use' something as I also have a cat who comes and goes (like they do).

Stacey x x x

hi, I got an 11 year old cross spriner spaniel and I had the same trouble with him (itching) I went to the royal welsh show and by change stopped a stall selling all sorts for dogs and horses, I notice something called 'Dog Stop Itch' brought it and within about 10 days he stopped itching and hes fur has started to grow again. The web site address is www.wendalscanine.com
Like you we have tried everything we could try and this was just hoping it would work and it has on our dog.
from Cilla

Hi just to let everyone know now that i have sorted the itching problem out with a change of diet, she is now on sainsburys scouts meat and nutro diet for sensitive stomachs, so no more itching and thankfully no more of the s**ts, but thankyou for everyones suggestions especially pammy, digger, and lara for there insight into what i was feeding her and pointing me into the right direction of nutro foods Diane.

Diane

Thats great news. Thank you so much for the update. It is good to hear how things go.

Glad to have been of help.

Pam n the boys

PS - I don't know if you've seen - but I have found a way of helping the Nutro appeal, I guess it applies to any Complete Dry Food - that is to heat it in the microwave for a minute - watch it's not too hot. It smells disgusting but certainly gives it more appeal to the dogs. ;)