My dog seems to be scratching more than most dogs. Some days are worse than others. I just read the thread on syringohydromyelia and am now a little concerned. She is not a pure bred anything and we had no health problems with her mom. What other things may cause a dog to scratch? I read somewhere that it is possible for dogs to have dry skin which causes it to become itchy. It this correct? What measures would you guys suggest?
Drai

I would say to look at geting flea treatment from vets not pet shop, then look at what you are feeding change to a more natural feed, bath the dog in malaseb which you get from vets not pet shop rubbish.

You know, I found the same things happening to my dogs as well. That slight itching turned into manic scratching with secondary infections after a few yrs & by that time the dog`s & house & outside had been blasted & bombarded with chemical treatment for fleas/ticks/mange/lice etc. The vet also suggested allergy to food, so of course food got changed as well. With the problem allieviated for several mths after a change of chemical treatments/food etc, but always returning with a vengence within a yr, I came to the conclusion he didn`t really know the the true cause. Then a very well thought out carefully planned litter of pups I bred had horrendous health problems & I asked for advice. What I was told then was what I`d been told in the past,(but ignored) get them on real food, get away from the the all the toxins=poisons in processed foods & chemical products & they might stand a chance. I did that because I had nothing else to try & all the conventional medicines had failed, most people have nothing to lose at that stage, I gave it a go & it worked. That was when I decided to get back to basics, as the saying goes & I try to look after them as nature intended.
Real food might be the first thing to try :)

Christine, Spain.

Murph's had the same problem for a few months now...two courses of antibiotics that clear up the rash (on his tummy) and stop the itching. the antibiotics stop - the itches come back!
He's raw fed, as you know, Christine but I'm asking myself if he could be allergic to one of the foods he's eating. he has chicken, heart, a little minced beef, liver, yoghurt, fruits and veggies, eggs. Burns and sardines once or twice a week ( cos I've got some open and can't bear waste!)
I bathed him in Malaseb today so we'll see if that helps. i don't want anymore antibiotics for him and I've checked him for fleas....none that I can find!

TTFN

Hi Ruth, with mine it was always steroids given to stop the itching & a/b`s for sec. infections. Steroids kept itchies away for maybe 4/6wks then wear off & we were back to were we started! They only suppressed the problem & made matters worse. First off tho get some immune boosters into him, echinea, vits C/E try him with some fresh fish as well if you can. It`s a long slow process but worth a go! :) And even so, this will only work with an ingested allergy & not a contact one, with that it`s like looking for a needle in a haystack. But upping the immune booster supps will help such a lot with either :)
I think I would take 2 foods only & use them only for about 10dys & see if things get better with Murph, if they did I`d intoduce 1 other foodstuff over another 10dys or so & if things still went well continue 1 by 1 till you introduce everything else. That way you`d be able to spot which/if any other food is causing him to itch. Don`t know how you`d go on with burns tho cos that has a few products in it? Maybe cut it out all together or feed that & nothing else for a wk/10dys or so? Same with the sardines. Wash all the fruit/veg really well before you introduce it back again to get rid of any chemicals. If he wears a collar all the time take it off.
I`d think about anything new products that your using in the house for cleaning/washing/dishwasher etc. Then look what you use in the garden/backyard. For a shampoo for Murph go for a natural product, one I found worked for mine was at the second link below, it`s not advertised on the website but if you ring they will give you details of it. The first link you should find something to help.

http://www.naturalrearing.com/ARTICLES/ArticleIndex2.htm

http://www.wykken.co.uk/

Not easy Ruth I know, good luck :)

Christine, Spain.

ps, it was only when I`d tried all the flea products out there & chopped & changed them over several yrs on vets advice cos fleas got immune to the chemicals that he finally said *it could be allergy to anything!*
hmmmm

Thanks Christine...brill advice:D
You know, there are two things that Murph won't eat...raw fish and raw rabbit!
I know it's crazy for a lab but if I put a raw fish in his bowl, he picks it up by the tail and drops it outside! Same with rabbit! Fussy or what?!
I'll cut out the Burns for now...it'll keep a while longer! he had minced beef this morning with a veggie mush 'muffin' so we'll see. I'll keep you informed and I'll look at those sites you sent...thanks for that.

Take care

ruth

It may well be worthwhile having your dog allergy tested that way you can cut out a protein source which may be the cause of his discomfort. It is not cheap, however, in the long run it works out inexpensive compared to constant vet visits, and the treatment of symptoms not causes.

Mine are raw fed, and when my youngster came to me at 10 months he had had chronic ear infections and tested allergic to wheat, soya, oats, potato and beef. Since being on raw and removing beef (my dogs have no grains) he has had no ear infections etc at all.

HTH

Ruth,

Many dogs are allergic to eggs. Next time you go to a pet store (for dog toys or supplies!) take a look at some of the complete dry foods. You will find some that specifically mention they do not include eggs in the mix.

Stacey

Hi Ruth, just a reminder to make a note each & every ingriedient that you give fussy boots:) Fancy turning his nose up at fish & rabbit, he should be so lucky eh!!! :D

Christine, Spain.

I have been battling this for about 4 half years with my shih-tzu. The vet gave her a steroid injection last time I went, but I am not happy with this really. They said she could be allergic to anything and even tests might not show what it was. When you say you feed real food, what sort of food are you meaning. I would gladly try this on Lulu but I worry she may not be getting all the vitamins that you expect to find in the dog food we buy. Chicken gives her the runs or makes her sick. Also is too much red meat bad for them

Maggie.

Steroids treat symptoms not causes. If the dog is allergic to food (probably a protein) it CAN be identified and then you can remove the offending item from the diet. No more itches. If the dog is environmentally allergic although it MAY be identified the chances of your removing the allergen remain small unless is something like carpet cleaner etc.

Allergy testing can be done by your vet taking a blood sample and sending it off to Yorktest who do this all the time.

You may be able to avoid this by just changing her food from what you currently feed. Prime allergens are soya, wheat, maize and linseed (flaxseed). What do you feed at the moment?

I feed my dogs raw meaty bones, meat, offal, fish, eggs, with a little vegetable matter and yoghurt thrown in. They are in the peak of condition and successfully compete in many disciplines. Too much of anything is bad for any animal :D

If you would like to explore raw feeding, do a search there is plenty of info on this board; or alternatively join Britbarf which is a Yahoo forum for raw feeders. They are very friendly and will give you lots of help.

HTH

My dog aged 19 months has just been diagnosed as having an allergy - itchy skin on back legs, as well as going higher up. Ruled out fleas, so the vet thinks it's most likely diet related, and I did change his food a couple of months ago. The vet said I should put him on Hills prescription diet d/d - dried food - egg and rice, or duck and rice - does anyone have any experience of these?
Hilda

Have you found out what the dog is allergic to? If you look at the diets you will find that there is very little difference between the ingredients of the "regular" bags and the i/d (except for price). Hills is prescribed by vets because it is in their interests to do so! When you change your food you need to review what is in your present food and what you want to cut out before you move to another. So for example if your dog is allergic to maize it is unfortunate but the i/d diet also contains this as a major ingredient. There is the hypoallergenic diet which has the protein "hydrolised" which essentially means that the protein molecules cannot cause allergic reaction; again the ingredients are the same you are just paying for a very expensive process; however if I were you I might try other less expensive and a more logical approach by looking at other diets which do NOT contain these potential allergens.

There are a few diets out there that have very few ingredients eg Naturediet - meat, rice and carrots, or Burns - essentially the same.

Chicken is often prescribed in times of "trouble" but many dogs are if not allergic to it "intolerant" of it;

HTH

When I think back to the time of the change of diet, there was suddenly an excessive amount of hair loss, which I just thought was a heavy moult (no actual bald patches or anything like that) - but now I'm wondering whether that was the onset, and it's progressed to this itching and my dog nibbling his legs.  Anyway, I've stopped that food straight away - am trying the Wafcol salmon & potato - which has cut out a lot of the allergy causing ingredients.  The Hills diet the vet adviced is d/d - prescription (£54 for 14 kg) - made of egg & rice.
  Hilda

Ground rice(minimum Rice 46%), dried whole egg(minimum Egg 44%), vegetable oil, hydrolysed chicken, animal fat, cellulose, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate, salt, choline chloride, taurine, vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulphate, zinc oxide, mixed tocopherols, niacin, thiamin, vitamin A supplement, citric acid, copper sulphate, calcium pantothenate, manganous oxide, pyridoxine hydrochloride, rosemary extract, riboflavin, vitamin D3 supplement, calcium iodate, folic acid, sodium selenite, biotin, vitamin B12.

I find it incredible that they can charge £54 for 14 kg of egg and rice! :(

At the price of rice and eggs you could make your own for a fraction of this, adding vitamins and fish oils from the supermarket.

hi hilda
ive just joined the site, and i must say its very intresting, ive got a 14 month old GWP she just got over a phantom pregnancy, but all her fur is falling out aswell. and she is always scratching, the vet done some scinscraps but they all came back clear, she also suffered with mastites, when the test results came back they said it could be because of her hormones, but it sounds to familiar what everyone else says it could be a food allergie, so we decided to leave her till the end of january to see if there are any changes, thats when she is going to get spayed, as it will happen again the vet says. my name is heidi im from north wales

Hello Heidi,
  Sounds like it could be hormonal - although skin scrapings are apparently not always conclusive even if mites are present.  I would wait to see what she is like after being spayed - don't forget her hormones won't settle down instantly though!  If she's then still got the same problem, I'd think about changing her diet.  It's such a difficult thing - like a process of elimination!  (I live in North Wales too - Prestatyn)!
  Hilda

hi hilda
thanks for your reply, i will wait untill her hormones are back to normall, she is actually not to bad at the moment, i gave her a bath tonigth with some special shampoo from vets, her skin looks a bit like she got craddle cap like a baby, and her fur is growing back a little bit, where they have done the srapping it has all grown back. im hoping the spaying will sort her out poor little mite. i live i near wrexham take care heidi

Hello Heidi,
   What you could try in the meantime, as skin is dry, is give her evening primrose oil - my dog is having 3 capsules a day - it's really good for skin and coat.  One capsule for every 10 kg of body weight.  It does take a good 4 weeks to work, so don't give up too soon.  The other thing I would get from the vet is a bottle of Omega-Aid oil - costs £10.25 and lasts about a month for my dog weighing 27 kg - after the first four weeks it lasts longer, as you then only give half the dose.  It's worked for my dog, and his coat is growing back in lovely, although I did change his diet as well!
  Hilda

just a quickie but does the 'cradle cap' type stuff smell at all?

Hi Dawnbeen
you asked if the dry skin on her body smells, as a matter of fact yes it does, its smells a bit fausty if you no what i mean, she has been on cod liver oil tabs for the last 2 month, i give her 2 a day, her hair has grown back a little bit, she is not as bad as she was before, im going to have her spayed soon. Hopfully that will sort her problem out, or she will grow out of it she is only young. take care heidi

Hi Everyone,

I've been having problems with my (now) 8mth old Springer for almost 4 mths now. Chewing paws 'til they bled, red and itching skin on back legs around his genitals and nose We have tried eliminating protien-no change, changing to Kibble and then Arden Grange-no change, antihistamines & steroids-no change, so I insisted on a blood test. All he is allergic to is the common house dust mite. So we are now in the process of building him a large kennel and putting him out doors (weather permitting) as often as we can.

Sad really, I had him for a house dog, but I cannot bear to see him suffer any longer. I have though started to feed him raw diet and he has improved 40%. It really is a long and slow process find what is wrong with your dog and I find vets tend to want to put them on steroids at a young age which I was totally unhappy about as my vet said my dog would have a ravenous thirst, become lethargic and gain weight. He was for sakes a lively 6mth Springer puppy, so I argued the toss and after 28 days when the vet could see no good was happening whilst taking these pills I asked for him to take my dog off them.

I hope things sort themselves out quickly for you.

Dee K

I totally agree with you about steroids.. the vets have lost my trust and I now see a homeopathic vet for my 4and a half year old cocker who has had endless ear infections and a major op last march (removal of part of era canal) he is also raw fed and have seen a vast improvement through not feeding grains etc it's such a shame for your little springer can't you have wooden floors put in and pull up your carpets I have done that ..but it is personal choice
all the best

A friend of mine has a dog that is allergic to house dust mites; spraying the whole house with Indorex has resulted in a complete cessation of scratching and hair has grown back.  It is about £20 a tin but worth it.

Hi, I feed pretty much the same wide variety of food asTohme does. What I mean by real food is fresh food, which is full of protein/vitamins/minerals/enzymes in their natural state that the body can utilise better, with no chemicals or additives, not processed complete dry or tinned foods.
You can find lots of advice about it on the board Tohme has suggested if you want to find out more & try your dog on it. The advice I`ve given Ruth is a way of finding what food might be causing the allergy by a means of elimination, it may not be as easy for you to do if your feeding complete tho.
Good luck :)

Christine, Spain.

Hi christine,

I know!...refusing fresh rabbit and fish! And the amazing thing is that on his walk yesterday, he 'fished' out the grossest, rotting, 'thing' out of the lake and thought all his Christmases had come at once! Took me 10 mins to get it of him and I can still smell it now!......and he won't touch fresh trout! What's wrong with the dog?!

ttfn

Ruth

Maybe he likes it his grub well matured, very sophisticated taste he has ;) :D

Christine, Spain.

Just another idea my cocker had lots of skin problems when she was younger scratching etc etc etc, eventually we were sent to royal vet hospital in potters bar and saw a wonderful vet(some professor dermatologist)who diagnosed her problem as an expolsion of yeasts on her skin,we treated with baths etc for a few months, but he hit the buttton on the head when he said in all probabilty she would grow out of it, and sure enough by the time she was two she stopped having any trouble, everdently he said alot of dogs do grow out of skin problems by the time they mature. ,

But if they persist even after changing his food etc perhaps look out for some heomopathic remidies as i know they helped with molly when she had a non related skin problem just before we lost her at the age of 12

Homeopathic Sulphur is very good for itchy skin. :)

Kath

I have tried Malaseb & found it made very little difference to an itching dog.  Having tried a non-veterinary shampoo Quistel (www.quistel.co.uk) I have found it stops the "itchies" better, read the testimonials about it.

Alfred Plechner, DVM, in his book, "Pet Allergies: Remedies for an Epidemic," reports the top food allergens for dogs are:
- Beef and Beef Byproducts
- Milk
- Yeast and yeast products
- Corn
- Pork
- Turkey
- Eggs
- Fish
- Wheat 

Any form of soy, as well as corn gluten meal contribute to allergies. Wendy Volhard, in her book "The Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog," suggest the grains that create the most problems seem to be corn, wheat, rice and rye. She reports the least allergic reactions come from oatmeal, buckwheat, millet and quinoa. 

However dogs, like us, can be allergic to anything :(

Just like to add that quite often when a dog being fed complete foods & is known to be allergic to something in that food, ie chicken/beef etc, they are no longer allergic to that food when its given in it`s natural state. :)

Christine, Spain.

My Shih Tzu been itching this summer I flead with frontline monthly for the first 3mths changed her food to James Wellbeloved, & bath her in JDS & aloe Vera on alternate baths, She is bath alot as I show her but make sure she is well rinse as that could course itching.
Diane