Hi
My 8 month old puppy Pippa has been scatching and chewing for about a week.  Shes been wormed had flea course, spot on type, next one due 22nd Sept had her anal glands emptied few months back.  I got her when she was 6 months old and Ive always fed her Pets at Home dry complete food for puppies, its wheat and gluten free, Chicken and Rice flavour.  Ive checked her for fleas & their dirts but nothing.  Ive noticed that where shes been scratching shes made herself sore, the sore are in her armpits, just by her ribs on both sides and now her right ear. I bought some Coal Tar and Sulphur shampoo gave her bath and bathed her sores with hipiscrub the vet gave me.
But something is still driving her mad- I washed her bedding in non-biology powder no softner, so Im lost as what to do for her now other than another trip to the vets!
I did buy some dental treats from PAH but Ive stop giving her them as i thought it might be them.
Could she of had some reaction to the flea treatment I put on her-any advise? I was thinking of buying some Quistel Shampoo to ease her sratching but I still need to find the source of it as well.
Thanks Noel

I've no experiance of this, but have heard of dogs reacting to the food they eat. I know you say theres no gluten or wheat in it but perhaps it could be the rice or even chicken...
Maybe someone else will know more about this :-)

What a quick response!
Looked at Pippas food and der, its with Chicken no rice. But i noticed it contains Maize Gluten Meal, is that Gluten? And the Fresh Chicken amount is 25% but total chichen is 40%, how confusing is that!!
I do hope someone can help because is driving her potty!

Maize gluten is different to wheat gluten, and the chicken content would be made up with 'non fresh' so perhaps dried - it doesn't sound awfully appetising to me :(

Thanks for that.  The ingredients on most dog foods arent very appetising to me but Pippa really seems to enjoy her food.  But would it give her a skin condition and make her scratch after all this time?

Hi Noel,

The best way, apart from having allergy testing done by a lab, to ascertain whether a food based allergy or intolerance is affecting a dog's tummy or skin is to put the dog on an "exclusion trial diet".   This means picking a food which has a minimum of ingredients and is ideally designed for sensitive digestive systems - these also tend to be high in Omega 3 & 6 oils which are good for the skin :)

The best non-prescriptive ones I know of are Wafcol Salmon & Potato and James Burns - both of these are dry completes - or if you're leaning towards a moist complete then you could try Nature Diet Sensitive Gold.

As Digger points out, gluten is a known allergen for many dogs and is present in several forms.  The above are free of all gluten sources :)

IMO, the better of them from an exclusion trial point of view would be the Wafcol Salmon & Potato as these ingredients are rarely in other commercial foods - unlike rice which is widely used.

The main key to an exclusion diet's success is that absolutely no other foods, treats or titbits are given - this includes such things as pigs ears, rawhide chews, even drinking the leftovers from your cup of tea ;)

You have to stick with it for at least 6 weeks (providing there are no adverse reactions) to give the intolerant ingredients time to be fully removed from the system and to give the new food time to work towards improving the original condition.

HTH, best wishes, Teri :)

Hi Teri
Will give wafcol Salmon and Potatoe a try, shall i introduce it gradually over a few days or just give it to her straight away? 
Do you think its worth getting some Quistel shampoo to ease her itching?
Your advise is always spot on thanks again
Noel :)

Hi again Noel,

As it's a skin reaction that you're aiming to alleviate I would (as with most food change overs) advise a gradual switch over the course of around 1 week.  When it's a severe GI reaction, personally I miss one meal and switch immediately - on the basis that if the existing diet is that bad for the system, why keep feeding it?  ;) 

However, as that's not the case with your dog, then a gradual change is safe in case it causes tummy upsets - do however drop any treats or leftovers etc from the diet immediately.

I've never had to use Quistel but have heard good reports about it - I don't see that it could do any harm to try it anyway.

HTH, and please update on any progress.  Best wishes, Teri :)

Hi again Teri
Will follow your advise and let you know how she gets on.
The only treats she does have are when I take her training, what can I give her instead?
thanks Noel :)
PS Do you know how often its ok to bath a dog?

You'll have to use her kibble from meals initially for training treats - you need to be very strict :P  If she's not all itchy and uncomfortable she'll eventually forgive you ;)

I know it's hard - been there and done it - but it's worth it (always assuming that it's a food based reaction of course ;) )

I don't bath dogs as a rule so I'm not much help there - on the very rare occasion that one rolls in something nasty the bath thing gets done but ordinarily the only other time is at the onset of a big moult to get the coat out faster.   Using a treatment shampoo I'd imagine there's advice on the bottle

you've found (one of) my weak spot(s) :rolleyes: :P :D   Teri

This same thing happened to my Papillon puppy. Sores in the armpits etc. We changed his food to James Wellbeloved and all the sores and scratching went away.

Chicken is proving to be a major source of allergy in many dogs now for some reason.  So I would just switch immeadiatly over to Wafcol Salmon and potatoe.
Use some of the food as her treats.  It could take 6 weeks on this and nothing else at all to get a true picture.
I would also treat with Stronghold just too make sure its not Fox mange mite which quite a few dogs have picked up this year even in towns.

Bev

Hi Bev
What are the sighs of Fox mange mite? Some Posts Ive read regards skin complaints mentioned Benzyl Benzoate (from the chemist)-does this work on Fox mange mite-or is it just Stronghold? Where can I get Stronghold from? Are the effects of the treatment immediate or will it take days or weeks? :(
Im just worried that using all these different shampoos or lotion will only aggreviate the problem, sorry about spelling.
Thanks for advise
Noel :)

You can buy it over the counter from your vet.  It is a spot on treatment, can't remember how long it takes to kill Fox Mange mite as havn't got a box handy, but its quick acting, does fleas etc and worms for round worm.
You can read more about the mite here

http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/sarcoptic_mange_mite.htm

Bev

Mean't to add that the mite burrows just under the skin and can be hard to detect.  In severe cases it can take 2 treatments one month apart to clear it.
It is very contagious not only to other dogs but can pass to humans also.

Bev

You might be as well to take her to the vet just to be sure.

My pup has had several little outbreaks of Impetigo which takes the form of redness/sores and causes her to itch. The latest spot is at the base of her tail and previously it was her armpits/groin area that was affected. It is apparently very common in pups (particularly the hairier breeds) and they usually grow out of it by adulthood. It needs anti-biotics to clear it up and the vet has given me Malaseb shampoo (antibacterial) to use on the affected spots.

HTH