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Thread: Itchy Dog

  1. #1
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    Itchy Dog

    Our 1 year old lab within the last two weeks has begun showing signs of being terribly itchy. He is biting his legs and paws somewhat frenetically, pawing at his snout and reacting to our scratching of his back and sides with the rear leg kick. I have taken him to our vet and there are absolutely no signs of lesions, scabs, flakiness or dry skin. She suggested using benadryl, but that only seems to help slightly. We do take lengthy hikes through the woods, but that has been a consistent event, not anything new. The only change has been to his food, switching from science diet to Premium Edge Salmon formula. Has anyone had any similar issues and could it be related to diet change?

  2. #2
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    There are so many possiblities and things you could try. He is a typical age for allergies to start up out of the blue. Food is a contender but environmental allergies are more common than food allergies. You could easily check the food by going back to the one he didn't itch on. Read up on how elimination diets work.

    Try a different over the counter antihistamine. Reactine worked for us, for a while.

    Are you sure he doesn't have fleas? They can be hard to find.

    Is this his first big shed? Loose hair is itchy. Maybe a bath to help remove excess hair and sooth his skin would help. I use Furever Devoted Medicated dog shampoo. Rinsing him after a swim in lake water, with all it's gunk that you can't see and floating or submerged pollens might help. A rinse in 50/50 vinegar/water helps us though it's short lived.

    If quick and easy remedies don't make a dent then consider a Dermatology Vet for further investigation. Then you might be presented with more options such as steroid shots, allergy shots, new allergy drugs like Atopica and there's another one that I never can remember the name of.

    Good Luck.

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  4. #3
    Senior Dog kelsyg's Avatar
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    As Snowshoe advises, it does sounds like environmental allergies, if you rule out fleas. You need to get him relief or the scratching and biting will cause secondary infections and bigger issues.
    First go over him with a flea comb and if clean see the Vet for a more definitive answer. Enviromental allergies get worse with time and it is important to learn to manage them early on.
    Sometimes OTC such as Claritan can help but you need proper doseage. Usually you will need a prescription.
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  6. #4
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    Thank you for the response. I have initiated the good elimination. I can't imagine that he has fleas, but I will be taking him back to the vet tomorrow for further discussion about this issue and I will have her double check. Thanks again.

  7. #5
    House Broken Lainie's Avatar
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    Just read your post. If your vet can't find the answer & you are positive it is not fleas, get him to the dermatology vet asap. Our lab is 12 & started to itch, chew paws, butt, & have ear problems at around 2 yrs. old or so. We went on a merry-go-round of food trials & drugs that had long term side-effects & cost us a fortune. It has ended up being environmental allergies that have caused a secondary yeast infection & without going on & on I would urge you to get the matter nipped in the bud right away instead of allowing yourselves to try this & that until you're blue in the face & the yeas fly by & your wallets shrink. Best of luck. It is a real worry.

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  9. #6
    House Broken swanska's Avatar
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    Hopefully your vet found the culprit. But if not and you are on your way to a derm vet you might want to check with the vet about doing the following:

    Something that helped alleviate my dog's itchy skin was the old-time remedy of lime-sulphur dips. Shadows problems started in the winter and because the dog has to drip dry (not even allowed to towel dry) and the dip can stain, I had the vet do the work and keep him for the day.

    But, since it is summer, you can save some $$ by doing it your self, outside, and keeping him out playing fetch until he is dry. He will have a great time!! Note -- all sterling silver jewelry, etc. that comes near him will tarnish so be forewarned. Also, think of him smelling like a just ignited match -- not eggs and all will be good!

    Shadow received his 1x/week for 6 weeks (you might be able to do fewer). The first visit immediately reduced his scratching by 50%. After the third dip he was so much better in the scratching department but the vet wanted to continue with more than the normal amount because he still had skin inflammation and she wanted to make sure that if there was some mysterious surface infection that it was completely cleared. I did these dips for 2 winters before we determined the culprit to be a food allergy, perhaps compounded by the dry electric heat. But, I think they saved his sanity by allowing his skin to heal and mine because I hated watching him feel miserable.

    Ultimately, he was switched to a fish-potato dog food and I keep a humidifier turned on during the winter ...and he has essentially been problem free (at least in terms of skin and ear issues).

  10. #7
    Senior Dog Jeff's Avatar
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    I was thinking environmental allergies as well. It could be from the food switch, you could always switch back and see however usually takes a month for food allergies to clear up and well this time of year about a month from now the environmental allergies will be clearing up, so unfortunately you might not know for sure what it is. Your not too far from me and so I know the seasons for this. The rule of thumb for environmental allergies in our area is August 15 - October 15. Typically first good hard frost is what kills off the environmental allergies. So might be a little sooner for you as you get a little colder up there.

    My boy gets itchy right about now too. One thing I found that really helped him, first a good bath with an oatmeal based shampoo. This helps sooth the itches. Also I found a great cure for this as well that seems to provide some instant relief for the paws.

    "Hemi's Tootsie Soak" as I call it.

    Basically get a small bucket. Not real wide but tall enough to stand with one or two feet in.

    Fill with Warm Water, not hot
    Add Betadine which is a form of Iodine. You can get this at most drugstores off the shelf. It is a dark brown but don't worry wont stain pups paws, but can stain carpets and stuff while wet. You want to add enough the color of the water looks like dark tea. Doesn't take too much to get it this color.
    Then I add 2-3 Chamomile tea bags, depending on size of bucket. Let those soak in the warm water and solution for a while. Make sure this is plain Chamomile tea with no caffeine.

    The Betadine is an antibiotic/antifungal solution. Will kill off any bacteria causing itching and also any fungus causing itching.
    Chamomile is a natural soothing agent and a natural anti inflammatory. It is also a long time alergy and hayfever helper as it contains antihistamines.

    Now the hard part, Get them to stand still and let each paw soak for about 2 minutes per paw. I suggest peanut butter on a wooden spoon or something to keep their mind off where they they have their feet. You can soak a towel and wrap the towel around each paw. But make sure you are rubbing in between the toes and stuff and apply for about 4 minutes per paw. Then just let them drip dry.

    I do this with Hemi once or twice every 3 weeks during allergy season.

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  12. #8
    Puppy Merlin's Avatar
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    Oh boy. I'm having the same problem with itchy skin. Just started a week ago so that lines up with the environmental allergies in our area that Jeff brings up. We've gone down the food allergy road before, took forever (and $$) but it cleared up what was happening skin wise, so I know that's not it now since we haven't changed anything. We are going to the vet on Tuesday so we have to hang in there a couple more days here.

    The thing now is Buck enjoys throwing himself onto his dog bed head first to scratch his face then he does a tour of rubs -- he slides his body on all the walls, chairs, couches, and people standing around to scratch. Today as I sit here he's been rubbing his face so hard on the edge of our couch his eye is starting to look like he bruised the outside. I feel so bad for him right now. The only relief comes when he lays down and tires of his scratch tour. I hope the vet can help...if not, there are good ideas in this thread.

  13. #9
    Real Retriever amyb's Avatar
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    We had to take our chocolate to a vet dermatologist..she was allergic to so many things. She is on allergy medication and allergy drops (that costs $250 every four months or so). It used to be a shot 2 days a week, but now it is drops, twice a day (appreciated by us and rosie..who would tolerate the shots).
    Last edited by amyb; 09-07-2014 at 06:10 PM.
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