Hi there--we have two Labs, mom and daughter, and the daughter has no problems but the mom gets VERY itchy every year around this time, ever since we moved to the West Coast of BC. It starts off just scratching and chewing at herself, but usually (not yet this year) she ends up developing very dry, flaky skin and she sheds like crazy. Some tufts of her fur also change to a brownish colour (she is black) that are really easy to pull out. Last year, I thought it might be food related, so I switched her to Medical Hypoallergenic food (which is very expensive, so if she doesn't actually need it, I'd rather switch back to something else!). Now that the itchiness is back while she's on that food, I think it might be something in the environment. There are a lot of different pollens and things where we live. When she got dandruff last year, I gave her medicated baths every couple of days and that helped somewhat, but not totally. She eventually had to go on pills from the vet and gradually wean off of them, but I'd also rather avoid that and the related costs if possible. I give her an Omega 3 pill every day and have also started giving her some salmon oil and coconut oil. Any other suggestions?? I hate to see her uncomfortable! I give her Benadryl when she seems super itchy and that seems to help a bit but it's temporary. THANKS!
Scully had pollen allergies and all we could really do was wipe her down when she came in from outside (to get off as much pollen as possible) and give her allergy meds (Chlor-Trimeton at first, later Claritin when it became available OTC) during the worst of it. Sometimes you have to play around with the meds at first as different dogs respond uniquely to each anti-histamine. For example the one that the vet gave us did nothing for her, but works great for my friend’s Labradoodle who has pollen allergies.
Annette
Cookie (HIT HC Jamrah's Legally Blonde, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015
Sassy (HIT Jamrah's Blonde Ambition, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015
Chloe (HIT HC OTCH Windsong's Femme Fatale, UDX4, OM6, RE) 6/7/2009
And remembering:
Scully (HC Coventry's Truth Is Out There, UD, TD, RN) 4/14/1996 - 6/30/2011
Mulder (Coventry's I Want To Believe, UD, RN, WC) 5/26/1999 - 4/22/2015
And our foster Jolie (Windsong's Genuine Risk, CDX) 5/26/1999 - 3/16/2014
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