Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Dog Won't Stop Itching?

I've been to four different vets with my dog. He's a shelter rescue Beagador puppy who's about 8 months old. About 4 months ago, he started itching himself raw. He would get infected, and I would have to take him to the vet to get antibiotics.



All FOUR of the vets I have taken him to have tested him for mites, fleas, ticks, etc. He's had so many skin scrapings, and none of them have turned up to be sarcoptic mange (scabies), but EVERY vet I go to is ABSOLUTELY sure it's sarcoptic mange and they demand we treat for sarcoptic mange.



I agreed at one point because he had that kicking reflex that's indicative of mange, but he doesn't do that anymore. He's losing hair around his eyes, under his belly, and he chews on his paws and legs constantly now. I keep the E-collar on him 24 hours a day now because if I take it off, he'll just bite and scratch himself until he bleeds.



I will also mention that one vet gave him a steroid shot in case it was allergies, and this had no effect. Help Him!



Dog Won't Stop Itching?

Start with the diet for the poor dear... what are you feeding him?



read the ingredients. A lot of dogs are allergic to grains, soy, dyes and preservatives.



Check his treats and everything. Especially if he really goes for above the base fo the tail, behind his ears and chewing on paws.



Canidae is a good choice, though there are some other fine foods out there that have no grain, soy, dye, corn, etc. You have to buy smaller amounts and not let the bags sit. You also may want to not store food outside of its bag, as without the preservatives, some plastics cause a bad reaction with food breaking down the vitamins and making it hard to absorb. You also want to feed in a stainless steel bowl, and with higher nutrition and better absorption rates, you will find you will not have to feed so much.



Hope this helps.



Dog Won't Stop Itching?

try this:



http://www.dinovite.com/



Dog Won't Stop Itching?

Wow, that's so sad, I really wish I could help you. The only advice I can think of is to take him to a Vet that specializes in skin conditions or even an animal psychiatrist, I know it sound lame, but sometimes the problems are in their head and they just need some help to calm down. Anxiety makes animals (and people) do crazy things.



Dog Won't Stop Itching?

Consider food allergies as the source of his misery. This type of itching and symptomology is indicative of a food allergy. Especially since nothing else has worked. My Shepard has had this issue for months and since changing her food earlier this week, she is already doing better even though it can take 8 to 12 weeks to see an improvement. Try to switch to a more natural diet with few preservatives. Most books recommend a single source protein diet rather than one with several sources.



I chose to feed her Natural Balance Fish and Sweet Potatoes and she loves it....and she is a picky eater.



Good luck!



Dog Won't Stop Itching?

try feeding your dog a brand of food that has NO corn. My dogs get visible rashes when fed any thing with corn in it. It will probably take at least a week to start noticing a difference. If you live near a Costco, they have a Kirkland brand of chicken and rice or lamb and rice for under $20 for 40 lbs.



Dog Won't Stop Itching?

It might be that the dog has hot spots. Hot spots just accur and they sell oil for it at any pet store. but if it isn't i would definetly rely on the vets.



Dog Won't Stop Itching?

It won't hurt him to be treated for the mange mites and it may help him. ( It's really hard to find a microscopic bug on a dog. And a kicking reflex has nothing to do with mange or not.) If you are not open to this option, even though 4 vets think you should, the you should do allergy testing to give your dog some relief.



Dog Won't Stop Itching?

skin problems and allergies dogs can be very frustrating. my dog was treated for 3 years for staph skin ifections. finaly a skin culture was taken and it turned out he had MRSA. please have a vet do a skin culture on your dog to check for MRSA.



Dog Won't Stop Itching?

feeding trials/elimination trials can take 1-2 months before any improvement will be noticed. but first make sure you have the easy stuff covered. ie) sarcoptic mange, fleas, and other ectopic parasites. then procede to other methods. talk to your veterinarian/s about a feeding trial with either a novel protein source, or even better a hydrolized protein source in which the protein is broken down into sizes/lengths too small for the immune system to react to them.

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