Help for itchy dog?

[keg64]

I have a 10 month old golden retriever mix that has always seemed to be a bit itchy. I've never seen fleas but I can only see his skin on his underside. He has recently chewed a spot on his side removing a patch of fur. His skin looks like it has a rash. Is there anything that I can put on him to help relieve the itchiness? Anything to help prevent? Would you suggest a fish oil pill? If so, what brand? Or can he take the same Costco ones that I do? Thanks - Kim

[dixie]

some of the vets/vet students on this board will know a lot more than me, but I do have a very itchy jack russell! she actually has a flea allergy so we mostly control it by keeping her on frontline so the fleas stay away...but once a year or so she'll have an episode and we put her on a short round of oral steroids (vet prescribed) - and they work miracles! Its immediate relief, and gets us over the hump while we can get the allergy under control. So, all that to say, a trip to the vet might be in order! I'm sure others will have suggestions too!

[Mary Ann]

I would also recommend a visit to the vet, but I've had good results with oral Benadryl (the kind for humans) with the consent of my vet. The dosage I use is 1mg/pound, twice a day. My dog weighs 50 pounds, so I give her 2 Benadryl in the morning, and 2 at night.

My dog used to have a real problem with itching and hot spots, but I've been giving her Brewer's Yeast tablets (from Drs. Foster & Smith) since last November, and we went the whole summer without a hot spot. We're both delighted!! I also haven't had to give her the Benadryl at all.

Good luck!

[imloulou]

I have an itchy Golden too. He has severe skin allergies and was constantly itching. He was on Prednasone (sp?) and Antihistamine tablets (human kind) daily. I switched his food to some of the "good stuff" that guaranteed to help his skin and coat. That made a HUGE difference!!!!

We still occasionally give him the meds only when he has a flareup. In fact, just this morning the itching started again so I'll give him the antihistimine...if this does not do it I'll give him the prednasone tonight. The food change was what helped us the most.

I would definately see the vet! Good luck!

[imloulou]

I would also recommend a visit to the vet, but I've had good results with oral Benadryl (the kind for humans) with the consent of my vet. The dosage I use is 1mg/pound, twice a day. My dog weighs 50 pounds, so I give her 2 Benadryl in the morning, and 2 at night.

My dog used to have a real problem with itching and hot spots, but I've been giving her Brewer's Yeast tablets (from Drs. Foster & Smith) since last November, and we went the whole summer without a hot spot. We're both delighted!! I also haven't had to give her the Benadryl at all.

Good luck!

Mary Ann, thanks for that info. I order from Drs. Foster&Smith and Petedge. I will check for Brewers yeast and give it a shot to see if it helps our Golden during the flareups. I would rather use something natural that works.

[stefania4]

Our household is on its third Golden. Goldens are highly allergy-prone; dogs don't sneeze when they're allergic, they itch. You may want to try easing him onto a hypo-allergenic food and see if that helps.

[clairea]

Another vote for a visit to the vet. We have had to give one of our dogs short courses of oral steroids from time to time to help control itching, and also have a medicated shampoo that seems to help. We have never gone this route, but I think that there are vets who specialize in pet allergies (there is one around here), so if you still have difficulty getting it under control with your regular vet you might look into that.

[Robyncz]

Oh yes. We have an itchy dog, and we HAVE gone the dog allergist route (I'm almost embarrassed to admit).

Our dog was skin tested for 50 potential allergens and ended up reacting to all but two of them. She's allergic to PEOPLE (!), grass, every kind of pollen they tested, fleas, wool, pretty much everything except for horses and tobacco smoke. And that's probably only because she's never been exposed to them.

The allergist mixed up some special potion for her and we give her a shot about once a month (they were more frequent at first). It has really helped her. We ended up having to go this route because our vet really didn't want to give her any more steroids to control it.

[imloulou]

Our dog was skin tested for 50 potential allergens and ended up reacting to all but two of them. She's allergic to PEOPLE (!), grass, every kind of pollen they tested, fleas, wool, pretty much everything except for horses and tobacco smoke. And that's probably only because she's never been exposed to them.

The allergist mixed up some special potion for her and we give her a shot about once a month (they were more frequent at first). It has really helped her. We ended up having to go this route because our vet really didn't want to give her any more steroids to control it.

We did the exact same thing :o . Our dog is allergic to human dander too!!! :eek: and everything else. We did the shots also but unfortunately it did not help our dog significantly. My husband gave the shots...I could not bear it. I wish it worked...it was the easiest after all the initial tests and first rounds of shots.

[Cookin4Love]

Our lab itched for five years. We always thought it was inhaled allergens. Before we did full-blown allergy testing, the vet told us to switch to non-allergenic food. We put him on a duck and potato formula, and he has had zero itching in the three years since. It's expensive, but less so than allergy treatments. It's just one more possible piece of the puzzle.

[mcgeiger]

This ranks a trip to the vet--can you imagine how itchy you'd have to be to pull out your hair?! :eek:

Diagnosing what's causing the problem (allergies, food allergies, various mites, lice, fleas, fungus, etc) determines the best way to treat, otw you are just alleviating symptoms temporarily.

Possible diagnostics: skin scraping (they'll be blood, but it feels like a deep scratching), possibly impression slides (smoosh a slide to the skin), use of a special UV light, fungal cultures taken, food trials, or a few other things.

The vet may or may not give you benedryl, steroids, etc. depending on what is causing the itching (steroids can make some things worse). Let us know what you find out, and I'll be happy to answer any specific questions you have.

[hlao23]

Our lab itched for five years. We always thought it was inhaled allergens. Before we did full-blown allergy testing, the vet told us to switch to non-allergenic food. We put him on a duck and potato formula, and he has had zero itching in the three years since. It's expensive, but less so than allergy treatments. It's just one more possible piece of the puzzle.

Exactly what I was going to say. We switched our dog to Lamb and Rice and that helped enormously. My mom had to switch her dog to a mix of venison and something.

[mcgeiger]

We ended up having to go this route because our vet really didn't want to give her any more steroids to control it.

That's because too many steroids can CAUSE disease!

[keg64]

Thank-you for all the replies. I'm sorry to hear we are not the only ones with an itchy pup. We'll get to the vet's and see what he says.

[SandyM]

Abbie was skin tested a few years ago and all of her allergies are airborne. She's on a low-dose steroid and has been ever since. We can't get refills for her until we take her to her allergist to have her liver enzymes tested every 3 months. She eats Nature's Recipe Lamb & Rice formula (as does Bailey), and these things (along with Benadryl when it gets really bad) have made everyone in the house happy. Her itching and chewing was relentless, removing nearly every stitch of hair from her paws, and she would cry it got so bad. It was heartbreaking, and while we weren't fond of going the steroid route, it's the only thing that we found that kept it under control.

A few of my BB friends met her this past weekend and could see she's just a happy, happy girl. :)

[Goldie]

My girl dog's itching seems to have been relieved by only occasional use of Benedryl.

I really try hard not to give this girl a lot of drugs, esp. steroids, so every year it's been a battle with seasonal itching. She's on a top quality diet (though I haven't tried Duck and Potato yet, maybe I will), but she also has a nasty habit of eating bees.

The bees, naturally, sting her, which never used to bother her at all. This year though she began getting hives from the beestings, so the vet warned me that it could be dangerous if her throat were to swell. So, I gave some Benedryl a few times over the course of a few weeks when we saw bumps or saw her eating bees.

The great side effect has been that her itching is almost completely gone! And I don't seem to have to keep dosing her, which is the really nice part. Just thought I'd throw this in the mix - you may not need as much Benedryl as you think you do to give the dog relief.

[patissac]

some of the vets/vet students on this board will know a lot more than me, but I do have a very itchy jack russell! she actually has a flea allergy so we mostly control it by keeping her on frontline so the fleas stay away...but once a year or so she'll have an episode and we put her on a short round of oral steroids (vet prescribed) - and they work miracles! Its immediate relief, and gets us over the hump while we can get the allergy under control. So, all that to say, a trip to the vet might be in order! I'm sure others will have suggestions too!

I too have a Jack Russell and my poor baby was constantly itching. We had to take her to the vet for Depo Medrol (Sp?) shots almost every other month. That helped enormously! I have heard what your dog eats helps the skin get better so I will be better about buying her good quality food.
I have also tried giving her liquid Benadryl which did not really work. Good luck and let us know what happens!