How can I help my dog?

[Pamela H in Texas]

Okay, so I mentioned Josie's skin and eye issues when I got her. They are a little better but not as much as I thought they would be with the food change.

 

Anyway, but we were hoping in time and maybe it just hadn't been enough time.

 

Well, now we've moved out here to the other end of the state with a lot different environment and I don't know if she's allergic or what, but she's scratching and chewing constantly. I've looking and looked on her (she's white and "red" so not hard to look) and cannot find anything but some dandruff which she's had since I got her. So there aren't any fleas or anything. But she just keep scratching and chewing more each day so it has to be something about being here.

 

Is there anything I can give her or a rinse or something. I prefer natural first, but...I promised her that if it continues I'll take her to the vet next Friday when hubby gets first paycheck. But I'd like to try something to help her if I can.

 

Any ideas?

[hornblower]

I would treat for fleas as flea allergy is awfully common & you can't always find the little monsters. So to me it seems a reasonable first step to treat with a topical - I'd get at least the first dose from the vet's office b/e they'll know what is most effective for your area. Some fleas are getting resistence to the common products but it's very geographically dependent.... After that you can save $ by ordering from a place like 1800petmeds.com

 

You can try giving her an oatmeal bath.

 

http://www.smalldogsparadise.com/health-care/use-oatmeal-to-treat-your-dogs-dry-itchy-skin/

 

You can try benadryl orally. 1-2mg/lb every 8h

 

Dogs can have environmental allergies....so food may not solve things

 

Are you grain free? If still seeing problems on a grain free diet, you'll need to try switching the protein.

 

Are you giving a salmon oil capsule? That often helps very much with skin & coat dryness.

 

You say she is white? Does she have hair between her toes? Any signs of it being purplish? Tear stains on her face? In both cases, IME with the fosters those clear up if you drop ALL grains from the diet.....

 

Somewhere I have pix of Darwin's feet which used to be all purple & lavender in between his toes & now they're all white.....

[hornblower]

Oh - but if things don't improve, then yes, do take her in. Allergies can be so hard to treat & often they can give more powerful meds to calm & heal the skin while you work on eliminating allergens.

 

It could also be ringworm or mange - which is not always easy to see & sometimes takes a while for the dr to diagnose. My cat had some weird hair loss which the vets could not really dx (wasn't any of the simple things & scrapes didn't show anything) and we just ended up treating with a broad spectrum anti-fungal & anti-biotic lotion. It cleared up but we're still not sure what it was....

[LauraGB]

I second the allergies issue - it's incredibly hard to diagnose.

 

Are there any similarities in your new house since your move? I ask because our Golden had serious levels of formaldehyde in her system that was causing her to itch and yeast issues - it came from our laminate floors (soaked in through her pads and caused her a lifetime of issues).

[datgh]

Our Golden had scratching and chewing that escalated to the point that her elbows where bleeding as where the edges of her ears. Turned out that is where mange tends to manifest itself.

 

We had a black lab/Newfie mix that would scratch and chew and he had an allergy to his food. The vet had us switch him over to Purina Lamb and Rice because most dogs will not be allergic to it. Things cleared up pretty well once we did.

 

I don't know if my history will help but I thought I would throw it out there. I hope you find the solution soon. It is so hard to watch them scratch like that and after a while it can just drive you nuts too. I would find a good vet if you can afford it that can do some testing.

[ma23peas]

Where does she sleep? Do you use any specific floor/carpet cleaners? Try getting her a new bed that she can lay in...I would stop all cleaning of the floors with clorox/lysol/etc....and use only very mild stuff....even detergents if she sits on your lap a lot can hurt...avoid using Bounce/Downy and only an allergen type detergent, see if that helps at all....

 

Do an oatmeal bath but only once a month..bathing more frequently than that can cause severe issues...some dogs get bit by one flea and it sets off an autoimmune response that takes months to clear up...

 

Hopefully, that's not the case...and she heals soon! So sad to see our animals in pain! :)

Tara

[Pamela H in Texas]

Info:

 

We're in a hotel so have no control over anything used in here though we do our own cleaning with safer cleaners. *Been here less than a week

Detergent is also allergen free (I have chemical sensitivities).

She sleeps in bed with whoever she wishes.

We've bathed her twice since we had her (beginning of July).

She eats Herring and Sweet Potato as we were trying not to do Chicken or grains.

Her toes are a little red, not bad. Her eyes are still a bit weepy and discolored underneath :(

[3littlekeets]

One of our old doggies had horrid allergies and was on predisone. It worked wonders and was dirt cheap from the vet. He peed a lot, though :-).

[kalanamak]

I never saw a flea on my dog, but if she scratched, I combed the cats and would find one or two. I spent my money on cat treatment, and the dog would be fine.

[Paz]

You may want to look into some salmon oil for the skin. I will link the product that we use. My dog was chewing her skin until it was all red and dry. This made a difference in about 2 weeks.

 

http://search.betterhealthinternational.com/search?keywords=grizzly+salmon

[MaMa2005]

Our little darling chihuahua suddenly came down with horrible itching and scratching after all the floods we had last September. The vet said that a lot of allergens had been kicked up with the high flood waters.

 

She is now on Comfortis once a month (just in case a flea should meander her way). She has also been on prednisone and antibiotics. We haven't had an outbreak in about 6 months, but the minutes we notice her really scratching, we do prednisone for a week and it clears things up.

 

As someone else said, it is dirt cheap and an easy way for the dog to be comfortable.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Thanks y'all. I saw some information about testing online, but I'm really hoping that taking her to the vet, they'll see immediately what is wrong and direct us to affordable options right away. I can get the salmon oil though.

 

I should have gotten her to the vet immediately when we got her anyway due to all sorts of circumstances (it was obvious she hadn't been well cared for), but hubby lost his job as soon as I got her so I didn't. I'm concerned about her nose also. It's "wrong." Let me see if I can find a pic online of what her's kinda looks lile:

 

 

I'm scared to death of vets because they didn't figure out what was wrong with my poor Ozzy and I'm afraid the treatment they did caused more problems and possibly his death. I am scared to death of losing Josie.

 

<on another note, it's 5:24 and there is a family out in the hall carrying on. don't people have ANY respect for others?>

[lisabelle]

Sometimes, when it gets out of control, you really have to use a steroid to break the itch cycle. But with my allergic beasts (one cat, one dog), I really try to use preventative measures early. Prednisone does increase the risk of your pet developing diabetes. When my pets need it to calm a flare, they need it. But I really try to keep it to a minimum.

 

Lots of times, when a pet has gotten to that point where they're just scratching and biting themselves all the time, they've given themselves a skin infection. So a visit to the vet for some antibiotics is definitely helpful.

 

There are antihistamines the vet can prescribe. But dogs can use benedryl and claritin, so talk to your vet about what the appropriate dose would be based on weight.

 

I heartily agree with the recommendations for salmon oil to help lubricate dry, itchy skin from the inside out. Dogs usually really enjoy the stuff.

[Brigitte]

The air in this part of the state is much drier than where you were. If she had irritated skin before, the dryness of the air is probably making it worse. Also, the allergen counts were pretty high last week before I left, and I imagine still are. PM me if you want my vet's name.

[OLG]

Thanks y'all. I saw some information about testing online, but I'm really hoping that taking her to the vet, they'll see immediately what is wrong and direct us to affordable options right away. I can get the salmon oil though.

 

I should have gotten her to the vet immediately when we got her anyway due to all sorts of circumstances (it was obvious she hadn't been well cared for), but hubby lost his job as soon as I got her so I didn't. I'm concerned about her nose also. It's "wrong." Let me see if I can find a pic online of what her's kinda looks lile:

 

 

I'm scared to death of vets because they didn't figure out what was wrong with my poor Ozzy and I'm afraid the treatment they did caused more problems and possibly his death. I am scared to death of losing Josie.

 

<on another note, it's 5:24 and there is a family out in the hall carrying on. don't people have ANY respect for others?>

 

Looks like what our pound pooch has - lupus. IS there any bleeding yet from the nose? From our experience, the vets say it can only be maintained but not cured and we have been through a variety of regimes over a few years to see if we could help ours. Bottom line - homeopathic did the trick. Evidently, this is more common than we think. WE followed a plan that had the pooch on two types of pills. I'll put a link below. After a year of this plan, the nose has almost completely returned to its natural black! Amazing!!! You do need to keep the dog out of the sun as much as possible too. It's frustrating when you can't get a diagnosis or a cure but we have been so pleased to get our ds's "Aussie" back to normal. He is still on a pill daily but the things are so cheap and come in huge quantities that it is not a burden at all! Good luck!

 

http://www.naturalcanine.com/lupus.html?gclid=CIHep5Sd7qMCFQwTbAodngsS2A

 

http://tinyurl.com/279xzzw

 

Mary

[StephanieZ]

Itchy/skin issue dog = allergies. You bet. Might be environmental (pollen, mold, etc), food, or fleas, or ??

 

Some dogs are truly flea allergic. . . which means that they will react crazy-itchy from a single bite. . . You don't see them until there are quite a few. . .

 

So, itchy dog not on good flea control = always try a dose of a great flea control medication first. (Comfortis, ProMeris, Frontline Plus, Advantage are all very good choices)

 

So far as shampoos:

 

An easy thing to try would be a vet-supplied anti-itch shampoo & creme rinse. (The creme rinse is really great b/c it provides a coating that will stay on the dog's skin after the bath.) There are a lot of different lines of shampoos, but a good vet will carry something good. Call your vet and ask! If the dog has been there recently (within a few months) and DXed with this skin issue, then the vet will likely be willing to prescribe the shampoo/etc w/o anther exam. If the vet has not recently looked at the skin, they'll need to examine first.

 

Try using the good shampoo as prescribed. . . but I'd aim for once a week.

 

Consider supplementing omega-3 fatty acids. There are a number of supplements. We recommend 3V HP caps, but there are other reputable brands as well. Ask you vet about the idea of supplementing omega-3s for skin health. It can be very helpful with many skin issues. (I'm assuming the dog is on a healthy, balanced, premium-label dog food such as Science Diet, Eukanuba, Purina Proplan, or comparable. . . if not, then I'd advise switching to a premium diet ASAP)

 

If those approaches don't work in 2-3 months (or if the dog is getting worse, raw skin, bleeding, etc), then you'll want to have the vet assess the issue, look for other problems (fungal, yeast, etc), allergy test, and/or try more potent medical approaches. . .

 

HTH

[Pamela H in Texas]

Thanks y'all.

 

It sounds like we have some things to get. I did pick up some benadryl and pet itch spray (hydrocortisone solution). She HATES them. However, she itched MUCH less yesterday (I gave her 3mL twice though I probably could have given her another dose).

 

Her nose does not bleed. She does lick at it a lot. I wondered if she could cause her nose to do that the way she licks it. Her skin is very dry; looks like dandruff. She's scratched herself raw in a few places so I'm trying to distract her when she scratches and use the stuff.

 

I would NEVER put a dog on any of those foods Stephanie. No offense. We use higher quality dog foods. I don't know if we should change foods again. Part of me says it's worth a try but part of me says that we already use a top brand and one that doesn't have all the issues (she's on CN herring and sweet potato). (NOTE: I just checked the ingredient list and notice some possible issues. Maybe we will change afterall. I need to figure out where to get high quality dog food out here anyway).

 

I didn't think of the humidity, Brigitte. I did notice it was lower here. BTW, it's strange for it to be so cool when we're used to September being one of the hottest months of the year!

 

We had Omega 3's for our dog with allergies (who died in Jan). And he took Comfortis though he had never had a flea with natural methods. We also did the shampoo though we didn't see any change from them or the allergy meds. I threw everything out when he died. I was afraid some of that stuff had something to do with his death.

 

Anyway, thanks so much y'all. Like I said, I'm a bit scared of vets and pet illness. Traumatized is more like it. I just want Josie to feel better though. Hubby gets paid Friday so we can go full on then.