dobie or other dog moms

renee143

my poor georgie.  he gets AWFUL skin irritations every summer.  i have to treat him for fleas every 3.5 weeks b/c if he gets one bite, he's bloody.  even without the fleas, he's chewing like a fiend.  his skin is not dry.  every summer, i end up taking him to the vet, where we get a topical spray, steroid, adn sometimes antibiotic if he's chewed it really badly.  i hate the idea of starting the steroids again...suggestions?

here's what i do:

shorter haircut

yeast and garlic w/ food

all natural food- no chicken (which i hear can make itching worse)

benadryl

i'm about to put the cone collar on at night

luvlieK

hmm not sure. ?I would be careful with the garlic though. ?Garlic, I believe, is one of the no-no foods for dogs.

Dobie_Mama

What kind of food is he on?  Natural food can help significantly, but you may need to move to a grain free and/or single protein food.  When we adopted Keagan he was freakishly itchy.  He would rub his face all over the couches to scratch, chew his legs constantly.  Even in between his toes was all red and nasty.  A food change fixed him right up.  Corn, wheat, & soy can all be common allergens, for dogs.

tinamichelle

Dobie_Mama:

What kind of food is he on?  Natural food can help significantly, but you may need to move to a grain free and/or single protein food.  When we adopted Keagan he was freakishly itchy.  He would rub his face all over the couches to scratch, chew his legs constantly.  Even in between his toes was all red and nasty.  A food change fixed him right up.  Corn, wheat, & soy can all be common allergens, for dogs.

Cella does this...what kind of food do you feed them? I think I might need to switch...she's on newman's own canned food but it's chicken and turkey she doesn;t like beef

babyluv617

A bit of olive oil in his food may help. Not too much or you'll have other problems. The topical spray might be cortisone and you can buy that at places like petsmart.

Alirebco

I was going to suggest benadryl - we have a bulldog so she gets bad allergies and her skin can get crazy too.  Have you looked into any homeopathic treatments?  I have heard that it does work for dogs.

 

https://www.naturalwoof.com/earth-animal-organic-herbal-remedy-itchy-skin.html

https://www.naturalwoof.com/hositre.html

Dobie_Mama

tinamichelle:

Dobie_Mama:

What kind of food is he on?  Natural food can help significantly, but you may need to move to a grain free and/or single protein food.  When we adopted Keagan he was freakishly itchy.  He would rub his face all over the couches to scratch, chew his legs constantly.  Even in between his toes was all red and nasty.  A food change fixed him right up.  Corn, wheat, & soy can all be common allergens, for dogs.

Cella does this...what kind of food do you feed them? I think I might need to switch...she's on newman's own canned food but it's chicken and turkey she doesn;t like beef

They're on Innova EVO.  The canned EVO is chicken/turkey based, so that might work for you guys!  I have a friend with an allergy ridden dog who feeds Orijen and is really happy with it, as well.
 

triumphantreturnofplanningbug

What kind of dog?  What sort of flea preventatives/killers are you using?  It could be that the short summer haircut is taking away pup's first line of defense, which can make him (her?) more prone to getting bitten in the first place.

Garlic is also a weird sort of a gray area--it's bad for them as it builds up over time, and is particularly hard on small dogs.  

 Have you tried food grade DE worked into the fur as a way of keeping off more pests?  We haven't done it because we have a wiggly short haired mutt who won't sit still for anything, but rumor has it that's a good non-chemical way to help.

Also keep in mind that "natural" means as much on a dog food label as it does on human food.  Check out dogfoodanalysis.com and look at things above four stars for grain free foods that are really likely to be low allergens.

 

Now can we please have a pet PIP fest?

tinamichelle

Dobie_Mama:

tinamichelle:

Dobie_Mama:

What kind of food is he on?  Natural food can help significantly, but you may need to move to a grain free and/or single protein food.  When we adopted Keagan he was freakishly itchy.  He would rub his face all over the couches to scratch, chew his legs constantly.  Even in between his toes was all red and nasty.  A food change fixed him right up.  Corn, wheat, & soy can all be common allergens, for dogs.

Cella does this...what kind of food do you feed them? I think I might need to switch...she's on newman's own canned food but it's chicken and turkey she doesn;t like beef

They're on Innova EVO.  The canned EVO is chicken/turkey based, so that might work for you guys!  I have a friend with an allergy ridden dog who feeds Orijen and is really happy with it, as well.
 

I just ordered some

Dobie_Mama

YAY!  I hope it's as great for you guys as it has been for us.

renee143

tinamichelle:

Dobie_Mama:

tinamichelle:

Dobie_Mama:

What kind of food is he on?  Natural food can help significantly, but you may need to move to a grain free and/or single protein food.  When we adopted Keagan he was freakishly itchy.  He would rub his face all over the couches to scratch, chew his legs constantly.  Even in between his toes was all red and nasty.  A food change fixed him right up.  Corn, wheat, & soy can all be common allergens, for dogs.

Cella does this...what kind of food do you feed them? I think I might need to switch...she's on newman's own canned food but it's chicken and turkey she doesn;t like beef

They're on Innova EVO.  The canned EVO is chicken/turkey based, so that might work for you guys!  I have a friend with an allergy ridden dog who feeds Orijen and is really happy with it, as well.
 

I just ordered some

that's what we use too.  maybe i'll stop the garlic/yeast additive...though i just started a couple days ago, so it's not the culprit.

Dobie_Mama

Some Omega's and GLA might help too.  They won't control the allergies but can help alleviate symptoms.

JoeysLady

Do you use any neem oil as a spray on flea/tick preventative? ?I use that on my Lucy and it seems to really help. ?Plus I like that its not all nasty chemicals. ?There are lots of different brands of spray if you google it. ?Also ditto pp about the dog food. ?Lots of dogs have allergies to corn, soy, or a particular protein. ?You may have to switch to a single grain/single protein source. ?If you do, make sure to look up "elimination diet" online. ?There is a specific way to rule out whether it is a food allergy and you need to do it this way in order to not taint your results. ?I alternate feeding my miniature poodle Innova and Wellness which are both high quality foods. ?Wellness does have several foods that are single protein + single grain (the proteins are duck and venison). ?GL and I hope you get you poor little furbaby feeling better soon! ?

MrsKittieFantastico

Unless s/he is itchy year-round, chances are it isn't a food allergy. Food is a constant, and the itching would be too. It could be allergies to grass, pollen, etc. You might try using baby wipes on him/her after coming in from outside - wipe the belly and feet to help remove allergens.

Garlic isn't the best for dogs, so I would be careful supplementing with that.

Do you have other pets? There are a few flea products that aren't horrible chemicals that you could try, but it all depends on how many pets/what kind of pets are living in the enviroment. PM me if you are interested in knowing more.

How much Benadryl are you using? You can give 1-2 mg/lb up to every 8 hours. The only side effect is it can make them sleepy. Or, you can try Clemastine ( avist Allergy) at 1 mg/30 lbs (they usually come in 1.34 mg or 2.68 mg tablets, so a 30# dog can take 1 - 1.34 mg tablet - there is 1 or 2 mg of Clemastine in each tablet, respectively) every 12 hours.

There is a new line of shampoo systems called Duoxo Calm - there is a shampoo you use 1-2 x a month, and a spray that you use 1-2 x per week. They have a new compound called phytospingosine that is naturally occuring in the skin, it helps to relieve itching and repair the skin. Your local vet may not carry it yet, PM me if you would like to buy it from the clinic I work at. I can set you up as a client and we can mail you the stuff, or if you have any other questions

HTH!

MKF