But what am I, then?

[livininbrazil]

Sorry if this is totally off topic, but after reading the posts about your dog, I thought that maybe I could help her. You may have already tried these things, but as the former owner of a dog with what I like to refer to as the 'Keep Me Awake All Night Itchy Dog Syndrome', I can relate !!!

It´s YOUR topic, and I´ve hijacked it!

 

[mightymax]

Oh yeah...that's right !!!

I forgot !!!...

My 'oldstimers' must be kickin' in !!!

Give me a few minutes to re-locate that darn piece of paper the Vet. gave me

and I'll get back with you.

Thanks!

 

[mightymax]

Sorry about the lapse in posting !!! I didn't realize when I said that I'd get back to you, an old friend would be calling and keep me away from the computer for so long. It was nice to reconnect with them, though. Anyway, my Vet. recommended:
...an oatmeal shampoo made specifically for dogs. Get the dog wet first, then run a small trickle down his spine, then add a little more water, massage into a lather, then rinse thoroughly...then rinse again. Seemed obvious enough to me too, but he said that, besides using the wrong shampoo, residual soap residue is the leading cause of red, itchy skin in dogs (medical issues not withstanding). This may account for him seeming worse after the second bath.
...feeding a high quality dog food with an alternate source of protein, such as fish, duck, venison, bison, rabbit, etc. (lots of dogs are allergic to corn, which, as you know, is fed to chickens which is a popular ingredient in dog foods).
...avoid dog foods that list corn, corn meal, corn by-products (basically anything Corn), as one of the first 3 ingredients on the label. Instead, look for things like sweet potatoes, peas, lentils, etc.
...don't over-bathe or under-bathe. (once a month is SOP).
...if need be, treat for fleas (did I seriously just tell you that? I guess I should be reading when I transcribe!)
...give EFA's (essential fatty acids.) I switch between Omega-3's and salmon oil in capsule form, whichever's cheaper at the time.)
...give digestive enzymes (present in raw food diets (gag!), but destroyed in commercial ones from heat and processing).
...if you live in a very dry climate (or use a lot of forced air heating), buy a humidifier (for my dog !!! Really ??? People DO that?)
...if inundated with fleas, give nutritional sulfur with their food. (again with the flea thing...)
And as long as we're revisiting the whole flea thing, I use a moisturizing spray on my dog. I saw it in some dog magazine, Dog World, Dog Fancy, Doggie Doo, Dog something...I can't recall. I make it myself using 1 oz. of Alpha Keri Bath & Shower Oil (or generic equivalent) and mix it with 1 qt. of water and pour into a spray bottle. After her bath I give her a light misting, concentrating on any really bad area, and let her dry naturally. You don't rinse this off. I'm not saying it's the be all, end all in dry skin relief. But it seems to helping with the flaking, plus, it makes her smell good too...an added bonus !!!
I hesitate to even list the last one. Only because I really think that if the itch has gone so far as to need it, YOU SHOULD CONSULT WITH YOUR VET FIRST!!!
...use an antihistamine. ONLY give Diphenhydramine (trade name, Benedryl), DO NOT give your animal a decongestant or cold & flu medication, as it CAN BE TOXIC and may result in death !!!

Again, I would only use these things on the advise of a Vet., and since I lack that particular license, please, DO NOT interpret the above as a recommendation for your animal in place of an authority on animals (which I am NOT). I'm not a Vet., nor am I trying to portray myself as such. I'm just passing on general information that I've either absorbed or experienced over the years! That all.
Thank for reading such a lengthy post. I hope this will help you or someone you know that's kept awake at night by a scratching dog with an angry itch !!!

 

[livininbrazil]

Sorry about the lapse in posting !!! I didn't realize when I said that I'd get back to you, an old friend would be calling and keep me away from the computer for so long. It was nice to reconnect with them, though. Anyway, my Vet. recommended:
...an oatmeal shampoo made specifically for dogs. Get the dog wet first, then run a small trickle down his spine, then add a little more water, massage into a lather, then rinse thoroughly...then rinse again. Seemed obvious enough to me too, but he said that, besides using the wrong shampoo, residual soap residue is the leading cause of red, itchy skin in dogs (medical issues not withstanding). This may account for him seeming worse after the second bath.
...feeding a high quality dog food with an alternate source of protein, such as fish, duck, venison, bison, rabbit, etc. (lots of dogs are allergic to corn, which, as you know, is fed to chickens which is a popular ingredient in dog foods).
...avoid dog foods that list corn, corn meal, corn by-products (basically anything Corn), as one of the first 3 ingredients on the label. Instead, look for things like sweet potatoes, peas, lentils, etc.
...don't over-bathe or under-bathe. (once a month is SOP).
...if need be, treat for fleas (did I seriously just tell you that? I guess I should be reading when I transcribe!)
...give EFA's (essential fatty acids.) I switch between Omega-3's and salmon oil in capsule form, whichever's cheaper at the time.)
...give digestive enzymes (present in raw food diets (gag!), but destroyed in commercial ones from heat and processing).
...if you live in a very dry climate (or use a lot of forced air heating), buy a humidifier (for my dog !!! Really ??? People DO that?)
...if inundated with fleas, give nutritional sulfur with their food. (again with the flea thing...)
And as long as we're revisiting the whole flea thing, I use a moisturizing spray on my dog. I saw it in some dog magazine, Dog World, Dog Fancy, Doggie Doo, Dog something...I can't recall. I make it myself using 1 oz. of Alpha Keri Bath & Shower Oil (or generic equivalent) and mix it with 1 qt. of water and pour into a spray bottle. After her bath I give her a light misting, concentrating on any really bad area, and let her dry naturally. You don't rinse this off. I'm not saying it's the be all, end all in dry skin relief. But it seems to helping with the flaking, plus, it makes her smell good too...an added bonus !!!
I hesitate to even list the last one. Only because I really think that if the itch has gone so far as to need it, YOU SHOULD CONSULT WITH YOUR VET FIRST!!!
...use an antihistamine. ONLY give Diphenhydramine (trade name, Benedryl), DO NOT give your animal a decongestant or cold & flu medication, as it CAN BE TOXIC and may result in death !!!

Again, I would only use these things on the advise of a Vet., and since I lack that particular license, please, DO NOT interpret the above as a recommendation for your animal in place of an authority on animals (which I am NOT). I'm not a Vet., nor am I trying to portray myself as such. I'm just passing on general information that I've either absorbed or experienced over the years! That all.
Thank for reading such a lengthy post. I hope this will help you or someone you know that's kept awake at night by a scratching dog with an angry itch !!!

Thanks, that´s a very interesting post.
The food stuff I already know, as I did quite an in-depth study of it back in england, and took a long time to find a reasonable quality dried food here, but their feed is lamb or chicken and rice. also, her poops are fine, etc... I did put her on a raw meat diet for a week, but nothing much changed, and as her poops were fine anyway, I don´t think it´s food allergy as such.
I de-flead her already, but of course she would already have had the beginnings of the problem.
The second bath I gave her was only of water, just to give her relief from the scratching, but I think it got worse because it left her damp.

I took her to see the vet today to try to eliminate the possibility of mange, and after a lot of chat and talking about the various possibilities, the vet think s it´s a yeast problem. I´d already thought about this, and it makes sense, as she was in a very low-immune state when I got her, living on rice and hiding in the undergrowth, etc. However, she doesn´t smell bad like a yeast problem would be. so, I´ll give her the expensive product that I bought to apparently kill the yeast, I´ll not put her on the antibiotics that the vet recommended just yet, as antibiotics can cause more problems, so I´ll see how her sores go and will treat her also by not feeding carbs, and putting topical treatment on her skin.
I´m already using coconut oil, and I also have tea-tree, (be a good shampoo for her, but I may have to make it up myself) and apparently ACV is good, 3 parts water, 1 part ACV. Also, yogurt for getting things right inside her.
I´ll give oatmeal a miss, as that´ll be a yeast inducer. I like the spray idea that you got from the doggie Doo (Doo-doo?) mag, very good. And good to know that dogs can have Benedryl. Thanks again, will let you know if any of this works...

could take some time, though..

 

[tillyita]

You can also give her coconut oil in her food, it naturally helps with yeast overgrowth (internally and externally). I also wouldn't completely rule out mange. It can occur anywhere on the dogs body (but does typically have patterns) and flares up in times of stress. If you can boost her overall health her body should sort it out on its own.

 

[Miss Lydia]

You can also give her coconut oil in her food, it naturally helps with yeast overgrowth (internally and externally). I also wouldn't completely rule out mange. It can occur anywhere on the dogs body (but does typically have patterns) and flares up in times of stress. If you can boost her overall health her body should sort it out on its own.

My dogs love coconut oil.

 

[tillyita]

Quote:
Mine too. The puppies "steal" the copra (dried meat of the coconut) from the horse feed bins.

 

[livininbrazil]

You can also give her coconut oil in her food, it naturally helps with yeast overgrowth (internally and externally). I also wouldn't completely rule out mange. It can occur anywhere on the dogs body (but does typically have patterns) and flares up in times of stress. If you can boost her overall health her body should sort it out on its own.

I´ve been giving her coconut oil for a few days now...putting it on her sores/rashes and giving to her, too. she loves it. Then she licks it off anywhere she can reach! I also tried ACV, which seems to be doing ok, as the sore patches on her neck and shoulders are already drying up, and the itching is less. On her belly I don´t see much change yet. Still looks very red and with welts. So I think I´ll continue to give her the medicine from the vet to kill any fungus/yeast, also put the ACV on her skin, and coconut oil as a fun treat for her.
Mange hasn´t been totally ruled out, but it just doesn´t quite fit. I´ve had her for at least a month now, and she´s been with the other dogs, they share kennels, etc, and the others seem ok. also, where I picked her up from, I´ve not seen any dogs with any sign of mange. I know that because of her weakened state she could develop it, so I´m keeping an open mind on that one. I´m not overly convinced it´s yeast either just yet, as I´ve not noticed any bad smell to her which apparently should happen.
I have noticed that most of the skin prob with her is all on one side, where I imagine she stayed laid on one side after being run over. So, that could mean a skin infection because of being on the dirty ground so long, or it could be yeast because of lying in a damp area, but having said that, it hardly rained during that time. I don´t know if mange would develop just on one side?
I was thinking about putting her on an all-meat diet, no carbs, for a while to help against any allergy or yeast probs. But that does work out expensive. The vet didn´t recommend raw-food diet, as they only like people to use the dried food here.
Thanks for your input, it all helps.