Dog has been scratching...

[BarredCometLaced]

My border collie/ chow has been scratching herself alot lately... no fleas (on preventative and we checked her). She is brushed daily. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make her more comfortable. We are going to give her an oatmeal bath after the holidays, but any other suggestions? All and any would help!

Please and thank you,

Sacha

 

[Ashburnham]

Sounds like an allergic reaction to something - perhaps some plant in the garden?

 

[BarredCometLaced]

Hmmm, no garden currently (all snow up here). Can dogs be allergic to rosemary?

 

[my sunwolf]

Strange as this seems, it could be corn in the diet. A lot of pet foods have corn, and my dog is allergic to it, he starts scratching himself and biting his paws (more than usual). Adding essential fatty acids (I recommend high quality fish oils) and vitamin E to a dog's diet can help with dry skin if it's not an allergy issue.

 

[Wetherwell]

There are *soooooo* many things that could be the cause.

I'll list a few :

low or no humidity in the air ( aka dry skin )..... I give my labradors Vitamin E caps during the winter to help with the dry skin and boy does it get bad even though we keep a huge stock pot of water on the wood stove...also make sure she is drinking plenty of water too, to stay hydrated.

New collar ???

Scents used in home ? Candles ? Potpourri ?

New carpet ? Using one of the powdered carpet freshners ? New laundry soap ?

Change of food ? Or has the company changed formulas slightly ?

New furniture or dog bed ?

New animals introduced to the family that could have brought some mites or other no-see-um critters ?

The flea/tick preventative.... has the company changed formulas ? Is she itching /s cratching at this spot ? I've heard horror stories of "burn" or reaction at the applied spot....

Rosemary is a known seisure trigger in canines ~ Haveing a lot of friends with dogs that have seisures, it is highly recommended to not feed anything that contains rosemary.

HTH to give some food for thought.

 

[miss heny]

your dog could be allergic to beef,corn, wheat (one of ours is -_-) if i were you i would bring the dog to a vet to check, if she is allergic to any of that, be ready for spendy food, and treats!

 

[Doubleyolker]

it can take 30 days or more to see a diet change help. Dont forget to check your dog treats for corn. Costco has a chicken /rice thats pretty reasonable. Fish oil caps might help.

 

[Wetherwell]

To genuinely know if one's dog is allergic to *anything* is to take it to a veterinary specialty school and have it tested for allergies.... no general practitioner vet can say if the dog is allergic to anything; otherwise it is speculation or at best, a guess. They are not a dermatologist , nor the testing lab ( or results ).......

If one would ask a vet dermatologiest what the percentage of dogs tested are allergic to anything, it'd be very low .....

If someone cannot afford the hundreds of dollars for the allergy testing, then process of elimination will take a very long time... detoxing from one food to another can take up to **six** months. And even then , it may be a simple matter such as dry skin from a no to low humidity season or something as odd as a new collar to a new pet bed.

fwiw....

Merry Christmas to all ~