Issues with my dog, itchiness?

[Smoky73]

well the bath went well and I think that it has helped some in the itchiness department. I guess we will see if it gets cleared up completely or not.

 

[Smoky73]

Well, I made another appointment for the moring for the dog. Maybe I am being paranoid but, I called yesterday to make a different appointment as a follow up, I told the lady on the phone I wanted a different doctor. sure, the one I say may be great, but, not for my dog. It was him who last year told me to increase my dogs food when she was loosing weight to me and had diarrhea. That was the treatment then, without addressing why she was losing weight suddenly after 8 years.

So this time, I will not leave without lab work done. I may be a fool sometimes, but, I told the receptionist that I did not feel my concerns were addressed as I wanted. I WANTED blood work LAST week. I got topical stuff for the one spot and Benadryl, which is fine, and I bathed her, and all helped to a degree, but she is still itching and liking the spot that was shaved, and I can see the wet fur from where she has been biting her sides still. I will admit it might be "better" but she HAS been on Benadryl for a week so I would expect SOME improvement. Like I said, I may be a fool sometimes, but I would rather be a fool and do bloodwork and have them tell me nothing is wrong than not do blood work and have her die of Kidney or Liver failure but they did not think its that.
As much as I hate her attitude sometimes, she is still my dog, and I want whats best for her no matter how hateful she can be.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Vitamin E and Fish Oil capsules can help with itching also

 

[animalgirl2010]

Two of our dogs (Saint Bernard and Border collie mix) had been having the same problem, I took them in and was given antibiotics,steroids and benadryl but it did not seem to do much good. I switched their food from beef to lamb and it helped a little more but still they would chew at there backs. I started adding two fish oil caspules and a brewers yeast pill a day to their food and I havent seen any more itching since.

 

[Smoky73]

well, this vet did a much more thorough job. Except for the fac tthat my dog was TERRIFIED of him, it went well. He did the blood work and all levels came back good except the white cell count was a bit low but he said dogs under stress can cause that. He found it odd that she has 3 deformed feet and was not born that way, I told him I thought it was related to her bad hips as thats when it started with one front foot and then the two others, all feet except the one that has the really bad hip.
But he gave me a wash to put on the hot spot for microbial and fungus infections, a course or antibiotics and a collar to keep her from picking at it till its healed. Also gave me some Tramadol, to add to the Rimadyl for pain control, he believes her itching is due to her trying to stop her pain in the hips and the right hip is the one with the hot spot and thats the really bad hip that had 30% left 2 years ago. He also said she could have Reumatoid Arthritis, but he really thinks that her issues are pain related. Because she is 9, and has such bad feet, he does not think at this point ever getting her hips fixed would be a worthwhile decision. If she was healthy otherwise yes. So we are basically at pain control for her. Oh and he had also done a skin scraping on her which was REALLY hard, to check for mites under the skin. Did not find any though. Its good to know that her functions are normal though. Oh and he also diagnosed her with a "reversed sneeze" told me that her trachea felt a little flat, and to look up the reverse sneeze on You Tube, which I did as soon as I got home and thats what she has 100%. No one has ever been able to tell me what that sound was as she only does it sometimes.
And he did recommend fish oil pills as well, so will probably start that up seeing we have a bottle that hubby does not take any more.

Sadly, no cure alls, but I got my questions answered and now I feel I am helping her out the best I can.

 

[sfw2]

I'm glad that this vet addressed your concerns, and took the time to talk to you about your dog. I hope the new regimen gives her some comfort.

 

[fancy]

Tramadol is great for pain, but did he tell you to make sure to give it with food as it can upset their tummy, just like a lot of pain meds do with people.

Good luck with your fur child!

Fancy

 

[Smoky73]

Quote:
Thanks for the tip, no he did not tell me that however, that could be that I mentioned I can only get the dog to take pills if I put it in her food so we are good there. He did say there was a slight chance of seizures, though he had only seen it 1 time.