Miserable, Itchy Dog

[Stacykins]

I think I am dealing with my first ever food allergy issue in a 12 year old dog. She has turned into an itchy mess, can't seem to get comfortable and is always scratching.

Two weeks ago, I took her to the vet for her vaccines and well doggy appointment. The vet did recommend that it would be a good idea to put her on a senior dog food formula, since she is getting older, despite being spry and healthy otherwise. So I slowly stared switching her from normal blue buffalo to a senior food (chicken and brown rice). I'd been feeding her the chicken and brown rice normal formula.

She has been on full senior food for a few days now. And ever since, she has been itching, and itching, and itching! She has never had skin issues before, so this is new. She has no fleas, she gets frontline every month, and I combed her with a nit comb to check, found nothing. Her skin doesn't even look flakey or dry. The areas where she is concentrating (inner legs, middle of her back, shoulders, paws) are starting to get irritated, however. It seems like she is itchy all over though.

She was last bathed three weeks ago, with a gentle oatmeal dog shampoo. She also got her frontline at the same time. There isn't any poison ivy on the property, and she isn't allowed to wander. She is an indoor dog.

Other than schedule a vet appointment, what else should I do? Obviously I am about to run into town and see if I can find a different food that has none of the same ingredients of the current food. Would salmon oil help her out too?

Also, I dosed her with benadryl last night and this morning. It seems to help a bit, but not as much as I hoped.

 

[just me]

My puppy was allergic to some treats I gave her once.....her "belly" had what looked like little red bumps on it. The bumps turned into blisters....how does her belly look?

 

[Eggsoteric]

My motto is, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Lord knows, I love my veterinarian, but he's no nutritionist. If she was having no issues with the food you had her on, I'd switch her back. Good luck, I know how miserable an itchy dog can be.

 

[DeannaOR]

It may be vaccine related. Look up Vaccinosis and check out www.stoptheshots.com
For food try a grain free food..fish based. I'm not sure where you are or what is available, but Firstmate fish and potato would be a good start. www.firstmate.com They have a retail locator on their site. Senior foods are BS in my opinion. Your aging dog doesn't need less protein, it needs quality, easier to break down and utilize protein. If she is less active...feed less. There are many awesome foods on the market now. dogaware.com is a good place to start..although everything they say is not golden.

Purevita
Nutrisource
Fromm
By Nature
Acana
are some other brands to look at.
Raw food is an awesome solution as well =)

Benedryl is something you can give her temporarily to help with the itching. 25mg per 25 lbs..tablet form. I give my 50lb dog 2-3 25mg tablets twice a day if she has a flare up. Fleas are bad this year and she is allergic. You will not find a flea on her...but you can see the bites. All it takes for her is a walk to the park =(

Lastly you might try seeking out a Holistic vet.

 

[DeannaOR]

Also..there is a product called HomeoPet Skin and Itch Relief....IT IS AWESOME.

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree with the poster that said put the dog back on it's previous food. Food allergies are becoming more common in dogs. I use common fish oil capsules on any dog I have had with skin allergies, and it helps. I doubt that the shot was the cause, but your vet could give the dog a corticosteroid shot (like cortisone) for some quick relief that should last a couple of weeks. The dog will need to urinate more often after such a shot though until it is out of it's system.

 

[DeannaOR]

Why would you doubt the shot caused it? Just curious.

 

[Stacykins]

My puppy was allergic to some treats I gave her once.....her "belly" had what looked like little red bumps on it. The bumps turned into blisters....how does her belly look?

Ally's belly actually looks normal. The skin isn't irritated, red, or flaky.

My motto is, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Lord knows, I love my veterinarian, but he's no nutritionist. If she was having no issues with the food you had her on, I'd switch her back. Good luck, I know how miserable an itchy dog can be.

I honestly wish I hadn't changed the food. I guess I figured the vet's reasoning was good at the time. It isn't like she was doing poorly at all on her old food. She is still active and healthy.

It may be vaccine related. Look up Vaccinosis and check out www.stoptheshots.com
For food try a grain free food..fish based. I'm not sure where you are or what is available, but Firstmate fish and potato would be a good start. www.firstmate.com They have a retail locator on their site. Senior foods are BS in my opinion. Your aging dog doesn't need less protein, it needs quality, easier to break down and utilize protein. If she is less active...feed less. There are many awesome foods on the market now. dogaware.com is a good place to start..although everything they say is not golden.

Purevita
Nutrisource
Fromm
By Nature
Acana
are some other brands to look at.
Raw food is an awesome solution as well =)

Benedryl is something you can give her temporarily to help with the itching. 25mg per 25 lbs..tablet form. I give my 50lb dog 2-3 25mg tablets twice a day if she has a flare up. Fleas are bad this year and she is allergic. You will not find a flea on her...but you can see the bites. All it takes for her is a walk to the park =(

Lastly you might try seeking out a Holistic vet.

Wouldn't a vaccination reaction rear it's ugly head a little sooner? Like within the first few days of receiving it? She gets the three year vaccination versions, which I know are essentially identical to the yearly ones.

I will see if I can find any of those brands. I am sure I can, the feed stores around here stock higher quality foods, not just Iams and Science Diet (blech).

The flea bites thing could be a possibility. She gets walked everyday along the road and through the trail we made on the property. It is open field, rather than woodsy. Ticks were an issue earlier in the season, and after each walk she and I would get a tick check, to find them before they had a chance to latch. But wouldn't they have caused her problems before? I mean, we've had her ten years, and she's never had any skin issues until now.

I agree with the poster that said put the dog back on it's previous food. Food allergies are becoming more common in dogs. I use common fish oil capsules on any dog I have had with skin allergies, and it helps. I doubt that the shot was the cause, but your vet could give the dog a corticosteroid shot (like cortisone) for some quick relief that should last a couple of weeks. The dog will need to urinate more often after such a shot though until it is out of it's system.

Yea, it seems like food allergies are on the rise with dogs, just like humans. Fish oil capsules, I think I will pick some up for her, I don't think it would hurt at all!

 

[Stacykins]

Uhg, I won't be able to get her to the vet until next Monday or Tuesday, if they have an opening (they will call). If not, Wednesday. I mean, if it was an emergency I could get her seen ASAP. But I feel awful for her in the meantime, it would be like us having the chickenpox and no relief. Even with benadryl in her system she can't get comfortable. She now has some red patches, all over. Tummy, legs, back, neck, ears, paws. I just greased her up with A&D ointment, since I know it won't hurt her if she licks it off (which she is currently doing).

 

[naturalfeddogs]

I think I am dealing with my first ever food allergy issue in a 12 year old dog. She has turned into an itchy mess, can't seem to get comfortable and is always scratching.

Two weeks ago, I took her to the vet for her vaccines and well doggy appointment. The vet did recommend that it would be a good idea to put her on a senior dog food formula, since she is getting older, despite being spry and healthy otherwise. So I slowly stared switching her from normal blue buffalo to a senior food (chicken and brown rice). I'd been feeding her the chicken and brown rice normal formula.

She has been on full senior food for a few days now. And ever since, she has been itching, and itching, and itching! She has never had skin issues before, so this is new. She has no fleas, she gets frontline every month, and I combed her with a nit comb to check, found nothing. Her skin doesn't even look flakey or dry. The areas where she is concentrating (inner legs, middle of her back, shoulders, paws) are starting to get irritated, however. It seems like she is itchy all over though.

She was last bathed three weeks ago, with a gentle oatmeal dog shampoo. She also got her frontline at the same time. There isn't any poison ivy on the property, and she isn't allowed to wander. She is an indoor dog.

Other than schedule a vet appointment, what else should I do? Obviously I am about to run into town and see if I can find a different food that has none of the same ingredients of the current food. Would salmon oil help her out too?

Also, I dosed her with benadryl last night and this morning. It seems to help a bit, but not as much as I hoped.

It could be environmental allergies. Ragweed is really bad right now and one of mine itches this time of year as well. I give her a Zyrtec everyday and it helps a lot.