10 Week Old Westie With Constant Itch..

[maggie mae]

Hi all.. I have a 10 week old male westie, who constantly scratches. He doesnt have fleas, and he has very healthy looking skin...no allergy that is obvious..but the poor bugger just scratches..and sometimes cries a little from it.

Im very aware of westies being prone to allergies, but really cant find any sign of one. He goes to the vet tomorrow for a checkup.

Ive given him a bath, to help relieve it..but it only lasted a little while. I dont know if its a habit scratch or not... but wondered if anyone had any suggestions

I live in a country town so cant readily get medicated soap or anything just yet..(as i said tomorrow we go to town so will get what i can) but would love to give him a little relief now.

Oh ive also been ading fish oil to his food... it seemed to help a little.

Thank you in advance.

[maggie mae]

i wanted to add to... i feed him home cooked food. He had chicken mince with rice and some pedigree puppy added to it. He also has wheatbix and puppy milk...and sometimes (when time doesnt permit cooking) he has about a 1/4 pedigree puppy sachet with dry food added.

Im trying to get hold of supercoat puppy but its not readily available here..so on the look out for it tomorrow too!... ahh the joys of a country town can sometimes be very frustrating.

[frufru]

Is this the diet your breeder recommended? What has your breeder said about taking care of the skin? I would get rid of the wheat-bix as wheat is a common allergen for dogs. Shampoos for relieving itchy skin are available from the vet or on-line eg Aloveen, Resi-soothe, Epi-soothe. Good luck!

[Clyde]

As Fru-Fru said Aloveen is WONDERFUL for Westies. I would also try to feed him a more premium food. There are a few Westie people on here who will give you some fab suggestions. Have you looked in to BARF (do a search on it). Personally I'd cut out the pedigree and the puppy milk, but use a better quality kibble..... raw vegies... raw meat...chicken necks...omega tablets etc....

The Westies with the best skin that I've seen are the ones who only get bathed twice a year.... amazingly they don't get stinky in between provided you clean their face after eating and brush them well. Your breeder will know her dogs best though so also have a chat to her/him.

[poodlefan]

Unless the chicken mince you feed has bone in it, and unless your puppy gets supplementary chicken wings or necks, this diet is not balanced.

Lose the wheatbix (it has no real nutritional value for dogs) and start feeding a premium (not supermarket brand) puppy kibble that will contain all the essential nutrients for growth. As wheat is a very common allergen, I'd be inclined to look at a rice based food.

The addition of some essential fatty acids and zinc (which would probably be in a premium kibble) will help skin issues.

I'd suggest you discuss his diet with your vet.

Where is he scratching? Is it possible he's allergic to something in your garden?

Edited October 30, 2007 by poodlefan

[calliech]

Allergies in dogs are extremely unusual to begin as early as 10 weeks as their immune system is immature. 90% of Westie allergies are to grass. There are a few things that can cause skin irritations this early one being a mite called demodex. Have your vet do a skin scraping to check for demodex and start using Bayer advocate as your flea control as it also treats demodex. Another common skin problem in Westies is Malassezia dermatitis. This is often misdiagnosed as allergy. It's a yeast infection. You can start washing him twice a week in Malaseb shampoo which is antibacterial and anti fungal but I find it harsh and it causes redness to the skin in some dogs. Alternatively you can use Nizoral shampoo which is a human medicated shampoo and it is antifungal. If the problem is Mal dermatitis, you need to get it under control straight away as it will get worse over the summer months. Don't be told that it's allergies and not investigate any other cause. If Malassezia or demodex get a hold it can be very difficult to treat. Personally I think it's safer to cover all your bases at once rather places all your faith in one diagnosis and then having to start from scratch when that diagnosis fails.

[maggie mae]

hi again.. thanks for the tips..i have made notes so when i go to town tomorrow i will know what to ask the vet.

meanwhile, i will cut out the wheatbix and see how that goes... does anyone have any suggestions for other easy

out of the cupboard foods recipes that i can mix up and feed him until i get what i need . He likes egg, but i wouldnt give him one everyday

would i??

The food i was feeding him was as suggested by the breeder.. i cook it a little different tho. I dry fry the mince with a little garlic, then add cooked rice, some vegies some stock and boil it down.. then mix through a little cheese (not much) - he eats it quite readily.

i thought it was a relatively healthy mix..

if anyone has some recipes - id really appreciate it.

[Ptolomy]

My dogs allergies were diagnosed at 6 months of age but I could go back to ten weeks of age and yep started with scratching and also chronic ear infections.

To cut a long story short - food allergies were the cause. After a food trial we found she was allergic to beef, lamb, milk, corn, and wheat - so feeding her anything with these ingredience cause her to scratch bigtime.

Atopy is usually diagnosed after 12 months of age - so I would be looking at food to begin with.

Just for the record - for a food trial you need to put the dog on two foods that it has never had before - we used goat and sweet potato - and then once the scratching had subsided (after a couple of days) we could begin adding a new food every ten days. If the ear infections or scratching started up again - we knew the dog was allergic to this food - if after 10 days there was no sign of any problems we knew the dog was OK with this food. So we went through things like beef, lamb, pork, chicken, corn, pasta, potatos, eggs, yoghurt, vegetables and I now have a list of things she can and can't eat.

Good luck

[westielover]

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Edited November 2, 2007 by westielover

[maggie mae]

well we have been to the vet, and she said it was an allergy to something most likely food...so we gave him some revolution to ensure no fleas, he had his 2nd booster, and we have decided to use Royal Canin for mini juniors to start with...

My diet for him is as follows. Id appreciate anyone giving me some more ideas.

Morning...Rice porridge (boiled rice egg and milk (puppy) blended till smooth.

Mid morning - chicken neck or wing.

late Lunch...Small serve of Royal Canin for free feeding..... (he actually likes it)

Dinner, i blended up some rice and veges (peas,beans, carrots) with chicken stock and then mixed through cooked chicken breast and some grated cheese

Before Bed... small serve rice porridge... sees him settle and i get about 4-5 hrs sleep before he wakes to go potty.

Iv deleted all wheat from his diet as advised..

Im also adding Megaderm (by vet) to his meal...

He is eating well seems to like what i give him... which is good (nothing more frustrating than preparing meals for the dogs and they turn their nose up at it)

Would love more suggestions tho.

[poodlefan]

The rice porridge offers little nutritional value . I'd be replacing it with kibble.

Is the kibble you've been recommended wheat based?

I'd suggest giving him another chicken neck or wing rather than the cooked meal. He wont' get much nutritional value from the rice and veggies anyway.

Edited November 2, 2007 by poodlefan

[chuckie500]

I would check the ingredients on the packet fo dry food. make sure it doesn't contain wheat or corn. then avoid these completely.

i use megaderm too. i would look for ingredients ina veyr good dry food and if you want add fresch food, use only the ingredients in the dry food. i had mine on the Eaglepack fish formula & gave them some tinned fish also. that way the protien sources are restircted to what they r already getting in the dry food. this way you cna eliminate things. if you feed a too broad menu its hard to identify what on earth it could be that causes the problem/sensitivity.

[maggie mae]

Welll im now almost 100% postive that its nothing to do with his food... his itching is more prominent after he has been outside...in the grass. We are renting atm...and im not sure what type of grass it is.. but it also has a lot of clover and dandelions in it... I mowed it yesterday (i try to keep it short) and he went outside and started scratching again.

I suspect its the clover and dandelions, and had planned to treat it with weed and feed before i got him... but the wind around here has been dreadful, so i havent been able to (we have amazing gardens here and any overspray would be lethal to the garden) however as ive just mowed we have to wait 7 days to treat the grass (now we have rain - yah!!) but i will get it done as soon as physically possible.

i will ask the vet about antihistamine if it continues, she did suggest it but we both agreed to try the diet before putting him on meds...im relieved its not his food causing it... but still frustrated that the poor little mite has to endure the scratch just coz he loves to play....

thanks for everyones advice, i must admit i came here looking for answers, but came away more confused, because everyone has their own way of doing things and their own opinion.. so im trusting my instinct when it comes to his food.. he is not suffering in any way shape or form from my choice of feeding..i think ive got a rather good balanced diet happening.. he is healthy and happy...

:rolleyes:

[maggie mae]

just to add..when i do treat the grass with weed and feed... i will isolate him from it for a couple of days so he doesnt get exposed to the chemicals.

[Jed]

Remove anything with preservatives/colourings/grain - which means the weetbix and pedigree, both dry and sachets.

Try aloveen shampoo, or Fido's freitch. Note whether he is better after or before a bath.

If he is scratching his ears/head, think about a yeast infection in his ears - or syringo (which is horrible, but fairly unlikely).

Speak to your breeder, Westies are very allergy prone - and to certain things - and the breeder may be able to offer some hints.

A while ago a good Westie breeder told me a few things to do with them so they don't itch --- It sounded pretty good, but I've forgotten. Maybe ask around.