Itchy Dog

[dasha]

I have a 8 month old Border Collie that seems to be really itchy lately. In fact 5 of the 8 dogs are really itchy.

They had comfortis 3 weeks ago, then last week had some frontline, then a few days after that they had Revolution (to cover mange) but they are still itchy.

3 of them are just scratching a bit (they usually don't at all) but 1 has scratched all her undercoat out, her coat is brittle and dull.

I have taken her to the vet twice now and they have done skin scrapes (all negative) no fleas, but has little lumps and red dots all over her body.

She mainly scratches her ribs, and front legs as well as flanks. Her bum area is fairly thin now too. So frustrating. 2 of them are on antibiotics to help with skin infections (prevention) but this little one is still scratching badly.

3 weeks ago they were all bathed, permoxin sprayed in yards and all sleeping areas including beds. That is when Comfortis was given.

They are currently fed Advance and have been since they were weaned. They also get mince, lamb necks, mixed bones.

The only thing that may have changed in the food department is that I have been putting Pineapple juice on their food at night. Only about a dessert spoon each. Would this cause it?

3 of the dogs I haven't noticed scratching at all. They all swim in creek daily and run in paddocks so it really is hard to eliminate that stuff. But one of the bitches that is scratching has lived her for over a year and she didn't have trouble with this in the past. Their skin is not really red and inflamed or anything but they just scratch.

If anyone can think of any suggestions so I can check with the vet when I go back on Wed that would be good. It has not affected her drive to work or play, just she is looking a bit bedraggled and is losing a lot of hair!!!!!

[JulesP]

Do you have the plant wandering jew? That causes havoc with mine. But not all the time, they have outbreaks of it. Don't know if it is only at certain times of the year or they just don't go in it all the time.

Try washing with Quit Itch.

[persephone]

Maybe get a referral to a dermatologist, before you start treatment/changing diet etc .

[dasha]

There is plenty of wandering Dew here but is is not consistent with a contact allergy. And they have been in that since 6 weeks old and have only been itching for a few weeks.

When they started scratching, we had an outbreak of fleas so that may have been the trigger hence the massive flea control measures.

Skin is not red and inflamed like Wandering Dew would do, it is just has little scabs and lumps all over it and some weeping parts.

Hoping not to have to go skin specialist but may have to.

[karly101]

I'd highly recommend a dermatologist.. skin is such a tricky issue you generally spend more at your regular vet without any resolution. Even the specialist is having difficulties resolving my pups itchy skin but I'm glad I went there as the knowledge they have on it is fantastic.

[nowstarin]

Sounds to me like a combination of perhaps Sarcoptic mange mite, a possible reaction to the acid in Pineapple juice or a persistent flea problem. i would be dosing them with Advocate. This is the only product with 100% efficacy and the ONLY treatment that kills fleas on contact (all others require the flea to bite to get a dose)

It also kills the fleas in your environment. It treats sarcoptic and demodectic mange mites. You shoul see instant (within 1 hour) releif after external application.

the other problem could be mosquito bites. Use advantix (applied at the same time as Advocate) this kills AND REPELS flies, biting flies, mosquotos, fleas, ticks (including paralysis) and lice among many other things. Both are safe to use on Pregnant and lactating bitches and puppies.

Good luck

[dasha]

Thanks everyone.

I went to another vet today and she got a anti-histamine injection to help with the itchy. She is still on Cephalexin and he gave me some different flea stuff. I think it is advantage.

He didn't think the pineapple juice would be causing it so will still give it for now.

The other thing I thought of is that I changed some of the other dogs food rather than Advance. The pups are still getting advance but the other dogs went to Supercoat. One of them is scratching too.

I am wondering if she is the worst affected as she is "the recycler" and maybe she has allergies to something in it.

To be honest it could be that she is allergic to horses or anything and because she eats their poo, she gets a reaction.

I am going to swap other dogs back to the orignal food they were on and maybe give her mainly raw stuff for now and see if things settle again.

She has been scraped on 2 separate occasions in multiple locations but no sarcoptic mange was found on her or the others. That is also why I put Revolution on them just in case.

I am sure that Frontline also kills on contact.

[Erny]

• They had comfortis 3 weeks ago.
  
• Frontline 1 week ago.
  
• Revolution half a week ago.
  
• Bathed 3 weeks ago
  
• Permoxin sprayed in yards and all sleeping areas including beds 3 weeks ago.
  
• Anti-histamine
  
• Additional flea treatment
  

I'm not a Vet but to me, the above is a fair overload of chemicals for a dog's system to cope with. Maybe the itching started before all of the above, but we can be inclined to swing into top gear too quickly in an attempt to stop the itch and this in itself can lead to a system that swings out of kilter, trying to manage to counter-act the affects of the "war against itchies" that we administer.

As many would know, given that there was no evidence of parasitic activity, I would have simply given the dogs a rinse over with Calendula Tea and let that see if the itchies didn't just settle on their own accord. A simple and cheap yet generally effective treatment - one that is gentle, chemical free and doesn't swing the pendulum into a hectic dance by altering the skin pH balance. (Maybe you've already tried it and found it to be unsuccessful?)

But this is just my personal opinion albeit one that is based in the experience of having success with it.

Edited February 7, 2012 by Erny

[Mason_Gibbs]

My puppy is itchy at the moment, my older dog is too but he has known allergies and had been allergy tested, myself have been battling sinus so I have a feeling here in WA the pollen levels are off the charts at the moment

[Tara8430]

Abbey is a bit the same at the moment, she's been a bit scratchy, more than the usual i hate my collar so im going to scratch it off. Can barely find her skin under her thick labrador coat to see if its dry or anything.

Im the same with the sinus MG its been really bad here the past fortnight, alot of privit and things out which are driving me mad. Can only imagine how it makes the dogs feel with all the sniffing they do.

[megan_]

I agree with Erny - that is a lot of double and triple dosing on the same chemical set. I'd check the garden for plants that can irritate dogs and stop with all the treatments which could in fact be causing the problem.

I'd give them a calendula tea bath to help ease the itch.

[JulesP]

Also agree with Erny and excessive dosing is one of the things that can cause serious liver problems in dogs.

[dasha]

They haven't had the additional flea treatment I got the other day yet as I was going to wait for the Revo and Frontline to wear down a little first. I think it is Advantage so will give it in another week or so. Only one of them got the Frontline and that is because we were staying at someones house and they are paranoid about getting fleas and she was scratching so much I wanted to be sure she didn't have any, even though she had comfortis the week before. They all got Revo when I left the friends farm to ensure no Sarcoptic mange could be brought home.

Its not like they get stuff on them all the time.

I try not to use it al all if I can help it.

They have hardly had a chemical overload with 1 application of Revo and a comfortis tablet. One dog got the frontline as well.

The bedding and yards were sprayed when they weren't in them so that I could eliminate fleas. and the dogs weren't back in there till it was dry.

Its not a contact allergy.

It is related to something else. Her coat has gone brittle, and she has the odour of a dog with allergies. I have had an Atopic dog before and always said if I had another I would not want it to suffer the same so would prob put it to sleep, but this one is too good a dog to contemplate that.

She has small red marks on her like bites but there is no visible parasites there.

Dermatologists will use multiple chemicals at once too if they are trying to work things out. Each drug has a different way of working so it covers all avenues to eliminate fleas from/mites from the equation.

I am wondering if it the mosquitoes or maybe some kind of biting midge such as the ones that cause Queensland Itch in horses.

Might put some of the stuff you put on horses on them and maybe put some repella strips up to see if that helps.

Most products that are sold for pet use have a pretty good safety margin for use. If it was that potent that you couldn't use a few the occassional time in a dogs life, they wouldn't be able to sell them. I could understand if a dog had a dodgy liver, it may overload it but in a perfectly healthy dog, a topical application should be fine.

They were washed in oatmeal shampoo to help soothe the skin.

We live on a creek so there is plenty of biting things down there.

My horse has also come up with some bite swellings the last few days and some people around have also started to get little bite marks, but no sign of anything that did the biting.

Its a mystery

Edited February 8, 2012 by dasha

[Erny]

Its a mystery

Seeing as you've tried everything, why not back off on the chemicals and give the benign Calendula Tea a go before you add the extra chemicals to the mix? Of course it is your choice and I respect that, but I must admit that I'm cringing at all the chemicals.

Edited February 8, 2012 by Erny

[Andisa]

Its a mystery

Seeing as you've tried everything, why not back off on the chemicals and give the benign Calendula Tea a go before you add the extra chemicals to the mix? Of course it is your choice and I respect that, but I must admit that I'm cringing at all the chemicals.

I will jump on Erny's bandwagon and also highly suggest trying Calendula Tea. Having seen first hand the difference it made to one of mine last year I am a convert too .

(Thanks again Erny :D )

[TashaBailey]

Where do you get the Calendula tea from. I have s young sheltie that is itching at the moment - no sign of fleas or bites just persistant scatching and chewing

TB

[Erny]

Health Food store, TashaBailey.

Careful to get an organic brand that excludes any added colouring. Someone else on this forum got some of a different brand to the one I use and I presume it included colouring because it stained the white of her dog's hair yellow. I sent her up some of mine and it didn't do that.

Brew it as you would tea (I use a coffee plunger for the purpose) and when it is at least tepid if not cooled to room temp I push the plunger down and pour off the tea. Apply to your dog's skin where necessary (all over if you want - although I like to do a smaller area first to make sure all is ok) and leave it to dry (ie don't rinse).

Edited February 8, 2012 by Erny

[Erny]

Its a mystery

Seeing as you've tried everything, why not back off on the chemicals and give the benign Calendula Tea a go before you add the extra chemicals to the mix? Of course it is your choice and I respect that, but I must admit that I'm cringing at all the chemicals.

I will jump on Erny's bandwagon and also highly suggest trying Calendula Tea. Having seen first hand the difference it made to one of mine last year I am a convert too .

(Thanks again Erny :D )

Cheers Andisa. I'm rapt when the Calendula does the trick. And in my experience the results are usually noticable inside 12-24 hours so it's not as if you have to use it for a week or more before you come to a conclusion that it might have been a waste of time, IF that's what it ends up being. When you see your dog's itching reduce and/or skin looking better, you know it's helping and worth continuing with.

Edited February 8, 2012 by Erny

[pebbles]

I've got one who came up with the itchies a while ago. Vet did the usual skin scrapings, etc, nothing.

I'm pretty sure it's a contact allergy, feet, tummy, flanks. I think it's from the sand we have around here, some places I walk the dogs, she will come home and chew her feet and scratch likr mad. So there's a jug of the good Tea brewed and I soak her itchy spots liberally then stand her feet in it.

I generally take about 20/30 mins to give it all a good soak, just pat the excess off and no more itch!

I'm another one to give thanks to Erny for this.

ETA - told my Vet what I was using and he wrote it down so I wouldn't be surprised it's spreading through the Mallee.

Edited February 8, 2012 by pebbles

[Mason_Gibbs]

Actually dermatolologists would do allergy testing and you wouldnt be stabbing in the dark coz u would know what the issue is. They would then do desensitization therapy. Yes you would probably be told to use antihistamines but to me they are not ad bad as things that kill fleas etc.