Itch..itch And More Itch

[shirra]

My pup would scratch and chew at herself for days after her Sentinel. Then I realised it must be given during a meal, not just with a bit of food as I had been doing, my bad!

She hardly itches at all now after her Sentinel, however I'm changing away from it once my supply is finished. No need for the monthly worming, and to date we haven't had a flea issue.

[redangel]

Update after a week of feeding grain free her condition in her coat & skin has improved. I slipped up the other night and gave her a small piece of bacon. She scratched all night. It got me thinking. She has had Xmas ham, puppy chewies & smoked pigs ears...could nitrates be possibly a cause for her itchies??? Does anyone know of this?

Happier as the fur loss has eased considerably.

[Sail_Away]

My puppy has lumps all over her at the moment and I can't work out what they are from except I'm almost certain they must be mosquito bites… but so many??? She is a short haired breed so I notice every scratch and lump easily. At the moment we have heaps of mozzies around our place and I've been attacked, I also see them land on my girl frequently… does anyone else have this issue and how can I prevent this and heal them?

[sheena]

My puppy has lumps all over her at the moment and I can't work out what they are from except I'm almost certain they must be mosquito bites… but so many??? She is a short haired breed so I notice every scratch and lump easily. At the moment we have heaps of mozzies around our place and I've been attacked, I also see them land on my girl frequently… does anyone else have this issue and how can I prevent this and heal them?

Is she on Advantix ??? Advantix is supposed to repel mozzies & biting flies.

[Sail_Away]

My puppy has lumps all over her at the moment and I can't work out what they are from except I'm almost certain they must be mosquito bites… but so many??? She is a short haired breed so I notice every scratch and lump easily. At the moment we have heaps of mozzies around our place and I've been attacked, I also see them land on my girl frequently… does anyone else have this issue and how can I prevent this and heal them?

Is she on Advantix ??? Advantix is supposed to repel mozzies & biting flies.

No I don't use any flea/tick treatment as I prefer minimal chemicals… I am however, considering an insect repellent for dogs as a last resort...

[Erny]

I like that you're doing what you can to minimise chemical applications to your dog, Sail_Away. I strongly work that way as well, where possible and feasible.

Have you tried natural insect repellents?

I've read of one where you save the peel from citrus fruits, boil it up to create a broth and let it cool. Strain it and put it in a spray bottle to apply to your dog. I believe certain oils such as lemongrass, peppermint, geranium and lavender (there are more) also repel mosquitos and a few drops of these can be added to your citrus broth spray at well. I expect the oils would have the added advantage of staying on the coat and remaining effective for longer than the citrus broth, but that's just my guess.

My boy cops the mozzies as well and I intend to give something like this a try, but I can't attest to its effectiveness.

ETA: I've just started using a natural base disinfectant for the food area in my kitchen. It contains peppermint and the label on the bottle says that this helps to repel flies and other insects. Not that I have a lot of flies in the house but of the few that make their way in I do tend to find they aren't hanging around where I'm cooking.

Edited February 6, 2013 by Erny

[Madame Fluff]

Our Moodle had similar problems and we used Dr Zoo products. They have a cream that helps with the rashes and the shampoo is awesome. Our dogs hair has all grown back and looks much better and no itching. All natural ingredients too. Hope this helps

[Sheilaheel02]

This is an interesting and informative thread. I have one itchy dog of four. After trying to pinpoint what the causes might be, I'm leaning more toward the fact that I planted a Kikuyu lawn in the yard. She never had an issue as a pup when it was just plain old paddock grass around the house and I've never actually found a flea on her to say that is what the issue is. I had a flock of Galahs come in and decimate the lawn last year and while she had the occasional sratch it was nothing compared to how uncomfortable she had been. The recent warm weather and rain has meant the lawn has regenerated from what roots the Galahs left and she has started scratching again, especially after a big run around and game outside. My three other dogs still don't seem to be affected, but one of my rescue dogs has also started to scratch a bit and all of them were recently treated with comfortis.

Might be a job for Round-Up which is a shame because the yard has just started to look good again. Big job too as the house yard is almost an acre.

S

Edited February 6, 2013 by Sheilaheel02

[Rosetta]

This is an interesting and informative thread. I have one itchy dog of four. After trying to pinpoint what the causes might be, I'm leaning more toward the fact that I planted a Kikuyu lawn in the yard. She never had an issue as a pup when it was just plain old paddock grass around the house and I've never actually found a flea on her to say that is what the issue is. I had a flock of Galahs come in and decimate the lawn last year and while she had the occasional sratch it was nothing compared to how uncomfortable she had been. The recent warm weather and rain has meant the lawn has regenerated from what roots the Galahs left and she has started scratching again, especially after a big run around and game outside. My three other dogs still don't seem to be affected, but one of my rescue dogs has also started to scratch a bit and all of them were recently treated with comfortis.

Might be a job for Round-Up which is a shame because the yard has just started to look good again. Big job too as the house yard is almost an acre.

S

Have you thought of putting a t-shirt on her - that would protect the underside at least.

[Sheilaheel02]

Hi Rosetta,

Thank you for the suggestion. I could try that, but I have a feeling I would end up spending a fortune on T-shirts as it would be something the others could swing on when chasing and playing with her. My crew are all pretty full-on.

Cheers

S

[the cat lady]

What a great thread. I am new to this forum and I too have an itchy dog, and am at my wits end trying to work out how to ease his itchyness and make him more comfortable. I was feeding him chicken, rice and vegies, however found he is a little better on the hyper allergic foods from the vet. He is six years old, and we have had him since November. Many vet visits and medications later, he is showing some improvement with the new food and some claratyne. I will definately try some of the suggestions here especially the Moogoo products and calendula tea(if I can find it) Again, thanks for the info

[SchnauzerMax]

I don't have any dogs with skin problems, but I do suffer from itchy scalp myself. It gets so bad, that sometimes it feels like it is burning. I have only just discovered the relief I can get from rinsing in a fairly strong apple cider vinigar/water solution. The relief is almost instant. Not sure if anyone has tried ACV on their dogs, but could be worth a try :) I tried the calendula tea on myself & it did help, but the ACV was almost 100% relief.

That actually sounds like a candida infection for which dilute ACV is a natural remedy. If it is, washing with soap products will make it itchier.

The dilute ACV works by bringing the pH levels back to normal.

[Sail_Away]

Just wanted to say thanks for all the advice! I am going to try and find some Marigold tea and give that a go - I also just placed an order with 'MooGoo' who are an Australian company that use all natural products and they have a 'Tail Swat Spray' which has dents (such as lemongrass) to keep mozzies away - I will give this a go. They also have lots of other wonderful products and rave reviews on them! They said they do dog shampoo and conditioner but it's under the name of 'Dr Zoo' which someone else mentioned on here - same company just animal side of business. Looking forward to giving it a go!

[TeamSnag]

Have u looked at what plants u have around the house?

[bingo]

Sounds like an environmental or diet issue creating an allergic reaction. Probably hard to treat unless you can find it's source. I think that they use oatmeal based shampoos and creams for conditions like this. But it may well be a fungal infection that would benefit from a anti fungal shampoo like malaseb or pyoderm. If it's seborrhea oleosa a form malasezia infection characterized greasy, oily, flakey skin quite often with blackheads, whiteheads, and lesions it's best to clip the area to allow airflow and regularly bathe the whole dog or areas first in a selenium sulphide or benzol peroxide based shampoo eg. selsun blue, selederm, or pyoben to remove excess grease from the skin and pores then follow by washing them with your anti fungal shampoo. Dermacare the makers of Malaseb used to have a product that did it all in one go called sebolyse which combined chlorhexidine gluconate, miconazole nitrate and selenium sulphide. But they chose stop adding the selenium sulphide to the shampoo and re label it as an improved formula Malaseb which is good for your more common minor skin condition & seborrhea sicca as it doesn't have a drying out effect. But it is farely ineffective where the more common greasy skin condition or seborrhea oleosa is present. One of my dogs has quite bad seborrhea oleosa and, have only just started to use Selederm in conjunction with Malaseb with much more pronounced results. I dont know what the ploy behind removing selenium sulphide from malaseb was with out creating a viable alternative for the other form of seborrhea. Malaseb and Phyohex do however make a great ear wash I'm not sure if the same can be said for selenium sulfide in relation to otic toxicity or not I have not looked into it.

[sheena]

WOW

[bingo]

WOW

Skin conditions are a pain in the ass!

[2boxer]

Hi sail away! My boy had something that sounded similar, mainly over his head and neck, my vet diagnosed it as foliculitis, and antibacterial shampoo sorted it out!

[Sail_Away]

Hi sail away! My boy had something that sounded similar, mainly over his head and neck, my vet diagnosed it as foliculitis, and antibacterial shampoo sorted it out!

Thank you - I honestly believe it is from mosquito bites now as there are a couple of other people with this breed experiencing the same thing right now - we are in Qld and the mosquitos here at the moment are out of control - I've never seen them so bad. They are active during the day too and we open a door and 10 fly in! I went to the beach yesterday and had to leave as they were just swarming there and my dog and I had dozens on us - the lumps are like little welts - same as what happens to me when bitten… I have ordered the MooGoo Tail Swat Spray to try and keep them at bay and I'll see if my dogs skin improves from not being attacked, if not I'll speak to the vet again - I have Malaseb shampoo and I washed her twice a week when I first noticed them thinking it was some skin condition but my thoughts are now on mosquitos especially since they seem to be around 24/7 at the moment.