Poodle With Itchiness - Tried Everything

[NatalieC]

Hi All,

Please bare with me, this is very long winded.. I have a 3.5 year old black toy poodle who has suffering with recurrent scratching around her ears and mouth.

She has always had ear infections, right from the very beginning and suffered yeast infections in the ears. This all started around November 2014 when the groomer clipped her and cut her and she was given an injection of antibiotic, the next week or so later she had more antibiotocs ( I can't remember what it was for). It was a week or so after those antibiotics that the scratching started, it started out mildly and was treated conservatively however gradually became worse, we tried food elimination, cortisone injections and every other thing that I and the vets could possibly think of. We tried Omega Fatty Acids, Cortisones, Anti-histimes, We tried Atopica for 8 weeks, Different Shampoos etc, nothing worked at all.

As a last resort, we had her allergy tested and started her on a de-sensitisation program and finished two rounds of that which took a little under 12 month with NO signs of improvement what so ever. One night, I was looking at her mouth and saw a couple of scabs, so I jumped on the internet and someone on this page said that that this could be the yeast infection transferring from her ears to feet to her mouth. I started her on the Friday night with a teaspoon of natural greek yoghurt on her wet food, I called the vet and told her, she then prescribed an anti-fungal tablet for a weeks, along with an animal probiotic as well and within 4-5 days the scratching stopped 100% and continued to stop for the next three months. We thought that we had solved the mystery and that she would now be okay. This was in Early April this year.

With no changes to anything except taking away the greek yoghurt but continuing with the probiotic, the scratching has just started again in the last few weeks. So again, I got straight onto the Greek Yoghurt in the hope that this is what she needed, we tried it for a week again and it’s made no difference at all. She can sleep all night with me at my feet and not scratch once, it's very random some times however, the scratching is can be worse in the morning, after she has eaten, so I think it could be related to the Black Hawke Wet food, however she has always had this, even when we had three months of no scratching.. So that makes me hesitant to think that it's the food.

I am wondering if anyone would have any suggestions at all? When she scratches her face, she cries out in such pain it’s so distressing for us, I can only imagine how painful this is for her to go through.

She is currently eating Black Hawke Wet food in the morning and a raw chicken neck at night. What would you suggest that I try? We have spent thousands of dollars on her through vets and lotions and medication and nothing is working. She has no other visible signs of skin problems, she isn’t losing hair anywhere and she only scratches behind her ears, we have recently had her ears cleaned out, hair is kept really short and there is no signs of yeast infection in her ears at all.

Hoping someone can offer some sort of help..

[persephone]

:)

First thing I would suggest is a diet change .

try a grain free /artificial colour free diet ...

also check yr garden for wandering dew plants ..and take note of where she pokes her face otherwise ...

I am sure you will get lots more informed comments to help :)

[_PL_]

Localised to the ears and mouth, in my experience, is food allergy related.

Seems to be aggravated by poultry products, turkey being the worst. I can't explain why it works or give you any data that you can't find on google, but cutting out fowl completely (incl checking every ingredient on dry food because chicken is usually in there) has had a few wins here.

My most chronic rescue with scabbed mouth and pus filled ears took about 6 months to turn around and he'll always be slightly deaf. Cannot even have a teaspoon of fowl without a flare-up.

[Simply Grand]

My toy poodle x Maltese was sensitive to beef when he was younger, it would make him itchy (ears and face). He outgrew it thankfully, but another food element to consider.

My other though was could it have become habitual or a stress response? Have there been any changes in the household or her routine since the scratching started up again?

[DogsAndTheMob]

Could it be caused by a toy? My hyper-allergic cat developed bald spots at both corners of her mouth after I bought her a slinky-type toy made from fleece. She looked like The Joker. The toy went into the bin, and she has had no recurrences of bald spots on her face.

[Purdie]

With all the antibiotics could need to re balance the gut flora meanwhile ask the vet to try this product.

http://www.hillspet.com/en/us/products/pd-canine-zd-dry

My cat developed a protein allergy when he was 12 months old with face and ear scratching and loss of fur and is now. on the hills prescription diet for life.

Another thing to look at is are there any allergy causing plants in your yard.

[Xyz]

Second trying Hills ZD exclusively. NO treats, no scraps, no bones. Need to be very strict for 8 weeks minimum.

[Kajirin]

Scout had yeasty ear, front feet and face. Seemed to correlate with poultry/beef [including turkey]. He's on raw roo meat now and sardines - he can also tolerate Blackhawk fish and potato dry, he also gets apple cider vinegar drizzled over his food. I'd use diluted apple cider vinegar and water and wash his paws [soak his paws in a container for about a minute] and face, for his ears I'd use rufus and coco ear wound cleaner [which cleared his ear up].

[Alibi]

Also remember if you are using any of the monthly wormer chews that they often contain chicken or beef.

[The Spotted Devil]

Food allergies/sensitivities can come and go as well. One of my cats suddenly started pulling chunks of fur out. Put her on a strict Z/D diet and introduced proteins after several months. She's fine on chicken but reacts badly to beef, lamb and turkey. She'd previously been fine all of those but immediately threw up and scratched like mad.

Edited September 6, 2016 by The Spotted Devil

[NatalieC]

Thanks to all for your replies.

Yesterday, I again found a little patch of what seems to be a yeast growth on her top lip. It was hidden under her hair, it's been awhile since she was groomed (3 months) during winter. We've started her on an anti-fungal tablet and I have made plans to change her over to a RAW food diet of kangaroo from the Big Dog Food Company, it's the only one that doesn't have any traces of chicken at all. There has to be something that is causing the recurrent infections of yeast. Theres been some great feedback on here, that I will take on board as well, especially the one regarding the toys and the worming tablets. Lots to think about. Thanks again x

[sheena]

Could it be caused by a toy? My hyper-allergic cat developed bald spots at both corners of her mouth after I bought her a slinky-type toy made from fleece. She looked like The Joker. The toy went into the bin, and she has had no recurrences of bald spots on her face.

Also plastic food bowls can do this too...& should be avoided

[sas]

http://store.augustineapproved.com/faith-for-dogs-and-cats - worth a try, loads of positive feedback from owners with dogs with yeast problems. Yeast problems can take months to years to get ontop of.

[sheena]

A person I know whose dog gets red itchy feet, keeps it at bay by feeding her cooked pumpkin skins. I would imagine that in her case it could be a fungal problem, hence the reason why it responds to pumpkin skins.

[stari]

My MILs poodle had ongoing ear infections, yeast and secondary staf infections for ages, and after trying diet changes and antibiotics with little to no effect, a new vet put her on a course of cortisone tablets and an ear rinse containing cortisone as well. It cleared up within a few weeks and has not returned after several months.

The vet said it is very rarely a food allergy in poodles, and more likely to be seasonal, like hayfever in people.

[honeybun]

Apoquel a new drug on the market in Australia has had some wonderful results on our rescue dogs with skin allergies, where nothing else has worked.

This has been prescribed overseas for some time with good results.