Scratching So Much - Her Face Is Bald!

[Tigs'n'Taffs]

My "bitza" dog - a very lovely labrador cross rottie has developed what we think may be an allergy. She has scratched her face so much that she now has two totally bald spots on her cheeks and, thanks to the use of an elizabethan collar for a very long time, what were bloody and cut cheeks, have now healed to very hard and scarred cheeks.

This is SO upsetting, and everything we have done so far has not worked. This has included 2 x allergy tests (negative!! apparently this dog is allergic to nothing!); topical applications - including tea tree; aloe vera; crtisone creams; moisturing & cooling creams; various strengths of antibiotics (initial relief then back to scratching); cortisone tablets (gave initial relief and then created other problems); some other tablets recommended by the vet that is really for humans and cost us $400+ per months - no result; natural therapies - homoepathic vet who recommended remedies (reduced the problem slightly, but we are back to full-on again); dog-whisperers; change of diet to all natural and veggies.

I just feel as though she is going to be condemned to a life of elizabethan collars to at least stop her face being raw all the time if we can't find out what the root of all this is.

Is there anybody out there who knows of similar problems with their canines and has had a successful conclusion? Any bright ideas ..... anyone?????????

[Vehs]

Wow, looks like you've tried everything!

How old is your girl?

I hope someone else can think of something..

[Sonny]

Was she tested for mites?

[InspectorRex]

Did the Vet do a skin scrapping for mites?

What allergy tests were done( eg RAST bloods or intra-dermal skin testing- this one is done by a Veterinary Dermatologist)?

[Loopy Lola]

May sound silly , but have her teeth been checked ?

[Christina77]

I'm also thinking tooth or gum's aching ?

ear problems ?

Sandflies in the soil / garden ?

[Tigs'n'Taffs]

Thanks guys for all the replies and ideas.

We too thought it may be a tooth problem and had them checked out. We found that one of her big back teeth was broken (which was on the side that was giving Tiggy most of the grief). We had it extracted and thought "gotcha" ..... and then the scratching continued

She has had 2 of the dermal allergy tests (by a veterinary dermatologist) - these were the tests that said she had no allergies! She also had a biopsy on the area, and I know this sounds odd, but we got quite excited when the vet said that he had found something there. "At last - an answer" we thought. Well .... the vet said it was staphococci (?) and proceeded to give her more antibiotics that grew in strength as we went along. None of them were successful (apart from the first week of taking them). We became very disillusioned when the vet eventually said he thought it was "just one of those things she is going to have to learn to live with". I wish he'd said that many throusands of dollars ago!

We are trying very hard to "live with it", but its very hard when you see her poor bald and bleeding cheeks with great chunks scratched out. Very upsetting!

[TiffanyAmber]

Get some Quit-Itch and apply it raw. Dab a bit where it is raw and reapply four times a day.

[dachshund lover]

Hi there, Have you considered that she may have a food allergie? Maybe an allergie toward some plants in your yard? Just a suggestion. I would try to boost her immune system or change her diet to all raw. Vegies , fruit, meaty bones, liver, sardines. no grains.

[dogcop]

Dachshund Lover I'm puzzled how do you boost the immune system ???

[milli]

i dont think i can help much but i just thought id tell you about a product my family used for our dog...

his fur fell out and he rubbed his belly against the carpet always scratching we had him tested but there was nothing... they put it down to emotional stress??? because he was a abused pound puppy but that was many years before this happened.. it was when he was about 16 it all started... he looked so bad..they just couldnt work out what it is.. his bum looked like a baboon it went black and dry and hard... and everyone called him budda... he looked like a babboon his fur on his ass fell off and his belly and back and it was sooo terrible... he was always itchy...

we tried sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo many things and nothing worked and everyone who saw him thought he was one of those hairless dogs or something... but this one thing the vet mentioned to us worked .. not to a great extent because his hair never came back and his baboon ass stayed black and hairless lol... but im not sure exactly what its called... so im sorry if this is no help but maybe someone knows what im talking about... :D

.. it was a cream like in a toothpaste bottle... it smelt horrible like smoked meat or charcoal and it looked liek it had charcoal in it too... it was some sort of coal tar cream... tar.. or coal or something like that and it smelt like something charcoaled or burnt...meaty smell..i think it was actually a human cream for badly damaged skin but the vet actually said it as a last resort because we just couldnt find anything to help him ... OH i just proded my mam in the tummy and she said something like PINETARSEL..(probly wrong spelling but thats how it sounds)... its browny grey... like carcoal...it smells funny... but you have to dialute it because you dont put it straight onto the skin with a big amount...im not sure how desperate you are... with sammy we were out of answers or ideas... i mean we tried EVERYTHING... and nothing worked and it just got worse... and his bum just looked and felt like hard carboard skin... like a burn patient.. and there was nothing we could do... so we tried it and it made him not itchy anymore and it didnt make the hair grow back but it prevented it getting any worse and gave him some relief...

sorry if that doesnt help at all...

also just to make it clear though... it didnt repair the way it looked.. he still looked utterly horrible... mams little budda baboon ass lol... but he felt happier and started frollicking like a puppy again and he was in alot less pain and didnt scratch his tummy and bum anymore if we put it on every night... and whenever needed...sorry again if ive been no help

[sas]

This isn't a cure to the itching but have you considered those booties you can buy for dogs? I would say that would stop her cutting her self?

If a medical reason can't be found do you think it's possible that this is a learnt behaviour now and she just does it because it's a habbit? Which in that case providing distractions when she does it could assist?

Edited October 2, 2005 by sas

[Toohey]

Dachshund Lover I'm puzzled how do you boost the immune system ???

Add natural apple cider vinegar to their food every day. A good teaspoon for a medium size dog.

[TiffanyAmber]

So hows it going Tigs'n'Taffs. Any help from the crew here????

[mita]

TA, thanks for the tip about Quit Itch. I'd never heard of it before. Shall look into it.

http://www.petstock.com.au/index/canine/view_details/79

This doggie sounds like out girl who gets hotspots...but on the other end. Gracie gets them at the rear. Polaramine, the human allergy relief helps a bit.

There's bacteria on the skin normally....& when the scratching breaks the skin an infection, inflammation is set up. Then antibiotic Rilexine clears it up.

I've also heard that Mylanta is good for 'hosing' down an itch. Our vet told me that when he was a lifesaver, they'd pour Mylanta on any sting or itch.

[Steve]

Is it allergy or bad habit ? Neither .

Tell me about what she eats, what the climate is like? How long before the symptoms did she have a vaccination? Is she on any heartworm meds or anti flea/ tick stuff etc.

No matter what , when you see a problem with a dog's skin its ALWAYS about the immune system Rashes caused by mites, fungus, food allergies, contact allergies etc cant occur in a dog that has a good immune system . Staph and strep are secondary issues caused by bacteria getting into broken skin . You can use all kinds of potions and lotions and some may even seem to be making a difference but unless you work on whats going on inside the dog and go after cleaning up the bloodstream and the immune system it will either continue the way it is or come good on the surface and begin affecting things you cant see inside the dog .

Might even take a while for anything else to show such as cancer , liver or pancreatic problems etc but its always about the immune system.

You boost the immune system of a dog the same way you do with people. A balanced varied diet with a minimum of processed foods and lots of fresh foods with loads of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. . Eliminate chemicals and anything else in the environment that may cause stress. You can use Aloe Juice to give it a quick boot as well.

[TiffanyAmber]

I love the stuff mita.

In my doggie family I have two long hairs and two short hairs. My short hairs (one chihuahua and a TT) are the ones that suffer constantly with summer itch. I find that it is the only way I can keep them itch free is to shampoo then constantly.

I did go back to their normal shampoo, once. Boy did I pay for it. They did too.

Anyways, that is all I use now. It doesnt soap up like normal shampoo but it does clean them. Its a bit like iodine but it wont stain. I find that for a normal wash I would use a second bottle (my last quit-itch bottle) and dilute it, then I would squeeze this all over and rub this in. Wait for the 5mins (10 - 15mins for first timers) and rinse it out. Where the hot spot is mostly, I give that part a good rinse.

Last year I was at my wits end not knowing what to do, until a horse breeder recommended this product.

Here are some piccys.

[mita]

That's fantastic info, TA....that Quik Itch can be used diluted as a shampoo. I'll be passing it on to the tibbie list....& can I have your permission to show the pics of your bubs in the bath? (Very cute, too!)

[TiffanyAmber]

Of course you can.

WoW. My dogs are going to be famous. :D

Let me know if you need anything else.

[mita]

No matter what , when you see a problem with a dog's skin its ALWAYS about the immune system

Absolutely right. Our Gracie spent the first 8 years of her life as a highly successful showdog in NSW. Never had any skin problems. Have not heard of any in her wide progeny either.

Then she came to us in Qld for a forever pet home. She was desexed. I noticed a 'bubbly' inflammation on the suture line. Vet didn't think it important. I did.

Took her to another vet who said she'd had an allergic response to the suture material used for the inside stitches. He also said that there was another kind of suture material which would not have produced an allergic response....if it had been used.

He gave her cortisone & said if that didn't clear the allergic response, he would have to operate & try to remove the allergy-producing internal stitches (which are supposed to dissolve).

It cleared....but the dissolving of those stitches seems to have set off, for the first time in her life, a constant tendency to have allergic skin reactions. Something got switched on....or off...in her immune system.