Getting Serious Now

[TiffanyAmber]

I wash her in a Lavender and Tea Tree oil dog wash, but I've only washed her 3 times 

OUCH. Could be the Tea Tree. Lavender is calming.

You will find a lot of dogs are allergic to Tea Tree. Mine were.

I would go back to a non soaping shampoo like Quit-Itch. Aloveen sound okay, have heard good reports.

I use to wash my dogs three times a week when they had there itchies. I know you cant do that. But after a Quit-Itch bath they were good for a couple of days. After the elimination diet I only have to bath once a fortnight or when they get dirty.

No probs.....I've only washed her 3 time since we got her though, could thats still be coursing this much itching?

Could be. No harm in trying.

[Eldoop]

Thanks for your help, I'll keep you posted

[TiffanyAmber]

I know how hard it is to have such happy healthy babies. And believe me it can get you crying.

I wish I had this magical cure for this problem, but unfortunately I dont. When you've been visiting the vets and spending heaps of moneys and still there is no cure. Well I prefer the elimination diet. It worked for me.

I found my girls were allergic to that knob meat VIP Gourmet Chicken and other varieties. This is one of the reasons why I changed to BARF. It worked for awhile and then the itchies came back. Corn was one and beef was another. Dry food was another again.

Then I went back to their old shampoo (I have two other dogs, no probs) and boy did we have problems again. So back to the Quit-Itch I went. Cost a bit, but no more than the other shampoos like Aloveen.

[Eldoop]

yes I'll feed her tonight, then tomorrow I'll start feeding her the chicken mince, and if all goes well, I'll add some of the beef and veg back and see if the itching starts again (if it stops with the chicken first..lol)

if the itch doesn't stop after two weeks feeding only chicken, I'll return to the beef and veg and try something else.

Thank you

[wylie]

hi

If you are going to try an elimination diet you need one food source for at least a month to get things hopefully under control.

Try just chicken carcasses only to start with. Whole uncooked. If you need to add some salmon oil only.

See how your dog goes on this first. If you still have majot itchies then you know chicken is a problem.

Then try lamb, beef etc

Then try adding vegies.

An elimination diet is a long slow process. And if the itching starts you know to cut out that particular food totally.

I am a total RAW feeder and have never had any problems. If i have to feed kibble i have a few that i prefer but my dogs enjoy their meat and their bones and are healthy and happy.

Sometimes what is BARF diets does not agree with dogs. You might be better off making up your won BARF mix once you know what your problem is.

The other thing is where does your dog lie around at home. In the grass? In the dirt? On a hammock bed? It might also be something you are cleaning with go back to good old bleach and vinegar olnly for cleaning and see if things change. Change bedding too and keep it clean.

[mumtosix]

Hi

I had a maltese poodle who was allergic to everything. Couldn't bath her in anything except the Avolene (sorry can't think how to spell it) she would also get the itches from pet mince. If it was human grade mince she was fine but pet grade would cause problems.

I now have a pit bull staff cross who is starting to get "hotspots" which I am sure is caused though the grass. Not much I can do with that just yet, except keep her inside as much as possible.

I wish you luck in your endevour to stop Minx's itches. I agree though I wouldn't use tea tree oil on my dogs. I will have a look I do have a home made shampoo recipe for stop itch shampoo and it makes up enough to bath both my dogs and all 4 of my cats once.

Mumtosix

[mumtosix]

umm silly me forgot to say that I now only feed my dogs on raw vegies blizzed in the blender and chicken wings or necks only. They are both (papillon x and Pit bull staff x) an ideal weight and very healthy.

Mumtosix

[westielover]

Another thing to consider is what type of plants you have in your garden - being spring a lot of plants have come into flower and a few dogs I know have broken out into alerrgic reactions. Wandering jew, jasmine, azaleas etc are a few plants which dogs are allergic to.

Food can either heal or exacerbate a problem. For example, yeast overgrowth

disease thrives on foods that convert to glucose in the body, such as carrots,

peas, any type of grain including wheat, corn, barley, oats, rice, anything

that contains refined sugar, sucrose, dextrose, just to name a few. It will never completely go away until the culprit is discovered and eliminated from the diet. A journal or food diary is a good way of keeping up with what Minx is eating and subsequent responses to the diet. This includes every single item Minx eats, including dog treats and chew bones.

Other meats to consider feeding Minx include turkey, lamb, fish (tinned pink salmon), rabbit & definately kangaroo mince.

It's a shame you're not in Sydney because I could recommend an excellent vet to help you out.

Best of luck with resolving this.

Edited October 5, 2005 by westielover

[Eldoop]

Ok thanks, this gives me afew more ideas to look at :p

My niece also feeds her pup the raw meat and is going to buy some more in the next few days, so I might get her to pick me up some of the pets mince (beef) withOUT the vegies as there is carrot in it, and see how she goes on that for awhile, but for now, I'm going to just try feeding her chicken mince alone, and see what comes of that...

Maybe add one thing to it, return the beef mince first for awhile, if all is good, then add the blended vegies etc etc

[Eldoop]

You want to know what I havew in my garden :p what garden????? with two dogs I have no garden

[Staff'n'Toller]

Sorry I haven't read all the replies KHL, but I can tell you what I know.

Supercoat has been known to cause allergies in some dogs.

If you want to feed dry food try Eagle Pack Fish and Oatmeal, or Duck and Oatmeal and see how it goes- it's a novel protein so may not cause allergies.

If it is a food allergy, then you need to feed each food one by one for a certain period of time and monitor the response- this is best done under instruction by your Vet or a specialist Dermatologist Vet.

My Staffy has always been itchy, a few things I have noted: Most grasses cause allergies, couch being the least allergic out of the lot, but many people buy a grass mix when they establish a lawn, so there are heaps of different types of grasses all mixed in. Just by rubbing their bellies on the lawn and walking around in it can cause a contact allergy in their paws and on their bellies.

Some dogs only have to have one flea and that can drive them insane! Are you treating with an adulticide like Advantage or Frontline? If not you need to treat for a few months continuously to rule out flea allergy, if you visit a dermatologist they will get you to do it anyhow so may as well start now. Especially if she is meeting up with other dogs, she can pick up hitchiker fleas at training etc.

Tea Tree is drying to the skin. You need to try Aloveen or Dermcare Natural or Epi-Soothe shampoo from your vet.

Adding some omega oils to her food may also be helpful, flax seed is a good one, always buy it in glass amber-coloured bottles as it's light sensitive, try to find a natural or organic one. We stock the Vets all Natural brand at my clinic, but you can also get it from the health food store.

My Staffy is on a prescription diet purely because of her skin and pretty much all other foods commercial or raw, give her itchy skin and tummy upsets...I've tried everything else and it's the only thing that has any effect.

Lastly if she is still itchy, then you need to get a referral to a specialist Dermatologist Vet for allergy testing to see exactly what it *is* that she's allergic to....it is costly but worth it in the long run.

Hope that helps.

Mel.

:p

Edited October 5, 2005 by StaffordsRule

[kelpiecuddles]

Sascha has just completed an elimination diet so I will give you the low down. An elimination diet will only be successful if herbody has been allowed to cleanse itself first. Chicken is not recommended but you can use turkey, roo, horse :p and OCEAN fish. Roo is the most convenient they can also have potato and sweet potato and that's all. Sascha was on that diet for six weeks and that included no treats unless they adhered to the diet, not even chewable heartgard she had to have a tablet for that month. The diet is fairly low fat and they do tend to lose weight but in the opinion of my vet that is not a huge problem in the short term as it is more important to find the cause of the allergy.

If after the six weeks she is still ithing it clearly isn't a food allergy. If she has stopped itching then you should reintroduce one food at a time for about 5-7 days before introducing the next food. It is also good to keep a diary to note any changes including the weather and whether she has spent lots of time outside that day.

[Eldoop]

I am going to look at the eagle pack, someone said that the beef pets mince or the veg might be the cause, so to feed her pets chicken mince for afew weeks, so this is what I was going to do, then reintroduce her other foods one at a time? and if she starts itching again I'll know which food it was, that is if its even food thats the cause :p

Last night and today I've noticed she is scratching more under her belly and armpit area, but still cant see any rash, she was abit red where is scratches but thats it??

[curly]

I discovered a sure-fire treatment for a similar problem a few years ago.

Ask your vet for a referral to a specialist allergy/skin clinic and have allergy testing done. Once you know what, if anything, your dog is allergic to you can undergo 'desensitising' treatment. This involves a course of weekly injections which will gradually reduce the dogs reaction to the allergin.

My girl was allergic to just about everything - fleas, dust mites, grass etc etc - not good for a farm dog! Her first treatment cost about $1000 but fixed her up. About 2 years later she started scratching again, so had a short course if injections (less than $200). No problems since. Now at 10 years old her eyes weep when the spring grass comes through, but that's all.