Help! My dog won't stop itching.

[RoxMonster]

We got Roxie from the shelter a month ago, and they said she had dry, scabby, flaky skin then. (She has been checked twice at the vet for fleas and is on flea prevention--no fleas). So I don't think it's an allergy she picked up at our house. Here's what we've tried:

-Prednisone for a couple weeks. This did work in stopping the itching, but it made her incredibly lethargic and we don't want her on it long-term because of side effects (neither does the vet).
-She is now on Benadryl three times a day which doesn't seem to have any side effects and will temporarily help the itching, but it comes back in full force when it starts wearing off. Again, I feel like it's just treating the symptoms but not the issues.
-We have been feeding her plain nonfat yogurt everyday because we hear the probiotics help.
-She's also getting fish oil once a day.

The itching continues. I plan to call the vet tomorrow if it's still going this way (we just started the Benadryl on Saturday along with the yogurt and fish oil). I just hate seeing her itching so miserably and want to help the actual cause. The vet had said it was a contact allergy because she had a bad rash on her belly. The rash has cleared up but the itching continues (she is mainly itching a spot on her back, licking her paws, etc).

Any suggestions of what has worked for you? Oh and we also only feed her grain-free everything. Grain-free homemade treats from a local dog bakery and Blue Buffalo Sensitive Skin Grain-Free food. She's a lab mix.

[patches31709]

Grain free is good but what is the protein source? She may be allergic to that.

[Deleted]

Betty has a problem with yeast build up. We have to wipe her armpits and belly down 2x a day with unscented baby wipes, then she gets a bath weekly with episoothe shampoo.

Also, I found that an oil blend works better for her. She has ultra oil for pets with each meal.

Shampoo: m.1800petmeds.com/mt/http://www.1800petmeds.com/Epi+Soothe+Shampoo-prod10483.html

[RoxMonster]

Jan 21, 2013 9:59:07 GMT -5 patches31709 said:

Grain free is good but what is the protein source? She may be allergic to that.

It has deboned turkey and turkey meal.

My only thought is that she also had these issues at the shelter and they were feeding her Pedigree or something like that, but the allergies have continued even with a different protein source/food.

[RoxMonster]

Jan 21, 2013 10:13:28 GMT -5 @uwhuskygirl said:

Betty has a problem with yeast build up. We have to wipe her armpits and belly down 2x a day with unscented baby wipes, then she gets a bath weekly with episoothe shampoo.

Also, I found that an oil blend works better for her. She has ultra oil for pets with each meal.

Shampoo: m.1800petmeds.com/mt/http://www.1800petmeds.com/Epi+Soothe+Shampoo-prod10483.html

Thanks-I'll check into that.

[Birdie]

Poor baby!

Ozzie has itching issues, but his are mostly contact allergies. He'll lick on his paws until he gets a secondary infection, then he'll lick them more. It becomes a vicious circle. His old vet (we moved) eventually had to put him on an immuno-suppressant drug for a bit to help fight the itching and reaction his body was having.

My BIL gave us this stuff though. He swears by his for his English Bulldog who has crazy skin problems:
www.dinovite.com/search-by-brand/dinovite-liquid-products/dinovite-liquid.html

[patches31709]

Yeah I didn't realize how few common allergens were in the food you're feeding now. Doesn't seem like it's the food (unless there is still some common ingredient between the two foods). If you want to know for sure you could try giving her just turkey for a few weeks.

[Deleted]

Something else I forgot, her skin gets agrivated with fabric softener. I wash all of her towels and blankets with a free and clear detergent and no fabric softener.

[midnightmare81]

It is possible that while the original irritant isn't there, it is now a learned behavior? As in, before it helped and made her feel better. Now she connects the scratching/chewing with a positive feeling, and thus keeps doing it. My dog did this for a while as well after the rash from an allergy cleared. I ended up putting Tabasco sauce on her for the chewing since I has run out of other ideas. It then became something she didn't enjoy, and the itching AND chewing went away. Have no had an issue since.

It's far fetched, but might be something to think about if nothing else works. This only works if she is chewing obviously, but its a thought...

[RoxMonster]

Hmm interesting on the "positive feelings" thing. I'm not sure--she is biting at herself pretty hard and scratching her ears (she had yeasty ears and an ear infection that we gave her ointment for and the vet said they looked good last time, but now I wonder if it's back?)

Thanks for the ideas. We have a vet appt. for Saturday morning to hopefully suss out what's going on.

[Deleted]

Our lab is allergy to all birds - chicken, turkey. We had to move her to a fish protein. She also has issues with potatoes, so it may be other ingredients in the food. Just because the food is grain-free, doesn't mean you've eliminated the allergy source.

[M]

My dog is also allergic to birds and it's pretty common in dogs. If you have access to raw, my dog some kind of red meat like venison or beef&bone or organ meats like tripe. And I supplement that with Orijen's Six Fish. Hilo use to be itchy like your dog but since I took him off chicken, he doesn't itch anymore. The fluids in the raw will help with dry skin and the fish meals will make his coat shine.

If you can't do raw, TOTW also makes a good variety of foods that doesn't have bird in it. My cousin feeds 2 different TOTW meals/day, one with the red meat and the other with the fish (pacific stream I think it's called.)

[RoxMonster]

Update: Our vet said that it is probably a food allergy but she has only been on Sensitive Skin Grain-Free Blue for about a week. Before we were mixing it with her old food to transition her. She said we don't yet know if she is also allergic to something in blue (like the protein source) or if it was an allergen in her old food that hasn't made its way out of her system. So we have to give it a couple months she said, and if the itching has not alleviated any, we'll probably try either TOTW without animal protein (they have some like salmon, etc) or a prescription dog food from the vet.

[Deleted]

I'd be weary of the prescription dog foods from the vet's office. Typically they don't have great nutrition and have some fillers. Just make sure you read up on the ingredients.