My Dog Won't Stop Scratching/Biting/Itching - HELP!
We seem to have gone through this last year and again, the year before. I have a feeling my dog is allergic to something as every summer he goes crazy itching, scratching and biting his tail, hind legs, back and paws.
We can't think of what it is. The first year we moved here we thought it was fleas - nope. The second year, we thought maybe it was his food, so we switched to Avoderm to help with food allergies and skin conditioning - nope. In between, we've also bought some Equiss Microtek spray and soap - this (got rave online reviews) and seemed to work, but now - not so much.
I have a feeling the next step is going to be allergy medication. I really don't want to have to do that. Can anyone think of anything else, maybe some other supplements or SOMETHING that might help him. Not only is this painful to have to witness, but it keeps us up ALL night long.
TIA...
There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself. - Thoreau
Try benadryl. My vet told me it was absolutely fine to give them either a child's dose, or half an adult dose (children's is 12.5mg, adult 25). It should calm his allergies a bit without major allergy medicine from the doctor. Not sure if they do it with dogs, but both my cats (one waaay more than the other, Molly almost died, twice) are horribly allergic to...something, we don't know what, get sick the same time very year, unless he gives them an allergy shot- basically, cortisone. He said it's unpopular with some vets, but it's worked wonders for mine. We now go for our annual visit a few weeks before that time of year, and it seems to prevent the whole thing.
Good luck!
maxandmolly, thanks. I'd heard about the Benadryl pill, I'm just scared to try it since he's a smallish (25 pounds) dog. I was hoping Jesvet might pop in when she gets a moment, but that was going to be our next course of action if we can't get anywhere else.
There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself. - Thoreau
I second benadryl - and if that doesn't work - like within a day or less - take him to the vet for a steriod injection. I had a dachshund that was allergic to EVERYTHING!!! Foods, grass, fleas, (I could go on and on). If I didn't get him his benadryl in time to stop the itching then he'd have to go into the vet for his injection. I can't remember the name of it but it's a very common steriod. And we'd usually have a 2-4 week prescription of it in pill form after each episode. Sadly the steriod has its own set of problems (extreme thirst, hunger, potty issues, water retention, weight gain, etc.) but it's better than the dog scratching himself until he has open infected sores.
As far as dog size vs. dosage. My dachshund was approx. 10-12 lbs and 1/2 to 1 full dose of CHILDREN'S benedryl was good for him. I'd think the same would be okay for your 25 lb.
Maggie was about 30-35 pounds when the vet said the benadryl was ok- but he also said it was fine for my 9 pound Molly and 13 pound Max.
It WILL make your baby a bit droopy, though. So don't let it freak you out if he decides the thing he wants most in the world is an extra nap.
okay, I will definately be stopping at Walgreens tonight to pick this up. Funny you should both metion cortisone. My little guy has a bad back (some growth on his spine) that acts up every once and a while and we actually have cortisone pills to give him when it gets bad. But Nordey, like you said, it made him CRAZY hungry (and thirsty, so of course he'd have to pee a lot). Griff is not a begger, but when he was on cortisone, he'd take the food out of your mouth if you weren't paying attention.
PS - Nordey, gotta love the avatar! What a cutie!
There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself. - Thoreau
I third the Benedryl suggestion. I give that to my dog when she's iching a lot. It seems to happen in the summer time with her too. I give her the 25mg dose but she is 55 lbs. so I would think the children's dose would be okay for your smaller dog. We have also had to take her in for cortisone shots every once in a while when she gets really bad but we haven't for quite a while now. Changing her food seemed to help us a lot. We changed her to Natural Balance a when it first came out a while ago and she's done pretty well with the exception of a Benedryl every once in a while. You could also try a very plain diet to rule out food alergies. Our vet suggested white rice and skinless, boneless chicken boiled when our dog got pancreatitis. She scared us to death a couple years ago after we fed her our leftover breakfast. Our dog LOVES it but it really is a pain to keep up so after she was feeling better we went back to her normal food.
I hope you find a good solution for your furbaby. I know it's so hard to watch them itch and bite. I feel so bad when Sophie does it.
If my dog keeps it up, I'm taking her to the vet. She keeps biting at her paws and I'm worried about infection.
Yeah, Griff bites his paws too. Luckily, he doesn't seem to take it to the extreme, no hot spots and no blood or crusting. Just a lot of sleepless nights in our house! Funny how he's mostly fine during the day, but night gets him all sorts of itchy (we wonder if it's he's also maybe allergic to our laundry detergent)
Thanks for the help ladies! This is one of the many reasons why I just love this board!!
There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself. - Thoreau
My Dog Won't Stop Scratching/Biting/Itching - HELP!
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by guinevere
