Itching Dog...

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Riven

Riven

Bad Chin
Joined
Jan 29, 2009
Messages
3,584
Location
Central Nebraska
My dog itches... a LOT!

I'm currently wondering if it's a food allergy... his skin is slightly redened where he always itches, but not dry or flakely or anything, he gets frontline and I even checked him for fleas anyway... it's gotten worse as fall is coming in.

Any thoughts? I feed Diamond Natural's Chicken and Rice formula, he's a golden retriever, 1 yr old, neutered male. The other dog doesn't scratch but he might just be too old to scratch... lol :rofl: Don't tell him I said that...
 
I would say hot spots due to allergies. I have 4 dogs and only one gets hot spots I believe from wheat. I gave her a bath shaved that area and diluted tree tea oil with warm water and applied with cotton balls. I also gave her benetryl (sp?) per a vet tech. They are fed Natural Balance allergy or grain free food.
 
This is his current feed ingredients, we've used it for a long time and he's always been on it, the itching has not always been there though. We had to have corn free for my last dog and just never changed him off it or anything. I was debating on trying some benedryl since it is a time for increased airborne allergies as well, but I was thinking about trying the food change first? I don't want to cover up the benefits or downfalls of the food change with the benedryl... If they are hot spots, they are not traditional hot spots that I've seen... the itching is on his belly, behind his ears, and on his sides, with the occasional leg "biting" itch. It's been lately so annoying to him he'll just stop walking and itch, I bath him at my mom's grooming shop with gentle shampoo, what she uses there, and change his kennel blankets at least once a week, sometimes more often.


Ingredients:
Chicken, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, white rice, cracked pearled barley, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), oatmeal, beet pulp, egg product, flaxseed, natural chicken flavor, fish meal, potassium chloride, choline chloride, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.


Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein 26.0% Minimum
Crude Fat 16.0% Minimum
Crude Fiber 3.0% Maximum
Moisture 10.0% Maximum
Zinc 150 mg/kg Minimum
Selenium 0.4 mg/kg Minimum
Vitamin E 150 IU/kg Minimum
Omega-6 Fatty Acids * 2.5% Minimum
Omega-3 Fatty Acids * 0.4% Minimum
 
Grains (rice & barley in Diamond) and chicken are two of the top food allergens in dogs. I would first try a grain free food for a month or two, and then I would try grain-free and chicken free food for another couple of months. Allergies can pop up at any time, so it is very possible that he's allergic to his food.

Taste of the Wild, for example, has a fish-based food, a bison-based food, a lamb-based food, and a duck & chicken based food...and all are grain free.

If the food doesn't work, I would start to rule other things out and do Benedryl after you've exhausted other options.
 
Golden's are known for their skin problems - scratching. I have one but so far the only reason he scratches is because of fleas. I have heard that using a lamb food works better than chicken and/or beef for skin allergies
 
My biggest issues is I do not have ready access to a large selection of food types. Not trying to sound mean here to anyone but a lot of people who live in large cities forget that not everyone has a plethora of selection around the corner. An example of that is the nearest chain pet store like petco or petsmart is over 2 1/2 hrs away.

I'm not trying to sound un-open to suggestions, believe me we've been living crash course in MBD in chameleons in the last two weeks, but I don't have access to any completely grain free foods without driving nearly 3 hrs each way, and that's a long drive to pick up food...

I do have access to lamb based...
 
Yep, I was going to say, in my area, Tractor Supply has the cheapest TOTW, but I actually buy it on Pet Care Rx website...one bag will get you free shipping, and their price ($42.99 last week when I bought some) is even lower than TSC.
 
I talked to the vet and he suggested trying the benedryl first because allergies are out of control here this year with a dry fall and harvest starting, so we'll see how that does....
 
Omega 3 fatty acid supplements will help also. My mixed breed was very red and itchy last year. No fleas then and no fleas now. She is about 90% less itchy this year than she was last year. I squeeze out one capsule in her food once or twice a day.
 
My golden retriever was very itchy all the time too and we realized he was allergic to chicken. We switched his Blue Buffalo to lamb and he's much better now. He still itches sometimes, especially when we forget to give him his flea meds on time, but it's way better than it was when he was on the chicken food.
 
Kiba got some allergies from rolling in the grass, she's an 8 month old huskey puppy. I got her some new shampoo that has oatmeal in it and washed her pretty good, after a few days she stopped scratching.
 
my dogs all have allergies.

My chihuahua is allergic to the Fort Dodge Animal Health Rabies Vax, so she gets a benadryl before her rabies shot.

my 2 labs have environmental allergies. my female lab gets itchy ears and will dig at them if i dont keep her on chlortabs. she also gets flaxseed oil, fish oil and Vit. E (vet told me Vit. E works on a cellular level to help with itchy inflamed skin) my male lab gets skin infections on his belly, they start as red itchy spots but then he digs at them and then it becomes infected. next spring he is getting a depo shot and hopefully he will be comfortable for a while. i use allermyle(sp?) shampoo on him and have used epi-soothe but it seems like bathing him causes it to get worse. his skin infections seem to have stopped for the season so we will see what spring brings... (he is also on the same regiment as my female lab for pills.)

Does your vet provide science diet or Purina PVD? the Science diet has a few alternative foods with diffrent types of meat and vegetable bases. i think they have a rabbit and sweet potatoes or something. the Purina PVD 'HA' is kinda bland its just a allergen free food.
 
We don't have PVD around here and I will not feed science diet on principal of it. They are a terrible company to work with and I won't support their bad ethics. Same with Iams.
 
We put a tablespoon of oil into my dog's food for a while during allergy season and bathe her in episoothe or selson blue. The selson blue was recommended by a vet but turned my all white dog pink. It wasn't pretty but it worked on the itching. It doesn't happen to all dogs, but my white german shepherd was just too white, apparently. We also had to put our dog on a grain free diet.

Grains have been modified over the years to have higher gluten content for better consistency. Grains have 10,000 times the amount of gluten than they did a hundred years ago. This is why more and more dogs (and people) are having issues with grains.

I live out in bu-fu too, so I know it's rough to find grain free foods. Just remember: It's always an option to start a fresh food diet. Eliminating grains may very well be in your dog's best interests.
 
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