My dog is makin bits of herself!

DogsFirst

KingIsabella wrote: »

Recently got a rescue dog whos settled in really well! Only thing is the ;ast week shes literally being scratching the daylights out of herself. Knawing all by her tail and legs, then scratching her chest head and neck with her hind legs. I brought her to the vet who gave her an antiinflammatory and anti biotics, I also put flea drops on her and put a collar on her a few days ago. On her chest you can see the red skin through her white coat.

It's gotten to the stage now that if shes not sleeping, walking or eating, shes biting and scratching herself to no end! I'm wondering are the antibiotics not agreeing with her or is she allergic to the new food? She doesn't get table scraps but she is walked in an area with lots of overbgrowth, rabbits, foxes and horses but i can't see anything crawling on her?

Could it be a skin condition or are there any common factors that aggravate dogs skin other than fleas or ticks?? Any help is apprweciated as im not too sure i can afford bringing her back to the vet until next payday!

Hi KI, it's very very likely this is a dietary intolerance (most likely gluten or possibly a processed chicken or beef allergen). Rescues eat cheap dry food which is positively laced with nasty chemicals. Low vit C therein and high stress in kennels brings out strong immune reactions to processed food so rescues are prone to this. Get her off wheat based dry food (or in the least move her to a rice / potatoe based dry food), get off all dry food completely is preferable. Boil up a load of rice in mean time with turkey mince (won't inititate a response as relatively novel to the dog) and scrambled egg (100% digestible), and feed this for 5 days.

Supplement with diet with lots of sardines. one or two fish oil caps a day. Also add quarter of a human cap of vit C in each meal. Bathe skin in aloe (heals) and calendula (reduces pain and swelling) and oatmeal mix as often as possible. One drop of rescue remedy in water is great too. Cut out all flea and worm chemicals, do not give steroids which shut down the skin trying to do its job.

Takes four days to disappear. I specialise and lecture to vets in allergy dogs, it's sound advice and works 9/10. Contact me day 4 if itch has not reduced by 50%

maggiepip

Millem wrote: »

Maggiepie that dermaction sounds brilliant, can you get it from vet or is it only available online?

You can only get it online and it really does work. Ive been using it for the past 3 years - on and off when Oscar gets a flare up - (I usually only have to use it for a couple of weeks a couple of times a year).

It means I can avoid using steroids (which were effectively making him worse as everytime he came off them his skin would flare up even more). Its totally safe and natural. Its super stuff.

maggiepip

I see an Irish SPCA have found Dermacton - The little Westie, second story from top:)http://www.aromesse.com/skin-problem/petnat-equinat-healthcare-treatment-photos.html

DogsFirst

Remember though all, as long as the antigen keeps going in, all the creams and potions are only plasters, hiding the festering wound beneath. Need to tackle the cause, not the symptoms. Don't let an effective cream deter you from finding the problem.

maggiepip

DogsFirst wrote: »

Remember though all, as long as the antigen keeps going in, all the creams and potions are only plasters, hiding the festering wound beneath. Need to tackle the cause, not the symptoms. Don't let an effective cream deter you from finding the problem.

I agree with that fully and I have found a gluten free diet to be helpful for Oscar along with Salmon Oil - I also use probiotics and digestive enzymes - gut health is really important. If you keep boosting the immune system then it will over react less to allergens.

However I think a lot of my dogs problems are house mites, pollens and ever changing allergies.

I have put so much work into his diet etc....and have never really been able to pinpoint any one real flare up food (apart from royal canin dry food which sent him ballistic) - I dont feed any dry food anymore.

So, there are times, I feel, no matter what you do he will get a flare up from, dust or pollens or whatever - and the Dermacton helps manage it until his skin settles down again.

DogsFirst

Absolutely, that's what happens, the situation becomes confusing. People are spending their lives studying this and hitting a lot of brick walls. In short, and excluding an immediate problem with something which you will know all about, it takes many weeks / months / years to develop an intolerance, be it to the gluten content or a developed sensitivity to a denatured cooked protein such as beef and chicken (the number one and two allergens in dogs today, which is actually incorrect now, gluten is). For this development to occur the system has been bombarded, assaulted, for ages by antigens. Worn out (hypo-responsive), the system can take no more attacks and disease sneaks in, materialising in almost anything. This disease is then treated like its the problem. Cancer growths in a young dog for example.

However there is the opposite reaction, an over zealous (hyper-responsive) reaction to something. This is essentially your dogs body freaking out at the very next challenge - a new floor cleaner, a simple flea bite, dust mites for heaven sake!!! They're supposed to live in burrows!!!

You the dog owner experiencing these are left chasing your tails. With a ruined immune system your dog is susceptible to many things. Even if you get the diet right it takes months or years to correct damage, a lot of which cannot be corrected as the immune system learns, good or bad. Add to the that completely unprepared vets and a poor employment of exclusion diets (due to poor guidance) which fail identify the real underlying problems despite some valiant efforts, and dog owners are left pumping steroids into their dogs.

The very short of it, it is dry, processed food caused, it is fresh food cured, with a whole heap of stuff in the middle!!!

KingIsabella

Thank you very much Dogs First! I'll get her on that diet asap. I gave her the two raw chuicken thighs last night and taken the advice of a few on here, i got her brandy wet food just to tide her over in the mornings until i can fully get a grasp of this barf thing! Ill get on the brown mince and turkey mince too. Anything thatll stop her scratching and biting atthis stage! She's not kickin her chest as much the day and a half which is good! But constantly biting and licking the same stops on her legs and feet!

DogsFirst

Poor little thing, but it'll soon be over. Give her a nice bath, helps for about 30mins.........and I forgot to say, I would starve her for a feed or two too, let all that disgusting dry food sludge purge from her system! Distilled water in mean time if you want to be posh (or cold water from a boiled kettle) with a sprinkle of sugar and salt. And don't forget the vit C and fish oil. Very important for immune function!!

Best of luck, lots of people on here with lots of good advice and success stories.