VERY itchy dog

92Grainne1992

I have a nearly 11 year old English Setter. In the last 8/9 months, she's begun constantly scratching herself to the point now where she is bleeding. She has large scabs behind both of her ears and her stomach is so torn up it looks like chicken pox. She's been to the vet and all he says he can do is put her on steroids for the rest of her life. The steroids are too expensive for us to afford and I was hoping somebody had some home remedies that I could try. She's usually at her tummy now and is digging her nose into her skin and making a kind of "gobbling" sound, if that makes any sense.

There is also a lump on her right ear that's soft and squishy to touch. It was popped with a pin last weekend and we discovered it was filled with blood. It has since refilled so I imagine it needs to be drained. But if anyone had any ideas what it is/what caused it?

She usually stays with my dad who lives in the countryside in wicklow. He has recently just bought a cottage and is renovating it. Maybe the building materials/something in the grass is irritating her skin?

She is also carted from Wicklow to Clare on a weekly basis, as my dad lives alone and travels to his partner's house once a week. Maybe it is stress? I would be greatly appreciative of some advice She means the world to me and I hate seeing her in pain from an itch

cocker5

92Grainne1992 wrote: »

I have a nearly 11 year old English Setter. In the last 8/9 months, she's begun constantly scratching herself to the point now where she is bleeding. She has large scabs behind both of her ears and her stomach is so torn up it looks like chicken pox. She's been to the vet and all he says he can do is put her on steroids for the rest of her life. The steroids are too expensive for us to afford and I was hoping somebody had some home remedies that I could try. She's usually at her tummy now and is digging her nose into her skin and making a kind of "gobbling" sound, if that makes any sense.

There is also a lump on her right ear that's soft and squishy to touch. It was popped with a pin last weekend and we discovered it was filled with blood. It has since refilled so I imagine it needs to be drained. But if anyone had any ideas what it is/what caused it?

She usually stays with my dad who lives in the countryside in wicklow. He has recently just bought a cottage and is renovating it. Maybe the building materials/something in the grass is irritating her skin?

She is also carted from Wicklow to Clare on a weekly basis, as my dad lives alone and travels to his partner's house once a week. Maybe it is stress? I would be greatly appreciative of some advice She means the world to me and I hate seeing her in pain from an itch

have you changed her food? what do you feed her?

skin allergies are often linked to diet.

Poor pet sounds like shes really in a bad way

92Grainne1992

Shes in bits my heart is broken with her, the vet suggested her food was too rich in protein (I think my dad used to give her tinned cat food - stupid p***k) It has been changed, I'm not sure to what but it hasnt made a blind bit of difference - the only thing that's stopping it is the steroids and they cost a bomb

andreac

Did she have blood tests done?

92Grainne1992

Not that I know of, she's been to the vet 3 or 4 times with the same thing, I'm going to bring her up to the blue cross and see can they drain her ear and give me a dose of tablets for her... Hopefully they'll do bloods aswell?

andreac

Yeah i would def get them to do a full set of bloods. Sounds like the other vet didnt really look too much in to it. Hopefully you get her sorted. Poor girl.

aquinn

My dog has been scratching at herself for a few weeks as suddenly seems highly irritated. Was put on steroids and they didn't help. Doesn't have fleas. Then given solution to dip her in for mange, did this 3 times. Back to the vet again as it's not her food as already on a special diet. Another washing solution to be done 5-7 days and also done 3 times with no improvement. Was told the last visit it was a bacterial skin condition. She now has bald spot. Another vet, as have seen 4 in the same practice, asked if there were foxes about that she may have picked up something. Maybe a possibility if your dog is in the countryside? Hopefully somewhat helpful.

Edit as someone kindly suggested their Parents dog started to fall apart with age and had everything wrong with him. Not nice but maybe age related?

DBB

OP, you really need to try a different vet... it doesn't sound from what you posted as if the vet she has been with is really trying that hard. A simple skin scrape will help to determine whether you're dealing with a parasites (one of the bothersome mites dogs get) or not. The haematoma on her ear is likely as a result of head shaking from the itch... setters are rather prone to them.
I'm interested too that you say the steroids are expensive? They shouldn't be... they're a very cheap medication, you're looking at only a few cents for each tablet... which begs the question, do you know the name of the medication she's on?
Protein as such is very unlikely to cause skin problems, although some dogs develop allergies to chicken or beef. Cat food probably isn't the best, but in fact may be better for dogs then cheap tinned dog food is!

Millem

Steroids are cheap....I pay €7/€8 for 30!

The only food my girl will tolerate is burns. Anything else including perscription food makes her itchy and get ear infections. I am convinced it is the beet pulp in the other foods.

njs030

As the others said make sure you go to a different vet, in the meantime have you tried rubbing a thin layer of coconut oil on her itchy areas? Maybe just for the weekend until she can see someone else.

My little dog can get very itchy now and then and coconut oil completely soothes it....though he goes mad when the other dogs surround him trying to lick it off!!

Of course whatever your dog has is much worse and does need professional treatment but it might help a small bit.

Dubl07

It's awful when a vet lets you down but it's time to see a different one. In the meantime, order some Thornit for your dog's itchy bits, particularly the ears. It keeps my dog's ears sweet and mostly itch free.

92Grainne1992

Thanks guys, I think we have it sussed... Its a bad case of mites (I hope) She's on cream and new tablets now so say a little prayer for the poor pet

JPA

92Grainne1992 wrote: »

Thanks guys, I think we have it sussed... Its a bad case of mites (I hope) She's on cream and new tablets now so say a little prayer for the poor pet

How could the vet not know this? You need a new one!

92Grainne1992

Useless bogger vet in Ennis don't ask, thats the advice we got from her breeder so fingers crossed he can fix her

ElKavo

Have you tried an oatmeal bath? It wont address the underlying issue but it may help alleviate the poor girls suffering.

92Grainne1992

ElKavo wrote: »

Have you tried an oatmeal bath? It wont address the underlying issue but it may help alleviate the poor girls suffering.

No but id give it a go, can you let me know how to make the oatmeal bit?

ElKavo

92Grainne1992 wrote: »

No but id give it a go, can you let me know how to make the oatmeal bit?

Hi Grainne, What I did was got an old clean sock and filled it to half way with oatmeal (porridge oats) and tied it off. Then popped into a watering can (as we don't have a bath in the house) and filled the watering can with water. Leave it soak through the oatmeal for about 20 mins and then shower the doggie with it. My Shadow had awful paws (Almost bear from nibbling) from bad mange when I took her in and this definitely helped with the itchiness until we could get her some anti histamines and the mange treated.

If you have a bath or baby bath you could just pop the sock into the water for about 20 mins and then pop herself in there too.

Hope that helps.