Itchy Dog

**dschipman** · 09-14-2009, 12:16 PM

Can anyone give me some advise on what I can do to help my dog alleviate some of her uncomfortableness? She has been know to have allergies, and I do have an oatmeal shampoo for her, but she seems extremely miserable. My last option is the vet, but money is kinda tight and was wondering if anyone has any other suggestions?

TIA

**Nana2two** · 09-14-2009, 12:39 PM

If she only has hot spots ( certain areas) use a bit of baby oil on the area.The only other thing is sometimes the vets will shave them down to let the area heal.Call the vet and ask if you can give childs benydrahl. Some vets say its ok. But call.

**DAAC3DEC** · 09-14-2009, 12:39 PM

you can give a normally healthy dog benedryl......we have a basset hound that we give it to him on a regular basis due to his allergies. when one of the other dogs were sick she told us that benedryl and robitussin dm can both be used for dogs.

**Pemberleyan** · 09-14-2009, 01:38 PM

It's probably a food allergy. Almost all dog foods contain a grain (corn or wheat) as a primary ingredient, which is not a natural food for dogs. Because they're carnivores, their natural food is meat. Of course, I'm not saying stop feeding all dog food and start feeding 100% meat. All food changes should be made gradually to allow your dog's digestion to adjust.

You might try some of the allergy dog foods which are only available at pet stores or vet's offices. Dick Van Patten has a brand of dog food which offers a variety of allergy formulas.

I have a dog who is on a prescription venison food. If I feed him an off-the-shelf dog food like Purina, he would start reacting within the hour, chewing himself until he bled, so I know how bad it can be.

If you really want to spend some time learning about this, I'd suggest a book called Food Pets Die For by Ann Martin.

There are several books available on home-made diets for dogs. Do a search on Amazon. If you find one that sounds interesting, find out if your library can get it on loan from another library, if they don't have it, and it should only cost a couple of dollars for you to borrow it.

There are a variety of groups on Yahoo which you might find helpful. I'm sorry I can't remember the name of the one I used to belong to, but it was something like Natural Pet or Natural Pet Diet, etc.

I hope you find some relief for your pet!

**baxjul** · 09-14-2009, 01:40 PM

Our old dog, was allergic to fleas. So if even one flea bit her, she would itch herself bloody. We were advised to give childrens benedryl to her, and it helped alot.

**dschipman** · 09-14-2009, 01:56 PM

Thank you all. I just got off the phone with her vet office and they suggested benydryl. So I will try that, otherwise I need to take her in. She may need shots. I am just not sure about this...she is an older dog (17 years old). But I just hate seeing her like this. Thank you again.

**beks37** · 09-14-2009, 02:23 PM

Hopefully the Benadryl works! Whenever my dogs start itching a lot, I give them flea medicene and they are no longer itchy. One of my dogs itches so bad that she gets hot spots.

**akolb** · 09-14-2009, 02:35 PM

try bathing with dr. bronner's peppermint soap. i use it for me and my very itchy pup. its 100% vegan and the peppermint oil seems to help his itchies.

do everything you can before resorting to shots, our old dog had to do shots for flea allergies and the side effects were awful towards the end of her life.

**never2late** · 09-14-2009, 02:36 PM

I hope the Benadryl works... poor dog! We have a 9-year-old Golden with severe allergies in summer/fall. The first year we had her the Benadryl worked great. At this point though she gets prescription allergy pills and prednisone every summer. It is important to try to keep the itching down and the nails cut though because they can itch themselves into open sores otherwise. Good Luck!

**pat in east texas** · 09-14-2009, 04:05 PM

Benadryl and a corn-free diet worked for my Springer. The vet told me that most itchy dogs are allergic to corn, which is the first ingredient listed in many dog foods

**frugalfranny** · 09-14-2009, 04:18 PM

No help but thanks for posting......interesting reading and my little black girl has allergies........though not as bad as your dog. She just has the 'typical' poodle eyes that we fight.

I hope you find some relief for 'your baby'......let us know what you try and if it works........

**NewLeaf** · 09-14-2009, 08:18 PM

My springers had allergies and we never did figure out what caused them. The vet said one was allergic to pollen. He would get terrible hot spots. We gave them benedryl and put oil in their dog food (I forget what kind - it's been 20 yrs ago.) Poor babies. I hated to see them suffer.I hope your doggie feels better.

**Lori Biever-Launder** · 09-15-2009, 01:48 AM

What kind of food are you feeding? We can help you find a reasonably priced but QUALITY food!

**dschipman** · 09-15-2009, 08:00 AM

Well, the benydryl seemed to work last night. (crossing fingers) we feed her Pedigree canned food (she is unable to eat dry food). Hopefully this will work. Oh, and food suggestions are greatly appreciated.

**ilovechocolate** · 09-15-2009, 06:35 PM

Since we've switched from Science Diet to cheaper food, one of our dogs has been scratching like crazy. I'm going to put them back on the Science Diet because I can't stand having him so miserable. Neither one of them ever had skin problems till we switched.