dermatitis/allergies/help!

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MissJael

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I've a little bichon/poodle cross I rehomed almost 2 years ago. Her skin has always been iffy, she's nearly 6 now. She's always licked her paws and belly more than is healthy but never to the point where the skin has broken. She's always been comfortable and I've tried a multitude of foods to try to isolate any allergy, JWB, Royal Canin, Burns etc.

Over the last few weeks her licking has gone to a new level and I am loathe to take her to the vet because I know it'll be straight onto steroids for her - I've been on them myself and am trying to exhaust all avenues before I go down that road. It's red, she'll chew her legs until they bleed and I don't know what to do with her. I've had her in a soft 'cosy collar' which she appears quite happy with to physically stop her chewing herself but as soon as it's off she's straight back to it.

Her skin has dramatically improved since I put it on her but I can't keep a collar on her for the rest of her life :( So any advice on what to do would be great - she's not crying or distressed with it on which leads me to believe this is a habit rather than an actual itch. I've given her a small dose of piriton today but it's just making her sleepy, I've got some cod liver oil to start putting over her food. Of course if she needs to go to the vet then I'll happily take her, just looking for some thoughts/advice since skin problems seem quite common.
 
I've sent you a PM but in the meantime, what helped for my dog was the Piriton, frequent Malaseb baths (using a shower scrunchie as it is really hard to get to lather) and a really basic, low protein fish based food. Jollyes own brand fish and rice was the best but they discontinued it. Then Wainwrights SENIOR salmon and potato, from Pets at Home, even though my dog was not old, it was really low protein. The protein in dry food comes from grain, there is actually a lot less protein (which can make dogs 'hot') in wet food and raw meat, believe it or not.
However my dog could not tolerate raw for whatever reason!!

Rule out an intolerance to something in the home like a carpet, bedding, cleaning substance etc. Has the heating been on moreso this winter?

Also consider she may have something going on internally which she may not be able to reach and this is her way of dealing with it.
 
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Have you tried a true exclusion diet?
Pick one protein - pork is a good one and feed two parts to one with one veg - sweet potato or potato. NO TREATS.
Stick with this diet for over a week. If no improvement change one side.
At the same time check shampoos, washpowders, floor cleaners, air fresheners, scotchguard etc. as many dogs react to these.

I get a lot of iffy skin ( sorry -idiopathic dematitis) dogs sent to me. 90% can be sorted with food & surroundings.
 
Thank you both! CC your pms are full so I can't reply!

They (she comes as a pair with a full bichon who has no issues at all) spend most of their time in the kitchen on a tiled floor (they have beds!) with an aga running, the heat would be much the same all year round so no changes that way. No change in stuff their bedding is washed in or cleaning products at all.

They usually would be outside for the bulk of the day in a run with a kennel and bed but I was thinking the wet weather was what was making her worse so they're inside pretty much all the time now.

She's happy in herself, still waggy tailed and not mopey, it's just crud seeing her like this.

So let my thick self get this right - pork and sweet potato only with one type of veg to begin with? Treats are rare, I can't abide fat dogs, so they only get the manky broccoli stalks off my dinner plate :)

I'm off to tesco in the morning to stock up on the above, thanks for the help and I'll report back, no doubt with more questions!
 
If you think your vet would put her straight on steroids then find a new vet there are loads of ways to approach this problem without using steroids
 
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Have you considered allergy testing? We have allergy problems with 3 of our dogs, 2 have had the pin prick tests which are much more reliable (so the specialist vet told me) than blood tests which are more expensive too. They don't show food allergies though but the best way is by exclusion diet as already suggested. I am surprised by the suggestion of pork though I must admit.
Once the contact allergies have been pinpointed a vaccine can be tailored which has been very effective for ours.
 
Just pork & sweet potato for a week or two or pork & potato. Morrisons have some good deals if there is one near you.
I cube & roast it or drop it in the slow cooker. You can feed the pork raw if it has been frozen & defrosted but potatoes need to be cooked.
Seee if there are any changes on this. Pm me for more.
 
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I have a dog with atopy/allergies and I have found the following keeps things in control: weekly malaseb baths, daily piriton, topical application of fuciderm cream or surolan cream to little break outs of scabby / red bits, in the winter/wet weather he has his paws washed in dilute hibiscrub and dried thoroughly.
Luckily he's never been on steroids, just has perhaps 3 courses of antibiotics in a year if he gets a nasty infection (currently infected nailbeds/foot).food wise I feed raw which helps.

I've decided not to go down the route of immunotherapy, though I've heard atopy can worsen with age so perhaps in the future I may have to look at atopica or steroid sprays but fingers crossed not!
 
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We're on day 3 of pork and sweet potato, portion and cod liver oil. She is currently lying on me on the sofa, content as anything. Even in the few days since I posted she has calmed considerably and isn't scratching and biting as much. I'm still keeping the collar on when I can't supervise but fingers crossed this combination is starting to alleviate things. When she does go to bite herself she gets a tap and a 'no' which she seems to understand - the poodle part of her seems to mean she's incredibly fast at learning stuff - thanks from me and fluff for all help so far!
 
Thank you for the progress report. Give it another week and then if you see improvement we can look at changing one variable.
 
Could be the food, environment, habit. Sounds like food. Many dogs are allergic to grains and chicken. Weird.

Mine is environmental, his skin is currently perfect after not being allowed to go through scratchy stuff in the woods! Ridiculous for a springer, he has very thin fur on his chest and I'm going to look for a protective vest for him. Mad, mad!

Hope your girl is on the up :)
 
Reading various things online, I picked up some hibi wash today in boots and have bathed her with that. Large parts of Her skin feels and looks almost healthy after it and after the initial post bath scratching she's very settled. She also curls up when she's on my lap so I'm wondering is part of the problem some separation anxiety? Either way, I'm throwing the kitchen sink at this and compared to last week, we're a step forward.
 
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