Help! Best treatment for dog licking until hes sore ?

Maxine67

Maxine67

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My 10 year old crossbreed has always had skin issues which I've managed to keep on top of over the years, the last few months it seems to have got worse and he was on Apoquel for a few weeks which definitely was working, but it's so expensive I can't afford to keep him on it. But he's licking between his back legs and making himself really sore, I've just had to put a cone on him to stop him licking ? Can anyone recommend anything that isn't ridiculous expensive and might actually help?
 
What's he fed on?

Have you eliminated all the usual things like grass or tree pollen, household surfaces/soft furnishings/cleaning products?

You could try sulphur tablets or sulphur in drinking water and I've had success with things like Oil4Dogs and Botanica 5-in-1 spray or the wash diluted.

Also be aware of things like central heating and try to rack your brains to think of any environmental change/additional stressors in the past few months.
 
CorvusCorax said:
What's he fed on?

Have you eliminated all the usual things like grass or tree pollen, household surfaces/soft furnishings/cleaning products?

You could try sulphur tablets or sulphur in drinking water and I've had success with things like Oil4Dogs and Botanica 5-in-1 spray or the wash diluted.

Also be aware of things like central heating and try to rack your brains to think of any environmental change/additional stressors in the past few months.
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He has a grass allergy, I'm thinking the drier summer we have had may mean the grass is harbouring more grass mites than normal, I did change his flea treatment a few months ago too so maybe it's not working as well as I thought ? Plus he had cruciate ligament surgery 4 months ago, so maybe there is longer lasting stress from that?
 
meleeka said:
Did you get a prescription from your vet and buy online? If not, have a look and you’ll probably be able to buy it much cheaper that way.
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I bought it direct from my vet but, yes you're right I might be able to buy it cheaper online, I'll have a look into it.
 
Do you manage to keep him off grass? If not, it might be worth seeing if you can put him in a dog coat with legs, to see if a barrier would be effective. Definitely have a look at his diet too, An old vet I used to work with used to advise feeding chicken and boiled rice to any itchy dog, treat for fleas and come back in ten days if dog is still itchy. The few that did return usually went on to be diagnosed with something or other. Keep him off your carpets as far as possible as skin reactions to the stainguard chemicals are fairly common, and be careful with soap powder residues if you wash his bedding. My daughter's dog has itched for years, with no real diagnosis. Switching food to tinned meat and biscuits from complete pellet food has cleared it completely for the first time in years. Good luck, I hope you find a cure.
 
Highmileagecob said:
Do you manage to keep him off grass? If not, it might be worth seeing if you can put him in a dog coat with legs, to see if a barrier would be effective. Definitely have a look at his diet too, An old vet I used to work with used to advise feeding chicken and boiled rice to any itchy dog, treat for fleas and come back in ten days if dog is still itchy. The few that did return usually went on to be diagnosed with something or other. Keep him off your carpets as far as possible as skin reactions to the stainguard chemicals are fairly common, and be careful with soap powder residues if you wash his bedding. My daughter's dog has itched for years, with no real diagnosis. Switching food to tinned meat and biscuits from complete pellet food has cleared it completely for the first time in years. Good luck, I hope you find a cure.
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That's interesting, over the years I've tried him on various different food, he's currently on Tesco own senior dry and tinned (not the best but he'll eat it!) when you say biscuits do you mean a mixer rather than dry complete kibble?
We do walk on grass every day, just so he can have off lead time, otherwise he is miserable ?
 
Would getting him to the beach and into the tide for a paddle help? My collie had a weird skin thing some years ago, and this worked for him. I hope you find a solution soon.
 
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