Itchy skin terrier!! - need to come off the steroids!

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trottingpole

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our small white terrier first got itchy, scratchy red skin in April aged 6 months old, so we took her to the vets and she had a cortisone injection and we started her on 2 piriton a day. we are pretty sure its a grass allergy.

Back to the vets again in july cos she was really bad, put on prednisalone, 2x a day, reduced to one a day after a week, and then 1/2 a tab after another week, but she was soon scratching again, so but we had to put her back up to one a day.

whenever she comes off the 1 a day she itches soooo badly :(

if she stays inside for a few days that definitely helps, but if she has a few hours outside on the grass the irritation worsens -

if we wash her with hibiscrub after being on the grass that does seem to sooth a little.

Vet has mentioned Atopica as keeping her on steroids this long is really bad for her, but atopica is quite expensive.

does anyone else have a similar experience/advice?

thanks so much
 
my pooch used to get this, he used to itch himself raw :( he didnt grow out of it totally but it did get miles better as he got older and barely noticable in the end. he was a terrier aswel, i found the best thing was to buy T-shirts! :o means they can itch to their hearts content but doesnt make their skin raw but also stops whatever they are allergic to getting to them :) made a huge difference. went through heck of a lot of t shirts in the begining tho! :eek:
I also found with him that it was worst of all in spring...?
 
Our late GSD who we lost about 4 weeks ago (not to do with her allergies) had a reaction to 48 of the 50 tests she had done, bless her! She was itchy to the point she was tearing herself to pieces, she'd ruin anything we put on her and ended up having laser surgery on her pressure points on her elbows.
We had great success with Atopica - it really did help her, at times of a large flare up we did have to go back onto steroids just to break the cycle for a week but not very often.
The tablets are expensive from what I remember about £5 a large tablet but your dog will probably not be on a high dose (and our GSD after a few years ended up on the dose recommended for a cocker spaniel!) they are covered by insurance, and well, well worth it.
K x
 
I've got an itchy dog that started about the same age as yours. She used to make herself raw all over her stomach and down the insides of her legs. She isn't a very hairy dog so doesn't have much protection. She is nearly 3. This year she is very different - she probably has sore skin for a couple of days a month rather than every day. I've been told that many dogs with grass allergies are often allergic to beef so I have changed her food to Skinners hyperallergenic (£20 for15kg) and she has Winalot tins (they are the only cans I can find that don't have beef in). The difference is huge. She is also very sensible somehow she knows she gets itchy on grass and will choose to lie on concrete when the other dogs are lying on the grass. I also try not to let her go in very long grass as this always makes her worse. The days she is bad it only takes a couple of steroid tablets in the evening to get on top of it again. I also use ExmaRid Skin Soother spray (about £4 for 75ml lasts ages as fine spray) which contains Tea tree, aloe vera and vit E. Last year I did use a probiotic powder by pooch and mutt specifically for itchy dogs but I have stopped using it as she has seemed so much better this summer.
Sorry this turned into a bit of an essay but hopefully some may be useful!
 
Foxhunter49 said:
A lot of allergies start with what you are feeding. Try raw feeding and odds are that the allergies will be greatly alleviated if not disappear totally.
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Our Patterdale started getting really itchy, eventually getting a bald patch. We took him to the vet who said it might be a food allergy. He put him on steroids for 2 weeks to see if it broke the cycle, which it did. He then suggested we try gluten free food - apparently its quite common now but there is no test for it so you just have to try it.

We feed him on Wafcol Salmon & Potato with Webbox chubb - both gluten free. He then has a lot of fresh fish, or sardines from a tin. For treats he gets thing like dried chicken or duck, paddy wacks or pigs ears.

Itching all gone, condition and coat looking great. Really worth trying, but you must be sure you have cut out everything that may have any gluten in it.
 
You could try sulphur tablets and rock sulphur in the water bowl.
Our Border, Ben used to be allergic to hay and straw (grass didn't seem to affect him) and the only thing that helped him were sulphur tablets when it was bad. You can get them off the health counter at the chemists; he would have one a day in a piece of cheese while it was bad; I was told not to give them permanently in case he became immune to them, about £5 for 100 I think.
Sulphur is a well known skin conditioner; I also wonder if brewers yeast would help as that is too.
 
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