Really itchy dog- ideas?

meandmyself

meandmyself

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We had him to the vet just before Christmas because he was scratching so much he was making himself bleed. He got a steroid injection and a bottle of epi-soothe shampoo. He's started scratching again today- again, so badly he's taking the hair off his back. I've put him in a baby t-shirt to protect his skin a bit and he's going to the vets again in the morning.

Any ideas on what could be making him itch so much? He's a 13y/o CKCS. No fleas/ticks/other creepies. Fed on Bakers dry dog food. (I know, I know, but it's out of my control. I've tried and can't convince my mother to feed him something else. Plus, it's actually one of the only things he'll eat.) Bedding is washed every other day in sensitive/non bio powder.

My gut feeling is that it's the food. I'm going to try convince her to change it again. Our last vet recommended it so I think she thinks it's good food.

Thanks!
 
My staffy was itchy. On vets advice changed his food to a hypo allergenic one which is wheat free etc and its cleared up and his fur has all grown back :)
 
Copperpot said:
My staffy was itchy. On vets advice changed his food to a hypo allergenic one which is wheat free etc and its cleared up and his fur has all grown back :)
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Do you know the name of the food?

The problem is, he's really fussy. I've tried him on all sorts over the years and he'll flat out refuse to eat it if he doesn't like it. (Fish for dogs dried, their fish, nature's diet (the wet trays- ate it well at first then gradually lost interest), james wellbeloved (which he particularly hated and refused to eat at all), burns, wainwrights. There's probably more that I can't remember.
 
He's now on Symply salmon and potato. He's not fussy thou and will eat anything. He also has hypo allergenic treats too. They sell it in small bags so you can try it to see if it helps and they like it before you splash out on a big bag! There are lots of other food that is hypo allergenic, I just tried this one first and it did the trick so have stuck with it.
 
Supertrooper said:
Has he had skin scrapes or blood test for sarcoptes?

If yes and negative then I'd try him on a better diet xx
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Yep, he had skin scrapes done in the last set of visits. All clear for nasty critters. :)

I do think it's the food. Ideas for something better that won't break the bank? (We have four dogs and they all need to be on the same thing.)

Thanks!
 
Copperpot said:
He's now on Symply salmon and potato. He's not fussy thou and will eat anything. He also has hypo allergenic treats too. They sell it in small bags so you can try it to see if it helps and they like it before you splash out on a big bag! There are lots of other food that is hypo allergenic, I just tried this one first and it did the trick so have stuck with it.
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Thank you! Off to google that. I'm not sure that he'll eat it, but it is worth a try.
 
It does smell strongly and my other dogs who are on normal food are mad keen on it! I ran out of their food so they had to have some of his! I could post you a bit of it to try if you like? In a little sealed bag or something lol.
 
meandmyself said:
Yep, he had skin scrapes done in the last set of visits. All clear for nasty critters. :)

I do think it's the food. Ideas for something better that won't break the bank? (We have four dogs and they all need to be on the same thing.)

Thanks!
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hypoallergenic food is usually quite expensive, why do they all need to be on the same food?
 
Jools2345 said:
hypoallergenic food is usually quite expensive, why do they all need to be on the same food?
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Because if one is getting something that smells better than the other, they all refuse to eat the normal food! I can only split them up so much to feed them. (Small house!)
 
Copperpot said:
It does smell strongly and my other dogs who are on normal food are mad keen on it! I ran out of their food so they had to have some of his! I could post you a bit of it to try if you like? In a little sealed bag or something lol.
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Thank you for the offer! :) It's very kind of you. I'll get back to you tomorrow after the vet visit. :)
 
No worries :) at least you could see if he will eat it then! We did have a fussy dog once but found it we let a other one stand over her when she was eating, the threat of having her food stolen, soon made her eat up!
 
My collie was on bakers and he became very itchy. It got so bad that he made the beginning of his tail very raw. It went on for a while and numerous visits to the vet and nothing worked. It was only by chance that I changed his dog food and his itching stopped! I moved him onto autarky as I got it free from work. I now give him Arden grange senior which he seems to like. He has not been itchy since.
 
Copperpot said:
No worries :) at least you could see if he will eat it then! We did have a fussy dog once but found it we let a other one stand over her when she was eating, the threat of having her food stolen, soon made her eat up!
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I've tried just about everything to get him to eat. Not much works apart from hand feeding him, which I'm not willing to do! ;) If the other dogs go near to him, he just wanders away.

Umbongo said:
My collie was on bakers and he became very itchy. It got so bad that he made the beginning of his tail very raw. It went on for a while and numerous visits to the vet and nothing worked. It was only by chance that I changed his dog food and his itching stopped! I moved him onto autarky as I got it free from work. I now give him Arden grange senior which he seems to like. He has not been itchy since.
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Thank you! Like I said, my gut feeling is the food.
 
How long will he go without food when he is being fussy?
Hunger is a great sauce after all....and unless he has diabetes or another serious illness missing a few meals until in a routine will do no harm.

I find that many fussy eaters are more picky than fussy and will wait for the foods they prefer but wont starve themselves in the longterm. The routine of food goes down at set times of a day and comes back up after ten minutes with No other food in between...and reoffer food at next feedtime and removed again after ten minutes can convince most dogs to eat what they are offered when it is offered.
 
Aru said:
How long will he go without food when he is being fussy?
Hunger is a great sauce after all....and unless he has diabetes or another serious illness missing a few meals until in a routine will do no harm.

I find that many fussy eaters are more picky than fussy and will wait for the foods they prefer but wont starve themselves in the longterm. The routine of food goes down at set times of a day and comes back up after ten minutes with No other food in between...and reoffer food at next feedtime and removed again after ten minutes can convince most dogs to eat what they are offered when it is offered.
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this
 
Aru said:
How long will he go without food when he is being fussy?
Hunger is a great sauce after all....and unless he has diabetes or another serious illness missing a few meals until in a routine will do no harm.

I find that many fussy eaters are more picky than fussy and will wait for the foods they prefer but wont starve themselves in the longterm. The routine of food goes down at set times of a day and comes back up after ten minutes with No other food in between...and reoffer food at next feedtime and removed again after ten minutes can convince most dogs to eat what they are offered when it is offered.
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Last time, he went for almost a week, even doing what you say. He's not a big dog so he doesn't have much spare weight to lose. Believe me, we've tried just about everything. (We got him at 8 weeks old- he's 13 now!)

Even the vet says he's one of the fussiest dogs they've seen.
 
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