Terrable itching, please HELP

[Sarge]

Thank you all again for the advice and info. Y'all have been very helpful!!!

 

[Halo_Amanda]

Raw is a great idea but you probally dont have to go that far, science diet densitive skin is absolutely awful for food allergies out of the forst 8 ingredients 6 of them are very bad.
SCIENCE DIET SENSITIVE SKIN: Brewers Rice, Whole Grain Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Pork Meal, Dried Egg Product, Soybean Oil, Flaxseed, Chicken Liver Flavor, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Lactic Acid, Potassium Chloride, L-Lysine, Iodized Salt, DL-Methionine, Calcium Carbonate, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, L-Tryptophan, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Mixed Tocopherols (a preservative), Citric Acid (a preservative), Taurine, Phosphoric Acid, Beta-carotene, Rosemary Extract

find yourself a good grain free food with no chicken, and make sure all his treats are grain free and chicken free as well. which means NO bread. and if you can find a salmon based one the oils will make a huge difference.

 

[Sadies Mom]

I agree with grain free food. I had a labrador with horrible itching and it turned out she had both thyroid issues and Addisons. She had to take steroids for the rest of her life.

 

[Sadies Mom]

Sarge, Is your boy doing any better? I sure hope so......

 

[Mamie2shoes]

I agree that RAW is best, if you can. We could not, our girl has chicken allergy and the other meats are too costly here. I was very disappointed not to be able to feed raw, but have been very happy with a high quality kibble. I have to have my local pet store order our brand in the sensitive stomach version once a month, but it is no hassle at all. There are a number of wonderful kibbles out there, and no one is perfect. It may take a few trials to find what works best for your fur-baby. SD is very bad for your baby. Look for grain free for sure and avoid the by-products. Trust me, the high quality may cost a little more,( it won't be much), but in the long run will save you tons in worry, vet appointments, salves, meds, shampoos, etc. And yes, your vet may recommend SD, but he is also paid to do so. There are lots of old school docs that are great and stick with what ever brands, but you are the parent and you have to do what is right for your baby. Not all vets are comfortable with RAW either, many look down on it, they consider it new. But if you research it, 100yrs ago before kibble, they ate people food. ANd wild dogs don't buy SD, they eat meat that they catch, they eat RAW. Good luck and know that whatever path you chose, you have to feel comfortable in and each will take a few weeks to work out to see if it helps. Keep us posted

 

[Robtouw]

My last OEM, Buddy, was allergic to minerals in our well water. Once we changed to bottled water and got his baths elsewhere the itching stopped. He was driving us crazy and we had tried all sorts of changes to figure out what the issue was.

 

[babyjoemurphy]

Our EM that we adopted 4 weeks a go has re-occuring ear (yeast) infections and after the help on here I took him off Chicken and grains. I found out that chicken doesn't cause the infections, it actually breaks down the skin barrier that allows for the allergy to take hold of them. I was told so many times by people that were suppose to know dogs that chicken wont be the problem.
Once I got the low down on here I switched Murphy right away. He is not in total change over of food, his stools are finally solid (he came here with loose stools) and we are still working on the ear issue.
Gotta check the bag to make sure there is NOTHING chicken.
Goodluck!

 

[ruthcatrin]

Yah, watch out for "poultry fat" or "animal fat" cause there's no way to find out what they are, and chicken is cheap usually.....