Itch crazy

[catnapper]

hi, I'm new here, I see that many people seem to have the same problem of sorts... mu 9 yo Nicki is allergic to bug bites - the next bee sting will land her in the emergency vet. She is DEFINATELY allergic to flees. We had a bad flee season in our area this year, just walking outside we would bring flees in on the bottom of our shoes! All of my neighbors had problems, even our vet.

Anyway, its been WEEKs since the last flee was combed. I never found one on Nicki, mostly found them on the cats (both of whom never go outside) She is still itching badly and I've recently notcied large red bumps and scabs on her skin where she's itching (these were not there during the flee days.) The bumps are about the diameter of a pencil eraser and do not puff out too far...they are definately red and are flaky... is this a skin condition or bug related?

I give her an oatmeal bath on a weekly basis now and she gets daily doses of Benadryl. My daughter had poison oak in September, so I've also been using the topical anti-itch w/ steroids and that seems to help. BTW, she was on steroids but we've gone through two full courses of them with no result (other than the frequent need to pee) she was on presecription hydrocortizone too, but the Benadryl works just as well.

What,if anything, can we do to helpher? Has anybody else seen this?

[robinh]

Our dachshund, Max is allergic to 3 kinds of dust mites and flea saliva. We had a blood sample sent by the vet to Heska for allergy testing. They developed a serum for him which he now gets monthly. During the summer he was getting it every two weeks. It really did help. Check with your vet about the allergy testing.

Max got the same kinds of bumps. He still has some, but they are getting fewer since we also discovered that he is allergic to the corn in dog food. Through process of elimination and some help from PT people (Thanks again Micki & ParNone!!), we changed all their food to "Wellness Fish & Sweet Potato". Currently he is not itching and chewing. Such a relief for him.

[micki76]

Hi catnapper!

Have you taken Nicki to the vet to have her checked for a staph infection? That's kind of what it sounds like. Most dogs with bad allergies will end up with a staph infection secondary to the original allergy. My Chester has allergies and they flared up on our recent trip to Austin. He's now on an antibiotic and he had the same kind of marks on his chest from the infection.

[wolfsoul]

Has the vet done a scraping to determine if she has ringworm?

It's good that you give an oatmeal bath, keep that up. Have you thought of adding some aloe vera to the bath water? That might help a little.

Diet can also play a role. What food are you currently feeding?

[catnapper]

Staph infection? Ringworm? Ugh! Now, forgive me for sounding uninformed, but how bad are either of them? Ringworm sounds devasting.

I've taken her to the vets for this when the itching began, but haven't been able to since I've noticed the little bumps that I've described. I've lost my job, so I'll have to talk to my husband about a vet trip. Even thought money is incredibly tight, chances are he'll say "Go! Take her!" He lovces the dog too.

[micki76]

We did the scraping for ringworm early on with Chester and it was negative, as our vet expected. Most likely, if she had ringworm someone in your home would too. I had a kitten with ringworm once and I had them all over me.

If she has a staph infection only antibiotics will clear that up.

[lv4dogs]

It kind of sounds like maybe the begining of a staph infection, but if so your dog will start to loose it's hair in those spots & yes only antibiotics will work. (My dog once had staph while visiting Arkansas and his patches were about the size of a silver dollar some bigger although his skin was not too red mostly ghostly white w/ some reddness on the outskirts & really flakey of course he has very very thick fur so it was hard to tell at first but he was on antibiotics only a week & a half it cleared up great)

I doubt it is ringworm they look more like really bad black fly bits, almost like a black & blue mark and it is very contagious to all animals & humans.

Most likely it is an allergy to something or other. You say this is the first time they have looked like this? If so has anything changed recently? Like her food, any cleaners used around the house, etc?

By giving her a bath so often may actually be causing it to get worse. I would suggest a vet appointment & allergy tests, they are not to awful expensive & they will save a lot of money, time & trouble for both you & your dog in the long run!

[catnapper]

I called the vet and made an appointment tfoe Thursday.

Thank goodness it doesn't sound like ringworm! Nobody else in the house has any kind of skin irritations.

As for food, Nicki is allergic to sooo many! I feed her the same thing I have for years - Nutro. I never switch variety or flavor. We have not brought anythinn new into the house (if you don't cunt Pouncer the kitten) and no new cleaners/fabric softeners/soaps. As for the oatmeal baths, they really do help her. Afterwards, I dry her off with a towel and give her a good brushing (which she loves because of the itchies) Her skin is not otherwise dry or flaky, just the patches that she's itching.

My husband had a fit about the vet visit but he knows it needs to be done!

Thanks again,
KIm

[wolfsoul]

Originally posted by catnapper


As for food, Nicki is allergic to sooo many! I feed her the same thing I have for years - Nutro. I never switch variety or flavor.

What type of Nutro? I know that some of the varieties they have aren't easy on the allergies. Corn is the leading cause of allergies and wheat isn't that great either, but it's hard to find a food without wheat in it so make sure it isn't one of the main ingredients.

[micki76]

If she's allergic to many foods, you may want to switch her to something like Wellness Fish and Potato or Nature's Recipe Venison & Rice. Many dogs are also developing allergies to the protein sources (the meat) in foods and both of those foods have novel protein sources. There's also a duck & potato formula (can't remember the manufacturer right now), but I find that the Venison and Rice formula is working really good for Chester. It's also very comparable in price with Nutro.

[wolfsoul]

Originally posted by micki76
Many dogs are also developing allergies to the protein sources (the meat) in foods

Yes, that's because many dogs are eating the lower quality brands that give them the meat allergies and they pass the allergies on to their offspring. Even lamb isn't renowned for how good it was for allergies anymore, because dogs are now becoming allergic to it. Venison, duck, and fish haven't been so widely used for a long period of time and are very tolerable to a dog's allergies.

It makes you wonder what they'll do next if dogs become allergic to those too. They sell ostrich meat for dogs over here.