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Old 08-23-2007, 09:31 PM
 
95 posts, read 336,688 times
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My 7-year old mixed breed (maybe a Carolina Dog) was born in Georgia and lived in central Jersey for several years. We've always lived among trees and lots of green space, and he's never had biting/scratching problems - always shed a lot, but nothing else. We moved to Austin at the end of March, and since about May he's been chewing his skin raw. He's on flea preventative and the vet has never been able to find even flea debris on him. The vet (Highland's off Lamar behind Austin Java - any feedback?) gave him Panalog ointment for the most immediate raw spots, prescribed Hydroxyzine antihistamine pills and fish oil supplements and sold me oatmeal shampoo and conditioner to use, and I changed his diet from grocery store Beneful to the all-natural Precise Plus recommended by Bark and Purr.

Nothing. When he's not sleeping from the antihistamine he's chewing another spot raw. The vet said it's likely summer inhalent allergies and will probably clear up when summer's over (the first time I took him in the vet said that all they had been doing all week was treating allergies - gave him one Prednisone shot for immediate relief but rightly so didn't want to keep him on that). I haven't had him do an allergy test or gotten a second vet opinion yet. He's also been on hypothyroid medicine for a couple of years and the vet recently increased his dosage, which previously has helped with his shedding but no effect on his skin yet. Has this happened to anyone else's dog? Any suggestions? I'm also worried that this house I just renewed my lease on has mold and that may be the issue. I didn't put this on the general pets thread because I'm thinking this is Austin-related....

Thanks!
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Old 08-23-2007, 09:46 PM
 
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
93 posts, read 306,308 times
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Default pet allergies

My dog (a puppy) also is constantly scratching and my apartment has mold in it also. I was wondering if it had anything to do with it.
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Old 08-24-2007, 10:19 AM
 
Location: Hutto, Tx
9,249 posts, read 26,579,993 times
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Our dog does this too, but only in the summer. We don't have a mold problem in our house (although I've heard that there is not a house anywhere that's totally free of it). My dad (he lives out in the country in Tyler) does this for his dog (who's also doing the chewing): He puts rubbing alcohol on the raw spots. He also does the anti itch shampoos, but for some reason the alcohol does the trick, but you have to be diligent about it for a few days for it to really work. While he was down visiting, he did this to our dog on his feet (they were pretty bad) and it actually worked....Of course, I have not continued it, because it's hard to do it as often as he does, but it worked.
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Old 08-24-2007, 11:32 AM
 
Location: SW Austin
314 posts, read 1,225,737 times
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Default Allergies - or one flea bite?

You should see if you vet will check to see if your dog is allergic to fleas. We went through all that you described. It was always bad in the summer, and great in the winter. Finally we took our dog to Texas A&M in College Station to have him "assessed". He was highly allergic to fleas. Now we do the vet prescribed drops on his neck, and all his hair is back and he is happy. Please note we never had fleas in our house or ever saw a flea on our dog, but when he would go out for walks just one flea bite could cause all of the itching.

Jennie
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Old 08-24-2007, 12:56 PM
 
Location: Hutto, Tx
9,249 posts, read 26,579,993 times
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Could be that. He gets fleas no matter what. We get them off, and no more than a day or two later, they're back again. I remember the person we bought him from saying the father had skin allergies.
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Old 08-24-2007, 02:12 PM
 
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My dog has had allergies bad this summer. Even my 10 mo old daughter has developed them already.
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Old 08-24-2007, 02:12 PM
 
7,359 posts, read 10,239,469 times
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Best flea/tick prevention: Frontline Plus (usually lasts 6-8 weeks, no matter what the package says). If you've already put some other product on him, wait for a month to elapse before applying the Frontline. Also, flea collars can be toxic, as can over-the-counter flea products from pet stores.

What are you feeding him? Can make a BIG difference in addressing skin allergies. In general, stay away from supermarket brands (including Purina Beneful and Iams). Good brand--made in Texas, in fact: Merrick. Others: Innova and California Naturals. Also, stay away from chicken as an ingredient: many dogs are allergic to it. Try to stick with lamb or--even better--fish-based foods. My bichon (big skin problems) does exceptionally well on the Merrick and Innova: we saw a big change. I also bathe her with Earthbath brand "Oatmeal and Aloe" shampoo: very soothing for her skin. A friend of mine's dog has pretty severe skin allergies, and he switched her to Wellness Fish formula: In a month, the allergies were gone, and they haven't returned.

In general, vets get very little training in nutrition, so you have to do your homework. I love my vet, but he knows next to nothing about canine and feline nutrition--he even admitted it. He said that things are starting to change in vet schools, but that it's glacial. Do you subscribe to Whole Dog magazine? I've gotten a lot of great direction from it--I highly recommend it.
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Old 08-24-2007, 07:38 PM
 
95 posts, read 336,688 times
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Thank you so much - this is so helpful, even just knowing others have experienced this, particularly in the summer.

Interesting, jenkirk, about the fleas..and since he's never had a reaction before, it could be the Texas fleas! Wouldn't put it past a Texas insect...(speaking as a native Texan).

I didn't know Merrick was made here, MovingForward - thanks. The holistic Precise Plus is made in Texas as well. He's always been on Frontline. The oatmeal shampoo and conditioner doesn't seem to be doing much. I think I'm going to increase his fish oil supplement.

It sounds like we may be on the right track - will definitely look into the assessment - thanks!
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Old 08-25-2007, 02:00 PM
 
Location: SoCal
2,261 posts, read 7,204,406 times
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I recently switched my cats & dog to Artemis (Artemis - Holistic Approach to Pet Food (http://www.artemiscompany.com - broken link)) food. They went INSANE for it! We get it at a "natural" pet store, and it's pretty expensive. I gotta say, though, looking at it (just now):
a) it does have chicken
b) it says "all natural" but doesn't say it's organic

It's good to get organic food because there are much stricter testing policies on organic food. Less worries about your pet being poisoned.

Also, it's always good to look at the first 5 ingredients of your pet's food. And yours, for that matter, heh. It's best if there isn't a grain in there.

My vet told me there are hypo-allergenic foods out there that have alternative protein sources like rabbit or duck. You might want to consider that as well.
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Old 08-28-2007, 07:28 AM
 
10 posts, read 29,322 times
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i agree with movingforward, with reg frontline, i live in spain and have 1 lab and he has a skin prob, he has an allergy to dust mites, which the vet in the uk told me, but lately he has picked up ringworm from over the park land, where i take him, he now has 3 weeks of antiboitics to take, i also bath him in tea tree oil shampoo, that soothes his skin a bit, i also have to bath him everyweek in anti-fungal shampoo, so hes going through the wars at the moment bless him. but might be worth your vets doing a allergy test, then you will know for sure what u is, instead of guessing, good luck and hope he gets better soon, from all in spain
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