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The doghouse

Itchy and Scratchy

3 replies

igetmorelovefromthecat · 06/11/2010 22:56

My terrier mongrel Sid has suffered from an itchy skin condition since he was about 18 months old. He is now nearly 7 years.

For the last few years it has come and gone, with no rhyme or reason with regards to seasons/diet or anything logical like that. I took him to the homoepathic vet and he found a remedy which worked really well on him and would clear it up, though I seemed to have to wait until the outbreak had got quite bad before the remedy would work for some reason. This is how I treated him for years.

Then this spring he got an outbreak and has had it ever since. The homeopathic remedy didn't work and he got to the point where he had scratched himself completely raw in places and had got infected so I took him to the vets who put him on steroids and ABs and said that he had some kind of allergy. The steroids cleared it up well but they were on a tapered dose and when the dose got to be quite low (half a tablet a day), he would be scratching again.

I don't want to keep him on steroids forever, his last trip to the vets resulted in a high dose of steroids being given as well as ABs, he has nearly finished his steroids now and then they want to do allergy testing on him. I know this is very expensive and I'm not sure what they can actually do when they find out what he is allergic to. Does anyone have a similar experience with their dog and could give me some advice?

PS It's definitely not fleas! He is Frontlined regularly and is always checked for fleas at vets and homoepath and they are never a problem.

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BeerTricksPotter · 06/11/2010 23:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

igetmorelovefromthecat · 06/11/2010 23:30

He sleeps on a bed made out of synthetic fleecy stuff but it's the same bed he has had since he was about 2 - and back then the outbreaks were only occasional so I don't think that could be it.

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Jellykat · 07/11/2010 00:12

I get similar with my Golden Retriever, and have talked to another owner who had same.My dog is allergic to bites of any kind,and once he starts nibbling it gets worse.

I use Stronghold, Frontline irritates his skin,and i have to redose to the day,but my vet told me that fleas can still jump on, bite, then jump off,they just don't hang around when deflead.. This is particularly bad outside when we have cut the hay, i think the fox/badger/bunny fleas and mites have a field day! (didn't mean to wordplay then haha)

So after 6 years of this have worked out-Stronghold, and a low protein diet (Burns dogfood is good for allergies too), This coincidentally is what the other owner had worked out too!

Good luck!

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