Can I ask your advice - itchy dog

[Cococrumble]

We have a shar-pei X something else (possibly old English bulldog - we aren't sure really as he is a puppy farm rescue) who is suffering consistent itching. He is a year old and we've had him since he was a few months. He has always had the itching and nothing truly eleviates it for the poor boy.

Our vets have taken skin samples and repeatedly done allergy testing, all of which have always come back negatively. No allergies at all. He's been taking four steroids a day as a short term "fix" but these don't really help him, they just seem to be stopping infections. We have four weeks until his referral appointment with a specialist dermatologist, but unfortunately he has to be clear of all steroids and antibiotics for this and we are very concerned about infections.

My poor boy is CONSTANTLY scratching unless he's out on a walk (he was having three or four a day but we've since upped this with help from a dog walker just to keep him distracted) he's chewed patches of fur off his back and legs and rubs his neck and face raw he is also off his food (unless treats so he may just be pushing his luck with this one!) and isn't interested in his toys.

Has anyone ever heard of something like this? Our vets are at a total loss of what to do and he's such a lovely wonderful dog, it's absolutely heartbreaking to see him suffering especially as he's so very young still.

[Cococrumble]

Hopeful bump

[ADishBestEatenCold]

Nothing to offer, really, but didn't want to read and run.

Your poor dog, intractable itch is utter hell and ... if not one of the more obvious causes ... can be the devil to diagnose. Hopefully the dermatologist will be able to shed some light.

Understand that he must be clear of steroids and antibiotics for the consultation and any tests, but could your vet have him on highest possible dose of Piriton meantime. Perhaps even sedate him at night time (in the short term) to at least let him properly rest.

Hope you get some help with this, soon.

[user1472112675]

Hey! I have two shar-pei/retriever mix puppies. I knew before hand that shar-pei's are prone to skin issues however think given that ours are mixed we seem to have avoided that particular problem. I don't have much advice as such but have you tried changing food? Ours are currently fed harringtons dry food and we also give oily fish at least once a week which I believe is great for skin and coat. I hope you get some good news soon

[honeyroar]

We've got a very itchy dog. We think she's allergic to grass. She is JRT size. She has one piriton am and pm in her feed, plus a supplement called itchy dog (from eBay or pet med sites). We've recently changed off Harringtons to a cereal and rice free dry food, we now feed her James Wellbeloved Salmon. We've moved our other two, non allergic dogs onto Skinners salmon and rice, which is still much better than Harringtons but not as costly for the two labs. We don't give any dentastix or treats now unless they're grain free. They say it will take two months to show if the food change is working, if not we may end up feeding raw. We bathe her once a week with Baby shampoo (very mild..). We try and keep her off grass as much as possible, especially in summer, and we wipe her off with sensitive baby wipes if we do go on grass. If we're out and about somewhere with grass, we try and keep her on a blanket. An aloe lotion or, best of all, an udder cream for mastitis in cows or horse's legs soothe it a lot. We wash the pet blankets regularly in non bio powder, and Hoover their beds. The vet said light coloured bedding, and definitely not red colours, are best. We've had her a year, and using these methods, just about, keep her as rich free as we can. It's not easy!

[shockingsocks]

Despite steroid creams and healing sprays and anything else the vet gave me our itchy dog cleared up when moving over to a grain free diet too. The vet never mentioned it to us, we just changed food by chance. We use Ci (online). Also my groomer friend swears by Wildwash shampoo for dogs - it's chemical free and she uses it on sensitive dogs. Hope you work it out - I know how heartbreaking it is to see your dog constantly at themselves all the time.

[shockingsocks]

Also just remembered that we found a spray called Renasan before we changed the food. Of all the products we'd tried this one really did seem to give her some relief for four or five hours at a time and seemed to speed up the healing.

[MaitlandGirl]

What are you feeding him? Common problem foods are beef and grains.

[stonecircle]

Those of you who give your dogs piriton, where do you get it from? Closest I can ever find is piriteze - is that the same thing? And how much do you give? We have a lab cross who gets quite itchy - though nowhere near as bad as the op's dog.

[Bamaluz]

Piriteze is not the same as Piriton and I don't think it's suitable for dogs.
You can buy Piriton in any chemist shop but don't tell them it is for your dog- they won't sell it to you! Boots also do there own brand but check that it is the same anti -histamine as Piriton. Chlorphenamine.
My 15 kilo dog was on three a day but I took him off it as it made him drowsy.

[stonecircle]

I haven't seen piriton in a chemist or supermarket for ages and I always look out for it as we are a family of allergy sufferers. I did once ask in the chemist if they had some and inadvertently said it was for my dog so I know they wouldn't sell me it - if they had it!

[OrlandaFuriosa]

For our jrt once you've got rid if the blasted fox fleas, it's grains. Rice isn't so bad. So not only no food but no treats with grains. Eg dentastix as pp above.

[Vetsandpets]

Poor boy - Would something like malaseb shampoo help? I found switching to a raw food diet made a big difference.

[VitaPuffin]

Has your vet suggested Apoquel? It has been effective for our itchy dog and it worked within a few days. It doesn't cure the cause of the itching, rather it blocks the signals to the brain so the dog doesn't feel the need to scratch.