Please don't flame me I just some help for my poor dog

[bytheMoonlight]

My GSD itches and bites her skin till its red raw. She now has bald patches and her skin is very flaky.

We just cannot afford the vets. Due to the recession ds has lost hours at work, and we are struggling to buy shopping and pay the mortgage each week.

Even just one for visit to the vets we are talking way too much money for us.

I just don't know what to do. I really don't what to have to rehome her, there are so many unwanted dogs out there as it is. And she is very much wanted, we just cannot afford to find out what is causing this problem.

I've looked into trying to get help with paying for the bill but we dont qualify.

This is my last hope as I know I am going to get flamed now for having a dog we cannot affford to look after. but when we got her we could afford her, its just that over the past 2 years money has got tighter and tighter.

Is there a shampoo or particular brand of dog food I can try?

Oh good luck. Our cat has something similar - a particualrly bad reaction to fleas. Even just one flea can make him itch so badly that he licks and scratches and has red raw patches just as you describe. Our vet said the most important thing was regular flea treatment and for a while he had cortisone injections which helped. At the moment the cat is doing really well and his skin is in good condition. Hope your dog recovers soon too

When you see the vet, run by him/her your dog's diet. Many of my dog-owning friends and colleagues report that Bakers and similar foods high in additives and colouring have a very adverse effect on many canine health areas, in particular epilepsy and skin conditions.

I'm so glad you have got some help and are seeing the vet with pooch. I'm a GSD owner myself and my heart was aching for your girl.

Please come back and tell us the results of your consultation.

thats exctly the same as our cat oxocube last year fur was just falling out, but now I groom her with a flea comb a couple of times a week and keep on top of her treatments. Although its still bad her furs good and shes not in pain anymore.

Most vets have a support group that help out financially with cases where an animal has a good home but the cost of treatment is beyond the owner.

Tailwaggers Club Trust can offer donations to people facing expesive veterinary bills. They can be contacted on 01276 858880.

The PDSA can offer free veterinary help to those on housing or council tax benefit. Some vets provide petaid care for the PDSA where there is no local PDSA clinic. PDSA helpline is 0800 731 2502.

The Blue Cross also have a veterinary care fund for people who cannot afford to pay. Your vet will be asked to fax details to them.

Avoid the RSPCA. Their clinics are not cheal and if you can't afford it they start threatening you with prosecution instead of udnerstanding that a sicka nimal needs to be kept with the people and surroundings it knows and loves.

I am fed up of so-called charities who only offer of help to people in this position os to abuse them for not being wealthy and to offer to take their animal, treat it and rehome it instead of helping out with vet fees. The greedy vets and charities should be ashamed of themselves.

Hope it works out.

Great advice from Speakeasy.

If it was just that the RSPCA offered to take, treat and rehome I wouldn't be so concerned... it's that they take and kill that worries me.

my newfoundland had a dreadful skin condition for a while. He was insured and had every test, cream and tablet going ..... the thing that healed it in the end was Kamillosan (nipple cream for breastfeeding mothers)

I figured that if it worked for me ,then it may work for him. The vet told us to try so we did

Good luck with your pooch!

Forgot to put the Blue Crss veterinary care fund number 0300 123 9933
fax 01933 825599

would you like my dh to have a look

we will be over for a holiday in two weeks time

Cinders that is so kind of you.

We have just done the flea test and nothing went red. But dh did notice something crawling on her and after doing a search of google images hes sure it was a flea.

So we have used the flea treatment again and if it doesn't look any better we will book the vets

pleased to hear you are able to take her to the vets.

if you continue giving piriton for the itching then combine it with evening primrose capsules - apparantly having the two together makes the anti-histamine work better.

once you know what it is that is making her itch you can post looking for more advice.

good luck!

My border collie has had this issue- hers turned out to be a grass allergy combined with an unusual sensitivity to fleas and also Bakers dog food.

We changed her food to one that's for working dogs and she's much better on that, she gets a bath with flea shampoo every month in summer and every 3 in colder weather and frontlined as well after she's dry. When her back was raw, we used tea tree ointment to calm the irritation which helped and I did trim her fur right down when I was there last as the sheer weight of her fur was tickling her, and I was able to raise the huge danruff scales, which helped her calm down. Poor little baldy bum!

I hope you get things sorted- it's miserable when pets are unwell.

Thanks for that tip ceres

I'll buy some primise oil capsules and tea tree ointment - do you just rub that over the skin?

differentID What do you mean 'raise the huge dandruff scales'?

That's what it looked like on her back- it looked like huge dandruff scales as her skin was healing.

They would come away as you combed her gently.

Im glad youve got somewhere with the vets and wish you good luck. I had a problem years ago with one of our dogs and it cost me an absolute fortune (before the days of insurance for pets was readily available) I actually cut down on my shopping and fed my kids "crap" for a few weeks so i could save up for her medication every month so for 2 wks outta 4 my kids who where all under 5 (3 of them)suffered this went on for nearly a year! When I got my dogs I never dreamt that I wouldnt be able to pay vets fees but my dh had been made redundant and we had no money so to those who have suggested that you rehome I would say you must have a hard heart! People's circumstances change and there isnt a thing you can do about it shit happens! So may I suggest Cinders dh looks at her for you and if its a problem for vets fees I for one would gladly paypal you a few £ not much but at least it would be a help. I had 3 dogs lost one 2 weeks ago (old age) but they where my babies till oops I got another real baby instead I really hope all goes well for her. Disclaimer I would also offer a few £ if I had it spare to help a child/family in need

I think you need to see a vet whatever, but it could be fleas. There seem to be increasing reports of fleas becomning resistant to frontline, so it might be a good idea to change brands of flea treatment anyway. Stronghold do a spot on and I haven't heard of resistance to this. You can get it from the vets.

I understand people being concerned that you are struggling to afford your dog, but I personally think it is great that you are prepared to keep her despite financial difficulty yourself. Obviously though, it's important her welfare doesn't suffer. Is there anyway you can cut on what it costs to keep her so that you can save a few pounds every week or month? What are you feeding her? Maybe someone can suggest a cheaper food that is good or have you looked into raw feeding? Butchers will give bones for free and a lot of butchers will do 'pet mince' using left overs very cheaply. Or look online at Landywoods if you can afford to order a bit at a time and have freezer space, I think their pet minces start around 20p a lb and you could feed the dog for a few pounds a week and reduce the risk of diet related skin problems.

Interestingly Panorama are doing a programme on vets and dodgy practises, including overcharging.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00t66pb

RCVS appear to be concerned enough to put an article on their website about it.

www.rcvs.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=7099259

Could be well worth watching!

be careful if you decide to use tea tree oil - it can be harmful to dogs and should never be used neat.

a safer alternative is lavender oil. calendula oil (a carrier oil) is also supposed to be soothing, as is roman chamomile. i have just started using these on my itchy allergy-ridden staffie. i have lots of tips for itchy dogs!!

but i would wait to see what the vet thinks is causing the itching before using any essential oils/alternative remedies.

Our dog had something similar and it was flea allergy dermatitis, settled with anti inflammatories/steroids and the fancy frontline type stuff.

The tablets made her very thirsty though, and drinking lots made her temporarily incontinent Made me wish she didn't sleep in the bed house.

One tea tree formula that IS safe is Johnson's dog tea tree spray. It costs about £4 from pet shops.

I discovered it when I fostered a SBT with skin problems. It seemed to ease her distress and I discovered for myself that it does work. Occasionally I get madly itchy arms after a shower which are painfully irritating, so much so that I've scratched them til I bleed. It occurred to me that the dog's spray might just work on me, I tried it and felt almost instant relief. I suffer tremendously from the effects of mozzie bites too, and have found that nothing other than Johnsons dog tea tree spray helps!

(And no, it doesn't have the side effect of making me bark or turn round on my bed 6 times before I lay down!).

Seriously, it's well worth a try.

Another vote for web-purchased Frontline here. I use PetMeds, at about £17 for 3 pipettes for my GSD, or £28 for 6.

There is one website which sells Frontline Combo and spray and also Advocate without the need for a prescription. I've never used the site myself though. Its PetCareMart.co.uk

My GSDx got this occasioly.
She had mange once that was relieved with "flowers of sulpher", a yellow powder that is mixed with water and left on for 24 hours.
Stinky but effective.

She also would get chronic dandruff and loose the hair from the base of her tail every year. Allergies maybe.
Aqueous(sp?) cream might be worth a go. It wouldn't hurt!

Have you been to the vets yet? How did it go?