Itchy dog UPDATE and more problems!

[JulietBravoJuliet]

I posted the other day about my dog biting at the fur on her tummy. It happens occasionally, vet gives antihistamines, it clears up for a bit.

Anyway, this time it hasn't. I've been giving her Piriton, putting Aloe Vera gel on the affected area etc, but she's bitten herself raw :( Then, the last couple of days, she's had an extremely rumbly, gurgly tummy, which is making me think it's more of a food allergy than a contact dermatitis type allergy. She's also been sick - just yellow bile - twice this afternoon. We're going back to the vets tomorrow.

She's always been a pain to feed, as cheap dog foods go straight through her, and her skin is prone to being quite dry, and she's also fussy to boot, so doesn't like a lot of foods! She's been on Applaws for a good year now, and it seemed to be agreeing with her, but I'm beginning to think otherwise now.

Strangely enough, this latest bout of ripping out her fur arrived at the exact same time I bought a new sack of food, which is possibly just a coincidence, but I'm wondering if maybe the recipe has changed or something? She's very sensitive with food at the best of times; just 3 or 4 bonito biscuits at my dads a few months ago caused diarrhoea for days.

So I'm now wondering what to feed her on? I know the vet will push Hills, but I'm not convinced it's all that tbh. Thinking of raw, but I know next to nothing about it and I haven't got a garden, so I'm a bit concerned about raw bones etc in the house!

Any words of wisdom/miraculous cures would be very welcome!!

I would suggest raw- bit sure about the bones, as our has his in the garden, however we feed him minced (with bone) food, with meat chunks added, and also the odd chicken wing or chopped up chicken carcass. The carcass I chop into chunks, that he need to crunch, but are mouthful sized.....
He eats his over his bowl, as I can't be having raw meat and bones all over the house.
You do really need a freezer though, and size would depend on size of dog.

I use raw food (natures menu brand) with my dog who has/had skin issues and we also feed him sardines every day. The sardines cleared his skin condition up completely!! I hope she feels better soon poor thing :(

How many bones do you normally give each week? She has one every time she goes to my dads (1-2 times a week) as he always buys her one from the butchers, and she loves them and can eat them in his garden!

I've just bought a new fridge freezer, in addition to my existing one, so I'm not short on storage and I'm thinking I might give raw a go. Sardines sound like a good idea as she loves them so I'll start giving her them more often.

Those of you that feed raw, what and how much do you feed on average each day?

After a lot of trial and error we found that our collie cross pup does best on Chappie original. Her problems were digestive rather than skin related but she does now have a beautiful shiny coat.

Am watching this with interest. Our Fabbyhound has been itching a lot over the past three or four weeks and we are not sure if it is allergy or diet related. We feed her weight control Iams (she is a greedy bint and prone to weight gain) but I am wondering if I should change it. We have started giving her cod liver oil tablets and she also gets salmon and chicken a couple of times a week. I read somewhere that it is a good idea to feed probiotic yoghurt so have been giving her that now and again. If anyone has any thoughts or ideas please let me know.
The itching seems to have lessened but still not sure of reason.

Hope your doggy gets better soon OP. I do know someone who has put their dog on a raw food diet for a skin condition and has noticed a marked improvement.

I'm convinced this itching and stomach gurgling is all down to diet. Was just discussing it with my dad and he's just said well in the wild they'd just catch something and eat it; feet, brains and everything! They're not going to be harvesting a bit of wheat or corn to go with it, or boiling up some broccoli! Which is very true!

I'm also wondering if her barking and snarling at a bloke yesterday (totally out of character) is down to her feeling like crap :( Poor little girl.

Just made her a bowl of sardines and raw eggs as she's had nothing all day and loves both of these. I'm shopping tomorrow so I'll nip into the pet shop that I know sells frozen raw food :)

I really hope the sardines help :) The amount of raw you feed depends on lots of factors such as breed, age, size etc but you do get a guide on the packet. You can order from natures menu and they deliver but as I only have a small dog I pop to the pet shop about once a month for a bag. We tried everything for our dog's sensitive, irritated and raw skin, mainly his paws - steroids, anti histamines etc The only thing that has worked is the sardines in tomato sauce. We get the ones in tomato as he was sick with the oily ones. We only get the really cheap ones, usually smartprice for 34p!

I have a Shar Pei, renowned for skin problems!! We feed her James Welbeloved (green bag) suitable for skin sensitivities, shampoo regularly with Malaseb from vet (ant fungal and anti-bacterial) and give salmon once a week. Will try the sardines though, I'm careful not to give her anything with wheat in it and seems to be doing the job for the minute! My last Shar pei suffered terribly with itching and was only controlled through steroids so want to avoid that with my 6 month old.

We don't do sardines - but do add Yumega oil to his meal, plus a multi-vitamin.

1-2 per week, having a bone to chew is what my dog has.

He also twice a week has cottage cheese, egg yolk, and yoghurt - the amount would depend on the size of your breed.

Also because our dogs breed is prone to digestive problems, we add a tree bark powder.

We feed DAF products. its ground with bone, and there seem to be a good lot of people who deliver. Our dog didn't do well on Natures instinct, but if I run out buy blocks of - I think Natures Menu at the local pet store.

Just looking at DAF products online and it seems quite reasonably priced. I've got no idea how much I'd need to order though! I'll pick some up from the pet shop tomorrow and see how we go then look at ordering in bulk before I fill my new freezer with human food lol

I picked up another tin of sardines from the local shop tonight so she's got some breakfast in the morning :) I'm sure all this is diet related as I picked up her food bowl when she was first sick just after lunchtime (she's normally just got food down all the time) and already the itching seems to have settled down more than it has in days.

Do you think I should cancel the vets tomorrow and see how we go on a change of diet? Reluctant to give them another £50 for fun!

Well she's had sardines and scrambled egg this morning and just defrosting a block of mince for her tea. Scratching has stopped, not been sick, stomach not gurgling at all and she seems happy :)

Brother's girlfriend's dog, a Shiba Inu, had problems with biting at his legs, creating raw patches. They changed to a raw diet and his skin/fur has improved immensely as has his dental hygiene! They have 2 other small dogs, Bichon and Shih Tzu, they all get same raw diet, chicken drumsticks, chicken carcasses, fish oil and some kind of supplement powder sprinkled on before they are fed. They all love it and smaller ones don't seem to have a problem with size of portions, they just crunch through it in minutes.

www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-nutrition/111437-raw-feeding-everything-you-need-know.html This gives some good info about amounts and types of food you can try...

Fab thank you :) I've bought a couple of bags of frozen minced beef from the pet shop today, just to see how she gets on with it, and I'm going to speak to my local butcher tomorrow to see about getting bones, chicken carcasses etc. The bloke in the pet shop was pretty clued up on raw feeding and said he can order in different things for me to try her on.

Anyone know what the Natures Best stuff is like? Beef nuggets and veg or something!

Our lab has this exact problem but we still don't know the real cause. The vet put him on eukanaba dermatitis food as he suspects a food allergy. Funny you say but his itching also started shortly after giving him a new
food. He is on cortizone tablets but I am trying to reduce them as I'm not keen on him being on them long term. He is not to have any food other than the science diet food as he suspects meat based products may be the problem. So no bones or any tidbits for him at all!! He isn't happy about it ( he's a greedy boy - typically Labrador) so his food is salmon and potato based.

Good luck it's a bit of a long road....

My dog has bitten himself raw on his side.

Took him to the vet who said his last flea treatment was unsuccessful - it was basically just irritating him so he chewed at himself. Could it be that? vet said there are problems at the minute with fleas not responding to the usual treatments (it was the frontline that didn't work so I treated him again with advocate) I'm just putting lots of sudocrem on the affected skin and hoping this treatment works. Or it's the cone of shame.

It's definitely not fleas, the vet checked her thoroughly the other week. She's definitely better today; not bitten at it once and no whining/panting/gurgling stomach. Today she's eaten: tinned sardines, bowl of raw minced beef with some chopped up raw carrots thrown in for good measure, raw marrowbone type thing obtained from the butcher and she seems so much happier in herself :)

How's it going? Is she feeling better still?

Yes she's like a different dog :) Definitely diet that was the culprit I think! Strange that it's suddenly got worse though when her food hasn't changed, but I think maybe something upset her stomach and she's just become mega sensitive to other things.

At the minute, I'm just feeding the blocks of mince and tinned sardines with a raw bone thrown in as this seems to be agreeing with her. I'm going to take a trip to the pet shop tomorrow and get a bit more variety for her :)