Itchy dog

[Firstshoes]

My dog is extremely itchy. He rubs his face and body constantly all over the carpet, side of sofa and anywhere he can really. We have seen the vet a few times who has put him on medication. This helps a little bit but seems to make him sleepy. Is there any natural way to help with this? Does anyone know of any particular food that could help? I looked in the pet shop but there are tons of hypoallergenic foods so if anyone has any experience of one that works I would be very grateful!

Sorry I can’t help, I have the same issue with my dog so am hoping someone has a solution. I’d rather not put her on medication if it can be helped.

If you've seen a vet then I'm assuming you've probably already thought of this, but just in case... my dog was very itchy/scratchy and always covered in little hives. I did some reading and discovered that chicken is a very common dog allergy. I moved her food and treats to majority fish-based, she has some other meaty treats just not chcken any more, and her skin completely cleared up - we haven't had an issue since.

Our rescue came to us with "allergies" and the instruction to keep her on a fish based diet. We had no idea what caused her itching but through a long process we have eliminated chicken, eggs, grain and tripe.
Our vet recommended piriton when things got bad but please check before using this.
I'm a firm believer of treating from the inside out and I think (fingers crossed) we have found the balance. That said, she snaffles bits of old pizza and kebab off the street if I'm not watching her so she isn't 100% grain free!

I have heard great things about Stinky Stuff, you add it to their food as a supplement but we haven't had to go down that route. Oat based shampoos can help in the short term too.

Good luck!

An elimination diet would be the best thing to try. Then once you’ve found out if there are any triggers (grain, chicken, etc) then you can avoid those.

I would go raw. Start with fish (check the packaging to be 100% sure it is only fish and not eg 40% chicken).

After that I’d add in some supplements. Definitely fish oil if fish isn’t a trigger. And something like Dorwest Keepers Mix Sensitive.

Thank you for the replies. A lot to be thinking about there. The vet didn't suggest anything other than medication (apoquel) unfortunately.
If I try him on say a fish diet how long would I need to give that to know if it's working?
Sorry for anyone else having the same issue. I feel so sorry for my dog. He must be so uncomfortable

Our vet suggested that it can take up to 12 weeks for a diet to take full effect. I think with our girl, we notice quickly. Egg and chicken make her sick immediately and tripe make her ears itch within 24 hours.

The kibble she is on has made her coat look amazing though. I think we saw results with the itching within 7/8 weeks.

Hope you don't mind me following this thread as well @Firstshoes. I'm in exactly the same position as you with ddog. Just about to start a diet trial to see if I can get him off apoquel. @Bebeschitt did you have to eliminate all grains or just certain ones?

Did the vet diagnose a food allergy?

@UnoriginalPenguin she came to us prediagnosed as having a grain intolerance so we have kind of stuck with it. I wonder if it is a "go to" when it comes to itchy dogs to be honest but we didn't want to mess with her diet as well as her new environment.
Like I said, she is partial to street food and seems to tolerate a naughty bit of white bread or pizza with no ill effects so who knows?

It would be great if this thread helps other ddogs too.
The vet didn't say food allergies. He just said a skin allergy and prescribed a short course of steroids first (which worked really well) and then apoquel as the steroids can't be a long term solution.

Just to add my dog is 5 and has only had this issue for about 6 months. We can't think of anything that could have triggered it

I'd ask for a referral to a dermatology specialist vet. I used to work with one, she honestly worked wonders. The consulting fee isn't cheap but the aftercare is brilliant.
My dog is under an internal medicine specialist and we get regular check in phonecalls & the appointments are longer so you get time to discuss a proper treatment plan (its like seeing a consultant vs a GP as a human).

I'd say look at diet before long term medication.
Raw food helped my mums dog but it's a niche approach to feeding and not for everyone.

Hi all,

Last post was deleted I think as I posted a link to a brand ( sorry newbie here)

My post really just covered raw feeding and elmination diets for dogs with allergys. We have done this and found certain proteins to work for us Kangaroo, Goat, Horse. A quick online search will pull these foods up, you can get then in raw form but also cooked if you are not so keen on handling raw meat. We cannot source Kangaroo raw meat in UK easily however have found a great source of Kangaroo Wet food which is sold in uk and made in Germany, they sell it in a can form which we higly recommend as a winner for curbing the itchy skin.

We created a list of all ingredients fed on a spredsheet and slowly worked down to what was good and what was bad. This was a recommendation from a brand we buy from but also our pro raw vet. It takes time but honestly the best thing we have done for our dog and their health.

We had an itchy dog. Vet said probably grass, or the cat. Changing her food helped, but we ended up giving her Piriton (from the local pharmacy). It kept her symptoms completely under control provided we didn't mess around with her diet too much, and she lived to be 15.

We switched to a raw diet. Cut out chicken and beef. It was miraculous.
Saw a dermatologist too. She was helpful. I wouldn’t want to give apoquel indefinitely either.

In the true spirit of mumsnet - I'm starting a spreadsheet of what I've fed, and how much he itches. It's going to be a long process, one protein at a time, and I can see a heated "debate" with the vet looming over the food issue.

We have the same with one of our Bedlingtons. There just seems to be no rhyme or reason to her skin issues (always rubbing her face, as you describe, always covered in hives which she scratches and they then scab). Surulan helps but it’s £40 for a tiny bottle. We feel so guilty that we can’t ‘fix’ her. We do have apoquel but it’s been years now….

I like the spreadsheet idea!

Hers isn’t seasonal, and we’ve tried all kinds of foods… we do have another bedlington, and a cat and I do sometimes wonder if she is allergic to them??

I’d love to hear how everyone else gets on…

Well, first update for PenguinPup's spreadsheet - turkey's going on the banned list. He's itching like crazy, and my telling everyone to stop feeding him stuff off the dinner table caused a massive row.

Oh dear @UnoriginalPenguin, that's not on! They shouldn't be feeding her from the table anyway but especially if she had suspected allergies.