Itchy dog

[whiskysours]

Our dog (an 8 year old labradoodle) has been licking and scratching around the creases between his legs and his belly probably for around 5 months now.

We didn't change his food or anything to present an obvious candidate for an allergy.

We've been to the vet several times but don't seem to be getting any nearer working out the cause.

He's had steroids twice which worked almost instantly and he stopped itching for the time he was on them. But then he finishes the course and it comes back.

I've no idea of steroid are a possible long term solution but I doubt it as they make him drink, pant and wee loads.

Has anyone else had anything similar and discovered the source?

If it's an allergy we need to start cutting things out but don't really know where to start.

Have you changed the washing powder you use for his bedding?
Carpet shampoo?
Something you're using in the garden e.g. lawn feed/weed?

My neighbour's westie had itchy skin caused by an allergy to beef which came on later in his life.

Thanks.

I can't think of anything at all we've changed, so I can only think it's an allergy to food he's developed. He just has a kind of chicken based kibble mix at the moment so wondering if we should try to cut out chicken first.

Our springer got very itchy on chicken based food. It cleared up when we changed her to a salmon based one. The oil in salmon can be good for their skin.

Common allergies that cause itching in dogs is grain and/or chicken in their food

We had a very itchy dog and the vet advised we cut out grain first and it was clearly the issue as the itching stopped within a month

it could also be environmental allergies (our dog has these on top of the grain allergy!). We use pets purest allergy relief drops which are a natural anti histamine and these have helped massively.

unfortunately its a trial and error thing and takes some time but it’s worth it when you find what works

Definitely change your dog’s food. Try Chappie which is very basic and often used in these situations, or tinned tuna (drain off the brine) and rice. Also ask your vet for an antihistamine.

Thanks. I thought about trying a hypoallergenic dog food that doesn't contain chicken OR grain (as these seem to be common allergens) but wondered if maybe it would be better to just cut out one or the other first. Otherwise we'll never know what it was.

Chicken is definitely a no no for my girl.
But also pollen :(
We have gone up the meds ladder... first piriton (didn't work) then Apoquel (worked for a while) now on Cytopoint injections ..magic the first few times , the jury is out on the one we had this week!