Dog scratching a lot but no fleas?

[Afternoonteavirgin]

She's never been one for scratching a lot.
Had her to the vets who have examined her and found no symptoms, checked her joints, had me walk her around the car park-nothing making her scratch. No fleas-and she's 8 and has never had fleas, I've been advised that fleas don't tend to favour the type of fur that she has.

I am tempted to treat her for them anyway just in case but this probably isn't the best idea. I've also thought about it possibly being hayfever or an allergy?

This can be displacement behaviour caused by stress. Has anything changed?

I can't think of any obvious changes. I had a lodger move in a few months ago but dog loved lodger and had known her previously so I don't think It's that).

Allergy?

A friend who volunteers in a kennels has advised me to give some antihistamines.

Your friend is acting illegally.

@Warmfeet how so?

Had an email this morning from such dog site or another about itching and hayfever in dogs (presumably trying to sell me something) so hayfever sprang to mind, but I'd expect a vet to consider that.

I'm surprised the vet didn't mention allergies - you can give Piriton to dogs.

Oh behave. I have been around animals all my life, horses dogs cats etc and everyone I know with the same back ground regularly suggest things to do outside calling the vet. I’d have been bankrupted several times over if I ran to the vet every time something happened and yes I am insured. It’s very common for people to make suggestions. Illegal or otherwise.

OP antihistamine isn’t a bad shout. Try some periton ( it’s what a vet would give you) Just the smallest amount. Sounds like an allergy.

that was my thought too. We all have areas of 'specialisms' and share knowledge.

My dog keeps getting certain seeds stuck to her fur, and I've not seen this type of seed before. They look like the grass seeds that are commonly seen but they have a thorn of sorts on the end-I wonder if It's those.

I am going to sneak an anti-histamine into something later for her. She's a large dog (about 6 and a half stone) so according to my friend (and the internet) two a day would be okay.

My dog has serious allergies and is on medication and injections for her skin. She's had a good few flare ups lately, and the vet told me that an awful lot of dogs are having them right now. Something to do with the weather and plant life etc. She also said Piriton can be given, but not to mine as she's in a different league of allergy unfortunately.

What are you feeding him?

Wheat can cause itching.

I would suggest an exclusion diet (I'm a Canine Nutritionist) feel free to message me with what he's eating if you want me to have a look at the ingredients.

Sorry she.

Chicken can cause itching. My dog is now on a fish based food and no longer spends his evenings scratching.

Our vet recommended Piriton when DDog got stung by a bee. Ooh check me out being all illegal by telling you that

😂thank you for the advice everyone.

@MotherofWhippets81 She's currenly on purina beta chicken but, I have to change her food often. Nothing seems to agree with her for long. She's hand-reared which I think is the reason for it, but she's always had a really dodgy stomach, prone to loose movements a lot.

Annoyingly, the cheap, crap dog foods seem to be the only ones that really agree with her. I only know this from odd occasions (e.g. I was donated some once, another time I stayed at someone's house longer than I was meant to and dog needed feeding so I just went to the corner shop for food).

It will almost certainly be the food making her itch. The ingredients for Purina Beta are - well I don't know how they get away with it. It's less than 30% chicken meal which is basically ground up bone and sinew and then the next ingredient will be wheat.

I'd cut out chicken and wheat for a start and start her on a course of probiotics to get her gut balanced again. I would contact someone like Dorwest Herbs for advice on supplements.

Thank you @MotherofWhippets81 , really appreciated. Strangely enough I have been considering my OWN gut health recently, so this can be a journey for both me and the dog. But yes, hand reared and always had a lot of diarrhea as a pup/young dog and still has frequent spells now. The only 'cure' I have found is feeding her utter rubbish (like Wagg or supermarket brands) temporarily, or just white rice and meat. I haev thought about raw food but I just don't think I could do it.

Basic, bog standard tinned Chappie is surprisingly the best food for recurring trots. One of mine had IBD from being tiny & it was the only thing that NEVER caused diarrhoea. Probiotic paste helped a lot during episodes. I used to buy VetUK own brand online, cheap as chips & exactly the same as the vet prescribed at first
for £££ x the price.
My vet has also recommended Piriton over the phone for a wasp sting, so best lock me up in handcuffs quick.

Grass allergy? Hayfever? Maybe a grass seed stuck somewhere?? There's a lot going around at the moment.

Our pooch had the itchies last summer time - vet advised antihistamines along with her usually flea & worming treatment.

Have you used any new cleaning products on the carpet? Floors? etc?

It may be worth doing allergy testing for your dog

We used to give our horse Piriton for a skin allergy, she came out in itchy lumps, urticaria (hives). One of our Frenchies has a skin complaint and he has cetrizine. Our vet is excellent, all for saving you money. One of the Frenchies pulled his back and he needed Gabapentin, I mentioned that I also took those occasionally, he was kind enough to tell me that I could use mine, they’re exactly the same for dogs and gave me the dosage to use, he’s a fantastic vet. Tramadol for humans is also used for dogs, exactly the same medication, as is Omeprazole, unfortunately when the horse needed this it cost a bloody fortune, so expensive 😲😲

I'm in the process of setting up my business at the moment and I'm looking at doing a few case studies for free at the moment - this would be a useful one for both of us - if you're interested send me a DM and I can have a look a bit more closely for you at what she's eating and what you could swap to (bearing in mind your budget of course).

I wish I had your vet. My own similar one retired last year & now I’m surrounded by Medivet 🙁

I would be happy to be part of that-I can't PM you for some reason however, could you try PMing me?

We noticed our dig scratching alot , then it occurred to us she'd been the same last year. Vet has put her on Aloquel and after 5 days it stopped completely. It’s pretty expensive though!