Nutripaw; any good? Dog with itchy ears!

[lifesabitchandthenyoudie]

Our boxer x is struggling with very itchy ears, shaking his head a lot. He also seems to be licking his nether regions more than usual. He has spot-on flea treatment regularly, the vet just said to put drops in his ears from PAH. The thing is, he HATES that and it takes about half a tin of ham-treats every time to get him to accept a few drops! And it's not improving.

Has anyone experience of Nutri-paw treats that say they deal with itchy skin/ears? I see they have probiotics in them, can dogs have 'human' probiotic supplements? Any other product that he can take instead of drops?

He's also on a good, grain-free diet.
Thanks!

I would want to find the underlying reason for his itching rather than just having him on medication.

What protein is he eating? Many dogs are allergic to chicken, for example.

Agreed, but he hasn't had any changes over the last several years. He's on Dr John's Grain Free, as he was better on grain free foods but it didn't last, this one has kept him tiptop in every other area for the last 5, I think, or even longer! The itching is new this year. I can't think of any other changes... he's 9 now. Would age be a factor? No other health conditions.

It could be age and dry skin, or something new in his environment like a new ingredient in your washing powder, for example?

@sunsetsandboardwalks thanks, will look into these factors. In the meantime, I'm still looking for people's experiences of Nutripaw or any other supplement to help with some immediate relief...

We did have good luck with the NutriPaw calming ones for our beagles' separation anxiety if that helps! We used them alongside some techniques from Victoria Stilwell, lol.

We have had success with nutripaw for our Jack Russel cross for itching, We've also used the calming ones. They changed the recipe a few months ago and it didn't work as well so we had a look for something else. Since then we have started using pets calm down stuff instead. I found them online. We are really happy with them as they are cheaper then nutripaw and have a money back guarantee so if it didn't work then we could have our money back. I did contact them via messenger a couple of months ago and they answered me back within minutes and were really helpful.

Probiotics are good for dogs. We used Purina Fortiflora before but it’s expensive. I don’t know about Nutripaw though.
Our dog has loads of allergy/intolerance that sets her ears off really badly. We worked out it’s all grains including maize and rice and also chicken. She’s now on a fish and potato/ sweet potato diet and the change is incredible! Also Otodex ear drops cleared them up over night after years of vet suggestions that had no effect.

Thanks for the suggestions. Does anyone know if it's ok to use 'human' probiotics? (as in, for humans...)

Just a quick update, managed to get some of the Otodex drops into his ear last night; cue barely any head shaking/scratching overnight and this morning!

Am also bearing allergies etc in mind, but pleased he has some immediate relief, too. Thanks for the recommendation x

Allergy wise cut out chicken and grain. Chicken is an allergen in a lot of dogs. It can take a few months to resolve but we saw a big drop in itchy skin with this. Mine also has seasonal allergies which flare up and he has a cytopoint jab from the vets, which is magic. It's rDNA so really well tolerated without long term side effects.

I also can highly recommend Proflax skin/coat oil as a supplement. We saw a noticeable difference on his skin and coat within 2 weeks and it definitely helps.

Actually another til I learned when mine was bad: wash the dog in diluted hibiscrub. Buy standard stuff from pharmacy, dilute it 1:10 and then sponge onto wet dog, lather in. Leave it a few minutes if they can tolerate it, rinse off. It kills off fungus, yeasts, bacteria that might be lurking on the skin.

Also really useful to take out this time of year in a spray bottle to wash feet off after walks to try to prevent some seasonal illnesses. I stick the hibiscrub in a spray bottle and use the mud daddy to rinse.