Advice for dog with severe itchy skin despite repeated vet treatment

[FattyMcFat50]

Hi. My 4 year old cavadoodle (cavapoo crossed with golden labrador) has developed a quite severe skin issue. His skin is very itchy and he went from the odd scab 3 months ago to being almost covered in scabs now. He's so itchy, he leaves a trail of skin behind him wherever he goes.

He's been to the vet several times because of this since Christmas. We have done cytopoint every 4 weeks since the itching started, medicated shampoo, special vet food (single protein), a couple of courses of antibiotics and antifungal meds. I am washing all bedding etc every couple of days with extra rinsing to make sure it's not the laundry detergent. We recently did a blood test which identified he was not allergic to any of his foods. The next step is an environmental one, but the vet has said they don't recommend it as it's very expensive (approx €400) and most environmental issues cannot be eliminated.

So I've come here in the hope anyone here could give me some advice.

I seem to come across a lot of the same products when I Google. E.g. Nutripaw. But most advice is to take the dog to the vet.

So if anyone here has experienced similar and found something that helps, I would be so grateful if you could help as my heart breaks for my poor dog.

Thanks.

I'm assuming you've tried anti histamines? It was anti histamines and a raw diet that helped out Bichon. It never cured it but it was definitely better.

My Golden retriever kept getting sores and scabs which started on a paw and then on his face before moving down his body to his rear end. He had 3 courses of antibiotics which didn't really work. He also got an ear infection. It really brought him down but he was older. After taking a sample it turned out to be a staphylococcus bacteria infection.
He has been on Aproquel and Hills prescription diet Derm food ( it's called that but not actually on prescription!) now for the last 2 years and they cleared it up.

My border terrier x JRT had an acute flea bite allergy that made her itchy. We used to have to use flea treatments on an absolute tight schedule but also used a sulphur ointment which helped soothe the itching. She's been gone a few years now so I don't remember what the ointment was, but it did work.

I take a lot of these so called supplements with a very large pinch of salt to be honest, and have got a sprocker who is horribly prone to itching/ ear infections. She's much better on a single source protein, currently on Skinners Duck and rice. We avoid chicken like the plague. And I think I was bathing her too often - she gets a proper shower/bath every couple of months and just legs on dirty walk days. We use a shampoo with chlorhexidine in, and she gets the odd couple of tablespoons of goats milk yogurt as a probiotic.

Salmon oil! Or a fish based diet

A raw diet can really help with this. I’d start with fish only (Natural Instinct or Nutriment for example) and then introduce other proteins. If fish doesn’t work I’d try a novel protein (one your dog has never had before).

He needs anti histamines.

For those who mentioned antihistamines, do you mean human meds like cetirizine? I haven't asked the vet about them, but assumed she'd mention them if they were available /an option.

Regarding the food, so he's been on a vet prescribed food for a while. If he doesn't have a food allergy, does what he eat necessarily impact the skin, assuming the food is a balanced formulation?

Apoquel and maintaining a strict diet were the game changers for us.
Every now and again, if there had been a prolonged period of too many treats, inappropriate food etc then a steroid injection was required to get it under control again but these could be a year or two apart.

The only thing that helped one of my dogs was plain cooked rice, mince and mixed frozen vegetables. Nothing added. Wasn't actually more expensive than vet prescribed food but a bit of a faff as dog was 70kg so ate a lot.
Vet is treating the outside whereas often if you treat the inside it heals the outside. Have you got a Holistic vet near you?

Presumably it isn't mange - but it sounds like it? Is he clipped? Presumably skin swabs have been taken?

A short course of Prednisone might help along with stripping back his diet to unprocessed foods.

Is your dog from fully health tested parents?

Certain breeds, including the ones that make up you dog, can be riddled with skin issues and many of them are genetic. No amount of diet, medication or environmental factors are going to solve that if it's down to poor breeding...

So, first step, contact the breeder and ask to see the full health tests of the parents (assuming you haven't got them to hand). And then, if those tests aren't done, get your dog tested for the various skin issues that both breeds are prone to. And then, and only then, if those tests come up clear do you try different medicines for your poor boy.

I don't have the breeder details. He was rehomed with us at around 9 months old. So we have him over 3 years but these issues only cropped up a few months ago. I guess the first initial signs started around October, but it was only December that the itching got very bad and the scabs started to appear.

The vet has also not taken any skin samples. Tbh we've been thinking about getting a second opinion. She's lovely and has been our vet for previous pets but they never had any ongoing problems like this.

If you can afford it, I would ask for a referral to a dermatologist.

My sprocker had skin and ear problems. He had to have baths with medicated shampoo every three days and a low dose of daily steroids.
He had allergy testing for food and environment. Then he had immunotherapy injections every month. It was a special concoction tailored to his allergies.

The vet did mention a dermatologist alright. I guess I'll have to look into that as he's getting gradually worse. He even received the cytopoint injection less than 2 weeks ago but it only reduced the itch a little bit for the first 2 days and it's as bad as ever now.

When our elderly dog had skin issues the thing that resolved it most was bathing him in oatmeal shampoo every 2 weeks , we used Bugalugs .

Our Bichon had Piriton. She was initially prescribed some sort of anti histamine from the vet but my friends old fashioned farm vet Grandad told us just to use Piriton as it was the same thing. If you Google I think you can find out the mg per kg of weight for dogs Disclaimer: I am not qualified to give this advice and my frieds Grandad was very old fashioned in some of his veterinary practices.

Yes, get a second opinion. This will take some detective work but look for an independent vet. Then see if this vet is able to do the recommended health tests (eye exam, hip & elbow scores, ... ) for the Kennel Club. I think someone who has an interest in dogs and their welfare is key.
If you are somewhere in the east Midlands, I can recommend a vet. He's all about dogs! He managed to keep my boys reoccurring ear infections under control. I went backwards and forwards with other vets for 2 years... it took him 3 months and all is under control. We have a strict diet and protocol for flair ups, 18 months down the line and all is well.

A few of my dogs have had/have allergies. The one we have now is on cytopoint which does help him, he was on steroids which did help a lot but he’s quite old so we wanted to try something different and luckily cytopoint works. Apoquel didn’t do anything for him.
Our previous dog was on a continuous low dose of steroid which helped

Even if tests have come back as not a food allergy, it is in my opinion worth eliminating chicken. It doesn't work at once, often it takes a few weeks. Your dog might be better on a novel protein such as an insect based diet, or rabbit for example. Failing that, and going with environmental issues, do you have wool carpets? That could be an indoor trigger. Oatmeal shampoos are soothing. As previous posters have said, maybe a second opinion is warranted. It is so distressing for dog and owner. My sympathy, I went through it with a cat. She only got like it in the summer, fortunately, and just had to have steroids to get through in the end. In hindsight, I think I should have tried anti-histamines.

Were Apoquel or Zenrelia an option? (I'm assuming you're Ireland, so not sure of what is licensed there.) My vet was dismissive of trying different meds when we were on Apoquel, so we haven't tried Cytopoint yet.

My 2 dogs were on Apoquel, but we relatively recently switched to Zenrelia (we had a different vet that day). One dog is SO MUCH better on it. The other is pretty much the same on either, but for me it is simpler to have both on the same drug. (Especially as due to weight differences they were on different doses of Apoquel, but the same dose of Zenrelia.)

Our cavapoo had skin issues - itchy red plaques, like eczema, and terrible ear wax issues.

I don't know precisely what it is that he is sensitive to, but it's something in dentistix and similar dental chews, and in some kibble.

He now has "years" dog food and grain free treats and it's all cleared up, including his ears. No idea what the issue was; not wheat as he loves a little crust of bread and it doesn't cause a flare up.

I'm in Ireland, but thanks anyway.

I was only offered cytopoint. I did see a poster for something else in the vets, possibly zenrelia. The "z" sounds familiar. I will need to go back this week I think so will ask about that as well as some of the other things mentioned by other posters, especially regarding the skin sampling and referral to a dermatologist.