2 out of 3 Dogs Itching

[shellyk]

Our 2 Newfs are itching but not the Lab...checked for fleas - none. They are on garlic treatment but maybe they picked some up somewhere but no evidence of them. No hotspots seen. No major changes in their diet. All three eat the same thing. We got a new leash and only the two Newfs have worn it. Haven't ever heard of leash allergy. It's possible that 2 out of 3 walked through something that has irritated their skins - they are off to the Soggy Doggie (self dog wash) on Thursday. Unfortunately they are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

The only thing left I can think of is their diet...they all eat the same prey model raw food which is a mixture of proteins daily and through out the week. That leaves treats and supplements. No new treats. We rotate supplements and recently we added raw goats milk and fresh organic wheat grass. They all get a couple of table spoons of the goat's milk on their food and about the same amount of snipped grass. Goat's milk is supposed to help with allergies and they have never had issues with dairy - they love cheese, yogurt and cottage cheese. We ran out of the grass so we are eliminating that. We stopped the goat's milk this morning. They eat grass in the neighborhood all the time.

If it's dietary - how long before it will cycle out of their system?

 

[Brandie&Maggie]

I'd guess either environmental or the new addition to the diet. Is there a particular reason you chose to add goat's milk and wheatgrass to the diet? Those are not things that a dog would normally consume following the prey model. So just curious if there was a reason you added them or just something to try.

If you have a blower I'd give them both a good treatment with that now since you can't wash until tomorrow.

When Maggie would have a flare-up of her ears or itching because of something she ate (usually wheat) it would take a few days to 2 weeks to clear up from a one-time incident. However, if they have been eating that stuff for a while, it could take a few weeks to clear out. (For example in humans it takes 3-5 weeks for the dairy protein to clear the system.)

It could also be seasonal allergies. So if you eliminate everything else, it clears up, and happens again around this time next year, you'll know it's likely seasonal.

 

[shellyk]

Our raw coop offered the goat's milk. It is supposed to be a source of naturally good enzymes that aren't readily available. I saw the wheat grass on the Dr. Becker - dog site. She suggested it as safer than the grass dogs eat on walks that might have pesticides/herbicides or other nasty stuff on it.

I forgot about using the blower on them. Luckily it's Thursday so at least one of them is getting a bath tonight and the other one will get it tomorrow night.

 

[Jeannie]

As a general rule when a dog is itching it is an environmental allergy. If it is a food allergy they get ear and anal gland problems. As I said "generally". I'd try giving them benedryl or some sort of antihistamine tablet. Chase gets 3 benedryl 3 times a day. If not she itches very badly.

 

[shellyk]

I will try the benedryl. Is the dosage by the pound?

 

[Brandie&Maggie]

I will try the benedryl. Is the dosage by the pound?

The normal dose for an adult human is 1 pill (25 mg) or 2 pills (50mg) if really really necessary - like for a bee sting, etc.

Be aware that it makes a lot of people (and dogs) sleepy, but it can also make them hyper and some even a bit aggressive.

 

[Jeannie]

Chase is 97 lbs and gets 3 every 8 hours. A vet once told me she can take up to 8 pills 4 times a day, which I think is too much. It does not make her tired but may your dogs if they are not use to it. Most sites I have read says 1 mg for every pound 3 times a day. So a 100 lb dog would get 4 pills three times a day.

Here is a chart showing dose per pound. Most pills are 25 mg each.
http://benadrylfordogs.info/benadryl-dosage-for-dogs/benadryl-dosage-for-dogs-chart/

 

[Jeannie]

This site says you can give up to 2 mg per pound 3 times a day.

http://benadrylfordogs.net/benadryl-dosage-chart-for-dogs/

 

[shellyk]

The Benadryl worked last night. I gave each 4-25 mg pills and the itching stopped and I didn't see any side effects. My husband fed the dogs this morning and I forgot to ask him if he gave them another dose...After he left for work - I saw one of them itching so I gave them a dose. I was starting to worry if they had been double dosed but now seeing that they could have double what I gave them I won't worry about it.

Thanks all for your help :wave:

 

[Jeannie]

They can have up to 8 so don't worry about double dosing. I think if they were itching then they didn't get it at breakfast.

Glad it is helping.

 

[Denali's Mama]

We actually just took our newf and our...three other dogs to the vet this morning. They needed their heart shots, but I also had the vet check them because three out of the four dogs have been REALLY itchy. Our vet said it was environmental allergies and that here in Colorado it's pretty common this time of year. He prescribed us allergy meds, but also said that anytime in the future we can give them benadryl if we run out of the one he gave us. He said we can give them 1mg per lb. So our newf is almost 8 months and weighs 93lbs. He said we could give him 3.5 (25mg) tablets every 4-8 hours (no more than 3 times a day). I'm from Hawaii and I've never heard of seasonal allergies in dogs! Crazy!

 

[lmfoltyn]

My 3 have been itching also...they have been on Benedryl for the last 3 weeks...I only give them 2 tablets once per day and it has stopped their itching...poor things...the alergens have been especially bad this season here in Utah.

 

[shellyk]

Almost embarrassed to post this but if I hadn't seen it I wouldn't believe it. We took our 2 itchy Newfs to the Vet and the Vet Tech found a flea with one pass of the flea comb! $500 later with trifexis for the 3 dogs and topical crap for the cats...the garlic treatment let us down after almost 2 years with no fleas.

 

[Denali's Mama]

Oh no! Poor babies. Our little silky terrier is allergic to flea saliva pretty badly. He gets allergy shots if he gets bitten or else he bites the hair off his back. At least you caught it and they are on trifexis. Trifexis worked great for our little Harley when we lived in Hawaii where fleas are pretty common. We are lucky here in Colorado that there really aren't many fleas (or so we are told). For our itchy babies, the allergy meds have helped thank goodness. Sorry about the fleas but at least the trifexis will help!

 

[DAWNMERIE]

Easy fix Cause allergy's SUCK!

 

[jane]

Benadryl is going to just mask the problem. You need to get to the root of the problem. Could be environmental. Even though my dogs have been raw fed for years, every spring and fall some get goopy eyes. Could be food related too. I would start by stopping the milk and grass. See how they do.

 

[victoria1140]

I have added local honey and coconut oil to my dogs food to try and minimise allergy issues as they are on piriton atm for allergies.

I use advocate at the moment for fleas as we get a lot of slugs here and our area has a lot of lungworm in the uk now.

 

[shellyk]

Update...

McGee was still miserable even with the successful flea treatment (Trifexis). He kept at his tail and I was worried that he had a hot spot. He did and it was infected. The Vet said he was having an all over body allergic reaction - his eyes were red, his ears were red, areas on his feet were red besides the obvious discomfort to his skin. She was surprised he didn't have an ear infection. She said he could be allergic to flea saliva and it would only take one flea to do this...it could also be a food allergy...or environmental and she couldn't tell which. She doubled his flea treatment to include a topical to ensure no external parasites like mites etc. He's on antibiotics for his tail and a short course of steroids to control the allergic reaction. She suggested to switch to Zyrtec instead of Benadryl and we have started him on a single protein diet. Ugh! Two months with one protein source at a time. That also means no treats! We normally hide pills in peanut butter :cussing2: She said that he is the typical age for allergies to start up and if it was fleas it would last for his whole life . The good news is that he feels better already. She did warn us that it could still get worse...bummer!

 

[McLoki]

Also keep in mind that benedryl is a brand name. If you need your dogs on it long term, you can save quite a bit by purchasing it in larger quantities like this....

***not saying that brand is what you want, just an example - when purchasing pay attention to not only the quantity, but also the dosage per pill and adjust accordingly (the example above is 50mg not 25 so you would give half as many pills per dose)