Itching, Scratching

[Freedom]

If you switch to a high quality grain free food, you will see improvement in as little 3 days, may take up to a week.

Try a grain free kibble, if you don't want to go to the Veg to Bowl which Ellie/Pomzu mentioned.

Also, track down this book and give it a read:
The Whole Pet Diet, by Andi Brown.

I found it at my library. She gives so much information on which foods do what, which herbs will help. AND she includes recipes.

I am currently using the Veg to Bowl, and the Spot's Chicken Stew recipe from the book. NO issues! Itching stopped, the gunk build up in Marlin's eyes cleared up. Poor guy has lived with that for his 11 years and by switching foods, it cleared up in less than 5 days.

The veal and rice is nice, but I bet it is costly and who knows, the rice may still be an issue.

Good luck, which ever route you choose. Learning about nutrition and reading labels is just as important for our pets as it is for ourselves.

[Bea]

Try an all natural diet. So much healtier! No defiencies like commercial brands show! No skin issues ever!

[kokopup]

Koko had a similar problem and I spent a fortune on Vet bills until I decided to put her on a corn free diet, now she is no longer itching. I have found that this is a vets # 1 complaint ( and income producer) and the easiest way to solve the problem is by the owner doing a little study about pet allergies and make his/her own changes. It is a hit and miss proposition and you can try different
things without a vet. Throwing Steroids at the problem just mast symptoms and does not find the problem. IMO... Unfortunately most of our medical community takes the same approach, treat symptoms, to heck with the real problem.

[Bonny]

Our veterinary gave us a paper about the real scoop on pet foods. He talked about by products as being an inexpensive way to increase the protein content of the food. The sheet reads avoiding anything with by products in it. By products can contain feet, feathers, skin, intestines lung, brain, bone or blood.The fillers like ground corn, wheat middlings, wheat & corn glutens, sorghum etc. can cause dogs to develop allergies to these ingredients. He mainly pointed out protein as the first ingredient on the bag label with a source of carbohydrates as the second ingredient like rice or potato. At the vets office they favor Canidae/Felidae, California Natural, & EVO pet foods. I didn't get a chance to read any labels because I had Baxter with me at the time. I plan to visit the vets office to look at what they have, there are two co-ops that sell dog food. I plan to spend some time going around reading labels. I was given 5 sample bags to take home & Baxter liked the food he has never been a picky eater. The itching has stopped for now.

[MonicanHonda]

Steroids shouldn't be used, just like humans, for any amount of time. I'd honestly rather not have them used at all. My dog Remy was on them (my mother in law has her) and I was even iffy to allow her to use them on Remy... but I figured it's only once... so it won't be too bad.

I, like others, agree on a natural diet, whether it be homecooked, which takes a lot of prep time, or a raw diet. These take a lot of studying...

See Spot Live Longer by Steve Brown
Raw Food Diet
Raw Meaty Bones by Tom Lonsdale
and Work Wonders by Tom Lonsdale are good books.

Well, maybe you don't believe in these two ways of feeding, or feel that you don't have enough time to read about them (once you start reading it's not as stressful or confusing as you think it would be.) So hey, you want to stay on a premade diet.

The next best diet would be dehydrated raw. The Honest Kitchen, Sojos, Ziwi Peak. But these can be very expensive for large dogs, if that is what you have.

The next, is a GOOD grain free food. Take a look at 'Food Pets Die For.' It's a VERY informative book. Having protein as your number one source isn't the only thing you should be looking for. There are many things that go into dog food that is horrible. Although, it does sound like your vet knows what it's talking about if they sell Natura products and Canidae. The Evo and Canidae Grainfree is a good one. California Naturals is for dogs with severe allergies. But it still has grains... so that may not be your best choice. But you can always try it if you suspect protein as the allergy because it has single protein sources. If you suspect it's grain, some good grain free foods consist of Evo, Orijen, Acana, Timberwold... I think I would first suspect grains too.

EDIT: Thought of a couple more grain free. I was in a rush before. Wellness Core, Solid Gold Bark at the Moon, Before Grain, and Blue Buffalo Wilderness.

[Bonny]

Baxter is a 7 year old Australian Cattle dog & weighs in at 45 pounds. We are looking at an indoor/outdoor dog. I take the dogs out everyday for a good mile to five mile walk this year snowshoeing for me with all the deep snow. The dogs find all kinds of protein in the woods & fields besides being fed their dog food. I am opting for a dog food with protein & rice. The sample doc gave us went well with Baxter. What gets me both dogs were itching & they are not related. The other dog Missy is a 2 1/2 year old Australian Shepherd. Everything came about when Baxter killed a manged raccoon. Besides that our sons black lab. rolled on the raccoon too & is around our dogs everyday & he doesn't have an itch problem. There are fox with mange & coyotes running around our area. I am going to ask about Malassezia-yeast infection. I don't know if the ivomec or steroids would take care of that. Baxter has had two steroid shots in the last 6 months. Maybe the dog food we feed both our dogs has something wrong with it? The lab eats it also when he is here. It is a process of limination & we will try the dog food next. Actually Missy is not scratching anymore & with the shots Baxter has stopped itching. There is a 6 week waiting period to see if he starts the itching again. I do feed some left overs & everything is pretty much homeraised around here. I will do some more reading & research that has been mentioned above.

[kokopup]

By Bonny

I am going to ask about Malassezia-yeast infection. I don't know if the ivomec or steroids would take care of that.

Yeast is a fungal infection and steroids if anything may make it worst. The topical shampoo treatment would be a shampoo like human SELSUN BLUE. or any shampoo for sebboria. If a topical treatment isn't effective then a systemic oral antifungal like Ketoconazole should be used.

Ivomec is for parasites like heartworms.