Rocky is itchy!! *Update on post #28!*

[critter crazy]

Rocky has begun to itch his back legs, and around his genital area. He is matting his hair, and removing some. I dont understand what happened??? He was fine, then all of a sudden bam!! I cant get him to the vets till monday, so what can i do to help him now??? He seems to have on the hairless areas, around his genital and lower stomache, little red spots?? Like a rash or something??? anyways, the problem is, rocky will not let me touch him, I cant even lift his leg to look closely!! everytime i go near the area, he acts like he is gonna snap! He has been this way since day one! I believe it is because of the arthritis in his legs. So how can I help him, if he wont let me look???

What can i do ???? Please help!

[chocolatepuppy]

If he is itchy, Benadryl might help. I wouldn't know how much to give such a big dog. Did he get into something? Maybe like poison ivy?

[critter crazy]

If he is itchy, Benadryl might help. I wouldn't know how much to give such a big dog. Did he get into something? Maybe like poison ivy?

I have heard of benadryl as well, but was unsure about it. Poison Ivy? i doubt it, it i very cold here, was a high of 10 today!

[chocolatepuppy]

I thought you could still get it in the winter. Not sure. Regardless, Benadryl might help the itch. My Lacey has taken it as well as my RB Mandy. They took 3 pills throughout the day and weighed 70 and 90 lbs. I hate to tell you to give him something but if he's miserable itchy,maybe it would help. Maybe someone else will come on and offer some advice.

[kallisto4529]

benedryl is the best thing until you can get him to the vet, that is what i had to give my cockers when they would get stuff that put a rash on them, and the vet actually reccomends it, my cockers were at the most 35lbs, so i only gave them one.. hope he gets to feeling better.

[critter crazy]

Arghhhh...!!!! Whay does tis stuff always happen on the weekends??? I am going to try teh benadryl, and see what happens. It seems that the worst areas, are just inside his back legs, and the back of his rear legs.

[dragondawg]

Rocky has begun to itch his back legs, and around his genital area. He is matting his hair, and removing some. I dont understand what happened??? He was fine, then all of a sudden bam!! I cant get him to the vets till monday, so what can i do to help him now??? He seems to have on the hairless areas, around his genital and lower stomache, little red spots?? Like a rash or something??? anyways, the problem is, rocky will not let me touch him, I cant even lift his leg to look closely!! everytime i go near the area, he acts like he is gonna snap! He has been this way since day one! I believe it is because of the arthritis in his legs. So how can I help him, if he wont let me look???

What can i do ???? Please help!

If one were allowed to say so on this forum without getting people worked up then I would mention that the dosage for Benedryl is 1-2 mg/lb. I would also mention typically I have given my 60-70 lb dogs 50 mg of Benedryl at night, and a follow up dose of 25 mg in the morning. My previous dog has allergen problems, the current two much less so. Only problem I've found with the 50 mg dose is excessive snoring at night. Although if snoring occurs at any time with my female, I can tell her to "go get on your pillow". At which point she gets up, leaves my bedroom, and goes to the other bedroom where her doggy pillow is located. A win-win scenario.

The spots/rash is most likely a contact allergy problem. Either an allergen in the environment or possibly a flea/mite allergy. There's a smaller chance it could be a food allergy- but unlikely. Probably getting some scrapings at the Vet to check for mites would be prudent. Your challenge in working with the Vet will be to identify the underlying cause of the allergy. The one picture looks like infected flea bites. The Vet will probably prescribe an antibiotic such as Cephalexin to help clear up the skin.

The only time my dogs get shampooed is when they go out and roll in deer doo-doo. Outside of that a once weekly trip to the pond for a quick swim does just fine. Frequent shampooing will only dry out the skin causing more problems. The only exception was the weekly oatmeal shampoos I gave my male when he got Demodex mange as a puppy. I would definitely avoid doing anything that might dry the skin unless your Vet indicates otherwise.

[borzoimom]

Be careful self medicating a deep chambered heart breed- check with the vet or emergency center for the dose..

[applesmom]

It could also be brought on by something as simple as missing a small area during the rinsing after the bath. Even a little bit of shampoo residue would have caused him to lick, which would cause irritation and leave the skin open to infection.

Hope the vet can figure it out and provide some immediate relief.

On such a big guy that's got to be a heckuva big itch!

[applesmom]

Be careful self medicating a deep chambered heart breed- check with the vet or emergency center for the dose..

borzoinmom, this is a new one on me. Can you explain what you mean by deep chambered heart breed? Aren't all dogs hearts the same other than size?

[critter crazy]

Rocky has an appointment for 10:30 this morning at the Vets, hopefully they can shed some light on this, and make my poor baby feel better!

[borzoimom]

borzoinmom, this is a new one on me. Can you explain what you mean by deep chambered heart breed? Aren't all dogs hearts the same other than size?

No- after having EKG's done on shepherds etc., and spending alot of time with the top veternary hospital in our state- I learned a few years back that several of the giant breeds have a different heart in respects to the chamber of the heart- the amount of blood it circulates, etc. Its also the reason that they have a slower pulse etc. The chamber is deeper, and thicker in the muscle wall. Some theories are that this is to protect the heart more from a blow, some reason its because its to move the amount of oxygen- carried through the blood, for the brain function etc.
YOu can tell by the ultrasounds, images etc the heart of a giant breed. Its also the reason a large breed can have a microvalve prolapse, and other heart problems more than a smaller dog. Its also supports the belief for most giant breeds to on average live shorter lives- although not totally consistant as like the Borzoi is a long lived breed. However- their ultrasound of their hearts has a more average size heart wall and not as pronounced deeper chest.
My point is with the deeper chambers- and more heart valve muscle- this can be stored longer in the heart than a smaller or average size breed. This consistantly shows up in breeds that average over a 100 pounds. Its was quite intesting to say the least.. I had Hottie done in the same place a few years back- and the deepness of the heart chamber amazed me. With a strong heart muscle- what would have been interputred- not knowing the breed- would have looked like at one point he had a heart attack.. The reason I went to the specialist- sure enough- same reasoning. They said because of this to also watch anethesia- a procedure I was always told was something to watch because of the lightness of body fat- the fact is- with the deeper chambers- the anethesia would stay in the body longer as it takes longer to circulate out of the heart valve muscles. After spending that money on a specialist- although it cost more money- the relief to know that situation did not exist was well worth the money.

[critter crazy]

Rocky And I are back from the vets, Rocky must have sat on something, and got an allergic reaction.The vet seems to think, that he has had this problem for a while. Unfortunately, we didnt know he was having a reaction, this weekeneds licking/itching was due to an Infection that had set in. What we saw, and this morning smelled was a result of him getting an infection in his back legs. So the vet gave him an Ijnection of antibiotics, and he has to take Cephalexin pills for the next 10 days. cost of total vet visit was 34$! I love my vet! he he he!

I was also able to get a Weight on rocky, he only weighs 128.7 pounds! The vet said he should at least be around 150. Even with his arthritis, which is doing very well. So we are still feeding him more food, until his weight is back where it should be. I will feel better once i can no longer feel his spine.

Rocky was a very good boy, and let the vet do everything he needed to without any problems, you could tell he wasnt enjoying himself, but i am very proud of him. My work is paying off! woohoo!

at the vet we got to meet a very aorable 9 week old female Saint!! She was the cutest thing in the world, and Rocky just loved her. We also got to meet, a Blue and Rust Doberman puppy!!! I had never seen one before, an it was the cutest thing ever. The poor thing was shivering the whole time we were there!