# The dreaded Itchies! :(



## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Sprocket has the itchies. 

He doesn't have fleas

His skin looks healthy (no dryness, dander or redness)

He is constantly chewing and scratching at himself. Not in one particular spot but all over. 

He had been getting into the beneful that the other dogs eat (not my dogs). He hasn't had it since last friday so about a week. I have gotten really good at not leaving him loose in the house, pushing all the chairs to the dining table in, moving the dogs bowl off the table and on to the counter where Sprocket can't get it. He is still so itchy.

I have upped his salmon oil intake and increased the amount of fat that he eats.

Anything else I can do to help this poor little dog?


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Wasn't he in that nasty looking pool? Could be from the water, chlorine or some bug larvae that makes dogs itch Just a thought...


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

whiteleo said:


> Wasn't he in that nasty looking pool? Could be from the water, chlorine or some bug larvae that makes dogs itch Just a thought...


They don't put chlorine in that pool because their dog is always in it. They put in some other chemical that is dog "safer".

He wasn't in the pool though, Gunner goes in it but he isn't itchy at all. 

Do you think the Beneful could have caused it? He wasn't itchy before we moved back here this month.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Definitely the Beneful could cause the itchies, giving a dog crap when he's used to real food is gonna come out somewhere...Can you put the crap food in a place he won't get to it or maybe you'll have to put a muzzle on him while he's in the house to save him from himself..LOL


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

whiteleo said:


> Definitely the Beneful could cause the itchies, giving a dog crap when he's used to real food is gonna come out somewhere...Can you put the crap food in a place he won't get to it or maybe you'll have to put a muzzle on him while he's in the house to save him from himself..LOL


hahah a muzzle would be so funny. They free feed their chihuahua/yorkie on the kitchen table so its always up there in a bowl. I don't allow my dogs out of our room if I am not out there to supervise them. 

When I go out there I always push the chairs in so he can't get up there and I have also been moving the food to the counter where he can't get it. He also now has a bell on his collar so I know where he is with out seeing him. I am trying my hardest to keep him from eating that garbage. I can't think of anything else that would cause him to itch. 

What would you suggest to help his itching?


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I bathe my dogs in an Oatmeal calming shampoo for sensitive skin, not sure if it will help with the itchiness but it will be soothing...Other than spraying him with Calm coat all over I'd try the shampoo..


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

whiteleo said:


> I bathe my dogs in an Oatmeal calming shampoo for sensitive skin, not sure if it will help with the itchiness but it will be soothing...Other than spraying him with Calm coat all over I'd try the shampoo..


Okay I'll give that I try. I feel so bad for him.


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## twoisplenty (Nov 12, 2008)

You could also give him some Benedryl 1mg per lb of weight every 8 hrs. If giving Salmon Oil I would also give Vitamin E.


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## Yorkie967 (Mar 13, 2012)

Sounds like something he ate but if you need a good shampoo, these are couple really good anti-itch/allergy shampoos:

Micro-Tek Shampoo
Dr. Aloe Shampoo - Not JUST another aloe 50:1


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## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

It probably is from the food, so I would give him a benedryl. Since sprocket is little, you can give him children's. I give Shelby (she's 9-11lbs) grape chew able claritin. she will just take it and eat it like a treat. depending on how much he ate, it may take a few days for the stuff to get out of his system. 
It could also be an environmental allergy. If that's the case, the benedryl certainly will not hurt! I know that Khan has had to start taking his otc allergy pills for about the last week or so. The cedar and juniper have started to come alive in our area.


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## hmbutler (Aug 4, 2011)

Just checking - is benadryl the same in Australia as it is in the US? A cough medicine? Duke gets itchy too, I'm fairly sure it is environmental (and our yard at our new house still isnt landscaped, so he is always covered in black dirt lol), he has no rashes or fleas but he bites and scratches a LOT. I would like to try benadryl but don't want to give it to him if it's a totally different product!

ETA: Having just looked it up, it looks like benadryl is an allergy medication, not a cough medicine. Could I give him hayfever tablets?


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## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

We have 2 different kinds of allergy pills in our area. The OTC that I refer to does NOT have pseudophed (sp?) in them. The main ingredient in the one I give Khan is: Diphenhydramine hydrochloride 25mg. If the hayfever meds you have available have this ingredient then I would say they are the same. Just be very careful that it does not have pseudophed in it. In our area, the only way to get these allergy drugs is to show your ID to the pharmacist. Since it's apparently the main ingredient for making Meth, they control & keep track of how many a person gets.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

benedryl is a trademarked registered name for Diphenhydramine hydrochloride, commonly used for itchiness from allergens.

if bromine is being used instead of chlorine, the same itchiness can occur.

so i would give him benedryl.....25 mg if he's under 25 lbs and 50 mg if he's more than that.

i would bathe him and get the stuff off of his fur and i would also try to keep him away from the beneful which is more probably the cause than anything else....

upping his fat and salmon oil won't really help him if it's the beneful or whatever agent they are using in the pool....

you can also give zyrtec.....to dogs and/or chlortrimeton....all of which are over the counter.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Sprocket was never in the pool. Gunner was and hes not itchy in the slightest. 

I have bathed him, administered proper dosage of benadryl... still itchy


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i'd say there's something in the food.....

....to me, if it's all over, it's a food related thing...and well, um, the only way to stop it is to give a very strong lecture to the dog....


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## dustinshaw98 (Feb 22, 2012)

Sprocket said:


> Sprocket has the itchies.
> 
> He doesn't have fleas
> 
> ...



The allergies are from food. Can you try at least three days of raw diet? Anything raw. Nothing grain-based or plant-based.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

dustinshaw98 said:


> The allergies are from food. Can you try at least three days of raw diet? Anything raw. Nothing grain-based or plant-based.


He is only fed raw meat/bones/organs.

Not a plant or grain in his diet since October


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

magicre said:


> i'd say there's something in the food.....
> 
> ....to me, if it's all over, it's a food related thing...and well, um, the only way to stop it is to give a very strong lecture to the dog....


How long until its out of his system? 

Little brat did get a lecture, he always gets lectures.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

if he doesn't stay away from the beneful.....he'll probably start to tolerate it or he'll itch himself raw....one way or the other.

but the only solution is to keep him away from the beneful. UNLESS, the little brat is getting in to something else....

i don't know long it takes to get out of his system....

days, i would suspect.

i'm trying to think of something more natural than benedryl that you can give him....i'll get back to you.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

To my knowledge, he hasn't had any Beneful or Anything else besides his own food for a little over a week.

They feed another dog purina puppy chow. Not that it is any better....


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## twoisplenty (Nov 12, 2008)

OTC Antihistamines will not work for food allergies. So if after 24 hrs of giving Benedryl every 8 hrs he is still itchy then you are most likely dealing with a food allergy. I would start a food trial with a single protein and go from there. Just an FYI Chicken and Beef are usually the two most common proteins that cause reactions. The good thing with food reactions is that they usually happen within 24hrs of ingestion.

My one girl reacts to Chicken, chews her feet and rubs her chin on any carpet she can find.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

He hasn't been eating anything new and he was not itchy before we got here. The only thing that has changed is our location and that he ate some crap dog food.


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## twoisplenty (Nov 12, 2008)

Food allergies can appear out of the blue just like Environmental Allergies. They can happen any time, at any age. My female was fine for the first 2.5yrs, then bam...chicken allergies. 

Perhaps try a different OTC Antihistamine first like Claratin. Not all Antihistamines work the same, some dogs handle a certain one better than others. If after trying a couple brands you still arent seeing results then I would go with a food trial.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

twoisplenty said:


> Food allergies can appear out of the blue just like Environmental Allergies. They can happen any time, at any age. My female was fine for the first 2.5yrs, then bam...chicken allergies.
> 
> Perhaps try a different OTC Antihistamine first like Claratin. Not all Antihistamines work the same, some dogs handle a certain one better than others. If after trying a couple brands you still arent seeing results then I would go with a food trial.


Ill start the food trial now. I really don't like giving him drugs.

Sprocket doesn't get any beef and hasn't has chicken since we have been here. He mostly gets elk meat and a slice of a turkey neck for bone. He does get a little pork fat too.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Sprocket said:


> Ill start the food trial now. I really don't like giving him drugs.
> 
> Sprocket doesn't get any beef and hasn't has chicken since we have been here. He mostly gets elk meat and a slice of a turkey neck for bone. He does get a little pork fat too.


five dolla says he's either getting into something or someone's giving him something when you're not looking.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

magicre said:


> five dolla says he's either getting into something or someone's giving him something when you're not looking.


That's what I'm thinking and why I'm annoyed as hell.  I don't blame him though, this place makes me itchy too...


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## Roo (Oct 17, 2010)

Bromelian and Quercitin taken together on an empty stomach may help with allergies instead of using Benadryl. Probiotics might be helpful too if it's a food allergy, food sensitivity, or yeast imbalance. I wonder if diluting some ACV with water in a spray bottle and spraying him down a bit would help with the itching at all, you would just have be careful not to get any in his eyes.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

roo has some awesome suggestions....but until you catch the offender or find where the dog is getting the offending food....i think you're going to have an itchy dog.

and, if you're itching too...maybe something else is going on.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

magicre said:


> roo has some awesome suggestions....but until you catch the offender or find where the dog is getting the offending food....i think you're going to have an itchy dog.
> 
> and, if you're itching too...maybe something else is going on.


I'm not really itchy  just mentally itchy.

I checked out the area where they feed their old dog. After she ate today, there were bits and pieces left. 

I am sure Sprocket has been eating those bits.


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## lily (May 16, 2011)

twoisplenty said:


> OTC Antihistamines will not work for food allergies. So if after 24 hrs of giving Benedryl every 8 hrs he is still itchy then you are most likely dealing with a food allergy. I would start a food trial with a single protein and go from there. Just an FYI Chicken and Beef are usually the two most common proteins that cause reactions. The good thing with food reactions is that they usually happen within 24hrs of ingestion.
> 
> My one girl reacts to Chicken, chews her feet and rubs her chin on any carpet she can find.


thats interesting,i was giving annie antihistamines but they had no effect at all,i stopped feeding chicken and her itching isnt a problem now!,i put her itching down to ocd i didnt put the 2 together ie chicken/itching,she does still itch ever so slightly but perhaps it takes a while for the chicken to get out of her system,karen


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## hmbutler (Aug 4, 2011)

Hmm I might try cutting chicken out of duke's diet (which sucks coz that's a staple for him around here! so cheap!) and see if his itching subsides... I just hate to do it because he needs a lot of bones in his diet so chicken frames, at $1/kg, are a lifesaver...


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

my dogs itch when fed chickens.....and i think it's because of what the chickens are fed..

i have called local farms around here and they all feed that vegetarian grain...which is corn, soy and g'd knows what else....so i'm not spending what they want because that's what they feed their chickens.

even the organic 16.00 chicken is fed corn and soy.

sigh.

i don't know about australia....but you may want to call whoever grows your chicken and just ask what they feed them. hopefully, it's different than our chickens here, other than a few small farmers and danemama


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

I have fed them a lot of home grown chickens that have been eating bugs and greens.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Sprocket said:


> I have fed them a lot of home grown chickens that have been eating bugs and greens.


and do your dogs react to chicken?


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

magicre said:


> and do your dogs react to chicken?


Not that I know of. They don't really get much chicken. In the beggining they got a lot of course but not its mostly venison, pork, and duck, chicken every few days or so. They don't seem different after eating it. Sprocket is the itchy one and he gets chicken hardly at all. I feed him venison, turkey neck for bone and pork. Mostly venison though.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

then i am further convinced someone is feeding him or he's getting into something. 

OR

it could be stress.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

magicre said:


> then i am further convinced someone is feeding him or he's getting into something.
> 
> OR
> 
> it could be stress.


Maybe he is trying to stress ME out.  Little twerp.

I'm just going to lock him up and throw away the key


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Sprocket said:


> Maybe he is trying to stress ME out.  Little twerp.
> 
> I'm just going to lock him up and throw away the key


wait. wait....let me get malia to you, so she can get locked up with keys thrown away. such a whiner.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

magicre said:


> wait. wait....let me get malia to you, so she can get locked up with keys thrown away. such a whiner.


Lets lock Mikey in there too. He is just a jackass and sleeps in his cave all day anyway. He would probably like it!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Sprocket said:


> Lets lock Mikey in there too. He is just a jackass and sleeps in his cave all day anyway. He would probably like it!


why not just lock ourselves away and let the dogs fend for themselves.

i'm exhausted from them.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

magicre said:


> why not just lock ourselves away and let the dogs fend for themselves.
> 
> i'm exhausted from them.


But I like the sunshine!  

They are exhausting...I have no answers.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Sprocket said:


> But I like the sunshine!
> 
> They are exhausting...I have no answers.


one word.

skylight.


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