# ithcy dogs



## heelary01 (Apr 30, 2012)

Every now and again my two chocolate labs start scratching as if they have a really niggly itch then shake their head as if they have ear infection but no nasty smells or anything.

Swapped them onto raw diet about 6 weeks ago and started scratching about a week later.
Gave them piriton for couple days and stopped it for a while but is back again.

All up to date with flea and tic drops.

Brushed and checked over regularly.

My vet will recommend I take them off the raw diet as she said that when it first happened.

Any idea what it could be?


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## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

What does your feeding schedual (just an example of what your dogs eat in a given week) look like? 

They could be detoxing?

What kind of food did you have them on before raw?


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I agree with Makovich - what are you feeding them?

Are you giving any supplements, veggies, etc? Are you making sure the chicken isn't enhanced?

It would be good to see a weekly menu, including every single thing that goes into their mouth.


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

heelary01 said:


> Every now and again my two chocolate labs start scratching as if they have a really niggly itch then shake their head as if they have ear infection but no nasty smells or anything.
> 
> Swapped them onto raw diet about 6 weeks ago and started scratching about a week later.
> Gave them piriton for couple days and stopped it for a while but is back again.
> ...


Even though the dogs don't have any "nasty smells" coming from their ears, the head shaking really is making me think they have some sort of ear problem. When our older GSP exhibited this kind of behaviour we would put our own version of "Swimear" (1/3 white vinegar to 2/3 isopropyl alcohol) and massage his ears a bit. Then we gently clean the inside of the ear with an index finger & tissues.

Alternately, there is a T8 Keto Flush for dogs, but I don't know if you can get that without a script for your dogs.

The other thing is to very rigorously go through their diet from the time you switched them to raw; when certain foods were added, etc. If you can't pinpoint the problem, you may have to take them off raw for a bit then gradually re-introduce them one item at a time to see when/if the behaviour resurfaces. 

Of course you could always ask the vet to do allergy testing, but I have no idea how time consuming or costly it may be.

Bonne chance,


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## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

I am leaning toward the detox; but I also would not rule out an environmental allergy. Not sure what the environment where you live is like; but they may be allergic to some pollens that are in the air. It may be as simple as giving them an OTC allergy pill for a while.


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## Yorkie967 (Mar 13, 2012)

Sounds to me like ear mites, easy fix if it is there's plenty of ear drops for that


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## LindsayMaryland (Jan 4, 2012)

I have a Lab with allergies. His symptoms were scratching and also some vomiting. My vet said allergies are pretty common in Labs, so we put him on an allergy fish-based food called L.I.D. sweet potato & fish and things cleared up pretty quickly because of the natural balance food. I guess it could be a bunch of things, but you determine that it’s allergies, I’d highly recommend trying this food. It really helped my Zeus.


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