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What to do about an itching dog


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Hi, if you have to give your dog benadryl I assume she has allergies - do you know what kind of allergies? My dog is allergic to certain types of food that makes him itchy, and in the summer when the pollen is out in the long grass we have to give his belly a wipe down with a damp cloth after walks because the pollen irritates him. Has the vet told you what is causing the allergic itching?

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[quote name='BunBon']Hi, if you have to give your dog benadryl I assume she has allergies - do you know what kind of allergies? My dog is allergic to certain types of food that makes him itchy, and in the summer when the pollen is out in the long grass we have to give his belly a wipe down with a damp cloth after walks because the pollen irritates him. Has the vet told you what is causing the allergic itching?[/quote]

Yes, Benadryl helps, but do they have to stay on this everyday?

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[LEFT]Hi,

I don't give my dog benadryl or any other medication - we had to go through a process of figuring out what caused the allergic reaction (eg wheat) and removing that from the diet. As for the pollen - I avoid long grass fields at that time of year and give him a wipe down with a cloth when we get home. If you can find out what is causing the itching it may be possible to remove the cause of the allergy from your dog's environment then you don't have to give any medication at all.

Have you tried putting your dog on an exclusion diet (i.e. a hypoallergenic food like potato and salmon or rice and lamb) and excluding all other foods to see if that helps? If it does you can start introducing other foods one at a time to see if they cause the allergic reaction. We found that even when you remove the things that cause the itching it can take several weeks for the skin to calm down again. But if he steals a slice of bread or similar the itching comes back straight away.

I know it sounds silly but have you totally ruled out fleas? Even if you treat your dog they can still sometimes pick them up from the environment.

Did the vet say what is causing the allergic reaction, or did they just give you benadryl? Does your dog have flaky (dandruffy) skin or just the itching?
[/LEFT]

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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]My Rottweiler went through a period of seasonal allergies. First I would rule out parasites such as fleas. Next is to get a diagnoses from your Vet, if it's a bacterial infection of the skin then you can get either selsum blue shampoo or sugar body scrub. Sugar is a great way to combat bacterial infections.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[SIZE=2][FONT=Arial]If it's allergies a home prepared diet is best as you know exactly what is going into your dog and you can choose organic foods. By choosing organic you are avoiding pesticides/antibiotics/growth hormones etc. Have a good canine nutrition consultant help you with planning a diet as you will need to do an elimination diet first. Dr Pitcairn is a good starting place if you pick up his books he has some great diets to follow. If you prefer kibble I have seen dogs with allergies do fantastic on California Natural or a good quality grain free.[/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=2][FONT=Arial]For herbs and supplements for my Rottweiler I used astragalus root which I gave to her daily. This herb helps moderate the immune system. I also give her turmeric and ginger root daily and I feed her sardines and wild Alaskan salmon for the omega 3 fatty acids. If you prefer to give a fish body oil supplement be sure it's of good quality and is packaged in capsules etc as fish oil is so unsaturated that it oxidizes quickly. If your dog is on kibble/canned (I prefer canned) and you give fish body oil (never fish liver oil on kibble as you can over dose on vit A) always give a vitamin E supplement with mixed tocopherols d-alpha (not dl-alpha) and beta, gamma and delta tocopherols. Many vitamin E supplements only contain d-alpha which is only one part of vitamin E and may not be that healthy. [/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=2][FONT=Arial]I also found a nice calendula lotion that works very nicely for the skin as well :)[/FONT][/SIZE]

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