ssgramma

I'll also chime in on the grain free food! Teddi is very allergic to "gravy" foods and I had to find out the hard way. At least it was quite definitive - ONE meal of a "gravy" type canned food and her ears were red, inflamed and nearly swollen shut. The good part was that we finally knew what the culprit was, changed to a grain free food and stopped her sufferring!

pamelajean73

I don't have a dog myself, but a good friend has a dog who is allergic to wheat and will itch uncontrollably if fed it. I agree with the "grain - free" posts - try that approach and see if it helps.

pocoellie

You might also try plain yogurt or maybe switching to a lamb and rice dry dog food mix, it really helped one of my dogs that I used to have.

Cheryl

My friend rescued this shih tzu and she had hardly any hair on the back of her. She would be constantly scratching so she took her to the vets and she got a shot of predisone and it seemed to work. He said that she has an allergy to fleas bites and maybe grass. But then she tried all different cremes and stuff . But now she gives her a pill I think it's keflex and I think a pill with prednisone. Her hair is coming back. The pills make her relax so she doesn't itch and it has really helped her. I will find out for sure exactly what it is and I will let you know.....

sewgull

My little dog had itch on her back, changed her food. She was eating food prescribed by vet. Changed her to Purina Little Bits, and the itching has almost gone.
You may try a different shampoo when batheing your dog.

hazeljane

I rescue Italian Greyhounds. frequently they come to me with very little hair or patchy coats. With them, it's usually a wheat sensitivity. A few weeks on grain free, and they are filling back out. I've had a couple that were assumed to have dilute color alopecia (common in blue and fawn iggies), and even they grew coats back on grain free diets.

Good luck. Poor baby.

roselady

Thank you all for your concern and helpful ideas. Everything you have suggested, we have been doing for 2 years. Since we have had her she hasn't had any wheat, corn, soy, etc... We have tried 2 different (very expensive) hypo-allergenic foods, no better at all. We've tried Benedryl, zertec, another antihistamine prescribed by the vet, atopica(cyclosporen) to suppress her immune system. Last week she was so bad she got a steroid shot. It has helped, but I really don't want her to have to live on those. The Nzymes program includes feeding her a high quality, low sugar(starch) food, bathing her twice a week with a medicated, gentle shampoo, and supplements to get the yeast out of her system, and probiotics to get her immume system strengthned. I am so hopeful that this will work, they say it might get worse before it gets better (as the toxins work their way out), but it might also be a cure, rather than just a bandaid for her symptoms.

watterstide

Poor Rosie, it is a helpless feeling, i know. i hope she gets better quickly...your a good mommy

pocoellie

I hope that this works for poor Rosie and also you, so that you're not wondering what you can do to help her. She's a lucky dog to have you. Please let us know how it all turns out.

Woodster

Okay -ready???

My dog, Woody (Avatar) was doing the same thing - constantly licking his feet (PU), scratching - he still has ear issues, and probably always will with those big floppies.

We went through the Atopica routine and tons of other antihistamines to no avail. Changed food, etc. After spending a TON of $$ on meds, we finally bit the bullet and had him tested for allergies (that itself was over $300).
At this time, he was on 4 Benadryl daily and was still itchy.

Turns out, he's allergic to beef, pork, kelp, soy, flax, dairy,(to name a few) and about 15 other environmental allergans, including the grass he lies in! What's a mother to do???
Try to find a dog food without soy and flax - egads. Well, I finally found one and then it started giving him diarhhea. Back to Petsmart. Found another he's on now that's grain and allergan ingredient free. Also give him Iams dog biscuits (no flax/soy or animal by-products).

When environmental issues make his allergies flare up, I pop him a Bennie once or twice a day. He is doing SO much better since the diet changes.

For the ears - gotta keep them clean and dry - almost impossible. I use an ear cleaner w/o alcohol (burns), and then use prescription ear drops (Tresaderm) for infection breakouts. I wish there was something cheaper, but haven't found anything yet.

When you clean the ears, use tissues to wipe out the gunk - not paper towels or cotton. Too irritating. If you give your pup a treat after doing this, he'll learn to cooperate a bit longer so you can get it done!