Excessive Scratching?

[TanyaE]

Hello Everyone!

Its been a while since I've been on here, I hope that you and yours are all well!

I was after everyone's thoughts on excessive scratching/itching I am seeing in Rio.

Basically on 22nd October I took Rio to the vets because we had noticed that he was squinting his left eye (had noticed it in the evening and it was still like it in the morning so took him the next day). We got to the vets and after putting dye in his eye she confirmed he had a small scratch on his lens and the start of conjunctivitus. She gave us eye drops and a couple of days worth of antibiotics. Within 24 hrs of having these antibiotics I noticed him starting to scratch his left elbow. He also went off his food (very unlike him I can assure you!). Once the antibiotics were finished (and just the eye drops) his appetite was back to normal within 24 hrs so I'm sure they didn't make him feel well.

Anyway a trip back to the vets at the end of the week showed his eye was now fine (yay!) but I raised the concern of his scratching. He had now made a small patch on his elbow sore with a bit of crustiness. The boys had both only been frontlined 2 weeks before but I asked if it could be fleas/mange or something else. to be honest I don't think she had a good enough look at him (he is proving to be a bit of a wriggler and vocal when it comes to the vet looking at him) and she only took a very quick look and determined that he was allergic to something, though she couldn't tell me what.

She then gave us a couple of days worth of steroids and a weeks worth of antibiotics (different ones this time - Cefalaxin (sic?) and warned that allergies can take up to 6-8weeks to sort out and even then it could be a long term thing. I just find it really hard to believe that he has suddenly got an allergy out of nowhere, there has been no change to his diet/exercise/routing at all since we got him (May this year) . The only thing I can think that has changed is in the last few weeks we have started having the heating on timer but it is pretty low - only about 18 degrees.

Rio seems to have got worse (though the original crusty elbow is just kind of dry now) and is now scratching both elbows and starting to chew at his forearms (he has made himself bleed in a tiny patch), scratch excessively under his chin etc. Max (Westie) is acting completely normal.

What do you think? Have any of you experienced sudden allergic reactions? Do your Sibes get more itchy as the heating comes on in the winter?

We have now finished this course of antibiotics and he is going to the vets again on Friday morning but I'm just wondering if anyone can lend me advise on this? I'm not entirely convinced that this could be a mange problem - Rio had a bit of a showdown with a fox in our garden about 5 weeks ago now and though I did mention this to the vet she seemed to ignore it) or whether he is actually reacting badly to the antibiotics. The thing is he has been off the antibiotics for over 48hrs now and it hasn't calmed either?

Any advice or ideas you can provide would be greatfully received as I am worried and obviously want this sorted ASAP! Other than the scratching he is totally himself, eating and drinking normally, playing ruff'n'tumble with max constantly, enjoying his walks etc

Sorry just realised that was a huge ramble of a post. Gold Stars to all who get to the bottom

Thanks.

Tanya

[madmally]

Apart from the obvious things like an allergic reaction to meds.

Has pup had a bath recently or have bed or blankets been washed with any new powder etc?

Im wondering if it could be a hot spot.

Difficulty is that if it is an allergic reaction to meds may take a while for vets to find this out. xx

[TanyaE]

Apart from the obvious things like an allergic reaction to meds.

Has pup had a bath recently or have bed or blankets been washed with any new powder etc?

Im wondering if it could be a hot spot.

Difficulty is that if it is an allergic reaction to meds may take a while for vets to find this out. xx

Hi Zoe

Thanks for the reply. Nope no bath and bed hasnt been washed recently either (is there an ashamed smiley lol). He has a blanket at the bottom of the stairs but he usually flakes out on the tiles in the kitchen as its nice and cool. I have been keeping up with regular cleaning and hoovering I promise p.s. I also have very sensitive skin so can never change my washing powder either.

Tanya

[madmally]

I was just wondering as Loki had this kind of problem when he was younger but discovered it began after a trip to the groomers where they not only did not wash out all the shampoo which caused a reaction but did not dry him thoroughly and for a full coated malamute was not good.

Despite having such thick coats their skin can be particularly sensitive.

It is a case then of thinking what has been different with regards to everthing since the scratching began.

Good luck in the hunt for the culprit xx

[Rosemary]

I'll have that gold star thanks Sounds to me like an allergic reaction to the antibiotics - I think it may take a while for it to work through his system? I would ask the vet for an ointment rather than more antibiotics. Hope you get it sorted out - poor guy - nothing worse than an itch that won't go away.

[TanyaE]

Thanks for the advice. I will definitely ask for ointment if she still wants to progress down the allergy route.

I've had other dog owners say about giving a Piriton tablet for allergies - has anyone experienced this? I can see on Max's (our rescue Westie) clinical history that he has been given Piriton in the past but I can't see anything on Rio's history.....

Thanks for the kind thoughts, I will update on the progress with this one!

[Mazz]

It could be the antibiotics. If that is the only thing that changed recently, seems a likely candidate. Do a google on the antibiotic and see if anything turns up that would indicate the symptoms Rio has. I'd agree that an ointment, rather than more antibiotics, may be a better route. Can you post up some photos of the condition?

[Sarah]

awwwwww

Sounds like it's the antibiotics hun? Can you get a neck brace of "cone of shame" for him so he doesn't make it any worse?

[Sid_Wolf]

What food is she on??

Grey used to scratch a LOT, we looked at his food and saw it had a lot of common allergy causing ingredients in it, we swapped him onto Kiras food and no itching since.

What brand of food if she on??

[TanyaE]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'm at work at the moment but will be going home in an hour or so so I will grab a picture and also write down the ingredients of the food he is on.

Poor boy really scratching the bad elbow this morning and was making it very sore. I washed it with a salt water this mornign before I left.

[TanyaE]

Actually just checked the internet and these are the details about the food. Autarkey. Both boys have been on it since May and are happy with it as far as I can tell! Normal poos etc

Analysis:

Protein 22.0%, Oil 12.0%, Fibre 3.0%, Ash 6.5%, Vitamin A 15000iu/kg,

Vitamin D 1500iu/kg, Vitamin E (as alpha tocopherol acetate) 150mg/kg

Ingredients:

Maize, chicken meat meal, rice, chicken fat, green vegetables, carrots, whole linseed, prairie meal, yeast, herbs, spices, seaweed, yucca extract, with EC permitted antioxidants: mixed tocopherols, vitamin C and rosemary extract.

I got the above from someone's blog about it so haven't actually referenced my current bag but its advertised as being very natural, no wheat/gluten etc supposed to be hypo-allergenic(sic?) etc,

[Sid_Wolf]

the 1st ingredient is maize, which is a very poor quality filler... could well be causing the scratching

Get a small bag of Skinners Salmon & Rice, i think they're about £7, but it a much better quality food than the one your feeding, give it 2 weeks and see if the scratching calms down

[TanyaE]

Hi Everyone

Ok.....am going to try and put some pictures up now, excuse the quality taken from my phone at lunch!

Sarah - Was considering the cone of shame but he is actually making the sore on his elbow worse by scratching it with his back leg rather than chewing it could well be worth it though as he is starting to gnaw at his forearms and scratch under his chin a lot - though no sores as yet.

Oops this looks massive. How do I reduce the pictures?!

[TanyaE]

Thanks Sinead I appreciate your feedback. What makes me curious though is why he has suddenly started scratching in the last 2 weeks if he has been on this food since I got him in May with no problems?

[TanyaE]

Ok going to try and put the others up now apologies if they go too big again....

This first one you should be able to see where the sore is on his elbow....

Another one a bit close up......

And then just a few ones of the boy in general!

[Sid_Wolf]

Dogs arent necessarily born allergic, Grey only started itching about a year ago, maybe less.

All that has to happen is that he is exposed to something that brings out his dormant allergies, which could have been absolutely anything. I read a story about a young lad who had one of the black henna tattooes on holiday, gave him a reaction and now he is allergic to all sort of things.

It might not be a food allergy, but they are the most common types

[TanyaE]

That's interesting - thanks Sinead,

[Sarah]

it reminds of ZRD - Kimba gets it round his mouth but they can get it on their elbows too

[sutsibe]

I'd try giving him a probiotic - might be that the antibiotics killed off a lot of good bacteria, along with the nasties. You might want to try to bathe him - or at least the elbows or any other itchy areas - with a soothing shampoo made for calming the skin. Just make sure to rinse it off thoroughly! In addition, allergies for many dogs are at their worst in the fall...