Allergies.

[Cali Mae]

I've come to the conclusion that Cali likely has seasonal allergies, it appears so anyways. We've switched her food numerous times, and we're now feeding Acana Ranchlands which she likes and is doing good on.

At times, she's almost constantly rubbing her eyes or chewing on herself. I made a thread about her dry skin awhile ago and people had suggested coconut oil to use topically and in her food. If I put it in her food, would it likely cut down on her itchiness or is there something else to try?

Thanks!

[Barb04]

It could also be she's allergic to an ingredient in the food you are feeding. Maybe try changing the protein.

[Cali Mae]

We've gone through all the Acana Regionals formulas, I think the only food that I saw zero itching on was a chicken-based food when she was a puppy.. so I might have to go looking through the aisles to find a quality chicken-based one again or see about getting her an allergy test.

[JacksonsMom]

It could be environmental. Have you changed anything, like detergent, etc? Some dogs react to that kind of stuff.

Also, with the recent Acana formula changes, I've read of about 6 people I know personally (online, I guess I should say) whose dogs stated itching like crazy on the new formulas, and always did well on the food before. Have you looked into LID foods ... like Acana has a Lamb & Apple and Duck & Pear food... single-source ingredient, only one grain, etc. Acana has also Chicken & Burbank Potato, which is not a "limited ingredient diet" but it's not too complicated.

Coconut oil could definitely help though. We have some, and I don't use it every day, but I've used it topically on Jackson. He had a few little scabs on his stomach once, not sure from what, but the coconut oil cleared it right away. I also use it on his toothbrush occasionally.

[Cali Mae]

Nope, nothing like that has changed.

However, we bought the new bag about a week or so ago.. so maybe she's reacting to the formula change? She's never itched nearly as much before that, so I might have to look into the ones you suggested.

[JessLough]

Hmmm, it's a weird time of year for environmental allergies -- just everything outside is frozen over and such. It's possible, it'd just be weird to pop up now rather than in, say, the spring.

Where is she itching? Could it just be that she's finding your house a little dry? So her skin is dry?

[jenv101]

Mine get super itchy this time of year. They've both been at it for the past couple of weeks, ever since the snow stuck around. They are both on raw so I'm trying to up their fatty meats, fish oil and added coconut oil as well. I'm not sure how to apply it topically though, as they will just lick it off. They love it.

[Cali Mae]

She just rubs her eyes quite frequently with her paws and chews at her legs/feet. Our house doesn't seem any different than it usually does but maybe.

And I'd love to have Cali on raw, but my mom wouldn't go for that so I'm likely going to try a different Acana formula since apparently the new Regional formulas are causing other dogs to become exceedingly itchy as well.

[Ratboy]

I tried everything with Molly, all kinds of food changes, additives like oils and vitamin and mineral supplements and nothing did any good. As soon as the heat came on, the scratching began. It would continue until the heat went off in the Spring. This went on, year after year, until last year, when she was about to turn 13. I don't know why, but it stopped cold. She made it through her last Winter with a full coat and no scratching. When I put her down in Nov, she had the best coat of her life, by far. Nice and shiny with no "oily black skin" that she always had by December every year. I had given up trying to do anything about it a long time ago, except for a few shots at the vet if it got really bad, so I have no idea why it stopped. The vet said she had never looked as good as she did when he put her down. Kind of ironic.

[porchpotty]

Maybe you can try Taste of the Wild.