Itchy dog - please help!

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#1
Hello,
I am hoping someone has some ideas and advice about an itchy dog. My dog Dumpster began scratching and biting at herself about a month ago. My husband took her to the vet three weeks ago, who diagnosed her with a yeast infection. The vet didn't find any mites or fleas, but since Dumpster had been bathed the day before it is possible the vet missed them. The vet prescribed an oral antibiotics, an anti-fungal medication, and a steroid, as well as an anti-fungal shampoo. She just finished the antibiotic and finished tapering off the steroid, and has a few more days of the anti-fungal med. Initially, Dumpster showed improvement on the medication, but a few days ago she began scratching again, and it appears to be getting progressively worse. I suspect her initial improvement was due to the steroid, and we haven't address the underlying cause yet. We moved a couple of months ago, but Dumpster hasn't changed foods recently. We also shampooed the carpets and couch slipcover in case either of those was the problem.

I am wondering if anyone has any advice or ideas about what could be causing her itching. We're taking her back to the vet early next week if possible, and I'd like to have some ideas to ask her about. As of now, I'm going to ask the vet to re-check her for fleas and mites, and change her food in case she's developed an allergy. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
 

noludoru

Bored Now.
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#2
Hello,
I am hoping someone has some ideas and advice about an itchy dog. My dog Dumpster began scratching and biting at herself about a month ago. My husband took her to the vet three weeks ago, who diagnosed her with a yeast infection. The vet didn't find any mites or fleas, but since Dumpster had been bathed the day before it is possible the vet missed them. The vet prescribed an oral antibiotics, an anti-fungal medication, and a steroid, as well as an anti-fungal shampoo. She just finished the antibiotic and finished tapering off the steroid, and has a few more days of the anti-fungal med. Initially, Dumpster showed improvement on the medication, but a few days ago she began scratching again, and it appears to be getting progressively worse. I suspect her initial improvement was due to the steroid, and we haven't address the underlying cause yet. We moved a couple of months ago, but Dumpster hasn't changed foods recently. We also shampooed the carpets and couch slipcover in case either of those was the problem.

I am wondering if anyone has any advice or ideas about what could be causing her itching. We're taking her back to the vet early next week if possible, and I'd like to have some ideas to ask her about. As of now, I'm going to ask the vet to re-check her for fleas and mites, and change her food in case she's developed an allergy. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Food is the number one thing. Try a limited ingredient diet first - something with 2-3 ingredients to see if she gets better on it. Remember not to feed her treats or let her get into anything for the first month or so, and if you see improvement you can slowly add in more types of food.

If you search "itchy" in advanced search under titles, there are tons more suggestions!

http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144641&highlight=itchy

http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showthread.php?t=252137&highlight=itchy

http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showthread.php?t=184348&highlight=itchy
 

frostfell

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#3
food is always the first thing i look at. immune systems are funny things sometimes, and an allergy to a meat or carb source can develop seemingly randomly at any point in the dogs life. also being aware that YOU might not have changed kibbles, but different batches have different compositions, maybe the chicken from this bag was sourced from a different place than the last bag, maybe the slaughterhouse changed their brand of duster or wormer, or the farmers supplying the flax started or stopped using a product. all of these things along the food chain affect the finished product that goes into your dog. since the antifungal didnt work, i would look at a scraping for mites/mange, and evaluate the diet. maybe try a LID?
 
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#4
Thank you so much. My plan right now is to ask the vet to do another scraping for mites/mange and check for fleas, and if that doesn't turn up anything to focus on food allergies.
 
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#5
The most common reasons for an itchy pet are environmental allergies, food allergies, flea allergies, ringworm infections and mange.
 
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#6
Thank you all so much. It turns out that she had an allergy to turkey. We've removed turkey from her diet and she has stopped scratching, her fur is growing back, and she has returned to her old bouncy self. Incidentally, she appears to have developed an allergy to turkey rather than to the kibble, since upon giving her a small amount of cooked turkey meat at Thanksgiving the symptoms returned for a brief period.
 

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