itchy feet

Rookie is just over one year old. when i first got him he was constantly biting his feet to the point that he was pulling the hair out. that was when he was about 8-10 weeks old. i took him to the vet and because it was so severe he started him on prednisone. after going to a vet specialist, we changed his food to human grade (merrick) and tried to keep him off the grass as much as possible (a puppy off the grass...sad). we also changed him from prednisone to atopica. over the winter he hasn't scratched at all and we weened him off the atopica. now it has started all over again. licking and biting his feet. i took him back to the vet and they preformed an allergy test which came back negative. she said that it could be because he is so young that he may infact have allergies. now we have him back taking one atopica every other day, hydroxyzine three times a day and fish oil capsule once a day. poor guy. i feel so bad for him because he is uncomfortable. does anyone have any ideas?

A-w-w-w...nobody came to your rescue and I'm no authority on this subject. But the only thing I can think of is trying another food...an allergy formula...single source protein? Natural Balance venison/brown rice is what I feed my dog with a sensative digestive system. It might work. I know you've tried that other food, but you could try switching to this one. (?) Or maybe a raw food diet?

Poor baby. I'm so sorry he has this trouble. It is worrisome to use all those drugs but it may be necessary.

Let us know if there's any change.

Since he started it so young I wouldn't think it was stress induced.

Do you have carpet? Start thinking about what you use on the floors to clean.

If it's an allergy to the grass pollen, try getting some raw honey that's been produced locally and give him a spoonful every day. It will help him build up a resistance to the local allergens.

Doberluv is right about a possible cause being food allergies too. What is he eating?

yes...i wondered about the carpet. we are in the process of getting laminate flooring in the majority of the house. hopefully that will help. we've been feeding him merrick dog food. it's supposed to be good for him (human grade). renee - were would i look to find raw honey that is locally produced? i really want to try that. thanks for your help guys...i feel so bad for him. you don't think it can be seasonal allergies?

I have no idea what to tell ya but wanted to say Hey and that I'm sorry Rookie is having trouble, must be very aggravating for him, poor guy.

yes...he just keeps biting his feet. poor thing. thank you for your concern.