Riley has hotspots on his legs that have developed over the past month or two. He started with major itching this spring but was also itchy in the winter too both him and aura which I chalked up to dry skin. Aura is fine now but Riley's issues seemed to ramp up again this spring. He's never had allergies before so I'm trying to figure out if this is a true allergy or if it is just a mild itch made worse by anxiety.
He's always been on the high stress side and I'm wondering if the arrival of Clarissa has affected him in some way. He is not getting as much mental stimulation right now either. Which I feel bad about and I have to figure out something but in the meantime these are the options the vet gave us
(Oh she mentioned it could be chicken too but he's raw fed. We did change chicken suppliers this time around its been about a month or so too since that change. Could a different chicken have that affect?)
1)Trial of Vanectyl P (low dose steroid) if improvement, can use Atopica during allergy season.
2) other option to determine if biting at legs is due to anxiety can alternatively try daily anti-anxiety meds - Zylkene or Clomicalm.
For big stressors (he's now way more noise sensitive than he was before thanks to our neighbors shooting off heavy duty fireworks a few weeks ago on a holiday- it affected other dogs in our area too but Riley is super sensitive). She said she could prescribe Alprazolam (Xanax) for tstorms and fireworks.
Sorry this is so long!! I'm on my phone and trying to get this out as fast as I can lol. So basically my question is what would you do? Does anyone have any experience with any of these drugs and can help me decide?
He has chewed all four of his legs raw in places at this point and we need to do something soon. I'm tempted to try the anxiety stuff because he seems to forget about the itching when he is outside. It's only when he comes in that he starts up and doesn't stop. We also tried Benadryl with limited success.
He's always been on the high stress side and I'm wondering if the arrival of Clarissa has affected him in some way. He is not getting as much mental stimulation right now either. Which I feel bad about and I have to figure out something but in the meantime these are the options the vet gave us
(Oh she mentioned it could be chicken too but he's raw fed. We did change chicken suppliers this time around its been about a month or so too since that change. Could a different chicken have that affect?)
1)Trial of Vanectyl P (low dose steroid) if improvement, can use Atopica during allergy season.
2) other option to determine if biting at legs is due to anxiety can alternatively try daily anti-anxiety meds - Zylkene or Clomicalm.
For big stressors (he's now way more noise sensitive than he was before thanks to our neighbors shooting off heavy duty fireworks a few weeks ago on a holiday- it affected other dogs in our area too but Riley is super sensitive). She said she could prescribe Alprazolam (Xanax) for tstorms and fireworks.
Sorry this is so long!! I'm on my phone and trying to get this out as fast as I can lol. So basically my question is what would you do? Does anyone have any experience with any of these drugs and can help me decide?
He has chewed all four of his legs raw in places at this point and we need to do something soon. I'm tempted to try the anxiety stuff because he seems to forget about the itching when he is outside. It's only when he comes in that he starts up and doesn't stop. We also tried Benadryl with limited success.
