Itchy!

[mrose_s]

Ive been struggling with Buster's itchyness for months, a couple of trips to the vet and both times they told me it was a flea allergy. So he had an injection to calm the itching, I upped his flea protection so it happens ever 3 weeks, not every 4. That seemed to help a little but not for long.
eventually I just knew he didnt have any fleas on him, I hadn't seen any on weeks and couldn't find any poo or anything.

I took grain out of his diet for about 6 weeks and he did seem to improve, I ran out of the grain free food and once I started using normal kibble his itching slowly returned so I figured its probably a grain allergy and have ordered another big bag. Annoying that the only grain free food I've been able to find costs a fortune and has to be ordered from sydney.

The thing is, Quinn is itchy aswell. Not tearing hair out like Buster but really itchy, especially in the evenings. She'll be going onto the grain free kibble aswell and I'm sure we have got her fleas under control from when we brought her home 2 months ago so I can't explain this.
If its an allergy I'll be shocked, we've never had a problem with dogs and allergies, if we have 2 I'll be surprised.
Any thoughts?

 

[CharlieDog]

Could just be the weather changing. Enzo is really itchy right now as well, she's on grain free and doesn't have any fleas on her (anymore) either, but her skin is dry. I've been giving her yogurt, and that seems to be helping a lot.

You could try bathing him with an oatmeal type shampoo, or something that's supposed to help with itchyness.

 

[mrose_s]

I have one of those for him already, I changed to that aswell when I was tryng to work out if it was a flea allergy, he's always had sensitive skin and it did help a it. I'll add some yoghurt.

 

[hankster]

It is estimated that that 1 in 7 dogs have allergies, so two dogs with allergies is not unlikely.

Try the antihistamine, diphenhydramine (Benadryl in the US) at about 2mg per kg and see if it gives Buster some relief - not all dogs are responsive. It won't solve the underlying problem, but may make him happier while you try to sort out what is causing the itching.

I would think twice about increasing the frequency of the flea and tick medication. See this blog post
Are Flea and Tick Medications Making Your Dog Sick? | doghealthdoc.com

 

[mrose_s]

I'm not worried about increasing his advantix. We live in a paralysis tick area and advantix is designed to be applied every 2 weeks to protect from paralysis ticks and every 4 for fleas. We do it every 4 because otherwise it would cost us a fortune and we don't like to over-poison them really. So I think every 3 weeks with daily checks isn't going to be too harmful. I'd prefer to do it all naturally but I won't risk a tick.

I'll look into your suggestions while I wait for his grain free to arrive and get him back on that. Untill then I guess its back to just raw.

 

[Maura]

1/4 cup witch hazel
1/4 mineral water
1 teaspoon lavender essential oil (not fragrance or scent)

Mix up and dab on the dog. Soothes the skin and acts as a flea repellent. I used this on a rescue with demodectic mange and it worked wonders.

 

[Paul Bright]

Try looking into what your dogs could be allergic from aside from fleas. If it's not fleas, it could be other things like food, chemicals you use at home (carpet cleaner, etc.), etc. Once you know what causes the itch, it would be a lot easier for you to control, prevent, stop it. The process of elimination is a good way to figure it out.

Good luck!