Itchy Dog

Frosty has been chewing and gnawing all over himself constantly for the past couple of weeks. He's been digging in his pants so hard he makes himself yelp and it bleeds :(

He doesn't have any bug infestations and the skin looks totally normal. I have no idea what is causing him to be so itchy except that it has been around 100 degrees and hasn't rained here for about 3 months now.

Do you have any recommendations for ways to make him un-itchy? His vet was no help at all. I tried bathing him with the super-conditioning/anti-itchy oatmeal shampoo, but that didn't help at all. I tried putting bacon grease on his food, he won't eat it (ya, he is weird lol). Not sure what else to try...

UPDATE AUGUST 12th:

Ok, finally made it to the farm store today and we are all hooked up. Picked up some medicated shampoo specially formulated for dry itchy skin, dog allergy tabs, salmon oil for dogs to put on his food and pigs ears (made in the USA) just in case some extra collagen might help. And it is finally raining. If all this doesn't help, I'll be taking him in to see the vet instead of just talking to them over the phone!

UPDATE AUGUST 30th:

After trying everything I could think of, Frosty ended up breaking out in hives yesterday and scratching a giant sore into his belly, so off to the vet today. Conclusion = he is allergic to something. (ya, duh right? that's what I thought!) Vet gave him a shot of cortisone, and now we have to wait to see if that will help. Poor guy :(

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Permalink Reply by Chris West on August 10, 2012 at 1:08pm

I did. The only answers I came up with were:

1 - unseasonably hot and extra dry weather this summer. we are in extreme drought at this time

2 - recently had vaccinations

3 - new homemade pumpkin treats

Not much I can do about the first 2, but I have stopped feeding him the new treats.

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Permalink Reply by Snickmom on August 10, 2012 at 1:22pm

When the weather is extra dry, you can run a humidifier, or just set pans of water around to get some moisture into the air for the benefit of everyone in the house.

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Permalink Reply by Julia on August 11, 2012 at 2:28am

Do you treat your lawn or garden with any chemicals or organic treatments?

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Permalink Reply by Chris West on August 11, 2012 at 2:47am

Nope, the yard is totally dead and brown due to lack of rain in the area. We haven't done anything to try and save it, its pointless. Everything is dead, so I can't imagine it would be a pollen sort of allergy either

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Permalink Reply by Roger/Laurie on August 11, 2012 at 9:51am

Tenby has bad itching bouts it is part of his autoimmune problems. The itching comes on slowly and gets terrible. Usually a shot from the vet helps so much. Not sure what they give him, we are on vacation and his records are home. Which brings us to another problem. While traveling Tenby had been scratching some, we gave him his standard benadryl and not being in our normal settings we did realize how bad it was. He had 2 terribly raw places and needed attention fast. Off to an emgergency vet. ($$$) We had the rabies paper and the name and address of our vet but from now on we will carry a record of all recent medications. Fortunatley we were able to call our vet and have them fax the recent med list. We didn't realize that different steroids can have reations. So it was important for the vet here in Michigan to know what was given to him in North Carolina in June

Tenby is now on an antibiotic, steroids and we have to clean the sores with some chorhex solution daily. We prefer the shots given at home.....I think they work faster than these pills. But the vet was caring, friendly and helpful in our time of need so far from home.

Plus we met a cute BHTcorgi in the RV park. Chepstow can't wait to go back and play.

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Permalink Reply by Sam, Gregg & Poopdeck on August 12, 2012 at 6:17pm

I would think flea or flea allergy. I use oatmeal shampoo, tea tree oil directly on the spot, and sprayed the house with Adams brand. I also asked to change my monthly multi treatment. There were times where I never saw a flea, so maybe it is allergy as well. Frosty is a cutie!