Vet Advice: Relief for Your Dog's Itchy Skin
Determining which condition your dog is dealing with requires a vet’s evaluation, but implementing some of the suggestions provided in the sidebar can certainly help your pup be more comfortable in her own skin—literally.
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Here are some ways to help improve your dog’s dry skin.
• When your dog needs a bath, try using plain water, a good, non-drying solvent. If you must use shampoo, use a moisturizing type with humectants, and follow up with a moisturizing conditioner. Avoid blow dryers.
• If you have your dog groomed, speak to the groomer about turning down the heat on the blow dryer (it’s usually set pretty high).
• Feed moist food—canned, cooked, homemade or raw.
• Add digestive enzymes to every meal (probiotic bacteria, 2 to 10 billion CFUs/day).
• Provide fresh, filtered drinking water.
• Add fresh oils and other supplements to meals—
Flax seed oil (1/2 tsp. of oil/15 pounds twice daily) or freshly milled flax seeds (1.5 tsp./15 pounds twice daily)
EPA/DHA from fish oil or algae (5 to 20 mg of EPA/pound of body weight/day)
Lecithin granules (1/4 tsp. to 1 Tbs. per meal)
Nutritional yeast (1/2 to 1 tsp. per meal) or hypoallergenic B complex (10 to 50 mg twice daily)
Kelp powder (1/4 to 1 tsp. per meal daily)
Spirulina (500 to 1,000 mg twice daily with meals)
Alfalfa, nettles or horsetail (dried or powdered, 1/4 to 1 tsp. of individual herb or a mixture)
This article first appeared in The Bark, Issue 46, Jan/Feb 2008
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Have you heard of or used the brand GALPHARM (10mg) Hayfever & Allergy Relief tablets on their dog for treating a skin allergy. My vet recommended PIRITON but our Chemist was sold out and gave me GALPHARM brand as an alternative. I need to know if this is a safe antihestamine to give him.
I have used the smallest dose possible of any generic antihistimine for my dog when he has flare ups. He has all sorts of allergies to nuts, soy etc, so i monitor his diet accordingly. The generic ones from the pharmacy are fine, and cheap!
What about Skin + Coat chews by Pet Naturals? Have you tried those? They have a lot of the ingredients this blog talks about. And PN also has some cool probiotic and enzyme chews to add into the regimen so you can do everything possible to make your dog comfy and healthy like the blog says. The chews are really popular around where I live! Definitely worth giving a shot!
http://www.petnaturals.com/vitamins_supplements/skin-coat-support-softch...
could you use benedryl?
I have been giving my pitbull Diesel benedryl 2x a day for the past fours years. It does help some..it's worse if he gows off it. It is also the safest for long term use. I have to keep my coned so he does lick/bite himself to death. He itches and bites so badly that he chews his own paddings off his paws. I have tryed seeing an allergin specialists and they say he's allergic to over 78 different bugs, plants and danders. Even their own homemade remedy did not work for him and he was on it a year. Tryed fish oil pill, and he threw it up. He tends to better when it's humid out, so I am going to try getting a humidifier. Hydrocortisone cream works great! Only catch is keeping him from licking it. So he wares the cone. Rinse affected area with warm water and apply. Hope this helps and if anyone else has anymore ideas...
about 3 yrs ago our then 12 yr old part Australian Shepherd had a terrible yeast infection in ears and smelly flaking skin. The vet only gave drops, benedryl for itch so I began to research...the dry foods are killing our pets..mosly wheat and by products so I started to buy chicken, beef and canned fish. I usually cook the chicken but the meat is raw, I add some rice, veggies (carrots, beans or peas, sweet potatoes and I add dry food but its all natural. I also make treats with applesauce, sweet potatoes oats and some whole wheat and All dogs love this..Please, look at what your feeding your pets because that is what is causing most of the problems!
could you give a small dog benadryl?
Yes but you should contact your vet to find out the right dose
I have a maltese mix and my vet said 1 a day didn't work
General rule of thumb for benedryl in dogs is 5mg of diphenhydramine (the active ingredient in benedryl) per 5lbs of body weight. I give my Cavalier King Charles Spaniels one capsule, twice a day (normal capsules are 25mg) & I use the walmart "Equate" version, which is about $4 for 60 count. I actually found "Tinactin", the athlete-foot antifungal powder, works wonderfully as a topical anti-itch when applied to the spot where they've chewed raw-and it dries the sore out nicely. NEVER give Ibuprofen or Acetemenophin to dogs as it can lead to liver failure & don't use Neosporin unless you have an elizabethan collar to keep 'em from licking it!
My vet ALWAYS gives benedryl before she gives my dogs their annual vacination. It's the pink pills us humans use. She does a calculation based on their weights...not sure if it would be the same as humans, yet I'd go light. I'm going to ask her for sure this year!
I have am 8lb cockapoo, my vet had me give her a half of tablet of Childrens Benedryl.
did it work?
Two dogs.Male Golden developed itch , for six weeks before seeing vet,on his stomach, elbows & groin area, on prednisone for final week of month regime, no relief. Vet found no fleas, says allergy. Now our lab exhibiting an itch for past couple days in same area of her body. Both 8 yrs old.
No new flooring/cleaners used.
We bought lamb and rice dry food today, to try.
What's going on?
I think that bird lice (malaphoca - sp?) can mutate to dogs and humans. Oils kill them.
Something that many people do not know is that dog food is often times the culprit for many dog health issues. Dry and wet dog food are processed in a way that is not natural for dogs. Feeding a diet of raw meats and vegetables and fruits is the most natural and healthy food for your dog and can help clear up many allergy and skin issues. Please be careful to research the correct procedure to introduce this food to your dog as every dog is different and needs different accommodations.
I have a Pit Bull/Great Dane mix (Pit Bulls are prone to skin and allergy issues) who had severe allergies so I tried many different types of dog food trials, antibiotics, and cleaning to no avail. I did a ton of research on what the reason for his allergies could be. Finally I came across the raw food diet and for the past year now he has been on only raw meat and a veggie/fruit mix that has done wonders for his skin. He has not had any allergic breakouts or been sick since he has been on this diet! And buying "real" food costs about the same as dog food if you find sales.
I hope this information helps someone out there!
I would love to know what you feed and how much. I really want to do the best for my four legged babies. I currently feed Fromm dry dog food and use fish oil. I give them frozen green beans and carrots as treats and they love those. Can't wait til I get your reply.
I just took my pit bull to the vet for the same thing. I already knew that my dog had flea allergies and I got that under control by using Adams flea and tick mist. For the dry skin he suggested either foods that are high in Omega or Omega vitamins. I got (Fish, Flaxseed, Borage Oil with Omega 3,6,9) at Walmart for $6.00 for 120 softgels. He suggested 1,800mg a day for a 70lb dog. He also said that Frequent bathing is good using shampoos that are the correct pH for dogs low in detergents "detergents dry the skin". I told him that I had been using benedryl, and he said that "all that does is makes the dog sleep and forget about the itching, not remedy the problem" Another suggestion he had for the dry skin was "Avon skin so soft" on the skin to help soften the skin.
Hope the suggestions help. :-)
I was curious how many of the soft gels you give your 70# dog? I just bought some for my lab that is itching like crazy and flakey skin no fleas I started with 1 just because it doesn't say how many milligrams the soft gels are.. Thanks
I have a 70lb lab (10m) and the dose the vet had us give him was 2 of the 25mg pills every 12 hours.
My dog has itchy skin and I want to know if vitamin D3 (1000iu) would help or hurt him.
A lady told me to try Vitamin D as a liquid, one drop a day.
I want to know if this is safe to try before I give him any.
my dog suffered an eye injury by scratching from this time he has worsened into constantly biting he has been given constant antibiotics, steroids for scratching etc. is infecting the skin and his eyes. he has had blood tests which prove he has allergies, his skin and hair is very greasy. we have changed his dry food hypoallergenic to wet food. we are very worried and steroids has developed cushings condition can you help, all the vets want to continue with the medication. would a holistic approach seem favourable?
Hi
Our dog is the same but we have found these products http://www.aromesse.com/ have brought massive relief.
Yumove oil for dogs with sensitive skin also helped.
Hope it helps you
Sarah
The shampoo bar and cream has really helped our dog.
Hi. I have a 17 year old dog that really suffers from itching. could you please specify which shampoo bar and cream you are talking about? Thank you.