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  #1  
Old November 25th, 2007, 06:12 PM
Dingo Dingo is offline
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Itchy puppy

I have an 8 1/2 week old puppy who has been itchy since we brought him home. He was checked by the vet the day after we got him, who said puppies are often itchy and not to worry.

He mainly itches around the shoulders, and on the thighs and back feet. Today I noticed that he has a small area under one shoulder where the hair has thinned a bit and there's a small bump on the skin. It doesn't look like a scab, more like a raised area that's dry. There aren't any other areas like that on his body that I can see. I bathed him with an anti-itch shampoo, but it doesn't seem to have helped at all.

I'm going to take him back to the vet if this carries on, but what do people think? He came from a farm, so I'm wondering whether it might be a parasite of some sort.
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  #2  
Old November 25th, 2007, 06:15 PM
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And in anticipation of the inevitable question, the breeder was feeding him Orijen (an all life stages food) and I've switched him to Innova Puppy.
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  #3  
Old November 25th, 2007, 06:27 PM
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Luba Luba is offline
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Allergy to food or food additives is often the culpret as is fungal infections or fleas as well as vaccinations.

Would you consider starting pup out on the right path and giving whole natural foods instead of prepared dog food?
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Old November 25th, 2007, 06:36 PM
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I'm sure it's not fleas. He had his first vaccinations a day or so before we picked him up, but that was a week ago now.

As for feeding, I think Innova is one of the better brands out there, as is Orijen. I'd like to put him on N-R-G when he's older, but unless it's determined he actually has food allergies I can't see going to a home-cooked diet. Raw is out of the question for my situation.
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Old November 25th, 2007, 06:39 PM
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Reactions to vaccines can last for weeks or months sometimes.

I'm not the one to help you with dog food sorry, I don't like it as I see it all as junk food (bleck) but maybe someone else can help ya on that one.

IF you don't think you can do home prepared meals for each meal, maybe atleast once a day. Good luck with your puppy!
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  #6  
Old June 18th, 2008, 01:39 PM
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Update

Well, the puppy is now 9 months old.

The itchiness got worse, and he was on various medications for a while, as well as a restricted diet. We also started using Program on the off-chance it was a flea allergy.

The problems seemed to stop with treatment, and we eventually took him off all the medication but left him on the restricted diet, which limited him to only his food (plus I gave him occasional treats of freeze dried liver).

But, a few weeks ago he started itching again. It seems to be different this time, however. Before it was scratching around the shoulders and thighs and nibbling the back feet. Now it's scratching around the neck/face/ears and nibbling and licking of the feet.

I'm not sure whether the licking coincided with the change to adult food or the change in the weather, but from what I'm reading it could be caused by environmental or food allergies. Chicken was one of the potential problems we had considered previously, so I've changed his food again, but only in the last 2 days so it's too early tell yet. My vet has told me that it's unusual for food allergies to develop before they reach a year old, but it's what I'm going with for now. He's also still on Program, but the last application sort of failed (most of it got on me instead of him), so I wonder if that might also be a cause.

I'm feeding two very high quality foods: Orijen 6 Fish plus N-R-G Buffalo (which is a dehydrated food and contains whole eggs). He occasionally gets wet food as well, mainly Tripett. For treats I give him either bits of his kibble or freeze dried liver. I also have some natural salmon jerky for dogs that I give him once in a while.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? Also, is it likely if he's allergic to chicken that he's allergic to eggs as well?
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  #7  
Old June 18th, 2008, 03:11 PM
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Have you investigated the possibility that he may have environmental (possibly seasonal) allergies?

My golden has food & environmental allergies. His itchy season as I call it is spring & fall.
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Old June 18th, 2008, 03:17 PM
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Are you feeding grain free food? This may help to get rid of all the grains in the food. I have been using Wellness Core for Clark and am really he loves it. I noticed he his coat looks great and he has only been on it for about 6 weeks.
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  #9  
Old June 18th, 2008, 06:54 PM
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Yes, I've thought about seasonal allergies. I haven't noticed that the itching and licking get better or worse with changes in the weather particularly (like my seasonal allergies do), but of course he could be allergic to different things than me.

And both Orijen 6 Fish and N-R-G Raw 1 are grain free. The Tripett is a green tripe so there may be a few grain remnants in it, but he doesn't get it all that often anyway.

Last edited by Dingo; June 18th, 2008 at 06:57 PM.
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  #10  
Old June 19th, 2008, 08:38 AM
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Purpledomino Purpledomino is offline
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In order to rule out food allergies he needs to be on an elimination diet. If you are trying to rule out things, the Orijen 6 fish is a good idea, however giving him liver treats will continue the itching if he has a sensitivity to beef. You would have to give him all fish, including treats, and that means no rawhides or anything of other protein sources which could trigger a reaction.

It's definately hard to do, and time consuming but another option is to get him tested for allergies. You could ask your vet how much that costs. Did the vet mention a dose of Benalyn (sp?) to take the edge of his symptoms? My Minpin is itchy around her ears in the springtime mostly, so she gets some depending on her symptoms. You would need to ask the vet how much to give as it is given by weight. Good luck.
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  #11  
Old June 20th, 2008, 01:26 PM
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Chronically itchy skin is a very uncomfortable situation for a dog, and once parasites have been ruled out, nine times out of ten, it is the food that is the problem. We all know that commercial pet foods are based on the garbage that's left over from the human food industry. Of course there are some exceptions, and there are a few better choices out there. Grains are usually the culprit, as dogs lack the digestive enzyme, amylase, to effectively digest the carbohydrate content of the grain. At least it is not present in the stomach to any great degree. A home prepared diet of raw or cooked meat and vegetables should alleviate this whole situation. Raw is best, and very often this type of feeding is less expensive than those specialized diets from the vets. Good luck with this.
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  #12  
Old June 20th, 2008, 01:31 PM
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I don't think it's the quality of the food that's the problem, if it is actually a food allergy. He's always been on very high quality foods, and everything he's currently being fed is grain-free, as I've already said.
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  #13  
Old June 20th, 2008, 06:06 PM
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food could still play a part... dogs can be allergic to a variety of proteins chicken dairy fish eggs, beef etc. what about trying a high quality food that contains a singular or less of a variety of protein sources.. just a thought.. if your current fish brand doesnt work. if you just switched foods, it can take a week at minimum to start seeing a change. i would keep to fish with both treats and kibble for the now though, and maybe keep off the liver, idea is to really rule out the variety of proteins to begin with so you can narrow it down.

when your vet checked him did i assume he did the standard scratch test or blood tests to eliminate mange, any parasites etc?

hope your puppy feels better soon and that you figure it out. also omegas, a good fish oil or salmon oil is helpful for their inflammation, itchiness, coat and skin as a daily supplement. Flea allergies can be especially nasty for dogs, cause them to itch like crazy too so a preventative there always helps.
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  #14  
Old June 20th, 2008, 06:18 PM
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Yeah, he did all sorts of tests. Nothing. An allergen test is about $300, and that's only a partial one, so I'm holding off for now and hoping either chicken or seasonal allergies are the current problem.
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  #15  
Old June 20th, 2008, 10:41 PM
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Itchy Puppy

Just wondering if your puppy has LICE, what you discribed is the same as my girls condition after playing with a farm dog, if it is, it is relatively easy to get rid of, we used ADVANtAGE which we got from the vet, Give the puppy a good comb out and look through the hair. That is how I found my girls both had lice Just a though, good luck with your puppy
russte
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  #16  
Old June 21st, 2008, 10:54 AM
Dingo Dingo is offline
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Yeah, he's on Advantage (not Program as I wrote before). As I said, the last application kind of failed, since most of it got on me instead of hiim (and I'm pleased to report I've been flea-free...), so I have considered that that might be the problem. He's due for another application soon.
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  #17  
Old June 21st, 2008, 01:32 PM
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Dingo

Make sure you apply it exactly how they tell you, 4 places, back of the head, shoulders, middle of backbone, start of the tail. Hope this helps.
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  #18  
Old June 21st, 2008, 02:34 PM
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Yeah.... He was being unusually squirmy that day. One squeeze a little too hard and...

Anyway, I took him to the vet today who basically said not to worry. He expressed his anal glands, suggested sticking with the one food, and that was more or less it.
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  #19  
Old June 21st, 2008, 03:55 PM
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Have you ever considered switching him over to an all raw diet ? Often the condition will worsen, as they detox from all the junk that's in dry kibble (yes - the high quality kibble isn't all the species appropriate either....), but then you can see clear improvements.
My shepherd girl was itching like crazy until I switched her over to a raw diet and we never looked back. Just a thought........
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  #20  
Old June 21st, 2008, 09:10 PM
Dingo Dingo is offline
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I'd really rather not, but I will if it becomes necessary.
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