Itchy Mouth

[SchnauzerGirl]

I have an 8 month old Schnauzer (who is pet of the month this month – I am so proud!) who has been pawing and scratching at his face. It isn’t excessive scratching though – he probably does it about five to six times a day. He was doing this while his adult teeth were coming in but I thought he would stop once they were all in. I had the vet look at his mouth when I had him fixed, but he wasn’t sure what it was and even combed his beard to see if he had fleas. I now think that this is a food allergy and was wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem? I've also checked his mouth and can't see any sores and can't really tell if the skin is inflamed around his mouth because I am not sure if the skin under his white beard should be pink?

I just purchased Innova Evo dry dog food and it is grain free and will be slowly switching him over to all grain free products in the next few days but any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Beaglemom]

If the vet checked him out and everything appeared to be normal physically, then I suspect this is an allergy of some sort.

If it is a food allergy, it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly what food he is allergic too. You have to do it by trial and error. If it is an allergy to a specific allergen you can have allergy tests done to determine exactly what he is allergic too. I would bring this up with your vet and see what they recommend.

[SchnauzerGirl]

Thanks, I'll start doing the trail and error thing and then if it is still an issue, I'll take him back to the vet. I also make my own dog treats, any ideas what I should substitute for flour?

[Prin]

I'm pretty clueless for substitutions, but how about rice flour or oat flour? Doggies tend to be less prone to be allergic to those than to wheat.

I'm just wondering, since it's just his face, could he be allergic to something he's sticking his face into? How are his feet between the pads? Is there any redness there?

[SchnauzerGirl]

The only thing that he sticks his face into is his toys although I do wash them when they get icky, so I am not sure if it could be the laundry detergent that is making him itch. I'll switch everything over to the non itchy stuff and she if that might work as it is easy to do. Schutlz was up at 2 am this morning itching his face like crazy, something that he hasn't done before.

I haven't checked in between his paw pads and will see what they look like. I see that there was a post on ear infections and allergies. He recently had ear mites again and I don't have any cats so he must have picked it up from another play mate so this makes me really suspect allergies if he is prone to them? Although I know they are highly contagious.

Since I suspect that this is an allergy, I went and purchased a bag of Innova Evo which is grain free but haven't opened the bag upon reading what some of the people posting on the site have said that particular dog food. I find it so confusing what I should or shouldn't feed Schultz!

Thanks for everyone's help!