What should I give to my dog to make her stop scratching?

Question

My dog always is scratching and she dont have flees!I need some kind of medican to give to her and I dont know what! I need your help,do you know what I can give her?

Answer 1

You need to take your dog to the vet. She may have a skin infection or allergies.

If its a skin infection the sooner you get it treated, the easier it will be to treat.

If its allergies testing can be done to see what she is allergic to. Dogs can be allergic to many things, cleaners, grass, your carpet, ingredients in their food to name a few.

Switching to a high quality diet is always a plus, and means a healthier dog. High quality diets are also less likely to contain allergy inducing ingredients.

While you are waiting to see the vet you can put a 100% cotton t-shirt on your dog, this can smetimes help alleviate itching. Sounds crazy but it works.

Here's some information on choosing a high quality dog food as well.

Nothing you find at a grocery store is going to be a good food. High quality foods can be found at large pet store chains, or online. A couple of foods I like are Nutro Natural, Innova, and Cannidae.

There are other high quality dog foods. Here's how to spot them:

A high quality food will have little or no fillers such as corn, wheat or soy. These aren't very digestable for dogs, and are common food related allergens. Since you were seeing corn meal in the first few ingredients, those are not high quality foods. Foods list ingredients by content, with the ingredient it contains most of at the top.

A high quality food will not contain BHT, BHA or Ethoxyquin, these are all chemical preservatives that have been linked to cancer.

A high quality food will not contain by-products of any kind. Meat meals are ok as long as the source of the meat is listed, such as Chicken Meal.

A high quality diet should have meat as at least the first ingredient., and be made from human grade ingredients. Foods that don't use human grade ingredients often get their ingredients from less than desirable sources, such as meat from animals that were diseased, or euthanized.

There is another diet option other than dog food. Some people choose to feed a raw diet. This involves feeding the dog raw meaty bones and organ meat. However it is not as simple as throwing a couple chicken bones in a bowl everyday. If you wish to feed this type of diet, do lots and lots of research first. Switching to this diet without knowing what your doing can lead to nutritional problems for your dog. I'll give you some links as a starting point in research if you are interested in this type of diet.

http://www.willowglen.com/barf.htm

http://www.bestfrisbeedogs.com/diets.html

http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html

http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html

http://www.rawdogranch.com

What's Really In Pet Food
http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&more=1cat=286

Answer 2

When a dog is scratching a lot it is normally a sign of an allegy. It can be a either a food or an environmental allegy. You can try rubbing the place the dog is scratching with an antihistamine (Benadryl). This is normally used to treat allergies and hypersensitive reactions. It works by counteracting the effects of histamine on a receptor site. However, this does not solve the root problem. Try to determine if it is a food or an environmental allegy and then work from there.

You can try giving the dog only dry food grains for a few days and see if the scratching subsides. This means eliminating all treats. I know this sounds harsh but you are only trying to identify the source of the allegy. After the scratching has subsided you can start giving one type of treat for a week or so and if no scratching reappears you can give another type of treat until you identify the one that causes the problem then eliminate that one totally. You should also observe whats in that treat and in future not give the dog anything with that ingredient.

Determing the environmental allegy is more difficult. It can be something inside or outside so the process is similar. Eliminate one as much as is possible. Some dogs are allergic to freshly cut grass, others to ragweed, others to the type of fertilizer on the grass etc. Do not allow the dog outsde when these conditions are present.

If all your efforts are futile try calling a vet and asking for some suggestions. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Sounds like some kind of allergy to me. Could be food or environmental. Either way, get hold of a vet to find out which or both! Yeast is a common problem that most people aren't aware of. Oatmeal shampoo is good. My Shih-tsu has a problem with yeast, and my vet said use Selsun Blue Medicated shampoo. The medication in it kills the yeast. It has done wonders for her scratching. It usually starts in the ears, and if not treated will spread throughout their skin. You didn't say what kind of dog. Dogs with floppy ears seem to be more prone to these yeast infections.
Benedryl will help ease the itching, but not cure it. A vet will tel you how much to give your dog.
Once you determine the cause, lots of baths for environmental problems and yeast. Change in diet for food.

Good Luck

Answer 4

Is she itching one particular spot or sort of all over? If all over, it sounds like the food allergy problem so try changing foods to see if it helps clear up.

If a specific spot, you can get anti-itch/hot spot sprays from the pet store. You can also give her people Benadryl (watch the dosage depending on the size of your dog...if a small dog, give child's dosage. If over 100, give adult dosage).

An oatmeal bath could help if her skin is sensitive to something. Also, have you started turning on your heat? Maybe it's drying out her skin and you need to use some humidifiers in your house.

I'd also recommend a visit to the vet to rule out anything serious.

Answer 5

She may have food allergies. Both my boy cocker spaniels have them. In general, most food allergies are caused by wheat/corn/beef/ and/or by products. I think the most common is wheat. Try putting her on a fish based food. I asked around and this was the most recommended. Mine are now on Nature's Recipe's Fish and Potato. This is working wonders with them! Others will feed their dogs raw diets (veggies, chicken, etc). For temporary relief, you can give her benedryl. I get the children's chewable for them. If she's tiny, maybe try a half a tablet. Also, when you bathe her, use a gentle oatmeal shampoo and use cool water. This will soothe her itching. Good luck and I hope she feels better soon!

Answer 6

1. Get her checked by a vet to diagnose and treat.

2. If it's allergies, change her food to something non-allergic like Fish and Chips from http://frrco.com/121668

3. Wash her in an oatmeal dog shampoo, or one formulated for itchy skin.

There are no "over the counter medications" that I know of that you can give her.

http://www.libertydogtraining.com

Answer 7

My dog scratches and nibbles sometimes and i recently asked a vet what to give her. Baby Benadryl will be fine. One whole pill for a large dog mine weighs 68 lbs.

Answer 8

It's possible that she could be allergic to the food your giving her. My dog is allergic to grain, so we have to watch what we feed him. Talk to her vet about it, and see if maybe there's something you can try to give her to stop the scratching.

Answer 9

Corn free dog food. Many dogs are allergic to corn and it is in most dog food. It causes them to scratch like you describe. Benadryl helps the symptoms.

Answer 10

Soy free dog food in which the first ingredient is meat, and bendryl might help too. Flax oil or fish oil capsules seem to help too.