Why does My dog keep itching and scratching constantly?

Question

He was fine for 6 years. But almost over night, he started scratching like crazy. Its driving ME NUTS. We didnt change his dog food. The Vet claims he must have allergies but why after 6 years did this start? No Flees and acording to the vet no parrisites. This started 4 Months ago and yes after the pet food recall we did change his food but his alergies started many Months b4 this so that isnt the problem. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Answer 1

it could be a fungal infection - your vet should have taken a swap or scraping to test for this. You can ask them to do this if you are worried.

and YES, animals (humans too) can develop allergies at any time during their life it doesnt matter how old they are - you dont have to be born with an allergy to something. So your vet is correct, it could be an allergy.
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Answer 2

Ask the vet to do allergy tests on your dog.

Some animals will suddenly develop an allergy to something they have been around/eaten quite happily. One of my dogs developed an allergy to all processed food so I would, every weekend, make up a weeks worth of cooked chicken, veges, pasta and rice. I froze them in meal size containers.

Another thought re: allergy - are there any new plants or weeds growing where he likes to lay down.

Any new cleaning products.

Did the vet prescribe anything to help the dog stop his scratching? If not go back, or to another vet as ask for some relief for him. Often the scratching causes more itching. The dog needs something to break the cycle

Just make sure you keep up with the flea control.

Answer 3

Actually it is very possible he is allergic to an ingredient in his food, or it could be grass, pollen, your carpet, cleaners you name it.

You ask why after 6 years would this be a problem? The way allergies is work, is that someone, or somedog has to be exposed to the offender first. The first time they are exposed there will be no reaction. The next time they are exposed they may have a mild reaction, and the reaction can get worse with each exposure. Sometimes the allergen won't become an allergen for years. Just one day the body says "Hey, I don't like you".

You can have your vet do allergy testing to determine what his allergies are.

You can also switch his food to a high quality one. High quality foods don't contain the common food allergy offenders for dogs. These would include corn of any type, soy of any type, and wheat of any type.

I'd start by eliminating those.

Nature's Variety offers several different types of foods. It doesn't contain any of the ingredients I mentioned above and is very healthy. Try one of their varieties for 6-8 weeks and see if there is an improvement. If not switch to a different one and try that.

Many of the high quality foods have a specific food for dogs with allergies as well. These use very healthy, but less common ingredients.

Sometimes just switching to a high quality food can help too. Or you can try a raw diet as well. This way you know exactly what your dog is getting. Sometimes dogs will react differently to raw foods than cooked foods. For example a dog may appear to have an allergy to the chicken in its kibble, but when the dog is fed raw chicken, they are fine.

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, Innova Evo 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.htm...

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&m...



Please remember medications are only a bandaid, and you should really find the root cause of the problem, rather than just putting a band aid on it.

Another relief method that is drug free, is a 100% cotton t-shirt. It was the weirdest thing I'd ever heard, and you're probably thinking the same thing I did. But I gave it a try with a dog that had allergies and would chew his feet constantly. It worked. No more itching or feet chewing. That would be a way to help with itching while you are finding the cause, without drugging your dog. (I like to avoid unnecessary drugs)

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Why does My dog keep itching and scratching constantly?
He was fine for 6 years. But almost over night, he started scratching like crazy. Its driving ME NUTS. We didnt change his dog food. The Vet claims he must have allergies but why after 6 years did this start? No Flees and acording to the vet no parrisites. This started 4 Months ago and yes ...

Answer 5

We breed cocker spaniels and have encountered a few unexplained "itches". He may have developed an allergy to something he wasn't allergic to before (humans can get this too) due to changes as he ages. It could also be a nervous tick or a habit developed from a time when he actually was itching. If checking for allergies, the best way to find out is to change one thing at a time over a period of weeks. Like changing his food for a week, then his bedding, and so on.

Answer 6

It's driving you nuts? It's probably driving your dog even more nuts!

Allergies can develop at any stage of life, they're not congenital, it just requires repeated exposure to the allergen. Try confining your dog to inside or outside the house for a few days to see if the itching subsides, you should then be able to work out what's causing it by a process of elimination.

In humans chronic itching is often a sign of liver disease, and I suspect that may be so in dogs as well. Kidney disease is also possible, but in that case you'd see jaundice which the vet would have picked up (look for yellowed eyes). Liver disease is harder to pick up, and probably would require a blood test.

Answer 7

Did this start when there was a change in season? My dog has allergies and I notice when the snow melts, he starts to itch more. We had to get a humidifier for the bedroom at night which seemed to help keep his skin from drying out. We also use baby wipes to wipe off his feet when we bring him in from outside to get the pollen and other allergens off of his feet so he's not scratching them into his skin. When things get very bad, we give him Benedryl and go by the dosage our Vet recommended. I don't know how much your dog needs because I don't know his size. Your dog also could have developed an allergy to wheat in his dog food? I know you said it started before his food change but I'm just trying to think of things to help you. Maybe his skin is just dry too. You could try a good moisturizing shampoo for dry skin. Good luck...I know how annoying a scratching dog is in the middle of the night :)

Answer 8

Your vet is right. It is very possible for dogs to acquire allergies later in life. Happens all the time. One thing you can try and is very safe...adult benadryl. One adult benadryl is 25mg. You can give your dog 1 mg per pound of body weight up to three times a day. (A 50 pound dog could take 2) It may or may not make him sleepy at first, but they adjust...never slowed mine down a bit!
Good luck.
http://www.dresslersdog.com/household.html

Answer 9

Flees

Answer 10

It can be from Flees to allergies. People and animals can get allergies later on in life. I did.