I have a 4 month old Doberman who can't stop scratching. Mostly his chest and armpit areas, what do I do?

Question

He's been scratching daily for over a month, and the vet gave him Cephlexin and Atarax along with this Mesaleb medicated shampoo that I was told to give him every other day and it still isn't working. We just tried switching his food 2 days ago because his puppy food had dye in it to see if that could be it. No improvements yet...we've also tried aloe baby oil but not much luck there either. Ummm he likes digging up roots and biting other plants, which I'm still trying to get him to stop doing. He dry heaves in the morning and every 4 or 5 days does vomit in the mornings. Last time it was one solid lump of vomit, almost like cookie dough texture. He drinks tap water. There are also two Chihuahuas in the household who eat the same food and drink the same water and are fine. Is he alergic to something? Is there anything else I can try? It's miserable watching him scratch all the time, and it's hard because it gets frustrating. Any ideas? Thank you so much for any response...

Answer 1

My dobe started itching at 4 months as well. He also was licking his paws till they bled. The way to discover the problems is to eliminate the obvious. There are two types of mites he could have. Demodex and Scabies. The doctor can scrape for both. The former are easy to see, the latter are not. My dobe was negative for both, but treated for scabies anyway since false negatives are common. No luck. Thus we went on a food elimination diet. Dogs that start itching before 6 months are more likely to have food allergies than to have environmental allergies. After 12 weeks on only venison and pea food, the itching stopped. I then introduced beef and now its back. Thus, I recommend mite treatment, when that fails, food elimination, if that fails, then allergy testing with a specialist in pet allergies. Hope that helps. Hope your dobe gets better soon.

Of course you can read up on all this information on the web and consult with your trusted vet first.

Lynn

Answer 2

Right, has the vet done a skin scraping to see if its parasites annoying him eg mange, or done a blood test to see if there are any toxins in his system from plants, or done an allergy test? I admit, getting all these done can cost a pretty penny, but it will be worth it to make sure its nothing serious.

A good home recipe for an itch wash- 1 cup oatmeal, pulverised in a blender, add 2 drops each of geranium, lavender and chamomile essential oils, 1 tablespoons carrot seed oil (available from most health food stores), mix all this in together with either a vegetable oil based baby soap, or a milky baby shampoo about 500mls.

I use this recipe in conjunction with my dogs demodex treatment every 3rd day, she has generalised demodictosis, or all over mange, and it helps control her itching. Plus i grate into her food 1/2 a raw apple and 1/2 a raw carrot, its good for the skin.

If you have to, take the dog back to the vet, tell them the wash isnt working, and you would like them to take another look. Dont let them fob you off with, 'oh you didnt follow the instructions', or 'try this more expensive wash', make them solve the problem, because if there is another, underlying problem, it could get serious. I spent over two years trying to treat my dobermans mange, the treatments just got more expensive and didnt work. Turned out she had hypothyriodism, affecting her immune system, and by the time the vet diagnosed it, my dog had no fur and open sores on her body. I have to admit, it was a problem my vet wasnt familiar with, but still, the fact that the treatments didnt work, should have been an indication something else was wrong. This mightnt be the case with your dobe, but better to spend a little money now, rather than a lot later, and the quicker you can make your boy comfortable, the better.

Answer 3

YIKES... Scratching daily for over a month.. And when you didn't see results, did you call the vet and tell him?? You have to let them know if you aren't getting results, so he can either do further testing, or adjust the medication.

2 days isn't enough time to see if the dog was allergic to garbage food.. Gotta give it a chance to get rid of the garbage and let the new food work it's wonders.. What are you feeding the poor little guy?
So the vet figures he has what... a staph infection? Yeast problem?

Did you tell the vet that he is throwing up? Cephalexin very likely is causing the stomach upset, it's hard on the guts.. Try giving him something to eat first, even a cracker or a little piece of bread something to get in there first.. You want to wait at least 2 hours and then give him some plain yogurt, make sure that you give him the yogurt with 2 kinds of live bacterial culture.. This will build up the good bacteria in his poor little guts.

Just for future reference.. Dobermans should NEVER be given sulfa based drugs, no sulfa based antibiotics, eye ointments etc.. They also should never be given any NSAIDS.. No Metacam, or any of those killer medications.

You should put applecider vinegar in the drinking water. You can never fix the outside if the inside is sick, if he has a staph infection, his PH is off.. Put 1 tsp in every single bowl of drinking water. He'll get used to it.. Also mix a bucket of water 50/50 with applecider vinegar ( Get the Braggs at the healthfood store ) and get a cloth and wipe him down with it daily. Feed him a good quality food, (try the Canidae) given him an omega 3 capsule daily, and don't bath him all the time..

Answer 4

Allergies are difficult to diagnose sometimes. You say you just switched his food, hopefully to something nice and simple like Natural Balance Duck and Potato. You want to try something with very few ingredients, no chemical preservatives or dyes, and without some of the more common allergens like corn, wheat, soy. I like the Duck and Potato or Fish and Potato because they're novel ingredients the dog probably hasn't had before. If your new food fits the bill, give it a little more time. Sometimes you can see improvements in as little as a few days, but it can take up to 2 months to get total improvement. Also, I hate steroids, but sometimes when your dog is really uncomfortable, a steroid shot can help get him over the initial hump towards healing. Has your vet recommended trying a round of steroids? If not, is there a reason they don't want to? Good luck, it took me several months to figure out my girl can't tolerate chicken so I know what it's like.

Answer 5

Its really going to depend on when she was cropped, how long the ear was allowed to flop, and if it is flopping to to an injury after cropping or if it just wasn't posted long enough. If they just recently stopped posting and she was cropped at the appropriate age (by 12 weeks) then continued posting should make the ear stand properly. However if it has been down for a while, the was cropped to late or it was due to an injury then chances of posting making it stand at this point are slim. If the latter is the case the only think likely to make it stand would be implants or stringing (both surgical techniques) but vets that do them are few and far between. You also need to weight the risks (implants are prone to rejection) over how important to you it is that her ear stand properly. Also just wanted to add nothing cruel or inhumane about cropping, when done properly by a licensed vet. It is far less invasive and painful than spaying.

Answer 6

Hes probably allergic to some plants in or outside the house. Even fertalizer will do it, and you can change your food agian, I think you should give him oat meal soap baths, and go to a groomer. They know so much, and it may be a skin condition and they can find you a good moisterizer. The vomit may be an alleric reaction from the plants, or something.

Answer 7

I am not a veterinarian, but it sounds like an allergy to me.

I suggest you visit your state's Veterinary School and talk to them about doing an allergy test on your pup.

Once you find the cause, you can either eliminate it, or treat the allergy.

Doc