my dog is constantly scratching, and she has scratched and chewed herself raw in spots. can anyone help?

Question

we took her to the vet back when the problem started, and she got cortisone shot. Vet said to give her benedryl, so have been trying that. It helps but not much.

Answer 1

Has the Vet tried to identify what is making her itchy?
It could be a flea allergy, food allergy, or even just the grass outside making her itchy.
Corn and soy products in cheap dog food are usually the cause of food allergies, so avoid buying these brands if you see corn or soy in the ingredients.
Use Frontline to help keep fleas off of her.
If she still has problems, I would have a deeper talk with your Vet about this, or would get a second opinion from another Vet.

Answer 2

The Benedryl doesn't work on my dog either and I've tried all the other antihistimines with little success. My dog has airborne allergies, every spring for the last two years she chewed/scratched herself bloody. My vet gave her a steriod shot this year to stop the itching and a cortisone cream, which took care of all the sores. Call the vet back and ask him what you should do. I call my vet all the time while this is going on. The longer you leave it the worse it will get. The first year she started this the vet confirmed it was allergies so I put her on an elimination diet for 6 weeks (novel source of protein, nothing but duck, no treats, no supplements) to rule out a food allergy. It's a little easier to treat knowing it's an airborne allergy. A dog with allergies has a hyper-immune system, when this is going on her stomach is bright pink and hot, ears hot to the touch. I give her milk thistle throughout the year, no booster shots, just titers. I just got the name of a natural product from one of my other lists, and of course, I can't remember the name of it, that was used successfully to treat allergies which I'll try next year. Good luck with your dog, this is a distressing thing to have going on.

Answer 3

She might need another cortisone shot or cortisone meds, depending upon when you last took her to the vet. Possibly even antibiotics depending upon how badly she's chewed and scratched herself.

Did the vet say what the cause was? If the chewing and scratching is from fleas and flea dermatitis, common sense indicates that you would need to keep the dog flea free. You will need Frontline or Advantage and a flea comb.

Is it from allergies? Food allergies? If so, feed her a different brand of food.

Is your vet treating it symptomatically? Then I would recommend you ask about medicated shampoos, bathing, how frequently, etc.

Fish oil supplements help with skin problems -- ask your vet what kind of dosage he would recommend.

Bottom line, you and your dog need a follow up trip to the vet to get all these questions answered.

Answer 4

Think about where the allergies may be coming from. I would look very hard at the bag of dog food first. Carpet, grass etc. all play a part. Study dog food and ask the vet how to properly change her diet to make her corn free, gluten free, etc. She may do well on raw diet. Don't just switch her all at once. Need much study time for this one. As for the smell on her that is infection trying to set in...ask the vet for something to combat this as well. You can run tests on her for allergies, although expensive, it may tell you exactly what is the allergen. I had a Yorkshire Terrier that did this and she was found to have several allergies including carpet, grass, flea control etc. Poor dog must be miserable scratching all the time. We made her a room with only ceramic tile on the floor and changed her diet completely over time and she is well today. Good luck with your dog.

Answer 5

Youe dog has probably has fleas or some sort of mite that burrows under the skin. Your dog is going to form hot spots where they are constantly biting, scratching, and chewing which can get infected. Go to the vet again and tell them that you need a better diagnosis and you aren't going to let this continue anymore. If your vet doesn't bring any further intelligence to the table, it is time for a new vet.

Answer 6

It sounds like a flea allergy. Some dogs are more sensitive than others. Call the vet again and let him know that the benedryl is not working.

Answer 7

You should take her back and make sure the vet gets her a skin scrape for mange. If she has mange the steroids will have made her worse. I would presume you've covered the obvious flea angle, but you could make sure you wash all her bedding in hypoallergenic washing powder and don't use carpet freshener sprays in case she is having allergies.
Make sure she has plenty of chew toys and exciting things to help take her mind off herself incase it is a habit thing rather than an itchy thing. Put a little veg/olive oil in with her feed daily to help with any dry skin issues she has and make sure the house and bedding are flea treated also. good luck to you both xxx

Answer 8

It sounds like some kind of skin allergy. We have a golden retriever that does that sometimes. We generally have a groomer shave his fur several times during the summer and this seems to help a lot. Be sure to use Advantage or some other good flea product on them, as well. Some dogs are allergic to flea bites and it makes them itch more than usual.

Answer 9

Maybe it's her food. Mine did that until we switched her to a brand with no corn in it. She's now on Canidae life stages chicken and rice. She only itches sometimes now and the switch is not totally complete yet. You switch them to new food gradually over 7-10 days.You do 75/25 and so on until they are totally switched. If you do it all at once you risk stomach upset and diarrhea.

Answer 10

the answer is only 2 -parasites such as fleas/mites/fly or mosquito bites or food allergy to corn or wheat allergy in commercial foods.first try frontline spray/if that does proove to be effective try o.n.e.lamb and rice. dog food.i had a shepard with skin problems till i put him on lamb and rice food. no more skin problems. good luck