Food for thought. My fox red lab was itchy from the day we had him at 8 weeks. He would scratch incessantly including the back of his front legs and whip round suddenly to bite his back legs. Several visits to the vet provided no solution(we tried Yumega itchy dog oil/changing his food/ fumigating the house on the suggestion we might have fleas or excessive dust mites) When he was diagnosed with a mast cell tumour(treatment ongoing) the first thing I said was “he scratches a lot”Thankfully the specialist said there was no connection as I had visions of him being riddled with tumours. However as part of his chemo regime he takes 2x4 mg of Piriton twice a day and as if by magic all the scratching has stopped. It has also stopped the eye discharge he used to wake up with in the mornings. If you have a dog with similar problems it might be worth asking the vet if it is appropriate for your dog as it is such a cheap solution.
Itching can be caused by so many things that it can be very difficult to idetify the cause. Abdominal pain can ofter lead to scratching of the neck/ears, but I haven't seen it manifect as scratching the front legs. Allergies and intolerances are often causes. When you changed his food, what did you change from and to?
He was on Purina Pro Plan Puppy Large breed and I changed him to Hill Science Sensitive. At the moment he is on Hill Science prescription diet digestive care as the chemo upsets his stomach. I will speak to the vet about keeping him on the Piriton when the treatment is over and see what she advises.
It's strange to me that your vet said there is no connection between mast cell tumours and scratching a lot - there indeed is a connection! Mast cell tumours release a lot of histamine and toxins, resulting in a lot of itchiness and allergic reactions. Hopefully once you have fixed the mast cell tumours, this will also stop... See: https://www.thedrakecenter.com/materials/canine-mast-cell-tumor
Thank you. Apparently he was very good today and just let them get on with it. Poor thing so many different shaved bits. He gets lots of treats. A Licky mat with peanut butter whilst I give them an update and lots of treats whilst in there. He is sleeping it off now. Two more sessions then staging and we will know where we are. Still confused about the scratching as some articles say localised scratching not general. The oncologist seems to think his scratching may have been related to the mast cells(a contradiction to the “specialist”) but if not there is no reason why he shouldn’t stay on the Piriton after treatment finished. She said to get this out of the way and then see a dermatologist if it persists.
Sounds good. Have you also looked into a ketogenic diet for him? You might want to look at the work of KetoPet Sanctuary: https://www.ketopetsanctuary.com And join their group on FB for more advice...
Thanks Jo No I hadn’t heard about it for dogs. I did it years ago. Hardest thing ever giving up carbs. Guess with Toby as long as he gets his two meals a day he won’t mind what he eats. I’ll give it a look.
Yes, it is pretty involved. I tried it all when my Weim, Slate, was diagnosed with bone cancer. We spent ages weighing up portions of raw beef mince, blending broccoli and weighing out butter(!!). We did get her into ketosis - I had the strips and the blood testing device. (Be warned that what constitutes ketosis for a person, is different for a dog - dogs need fewer carbs (preferably zero) and the number needs to be lower, I can't remember exactly - KetoPet have the info.) However, Slate really didn't like the raw food. (She had kibble most of her life and it was only when she got sick that I spent a long time researching nutrition and came to the conclusion that raw was the best way to feed. So Slate went onto keto raw and the others went onto a complete raw mince.) When she went off her food, I realised that I could achieve the same thing with Ziwipeak and added fat: Ziwipeak has no carbs in it. I was just adding a big blob of butter to her Ziwi meal - and she was still in ketosis with that. (As measured by the machine.) I was using the Lamb flavour of Ziwi as it's the highest in fat. So, if you want a cheat-version... It was all too little, too late, for Slate, and she only lived about 2 months after her diagnosis - she was 13.5yo, though. But we all benefitted from what I learnt at the time. The other two are on raw and Adam and I are low-carb/paleo-ish. Even my parents are low carb now(!).
