Poor Obi is very itchy at the moment. He has an allergic reaction to something in the environment. It's seasonal, and first appeared last Spring (that's in September in these parts). We were able to control it very easily with 20mg of Zyrtec (antihistamine) each morning. Eventually the itch went away and he spent the summer itch and medication free. It's now autumn and there are lots of other potential allergens around, including lots of fungus spores. Unfortunately the itch is back and this time the Zyrtec hasn't had much effect. Over the weekend the itch got suddenly much worse and he couldn't stop itching and chewing at himself. Obi has now started to wear his fur thin on his front legs, has scratched the inside of his ears, and has enlarged a few small nicks on his face that he'd got while playing - these nicks are now looking pretty sore. And his eyes are red. On Sunday we washed him in Malaseb, flushed his eyes with saline, put some Neocort between his toes, have him a good brushing and stuck a cone on him. And booked a vet visit, which we had tonight. The vet is a new vet who has come into the local practice after the previous much-loved and long standing vet retired and sold up. It was our first meeting with the new vet and she is terrific! So we are very happy about that She gave Obi a very thorough going over and pronounced him a lovely dog, free of fleas (one hypothesis re. the itch cause), in possession of a strong heart, very waggy and incredibly itchy but with no signs of a long standing allergic skin reaction such as thickened or darkened skin. We discussed the options with respect to treating the itchiness and have gone with the big guns which is a course of combined steroid/anti-inflammatory/antihistamine tablets (Prednil) over about 10 days with a gradually reducing dose. The idea is to buy a reprieve until the relevant environmental irritant gives up and goes on its way. Hopefully we will see an improvement in a few days. He may need a longer, minimal level dose but we'll see how things go. He also has antibiotics (cephalexin) to prevent infection from the places where he's broken skin. He also has to have: - regular baths in Malaseb - daily eye washes with saline (1 tspn salt in 1 cup water) - regular brushing to stimulate blood flow to his skin - 300mg fish oil daily (which he has always had anyway) - the cone until the itching decreases Fingers crossed that he improves.
Re: Itchy Obi Poor Obi :'( I hope the meds work quickly and that they help the itchiness x He looks so sorry for himself in the photos......I bet you are running around after him every time he looks at you : so adorable still
Re: Itchy Obi Barley has the same thing, from spring to autumn he can get very itchy, mainly his groin area, feet and ears. We have had to go to the vets for antibiotics and steroids loads of times before when he has chewed his feet red raw, sticky and very sore and painful. After much discussion with the vet we put him on piriton, 1 tablet 3 times a day to start with which helped a lot, last year he ended up having 2 tablets 3 times a day as he got very bad, and even with the highest dosage he was still itching but less and was controllable and just treating areas that got sore and giving him soothing baths every 2 weeks as well as washing feet after every outside outing, even going into the garden. He has a break of piriton over winter as we have other issues to deal with around the road salt causing itchy feet. It has not been long since spring started and he is already on 1 1/2 piriton a day at the moment and he started before spring started. I hope obi feels better soon I know the troubles of an itchy dog, by the sounds of it obi is coping very well with it, barley does not and gets very aggressive and has to be muzzled for cream application and washes
Re: Itchy Obi I have an itchy dog too! My girl has had allergy tests and she has allergies to various types of mites and food. She is on grain free food. I went down the homeopathic route as she was on a few piriton a day and it wasn't doing anything. Ruby ended up with many bald areas where she scratched and licked so much. If you think it is something in outdoor environment I would definitely hose him down after every walk, even if not whole body at least legs, chest and groin area. I am not keen on using steroids so have tried everything possible to avoid this route. I have found dilute Apple Cider Vinegar good to help irritated skin. I have also a number of creams which help including Johnson's Tea tree skin calm from PAH, neem oil on small sore patches and Dermacton. I have also heard that coconut oil is good for irritated skin. When it has been really bad I put Ruby in a medical t'shirt so she can't damage her underside of skin. My girl is worse when she is stressed so I have also used Rescue Remedy to calm her down too and that helps. Chloe
Re: Itchy Obi Practice tip for you itchy dog owners out there. If your dog has an allergy which is pollen based, then hosing them down to physically wash the pollen off them when they come in from a walk is good, but you have to dry them really thoroughly as well as allergens penetrate wet skin far easier than dry skin. Also it is worth remembering not to dry their towels and bedding outside in pollen season as when you put wet washing outside, pollen sticks to it then you bring it indoors and they sleep on pollen-contaminated bedding. For housedust mite allergy (very common in the UK), tumble drying bedding kills the little blighters, as does freezing - so if your dog likes soft toys it is worth freezing them regularly to reduce contamination. Simple allergen avoidance like this will often massively reduce the dose of any drugs required to control the itch.
Re: Itchy Obi Aww, poor Obi! I hope the meds give him the relief he needs and that it's just a short term thing! I haven't had a lot of experience with allergies in dogs other than a diet based one- previous dog was allergic to chicken but after switching to lamb-based food the problems went away. So, easy fix. Allergies are so hard to narrow down, hope you can get to the bottom of it, Rachel!
Re: Itchy Obi Ah poor Obi. He does look sorry for himself. Bless him. Hope the itching stops soon Obi.
Re: Itchy Obi [quote author=Lochan link=topic=5302.msg66746#msg66746 date=1396877570] Practice tip for you itchy dog owners out there. If your dog has an allergy which is pollen based, then hosing them down to physically wash the pollen off them when they come in from a walk is good, but you have to dry them really thoroughly as well as allergens penetrate wet skin far easier than dry skin. Also it is worth remembering not to dry their towels and bedding outside in pollen season as when you put wet washing outside, pollen sticks to it then you bring it indoors and they sleep on pollen-contaminated bedding. For housedust mite allergy (very common in the UK), tumble drying bedding kills the little blighters, as does freezing - so if your dog likes soft toys it is worth freezing them regularly to reduce contamination. Simple allergen avoidance like this will often massively reduce the dose of any drugs required to control the itch. [/quote] This is a very interesting and useful tip about freezing to destroy dust mites, Lochan. Another vet gave me a very similar tip to freeze kibble in order to kill any dust mites that might be causing itching.
Re: Itchy Obi Oh you poor boy how miserable for you Obi I really hope Obi feels better very soon Rachel xx
Re: Itchy Obi Poor Obi Where has our happy boy gone? He looks totally miserable. Hope he responds quickly Rachael. xxxx
Re: Itchy Obi O! Obi, love. You poor boy. I hope it clears up soon. Your vet sounds great! You still look beautiful though, Obi.
Re: Itchy Obi Thanks so much everyone - and thanks for all the brilliant tips for management and reducing exposure. Really, really appreciate it. He had a much more settled night last night, which is great. The previous two nights he largely spent scratching, pacing and whining whereas last night he slept. We'll see how he goes today.
Re: Itchy Obi Good news - for you as well as Obi. Bet it's not restful to hear him when he is not comfy.
Re: Itchy Obi I am allergic to house dust mites and I use one of these - it works! http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0037WVWRS/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Re: Itchy Obi Thanks, Julie. Yes, the scratching has been quite stressful. Been home for an hour or so now and he's SO much better. It's a huge relief - for him and us! Thanks for the tip, Boogie Glad you have found something that is both safe and effective! We are pretty sure it's a plant or fungus spore based thing as it's seasonal and gets markedly worse after an off-lead walk/swim in grassy/wooded areas.
Re: Itchy Obi So sorry to hear about Obi being so out of sorts,he looks it too on the photo,poor lovely boy.I don't blame you hitting it with everything when he has been so affected Rachael,if the spores are at their height ,makes sense to crank the medication arsenal up too until,they tail off......hope he's more improved to day too ,sending you a big,non aggravating pat Obi xxx
