Hi everybody who has replied.......and goodness, this problem is widespread isn't it. I will answer each of you in a tick, but firstly will say that we went back to the Vet this morning and it seems that Jimmi is now developing an abscess between the first and second digit of his right front paw. Whether this is because of his chewing etc. is not known, but it is a beastly extra complication. He is now on antibiotics and if it doesn't markedly improve over the next week, then it will be the knife....... I am dunking the paw in warm salt water whenever I can, but he absolutely hates it and won't stay still enough for very long. (He dislikes puddles too so this is not surprising!)

MichaelM - oh I really hope that you find something to help Ella and will be really interested to hear how she gets on.

Dobermonkey - thank you for that, I am willing to try anything and I see that other people have had success with this product.

Emma - oh dear, you really made me smile with your "don'tscratch"!! Still, it's not funny is it when they are mutilating themselves. Vet won't give anything steroidal because it would make his drinking even worse (although that does seem to be calming down a little now), and he questioned me about sneezing etc. (Jimmi not me ) and decided that antihistamines were not necessary at this stage. He is also against allergy testing, for the reasons that I outlined earlier, but thinks that his new diet has done wonders so is not overly worried.........unlike me!! I think that once we get this suspected abscess sorted out (and please pray to whichever god you favour that it does not come to surgery because even the Vet is cringing at the thought of how long Jimmi would take to heal!!) then we can concentrate again on limiting the itches.

Oddly enough, since his antibiotic injection this morning and half tablet this evening, he has not once chewed, bitten or scratched apart from a lazy poke around in one ear.

hmmmmm?

Hi Bitkin,

so sorry you're having this trouble... !

I did however have a thought... Today I was searching the net looking into worms in dogs (the result of another thread...) and came across a vet info page which mentioned that a certain dog worm can cause extreme skin problems "especially on the paws to start with"... Has your vet mentioned this as a possibiliy? If you want I can check which worm it was....

As I said, it was just a thought I had while reading your post....

Claire

Oh heck Claire........yet another cause to worry about!!

Thank you for that, but possibly it can be ruled out as Jimmi's skin has improved immeasurably since going onto his salmon and potato diet. It is now just his shaved area (which once again, has so nearly healed up so fingers crossed, and as soon as the Dermacton arrives I will use it on the patch) and his paws.

I do so hate worms in any shape or form!

No, don't worry about it! And don't visualise (sp?) it either... As I said, just a thought

Glad he's doing a lot better!!! And from personal experience with shaved areas, it does itch terribly, poor dog!!! If you see him knawing (sp?) briefly rubbing a wet icecube on the spot may give him some comfort until the cream you ordered is delivered... And I'm sure playing with the icecube afterwards will take his mind off the itch at least for a while...

Good luck,

Claire

Oh dear poor Jimmi and you,
I also had a thought (seems as though Dogsey people think too much) about mites, has he ever had a scraping for them?? They can make their feet itchy and they chew them a lot.
As for the worm thing I don't do worms either.
Maybe if you fill a bath about two inches deep add the salt (yes it is going to take more salt than a bucket would), and plonk Jimmi in it and when he lifts his paw try and get him to stand on it again, as it is important for him to get he wound some time in the good stuff. Or you can get a face washer and dunk it in and squeeze it out over the foot or a cup of the water and do that a fair few times.
Also thinking again, a wash maybe better than salt, such as one that has chlorhexidine (which is a good antibacterial agent) such as the Maleseb wash, (sorry to harp on about it and no I am not a rep for them it is just that I have found that a brilliant wash for Scratch). Make sure you pat dry in between the paws too.
It is so easy for the vet to say wait and see, when they aren't watching them every day. You sound like you are doing everything for Jimmi, it is a painful condition at times and the broadness of the meaning is so huge and not much help at all.
AB's really do dull the symptoms down a lot, I always saw great improvement with Scratch when he was on AB's but when they go off them, it is back to the old way again. The AB's stop the inflammatory reaction (best way I can explain it ) Scratch had a course of AB's for a month at a time on and off, but the problem is it is only covering the problem not finding it. Like with any AB's they can become ineffective, plus it is not good for them long term either.
You are doing so much and I truly know your pain

Hi, yes, I've had 6 years or more of this with my white gsd, and have to say, it was a complete nightmare it got so bad at times, it brought me to tears the times I had to take him to the vet, so I know what you're going through.

Feet were a favoured part for him, inbetween the toes would be red raw, then he'd start on his tail, and maybe his sides, it was never ending. I used to bathe him in hibiscrub (cheap, you get it from Boots and froth it up in water and it kills everything). Apart from that, sometimes coal tar shampoo would work wonders and calm him all down. Maybe he had to have a steroid jab and ab's at the vets, and before I got him, the previous owner was at the vet's every single week having steroid jabs/pills/ab's, but sometimes I could go a whole month!

My dog had every single test going, including allergy tests at a great cost to the previous owner, and it turns out he's allergic to the usual, grass etc. He was put on the very expensive pills costing £10 a day too, but they never worked either (Atopica I think they are called?) So when I got him, it was just a constant battle trying to keep it under control, trying to "stop" the itch in the first place, but to be honest, the only stuff that really worked (including the steroids), was the Fuciderm ointment which you slap on the hot spots and it's just fantastic stuff for atopy and I still use it, but not quite as much, thank goodness.

Two years ago, a new vet gave him a jab as I was at my wit's end and they had taken him off them for a few months due to an enlarged liver so he said he had to go back on them for quality of life, and because I told him not to give me the prednisolone coz they didn't work, he said we could try another one, i.e. Medrone-v. I have never looked back!!!! Since the minute I administered just ONE tiny little 4 mg tablet into this dog, he has never scratched or itched once, not even his favoured feet!!! Lucky? Maybe, because another vet told me these are actually the SAME as prednisolone's, but I beg to differ on that one because I have seen the sudden improvement with my very own eyes, and nothing else had changed here.

Regarding the food, yes, you absolutely must keep him on salmon in one form or another because a vet told me that salmon has something very special in it to keep the skin calm and I was never to change his food. Instead of the Wafcol though, I now use the Fish4dogs salmon, and touch wood, everything is just fine, he's even lost a lot of weight which of course the steroids piled on, so to me, I think this Fish4Dogs salmon food is of a better quality than most of the others off the shelf which have the salmon in them, so I can't recommend it enough.

Kit yourself out with some Hibiscrub, some antibacterial powder (you need to keep any hot spots DRY, some coal tar shampoo, some Sebomild (it could be the other one can't remember, but from the vet's!) because that has oats in it and again, that will soothe and calm. Sometimes I used aloavera gel as pure as I could get it, but that didn't do much either I'm afraid.

I do hope it doesn't progress further, coz I know how bad this can get, but do ask your vet about Fuciderm gel and ask if you can use it on the hot spots, and you may well have to end up down the same road as me and resort to steroids, but I hope you don't! Good luck.

p.s. Just seen what Emma wrote where she mentions mites, so it would be a good idea to use one of those Advocate or Advantage spot on's that kills mites, coz not even the vet would see those, and if mites are there, it'll make things a lot worse. You will find that ears could also be a problem, coz atopy and gunky ears go together according to my vet.

Right.........well first of all after reading every reply on here I am going out to order a vast extra cabinet to store all the lotions and potions!!

Seriously, I am extremely grateful for the response and it is all hugely interesting and also hopeful that out of all of it will come something that works for this little dog.

This morning Jimmi's abscess burst when he jumped down from his sofa; it didn't seem to cause him any pain thank goodness.

Helena, you sound to have more or less got on top of things with your dog after immense worry and distress. I actually have nearly finished a tube of Fuciderm which the vet gave me (well not GAVE you understand, after all what vet gives things away) and that has been brilliant, but just at the "nearly healed up" point Jimmi has raked his wretched claws over the area and made it all raw again. Grrrrr. Still, the Dermacton has arrived - just 36 hours after ordering which is pretty good going - and I am currently waiting to see if the patch test is favourable before trying that on his shaved neck. I will print off all your comments and experiences so that I can try them out if necessary, and will certainly remember Medrone-v. Thank you so much.

Emma, yes.........I do agree that we probably think too much!!! I was the same with our ponies - come the Spring, think Laminitis and diligently restrict grass etc. etc. What happened? They got laminitis, whereas the "don't know and don't care brigade who just left their ponies out 24 hours a day never found so much as one hot hoof it seems. There must be a moral to this somewhere. Anyway, back to the case in hand and I will get some Maleseb in the hope that it helps Jimmi as it helped Scratch.

Cintvelt, I had never thought of the icecube thing.....it sounds a good idea, but I would need to be superwoman to get one out of the freezer in time because his destructive claws only need ten seconds to do their worst! I will remember the tip though, because it is a good one.

I cannot stress enough how helpful you have all been.

Oh I'm sooo with you on that horse owners comment there, that happened to me when I had mine for 20 years, always had the vet out, always had the problems, one I was dressing THREE feet at a time with punctured soles, and sometimes, I'd dress the one that didn't have it!!!!

Anyway, something else I thought of with that Malaseb or Sebomild (the best one is the oats one of course!), if you cover the feet in it and do as instructed, leave it for 5 minutes, then it can be very good, but of course, not for long as you've probably already found out!

I remember when I first got my rescue, he was in a really bad way, and the vet who had been taking care of him since birth for 5 years, told me he had once seen him with great big, pussy wealds all along his back, which of course, could never have been self-inflicted, but everywhere else was! Watch that tail, because that is the next favoured area after the feet!

Do you notice a "yeasty" smell where he's been gnawing? That's the bacteria setting in, so a good scrub with that Hibiscrub will kill all that off, that is an absolute must have for your new little treasure box of goodies!

If it gets bad, my honest opinion is, steroids will be the wtg, so please talk to your vet about those medrone-v because there is somebody else on here who had the very same thing with her boxer and he is still on medrone-v's, and my vet said the small dose of 4mg each day is not going to harm anyone, but you can if you're lucky, get away with one every other day, but unfortunately I can't with my dog because it would just start the cycle all over again and I really don't want to go there, plus he's 12 years old now, and he's got to have the best quality of life for the short time he's got left.

All the best, I'm quite a geru on this skin complaint having spent 5 years on the case lol! Sometimes, I could bath him, groom him, cream him on his sore bits, leave the house for 30 mins, and come back to find he'd eaten half his leg!!! Talking of cream, that E45 should also go into that box of yours, it's a Godsend and not as thick and tacky as the Sudocreme (which of course is another one you've just got to get!) Best of British, and if you need any more pointers, I'm always willing to help out if I can with my skin tips.

Helena you have really made me smile!!! (I have some E45....need it myself for sore hands after being out in all weathers for far more years than I care to remember). I have just altered the plans for my medicine cabinet for Jimmi - it is now twice the original size!

Oh yes, the tail.........what there is of it; about one inch is all the poor little thing has; he does sometimes decide to have a go at it, but fortunately it is such a contortion to get to it he cannot have a prolonged and sustained attack. There is no yeasty smell, but sometimes he does smell rather mousey At the moment he smells strongly of something rather nice, as I am doing the patch test with the Dermacton cream. It is quite powerful, smell wise.

I have taken on board your comments, especially about the steroids, because after all when it comes down to it his comfort etc. is more important than the amount of water he drinks. I am going to have a chat with the Vet when we go back in a few days. I totally agree with what you say about the quality of life for the older dog, and that is the situation that we are in although we don't know Jimmi's exact age of course. Geriatric is as far as the vets are prepared to go with their guess It sounds as if your dog is enjoying retirement as itch and pain free as it is possible for you to make it.

Um.......when you said about dressing the wrong hoof sometimes (sshhhh, don't tell anyone) but yesterday I congratulated myself on holding Jimmi's paw in the salt water for absolutely ages. Dried it off carefully. Stood up. Wrong paw

Lol, and now you've made ME smile with that last statement, coz you've reminded me of the time I had to hose my horse's leg for 20 mins every day for a tendon injury, and one day, in walked the vet to check up on him (yet again!!!), and he quietly whispered to me "Helen, you're hosing the wrong leg"!!!! He was wrong of course, coz I was the one who had been doing it day in day out, and he'd obviously forgotten! Lol!

All the best with your boy, I'm sure you'll somehow be able to get on top of it all just like I have, and I do hope you don't have to go through all the frustration and trauma that I went through for 5 years in the process! I felt so dreadfully sorry for my poor dog, and I once went down the route of having him all clipped out (he WAS a longcoated gsd) much to his disgust, he then resembled an old english sheepdog, but I did it for his own comfort in the summertime, plus I could get to grips with it all easier, but I would never do that again, he's fine just as he is, and so will your boy be one day, you just have to find the right cure, it can take a while though.