Itchy skin

My border collie mix, age approx. 8 yrs, is suffering from severe itchy skin. We live in Austin, TX, which is an allergy prone area for animals and people. I gave her prednisone for several years, at the doctor's recommendation, but she gained so much weight. I finally took her off of them about 2 years ago and started a homeopathic approach. Also we changed her food to non-corn products dry food. I put 2 fish oil caps in her food per day. She was doing great and I accidently picked up a bag of the same brand of food, thinking all of the food in that brand was corn free. Not so. When she started biting and chewing her hind quarters again, I checked the ingredients on the bag (this was about 6 weeks ago) and immediately took her off of that food and back onto the corn-free food. But she is still chewing herself and has made herself almost hairless on her back end. I am treating her with tea tree oil spray, but nothing seems to be working. Should I give her an antihistimine and what is safe for her. Her weight is about 55#. I have a 2nd border collie mix dog that weighs about 30# that has itchy skin also, but nothing like Doc.

Hi sorry I dont have any advice.. but I wondered.. why is your area..more prone to allergys?

AW hun sorry your BC is feeling down. Perhaps it will settle down again. I'm sure antihistamine will be ok, but someone on here will have more experience than me. Try this site it might help.


http://www.allergicpet.com/skin-eze_...FQ_UlAodFQn9yA

Mmm - did your vet do lots of tests before he perscribed steroids? Really steroids should be used as a last resort not a first port of call.

Apparantly, if it is a food alergy they are more likely to chew and itch their feet and their tummy than other parts of their bodies.

I spoke to my vets about giving antihistamine to dogs, although he doesn't think it is harmful, he also doesn't think that they do that much good as, apparanlty an allergic reaction in dogs isn't as simple as the histamine release process in humans.

Thank you for the suggestions (why is our area more allergy prone? I wish I had an answer. Austin is referred to as Allergy-Alley, something to do with the vegetation in our region, lots of cedar trees and cedar fever is terrible in so many people in our region. No fun! Lots of red, watery, itchy eyes, runny noses and sneezing! Miserable!)

I will try the Skin-eas product. Pretty pricey, but worth a shot.

Thank you all. I won't try otc antihistimines.

Also, she does lick her tummy and chew her feet as well, but her hind quarters are the most affected.

Speak to your vet about an antihistamine.

Mine told us which one to get when Missy was having troubles with some wheat treats someone gave her. Although she only had a few it started her itchy tummy off again.
A week taking anti histamine cleared it up.
She knew Missy though, so she knew which one to prescribe.

So, I'd speak to your vet.

Mmmm if she is tummy licking and feet chewing then you may well be looking at a food allergy. I don't know why it makes them chew their feet, but it does. As long as your vet doesn't suggest steroids again, i would go to the vets and explain about the feet chewing, and they should (if they are good) put him on an anti alergy diet and then introduce different foods to see if you can up his tollerance to them gradually and then have him on a very good quality diet that suits your dog.

If you use antihistamines you should use the ones that AREN'T non-drowsy (benedryl, piriton etc) as they are more effective in dogs for some reason. I would advise checking doses at this website

http://www.ingleburnvet.com.au/antihistamines.htm

If you would prefer to try a drug-free “treatment” first I was advised by a homeopathic specialist to try giving my dog a teaspoon of LOCALLY PRODUCED honey once or twice a day - It must be produced locally as it contains the same allergens that affect your dog. I tried it & have gone through this year with an itch free black lab!!

some other good things are to add some wheatgerm oil to her food, and to add a little olive oil to her bath water.

Good luck, hope this helps ... btw the honey is just as effective for humans!

Our dog's allergies aren't too bad. The things that we think work best for her are:

1. Weekly malaseb shampoos
2. Oatmeal baths as frequently as necessary (just grind up normal oatmeal in the blender until it's nice and fine and pop it in a luke warm bath). It's very soothing and can be done every day without drying out the skin.
3. Essential fatty acid supplements (keeps the coat looking great and supposedly helps with itching)
4. Neem extract (both internally and diluted with a tiny bit of water and dabbed on any red or sore bits). I'm not sure if it's coincidence, but Neem *seems* to work like magic within hours on rashes and pyoderma outbreaks.

Generally speaking antihistamines don't work too well for us, but if we only give them her very occasionally when she's itchy it seems to do the trick and calm things down. It might just be because it has a slight sedating effect.

What is "NEEM extract"? Do I find it at a health food store or a drug store?

thank you so much for the info. Everyone has been very helpful.