[luisadet]

Hello!
I have a 4 months old Coton de Tulear and since I got her home from the kennel, she is itching A LOT ! She itchs mostly the head region! but itchs all the body as well... and bites around the tail, as she was getting a flea, but she never had fleas!
The vet says it is allergy, of course, probably atopic... but the interesting thing is that her skin is totally clear! She hasn´t hot spots, hair loosing, nothing in the skin that would be a reaction of the allergy and the itching/scratching!

She is driving me crazy, because it´s very agonizing to me watch she itchs herself ALL THE TIME! ... now the vet put her on a diet with Royal Canin Hypoallergenic vet formula for 30 days, to discard a food allergy, but sorry who uses it, I don´t approve Royal canin as a food... it´s a very poor food!

The big problem is that I don´t know what she is allergic for! and the clear skin... any skin problem at all!

Someone have or had some problem like this? the dog itching a lot with no apparent reason?

Thanks for any help! :smile:

 

[RawFedDogs]

I would still bet on fleas. It sounds too much like fleas. Can you find any flea dirt on thier skin? Can you find their skin? :biggrin: Those are super hairy dogs and fleas would be very difficult to spot.

 

[Chocx2]

try some fish oil

 

[Khan]

Just wondering how are her ears? I mean are they free and clean of any gunk? Only reason I'm wondering is Khan has terrible allergies to both food and environment. He never has any hair loss, or hot spots; but when he has a reaction/flare up, His ears get red and within a day he will start to develop black gunk in his ears. If he's reacting to something he's eaten his ears go back to normal color and the gunk goes away once that item is taken away and through his system. The environmental ones bring the same symptoms to him; but I have to treat them with an OTC allergy pill. Same results though, once he has them in his system, ears go back to normal. I have gotten to were I flip his ears back periodically just to "check" that all systems are "normal" :thumb:

 

[luisadet]

I am pretty sure that are not fleas... it´s a furry breed but as she still is a puppy the coat is very thin and it´s easy to see her skin! Besides she lives just inside home and has no contact with other animals... I also used Revolution on her!

Her ears are normal... clean! and about the fish oil she is already getting it... every day she gets a gel capsule of Omega 3, 6, 9 and Vitamin E ! I ordered also a "Grizzly" salmon oil bottle...

The curious is that she itchs most in the head area...near the mouth... in the neck...

Today is her second day eating Royal Canin Hypoallergenic and I could notice a better... she didn´t itch so much as she was...

have you already seen the ingredients od Royal canin Hypoallergenic? They sound awful to me... mostly for a puppy, that needs a "stronger" diet... I don´t know what to do, because if she gets better eating that Hypoallergenic food, it´s certain that she is allergic for something that had on her old food...the question is: what?
I never had heard about some dog, food allergic, that had nothing on its skin... just itching, but clear skin... it´s new to me! ...

I forgot to say that I am from Brazil! Here we don´t have many good options in the "pet market" ... like grain free foods... fish oil, etc...I need to import from US the mostly! I wanted feed her with a grain free kibble, and I was able to import the food... but now I really don´t know... I am afraid about Orijen puppy and the high level of protein, for a puppy, small breed and not much active... and also because it´s made from Chicken... and chicken is on my "suspicious allergenic list" , cause the old food was made from chicken!

Taste of the Wild maybe... hwell:

I am talking and neither know if she is really food allergic :/

 

[luisadet]

I´ve forgot asking, someone have already heard about HerbSmith AllerQi product?

 

[Khan]

Since you seem to see an improvement on this new food, I would go through the ENTIRE ingredient list and compare what is or is not in that food vs. the old food.
Also since giving her the new food, have you given her any treats? People tend to forget about the ingredients in treats. If you have NOT given her any treats since switching, it may not be the new food. It may be the lack of treats.
As for the high protein, if you can get Orijen I would do it. Large Breed Dog owners have mistakenly associated high protein foods and a growing puppy as bad. For a Large Breed Dog what really needs to be looked at is the Calcium and Phosphorous levels in the food. These two items can cause a LB to grow to fast. In your case because you are dealing with a small breed, the Calcium and Phosphorous are really not as critical. Protein however, is where she should be getting most of her nutrition from. So having a food high in protein is GOOD thing. Because these foods are so high in nutrients, you do not need to feed as much. This may also be another mistake people make. They see the back of the package guidelines and follow them, rather then pay attention to what the dog looks like. This tends to cause over feeding and overweight dogs. It's not necessarily because the food is high in protein that the dog is overweight.

 

[Maxy24]

As Khan said, if it does clear up in the royal canin you'll know it's a food allergy and can then try and figure out which ingredient(s) is causing the allergy, then switch to a good food that does not contain the allergen. What food was she eating before?

I know how agonizing watching a dog constantly itch is. When we got Tucker he itched like mad, he'd have to stop walking or playing to plop down and itch. He made his belly bleed. The vet did skin scrapes that came back negative but he treated him for mange anyways and then he was all better.

 

[CavePaws]

I think this might be an easier option than importing, have you thought about trying a Raw or Home cooked diet? Instead of importing foods from the U.S you could make your dogs food. There are numerous benefits for this case, the most obvious one would be that you know exactly what you are giving your dog and you are the only one who controls it.

Sometimes a dog can be allergic to the cooked version of a protein but not the raw version, this is one reason I would suggest a Prey Model Raw diet. But if feeding a Raw diet somehow throws you for a loop then I'd look into the home cooked.

And if all else fails look into Orijen, Acana, EVO, or ZiwiPeak.

 

[luisadet]

I´ve tried to begin a raw diet, following a Brazil´s website Alimentação Natural para Cães e Gatos - Cachorro Verde that would be "green dog"
But she vomited all... and got very bad at all...so I gave up... she has a very sensible stomach... :/

The old dry food she was fed called "Guabi Natural" that is made in Brazil... I don´t understand very much about the ingredients, but have tried to learn a little bit and comparing to the others we have in the market, it sounds the "less worse" ... because for you have an idea, the "best" pet food we have in Brazil is Royal Canin, Hill´s, Eukanuba, Pro Plan... and etc... these are like "wow" here... the people think that as they are "known" and "popular" foods, and also "imported" they are the best... no one reads the package... and they are expensive here! Hill´s is the most! A package of Hill´s Science Diet Small bites 7.5 kg, that would be 16.53 lbs costs about $56.00!

That Royal Canin Hypoallergenic I paid for a 4.4 lbs package, $38.00 !!! What do you think about?
And look at the ingredients of RC Hypoallergenic:

Rice (the first ingredient is RICE)... in portuguese it says "broke rice"... hydrolized soja protein, animal fats, beet pulp, vegetable oil, borage oil, zeolite, fish oil, fructo-oligo-saccharides, tirosine, taurine, marigold flower extract, palatabilizant, trace-elements, minerals and vitamins. Antioxidants: propyl gallate, BHA . that´s it... I am totally wrong or this food is VERY, VERY bad? besides has BHA ...

The old food, Guabi Natural puppies, is:

Fresh Chicken Meat, Whole Rice, Chicken Liver, Chicken Meat Meal, Chicken Fat, Rice, Beet Pulp, Brewers Yeast, Canola Oil, Flaxseed Oil, Corn Gluten Meal, Flavor, Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Potassium Chloride, Bicalcium Phosphate, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid, Taurine, Rosemary Extract, Inulin, Glucosamine Sulphate, Chondroitin Sulphate, Yucca Extract, Mannan-oligosaccharides, L-Carnitine, Beta Carotene, Zinc Proteinate, Selenium Proteinate, Psyllium, Vitaminic Mineral Premix.

I know it is not so good... but comparing with the other options we have in the market...

 

[AndreaWOOF]

Sorry to hear about your pup's itchy condition

The Omegas should support skin & coat health but excessive itching is a common symptom of a food allergy or sensitivity. I don't know if you've looked at the ingredient listing in most commercial pet food, but the list is extremely long. It may be difficult to figure out which ingredient(s) she's reacting to even if you compare the RC to her old food. I suggest preparing meals at home so you know exactly what you put into them, and what works well with her system.

Keep us posted!

 

[AmeliaPond]

Just wondering how are her ears? I mean are they free and clean of any gunk? Only reason I'm wondering is Khan has terrible allergies to both food and environment. He never has any hair loss, or hot spots; but when he has a reaction/flare up, His ears get red and within a day he will start to develop black gunk in his ears. If he's reacting to something he's eaten his ears go back to normal color and the gunk goes away once that item is taken away and through his system. The environmental ones bring the same symptoms to him; but I have to treat them with an OTC allergy pill. Same results though, once he has them in his system, ears go back to normal. I have gotten to were I flip his ears back periodically just to "check" that all systems are "normal" :thumb:

Can I ask...what OTC allergy pill do you use?

 

[Khan]

Can I ask...what OTC allergy pill do you use?

I am using Zyrtec right now. It's a 24hr one, so he gets a pill every morning. I have also used the generic benadryl from walmart, it's really cheap, and that one worked well also. That was a 12hr one, so he got it with breakfast and dinner.

 

[luisadet]

I´ve wrote a post with all the ingredients of both foods, but I don´t know what is going on... my message did not appears here!
It said the moderator had to approve it!

 

[luisadet]

I had said that I already tried the raw diet, but she vomited all , every time that I fed her raw ...

Here in Brazil the "best" food we have in the market is Royal Canin, Hill´s, Eukanuba, Pro Plan... then you can imagine how great it is to me! :/ Those foods are like "wow" on Brazil... because they have a very known name around the world and are imported they are very expensive for here!
For you have an idea, that Royal Canin Hypoallergenic I had to buy, I paid about $ 38.00 a 4.4 lbs package!!! Hill´s Science Diet is the most expensive I guess... a 6.6 lbs package of Hill´s SD Puppy costs about $40.00 and the 33 lbs package costs about $93.00... !!!!! The others have similar prices...

All those foods are awful in my view!

Again the ingredients of Royal Canin Hypoallergenic:

Broke Rice ( as the first ingredient!!!), hydrolized soja protein, animal fats, beet pulp, vegetable oil, borage oil, zeolite, fish oil, fructo-oligo-saccharides, tirosine, taurine, marigold flower extract, palatabilizant, trace-elements, minerals and vitamins. ANTIOXIDANTS: propyl gallate, BHA.

The old food is made in Brazil... the name is "Guabi Natural" ... it can not be good enough, but comparing with those other in the market, looks be the best choice... maybe I can be wrong... don´t know... here the ingredients:

Fresh Chicken Meat, Whole Rice, Chicken Liver, Chicken Meat Meal, Chicken Fat, Rice, Beet Pulp, Brewers Yeast, Canola Oil, Flaxseed Oil, Corn Gluten Meal, Flavor, Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Potassium Chloride, Bicalcium Phosphate, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid, Taurine, Rosemary Extract, Inulin, Glucosamine Sulphate, Chondroitin Sulphate, Yucca Extract, Mannan-oligosaccharides, L-Carnitine, Beta Carotene, Zinc Proteinate, Selenium Proteinate, Psyllium, Vitaminic Mineral Premix.

 

[Unosmom]

the second food appears to be better, but if your dog has yeast infection, then you want to avoid yeast in food as well.