Why does he SCRATCH SO MUCH!!!

Hi all!

Ok my staffy rocky is 5 years old, my husband said when he was a puppy he had a bad skin condition that had him almost bald he would scratch that much. As he got older it went away.
Then when i move down to aus his familey had been living in the house with all 4 staffys having fleas for god knows how long.... Me being hard headed and couldnt stand my baby with bugs all over him forces everyone to cough up the money to treat the dogs. few months later and the feals where gone and rocky was growing fur back on his tail bone ect. ( due to him having the fleas and skin condition his nipples are soo scarred over that they just look terrible now) Now in the past few months he has started scratching really bad again, we moved into our new hosue back in sept but he wasnt doing anything bad then. Basically he uses corners of walls ( to the point there black from dirt from his fur and the floor underneath is coated in a mass of fur) he rubs himself on the rugs, bites at his bum, rubs his back by grinding the sides of couches and under the beds ect. it was so bad that his lower back was bald and soo pussed over one day that we rushed him to the vet, they shaved the area and gave me cream and medicated shampoo ( to this day i use the medicated shampoo to wash him once a week) but after that he went back to scratching a month or so later. We are going to take him back to the vet soon casue there has to be more the vets can do. My question is have any of you had this kind of issue with your staffy ( i been told its common in staffys but not sure) and is there home remides yall do. Any help to sooth his itchy skin till we get him to the bets would be greatly apprciated!

Has he ever had a skin scrape to see if there's any underlying problem such as mites?

A few people on here have this problem. A lot of it is to do with diet and stuff. Have you had him tested for allergies like grass, fabric softener, wheat etc?

Yes he has had a scrape no mites. I haven't done an allergy test so may ask the vet to do one, really don't know what else it could be.

Can you post the ingredients of his food on here? It isn't one I'm familiar with - I think it's only available over there!

No, don't worry - I just looked it up!

I doubt it's the food. Have you thought about adding some omega oil to his diet?

Nah have never herd of it what does the oil do and where do you buy it from?

You can get it from any health food store - Omega 3 oil capsules.

http://www.amazon.com/Kirkland-Signature-Natural-Concentrate-Omega-3/dp/B000EQW3ZA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1340205407&sr=8-2&keywords=omega+3+capsules

Wonder if an antihistamine tablet would help with the itchness ?

If food is ok them maybe in the meantime try the piriton tablets, find a nice soothing shampoo (Etiderm is the one I use on my dogs) to see if that will help relieve the symptoms. The other thing, washing every week could be a prob as the skin is being stripped of it's natural conditioning oils all the time, and would make him more itchy ofc depending on the shampoo the vet gave u....

Other than that it sounds like skin scrapes/blood tests are needed.

If it's not mites it is most likely allergies to either food, shampoo or someting outside

Sounds like a flea allergy if hes biting the base of his tail. are you sure that your new house is flea-free?

Are you bathing him once a week ?? If so knock that on the head right away, as your be washing out the natural oils in his coat and that in its self would make him itchy.

I missed that. Yes, too frequent washing will make his skin dry & sensitive.

Missed this.....thanks Caryll, think I'll order some for Blue

How many caps should I give him a week and do I hide it in his raw meat or do I open it and pour it on his dinner?

I give a couple a week (I shove it down his throat cause he won't eat his food otherwise), but it doesn't matter which way you give it.

I think there are a few on here who give one a day. I read once that was too much, but they seem to do ok on it.

My dogs got the same problem he itches all the time always has since we got him, the vet said when he's really bad give him a piriton, not always but when hes extremely bad it does work jasper didn't scratch that much for a little while