Could it be something else?

Zeus has been scratching/biting all parts of his body for a good week or two now.. at first I didnt think much of it, but hes literally doing it all the time, hes done it that bad that he made himself bleed!

Hes just recently been wormed/flea'd so it can't be that. My first impression was that its his food thats doing it. Hes been on Wainwrights dry Salmon & Potato for just over two months now. I've decided to change his food, but just wanted to make sure I haven't missed anything? Could it be something else thats making him itch/scratch so much?

Have you taken him to any new areas to walk, changed laundry detergents, or anything else that can cause a skin allergy?

If it's only just started it may not be the food. The only way you could tell is to switch him to home cooked food (or a hypoallergenic dry food) for a couple of weeks & see if it clears.

Could be a pollen allergy. Have you tried Piriton?

jstaff wrote:Have you taken him to any new areas to walk, changed laundry detergents, or anything else that can cause a skin allergy?

I have been taking him to a new park yeah, and hes been running off lead in loads of long thick grass...

That could well be the culprit. A priton tablet should be fine. If you cannot get hold of that Tesco do their own brand hayfever relief tablets the non drowsy one.

kathytake2 wrote:That could well be the culprit. A priton tablet should be fine. If you cannot get hold of that Tesco do their own brand hayfever relief tablets the non drowsy one.

I've got some at home so I'll give it him when I get back.. hopefully it sorts him out. Thanks for the suggestions kathy & caryll!

My dog was the same a month ago and i took him to the vets and they said it was a allergy to "something" Gave me the antihistamines and he's ok now with skin problems. Also do you bath him often? Because i use to do it too much with Tango and i don't bath him at all now, Probs just do him when really needed from now on. I don't know much about dogs just speaking from experience of mine. Good luck

let us know how he gets on

I gave him an anti-histimine last night and he wasn't so bad, I'm guessing it was an allergy to the grass! I haven't bathed him for about 3 months now, hes starting to smell alot, so might do it on the weekend, but thanks for the great advice all! Saved me a trip to the vets!

If it is a grass allergy giving him a rub down with a damp cloth after a walk should help.

so i've been giving zeus an allergy tablet everyday and his itching still hasn't stopped, he's made himself bleed that its got so bad, so now I'm putting it down to his food - wainwrights dry.

does anyone have any recommendations for dry food which will hopefully sort this out, i was thinking fish4dogs? ive had him on applaws which his stomach couldnt handle because it was too rich, so im guessing he might have that same problem with the likes of orijen?

Have you checked his skin all over to make sure theres nothing there that shouldnt be there?

I'd take him to the vet for a checkup, may not be anything but maby a skin scrape could be done to check for nasties !

I don't know if if mess with his food as he's been ok upto now specially as Wainwrights is hypoallergenic anyway.

Staffy lover wrote:Have you checked his skin all over to make sure theres nothing there that shouldnt be there?

I've had a look at the problem areas and all I can see are scabs which are healing, the main area is on the inside of his leg near his w*lly, theres no hair there, just skin and nothing else.

Jackieb wrote:I'd take him to the vet for a checkup, may not be anything but maby a skin scrape could be done to check for nasties !

I don't know if if mess with his food as he's been ok upto now specially as Wainwrights is hypoallergenic anyway.

I think I might just have to book him in tomorrow, I can't figure out what else it could be!

Could easily be a food allergy. Remember, if you give him treats, they can also be the culprit. You might not be able to simply get a brand recommended to you as it will depend on what he is allergic too in the feed - its usually the protein or carbohydrate source. So you need to choose a food that has a different protein and carbohydrate and if that still doesn't help, you might need to go onto a novel protein/hypoallergenic diet or a hydrolysed diet (there are home prepared options too).

But I would still recommend a visit to the vet, as he has scratched himself so badly, there is a good chance that there is now a secondary bacterial infection. The vet can advise you and prescribe antibiotics and antibacterial shampoo as/if needed.

munschk wrote:Could easily be a food allergy. Remember, if you give him treats, they can also be the culprit. You might not be able to simply get a brand recommended to you as it will depend on what he is allergic too in the feed - its usually the protein or carbohydrate source. So you need to choose a food that has a different protein and carbohydrate and if that still doesn't help, you might need to go onto a novel protein/hypoallergenic diet or a hydrolysed diet (there are home prepared options too).

But I would still recommend a visit to the vet, as he has scratched himself so badly, there is a good chance that there is now a secondary bacterial infection. The vet can advise you and prescribe antibiotics and antibacterial shampoo as/if needed.

I never thought about that actually, i've been giving him chicken treats pretty much since it start happening. he's never had chicken in his food or anything else before, just these treats so i'll stop giving them today and see how it goes, he could possibly be allergic to chicken as i understand alot of staffies are. Thanks for pointing that out!

When my girl had skin probs we used Etiderm shampoo, it's antibacterial , antifungal it really did help. It was around £14 a bottle but lasted us about a year.
Might be worth a try getting what u can to help eliminate what could cause it (money permitting ofc)

X

Jackieb wrote:When my girl had skin probs we used Etiderm shampoo, it's antibacterial , antifungal it really did help. It was around £14 a bottle but lasted us about a year.
Might be worth a try getting what u can to help eliminate what could cause it (money permitting ofc)

X

Thanks Jackieb, will give it a go !