Itchy Staffy

Hi guys,

We have a 16 week old female staffy pup (our first one!) and we are in love!

I just wanted to ask you all though - she itches constantly. We've taken her to the vet who did a skin scraping, confirmed she doesn't have any mites. We've kept up to date with her flea treatments (treating both eggs & adult fleas) - using a flea comb, she doesn't have so much as a speck of flea dirt.

It's her belly & legs that she itches all the time, and i feel so sorry for her because it must be uncomfortable. sometimes it even interrupts her play time as she has to stop and scratch for what seems like an eternity!

has anyone else experienced this, or have any ideas as to the cause or any way to make life more comfortable for her? breaks my heart to see her like this!

thanks

First of all.....Hi there and welcome to the forum from me and Roxy

My Roxy (now 6 months) is also MY first ever Staffy, and when she was a lot younger used to scratch constantly. Same as you mention....no fleas, eggs etc..... no mites.

I read a few stories of others with itchy Staffs too.

Anyway.......an animal behaviuorist told me she was itching due to anxiety issues ??????? and a Vet told me to wash her in a special shampoo "Malaseb" which is available from vets or pet supplies stores (here in Australia) You wash them with the shampoo but leave it on for 10 mins which is when it does what it needs to do (very technical of me, I know ) then rinse off. I washed Roxy with this once a week to start with.
She has since stopped itching as much as she used to, so whether it's the shampoo or anxiety issues I don't really know.
Maybe check with your Vet or somebody with a bit of knowledge at your local pet supplies store to see if they suggest anything.

Hope this may be of a little assistance. I'm sure somebody else will come along soon to offer more assistance.

Let us know how you get on.

Oh perfect - i'm in Aus too so i'll try and find some Malaseb!

I have a few friends with staffies who also had problems with skin irritations but they seemed a bit more extreme than my Rubys. I'll try the Malaseb and if that doesn't work take her back to the vets to see if there's anything else we can try.

Thank you so much, i'm willing to try anything at this stage for the little one to be comfy again. Roxy is so cute by the way, love her ears!

Hahahaha, thanx.....Roxys ears are kind of doing there own thing at the mo' (her way of being an individual) but they provide us with loads of laughs. I just love her to bits, even though she is a naughty little girl at times.

What state are you in? I'm in WA

What colour is your staffy? Winston is always itchy too.. the vet said it is because of his fair and pink skin ...

Another great product to wash itchy dogs in is Pinetarsol. It is what we humans use when we have chicken pox and other itchy skin conditions, Jethro my 12 year old staffy has been washed in it all his life, and he has excellent skin and fur.. even the vet commented on it! The great thing about pinetarsol is you use one cap to a bucket full of water...and you don't have to rinse it off.. It has a bit of a strong pong about it being a coal tar sort of product, but when your dog dries you can't really smell it.. You can buy it from a chemist..
Winston has had a bath in it.. and it definitely helped him.

One of our dogs gets really itchy skin when he has too much protein in his food. We changed his diet and now he is fine.
Polly our Staffy pup gets very itchy when she has been in long grass but it soon wears off after she has been inside for a while.
One of my friends dogs is allergic to carpet freshener powders so she has stopped using them and her dog is now fine, he got very bad skin and cracked pads on his paws when she was using it.

I hope y ou find out what's causing your dogs itchies, its so frustrating not being able to help them

Thank you so much for all the replies... I love this forum, everyone is so helpful

After posting my original question, I got home to find the little one had broken into a really nasty, angry rash all over her tummy legs and paws took her to a different vet today and she was diagnosed with a bad skin infection - she had an injection of anti inflammatories, she will be on antibiotics for 2 weeks and needs melasab baths every second day. But the vet thinks it will clear up, we go back in a fortnight just to make sure she's on the right track.

Biggest lesson learned is to trust my instincts more... I knew something was wrong but the first vet made me feel like a hypochondriac!

So loopy great tip - you prescribed the same thing as the vet haha and I'm in cold miserable VIC!

Vanessa, ruby is black, with a bit of White and one red leg. A bit of a hodgepodge of colours but she's beautiful!

Hiya Rexie, welcome to the forum.

I hope Ruby's skin clears up soon and she feels more comfortable.

Ruby sounds beautiful, we'd love to see some pics

shontelle wrote:I hope Ruby's skin clears up soon and she feels more comfortable.

Ruby sounds beautiful, we'd love to see some pics

YES.......pics are an unwritten must

I am glad you sought a second opinion. Hopefully the medication along with the Malaseb Shampoo will clear things up and make poor Ruby more comfortable soon.

Really hope Ruby is feeling better and not itchy today! She sounds a lovely colour..

Hodgepodge of colours, love it Hope she is feeling better soon, any chance of a pic

Rexie wrote:Thank you so much for all the replies... I love this forum, everyone is so helpful

After posting my original question, I got home to find the little one had broken into a really nasty, angry rash all over her tummy legs and paws took her to a different vet today and she was diagnosed with a bad skin infection - she had an injection of anti inflammatories, she will be on antibiotics for 2 weeks and needs melasab baths every second day. But the vet thinks it will clear up, we go back in a fortnight just to make sure she's on the right track.

Biggest lesson learned is to trust my instincts more... I knew something was wrong but the first vet made me feel like a hypochondriac!

So loopy great tip - you prescribed the same thing as the vet haha and I'm in cold miserable VIC!

Vanessa, ruby is black, with a bit of White and one red leg. A bit of a hodgepodge of colours but she's beautiful!

That's exactly what happens to my Zebby when she has been in grass, she is allergic to the pollen and comes out in pus filled spots (yuk). The vet recommended giving her over the counter hay fever tablets and these have worked great. He said she might be allergic to dust mites as well but the antihistamines seem to be keeping everything at bay so far. Glad your little one is ok now

If it happens again, it could be an allergic reaction, possibly to grass. Try wiping her belly with boiled, cooled water, dry her well & then smear some nappy rash cream on her belly! You could also try half an antihistamine tablet - they can work wonders if it's an allergic reaction.

Thanks everyone! The vet thinks she may be too young to have developed any serious allergies, but we'll definitely keep an eye on it... At least we know what to look out for now!
She's responding really well to the treatment, she's already back to being full of beans again and the rash is clearing up... I'm so glad she's happy again!

I'm going to try and post a photo of her below... Never done this before so fingers crossed I have it right

It certainly did work and she is adorable! So pleased she is back to herself

what a little darling !!!!

very cute good looking pup keep an eye on her she may start to get mainge mites if her hair starts to fall out in little patches take her to the vet again for another skin scrape would love to see more pics of her

So glad that she's getting better.

The pics are gorgeous.......love the one of her lying on her back......can se the "hodgepodge" of colours as you called it, on her leg. Absolutely lovely. Would love to see more pics of her colourings (hint-hint)

hi all... sorry about the long delay in replying, has been a very hectic few weeks :S
an update on little ruby - after originally getting better, her skin has been worse than ever the last week... She got to the point where she had broken her own skin scratching, and the rash is back with a vengence
she's been back to the vet and she's now on a very short course of steroids to clear her up, it looks like she definitely has an allergy so now the fun of trying to work out what she's allergic to begins! she had another skin scraping for mites, the vet couldn't see anything but said they may be burrowed too far under her skin to show in the sample so we're going to treat her for that too and see how we go. *sigh*

I wouldn't mind trying an antihistamine as it sounds like a few people have had luck with that... any ones in particular that you guys recommend? and how much do you give?

another question...she hits her 5 month birthday next week and she has gone absolutely BANANAS of late, very naughty at times, started weeing inside again... is this the troublesome "toddler" age for staffys?!

lastly - more pics below

this is her puppy school graduation photo:



my favourite photo of her - this was a couple of months back, but still makes me laugh every time i look at it... such a little pudding!

I'm going through the same thing now. I took Suki to a dermatolgist and he believes that she has a food allergy. The test is unreliable until she is a year old though. Currently she is on antibiodics and antibacterial medicine. I've always been told that dogs go through their teenage years from about 6 months to 2 years and behave appropriately with rebellion and pushing the limits.

aww loving the last 2 photos you posted..

hope you get to the bottom of the itching... must be driving you and Ruby bonkers.

sounds like she is at her rebel stage !!
I shouldn't laugh.... Winston is heading the same way !

Lovely pics, sorry to hear its deteriorating rather than getting better. My first suffered with skin complaints had her tested and treated for everything but eventually we got there in the end Xx