Skin allergies and constant itching dragging himself across the carpet

I have a 2 1/2 year old Staffie Cross who has had continuing problems with scratching. The vets suggest allergy testing and it could be grass or food. I have tried several different brands of dry food and added veggies to the mix but its ongoing. Does anyone have any suggestions? The only thing that seems to work is Sudacrem but as quickly as I apply it he licks it off.

Hi and welcome to the forum!

I'd suggest 2 things before allergy testing. The first is to keep a really detailed diary of what he eats, where he goes and when (if at all) he seems worse. Together with that, I'd move to a raw diet, just meat and only one type of meat, maybe chicken as it's one that doesn't commonly cause allergies.

You would need to give it a good few weeks for any itching to subside but if, after a month, you see no difference at all you can probably rule out food. If you see a difference, then it is food.

You can then go one of two ways - allergy testing (I've had a very positive experience with it) or gradually adding in new foods and keeping that diary going to see what he reacts to.

I would discuss it with your vet first, though, to make sure that there is no reason he has to disagree with that approach, other than that some vets aren't keen on a raw diet. Others, I should stress, think it's the best diet and many, many dogs do extremely well on it, so if you have a vet who's in the 'not keen' camp but without a reason specific to your dog you might still want to consider it.

There is, of course, the possibility that he's allergic to more than one thing (Bobbert had 18 plus a long list of borderlines) but then you go down the testing route.

It's distressing to see your dog so itchy, it's horrid for them, but there is a solution out there, you just need to be persistent in finding it.

Good luck!

Hi from me & Katy, Liz has given great advice that I couldn't improve on Let us know how you get on.

LizP wrote: Together with that, I'd move to a raw diet, just meat and only one type of meat, maybe chicken as it's one that doesn't commonly cause allergies.

as far as i know, poultry is at the top of the list for protein intolerance. by all means try chicken, but be aware that your dog may be poultry intolerant.