Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Lab with chronic itching?? Remedies??

My yellow lab has got to be alergic to something. Constantly itching and rubs herself raw. The vet gave her steroids, but it made her urinate very frequently and we stopped that treatment. Anyone have any ideas?

If you aren't going to listen to the vet why would you listen to anyone here?

First thing I would look at is her food, top 4 allergens in foods are corn, wheat, beef and soy.
Second, give her Benadryl up to 3X aday, 1 MG for every 2LBS.
I would put her on a good Omega supplement as well as vitamin C, I like a combo of Fish, Borage and Flax oils for allergy dogs.
Last resort is allergy testing, Labs unfortunately are a high allergy breed and most likely all you can do is try to alleviate bad bouts. Steroids are a quick fix and do nothing to cure allergies & are quite bad for dogs long term anyway. Good luck with your pooch!! (BTW, an apple cider vinegar rinse -50/50 with water- can help with itching and secondary infections, raw vinegar like Braggs, not pastuerized)

+100

You nailed that one!

Zodiac and manydogs, thanks very much for the imput. We could start the benadryl immediately. Our thoughts exactly on the steroids. Any food come to mind that you'd try first? How long should we try each kind? a month?? As far as supplements where would you suggest finding these, on the net? Braggs? Where can it be purchased? Your reccomendations are helpful. Great dog, itching is driving her and us crazy! We'd love to get this resolved.

Once again read "zodiakgsps" post about dog food.

The first ingredient in the dog food should be Chicken, Lamb and not chicken meal or lamb meal. Never feed dog food with corn.

Try Iams chicken with rice.

Then again it could be fleas.

Excellent advice. I have no qualms with any of it.

Here's another recent thread on the same subject.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/5586663/1

Hydrocortisone is mentioned by many and it sure helps the itchies on my dog.

Taste of the Wild food ( no grains) , fish oil, flax
cured my dog of chronic itching

California Natural Herring and Sweet Potato is one we have reccommended for allergic dogs.

What kind of food is she on currently??
TOW & Cal Natural are both very good foods, of the 2 I prefer the TOW. A decent cheaper food is Diamond Naturals Chicken and Rice, a very basic food but make certain it is the NATURALS and no other formula of Diamond as most are high in grains. (and the corn was the source of the Aphlotoxin deaths a cpl years back)
I feed mostly raw but supplement with TOW or the Diamond, I switch back and forth.
You can find the supplements at any health food store (Whole Foods Co-Op if one is near you), Wegmans has a good section & should have the raw vinegar also.

I had a scratching problem with one of my labs. I put her on Pro Plan Lamb and Rice food and it solved the problem. Just don't expect immediate results. It took a few weeks before the itching/scratching stopped.

A true food allergy trial will take 6-8 weeks. As mentioned above all pills do is mask the problem. I had the same problems with my dog and I just spent the money from the start to have him allergy tested (Food and Environment.) After a year of allergy injections most dogs don't have many issues. Saves money in the long run (special dog food and supplements all cost money too).... Good luck to you and your dog!

You need to find out whether or not the allergy is, in fact, a food allergy. Dogs are not allergic to corn, wheat, etc....they are allergic to the PROTEIN component of the food. You need to put your dog on a hypo-allergenic food such as Purina HA. Give it 8-12 weeks. Skin allergy symptoms should start to clear up in about 6-8 weeks and you should see at least a 50% improvement in symptoms. If there is no improvement, it's not a food allergy. Virbac makes a product called Allerderm spot-on and there are other products on the market as well for spot/area treatment. But I would first try the food allergy thing. Any ear issues, like Otitis externa? That is the most common symtom of food allergies. Good luck.

The food advice seems all very good, but i want to take a second to defend steroids for temporary relief. No doubt long term they are bad news but short term they can be a blessing and short term, the hazards are overstated.

Systemic steroids are a lot of benefit in most cases. They CAN be bad news long-term but usually are not. The main issue is changes in behavior (agitation/irritation) hair loss, etc. Many of the same issues as in humans on systemic steroids. But there are two different possibilities - prednisone and prednisolone. The second is basically what prednisone turns into after it's metabolized by the liver so potentially there may be fewer risks.

+another on looking at what he's eating, right down to those "snacks" you're throwing him throughout the day.
A good food that is not too expensive is the Exceed Lamb and Rice that is sold through Sam's Club. Compare the ingredients in it to some of the higher-end foods and you'll be convinced.

Two good foods are (as mentioned) taste of the wild and another is Dr. Tims. Both have good quality proteins. A very good website to check out is the dog food advisor. He does good unbiased reviews and breaks down the ingredients for all the brands. Look for what your feeding your dog and see how it stacks up.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/dry/

I've been experimenting with different food over the last month and a half to try help my golden retriever with the itchies. I had been feeding him IAMS lamb and rice which was fine during the winter but this summer once it it got hot the itchies came back. He also had a brief ear problem which was easily cured with Oticalm and Otomax.

I switched to Purina One lamb and rice which he really liked eating but his coat dried out and he started flaking. He never had that problem before with any previous food and no change with the itchies either.

The last bag of food was IAMS sensitive naturals ocean fish, rice and barley and it's starting to make a difference. His cost is glossy again, he seems to be scratching and licking less and his skin is clearing up.

One thing that makes it difficult to really assess the issue is that it's no longer as hot as it was and my dog only has these problems in the summer.

My Lab had itchy feet and was chewing them constantly.I switched away from the corn based food he was eating to a lamb and rice and it cleared up completely Monashee

I wont post pics of my chocolate. It has been almost 3 years and multiple vets, diagnosis, etc and nothing has worked... Blistering skin with mass hair loss. Breaks my heart. Currently on my umpteenth diet plan... chicken breast and white rice... done this before but going for it one more time....

Something I did find out is that it isn't anymore to feed her chicken and white rice than a middle of the road dog food... Very little improvement so far but i am hoping for a miracle...

W