winstonsmom

My basset has been scratching for a month. I took him to the vet and he said he has allergies. He put him on prednisone and an antibiotic. Still no improvement, so he switched his meds and treated him for a bacterial infection. More antibiotics and a steriod based spray. My boy is still miserable. He hates going outside now. When he comes inside, he is a crazy dog. Running around and trying to rub his face on everything. He hides out in the closet or stretches out on the bed in the spare bedroom. His belly is red and he is warm to the touch. He has scratched all the hair off of his ears. He's a mess. The vet says the next step is to do some skin scrapings. Is that the next step? What can we do to give him some relief. His whole personality has changed since he started itching. I want my basset boy back.

Mikey T

get a referral to a vet that specializes in dermatology and do yourself and the dog a favor.

find a dermatoligist

henry'smum

In england my vet told me to use an oatmeal shampoo - these are available from walmart, petsmart etc and use sudocreme on any sore areas like the red tummy you describe. Also we where very aware of what that basset hound ate, switched food to chicken and rice and then reintroduced blue buffalo dog food slowly after the skin settled. We also took note of change in anything he touched so washing powders etc and anything that may have got on the grass where he played. You have probably done this but it may be worth a try. Good luck!

jack kendrick

My vet last year said Redd may be alergic to morning dew but when winter came last year he stopped scratching when it warmed up at spring scratch scratch scratch mmmmmmmmmmm not for sure but i interested in what u find out

LottesMama

We are dealing with this with Charlotte right now too and our vet hasn't been all that helpfull either. Prednisone is the worst, she had terrible side effects and I wouldn't recommend being on it for a long period of time. Right now we are trying yet another new allergy med called Temaril-P, which I believe also has a steriod in it but its a very small dose. It seems to be working well for her so far even though we started her out on less than the recommended daily dose. We also switched out her food to Taste of the Wild. I doubt that the switch would be responsible for her itching less but its still a much healthier food than what we were feeding her (Purina).

LottesMama

Just a side note. We looked into going to a vet dermatoligist and in our area at least, the consultation visit runs about $200 and the allergy testing is between 600-800. So that isn't always an option (not for us anywho).

TonyGbasset

My dog Ruthie is actually going through this right now and to make matters worse she is suffering from an infection that has caused lumps over her body. Yesterday I noticed a new one that was really big and and it broke open last night. So I am taking her to the vet today and hope we can have them removed. But the scratching and everything your dog is doing my dog is too. I switched vets to another and I hoping we can come up with some answers. I miss my girl too. I switched her food from grain to no grain food and it has helped some with both my bassets which I found out were allergic to grain food. If find an answer please post it. I really could use the same answer.

bubbad

Leaf mold is a big problem causing dogs to be itchy this time of year,not the only thing, but one of the worst things. I rake my back yard up since my grandog has a problem with it.If you have no trees, well, lets see,food ,grass,dust,floor cleaners, new carpet,detergents,fabric softners,anything that touches them and probably some airborn things too. Sometimes their breeding can have an impact on what affects them,their immune system over reacts.So far,thank goodness, I have had no reports of my puppies having any problems with anything. Not bragging ,just saying.

bubbad

Oh and when allergies start they cause secondary infections from the scratching.Two of my girl puppies were itching when they were about 12 weeks old possibly from me using bleach on the pen floor(diluted).When Jen got her puppy an infection was getting started ,she was good after antibiotics. Page was itching too but that has subsided and no problem now. I forgot about this.

AmyB

Spencer was severely allergic to many things, environmental & some foods. His vet blood tested him to determine what environmental things he was allergic to & how severe they were & he ended up getting allergy injections every 5 days for most of his life. During the blooming times of the year, I often had to supplement the injections with oral meds. He was actually tested twice in his life, as at one point, the injections stopped being effective. It was found he had developed new allergies & some of his previous ones had worsened. They had to create new serums for him & he was ok again. As I said, it was a life-long thing & it wasn't cheap, but the injections were effective & they kept both of us happy. Good Luck. Allergies are a frustrating thing to deal with.

__________________
Amy, mom to
Sadie (ATB, 6/9/06) & Spencer (ATB, 8/19/10) - always in my heart
and Clifford (gotcha date 7/2/11).