[icclelaura]

my bf recently bought a 6month old male basset hound. Hes lovely just a dog that u could grow to love. However he just wont stop scratching and biting himself. this is really becoming distressing as he is obviously upset because he is howling as he is scratching. we have taken him to the vets as he is appearing in spots all over his belly. they say that there is nothing that they can do for him. they say that it is an allergy however over the last few weeks it has become worse, however we dont want to keep taking him back to the vets as it is costing us 20quid a time. The vets recon he could have it 4 anover 2 years. I was just wondering if any one has experienced this problem or whether anyone can suggest anything that will stop him from scratching so often.

This is making me upset because he is obviously in distress.

PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[SPEEDY]

This could be any number of things, but one thing is for sure. You need to find a new vet. He should have given him some cream or an antihistamine shot or something. He could be alergic to some plant in your yard or his food or some chemical you use in your home or yard or have a spider bite or any number of things. FIND A NEW VET!

 

[Sadeyes]

Wonder why the vet didn't give you anything for him.Could it be because he is so young?????Honestly don't know. Did he offer to do allergy testing?

Until you get him seen by another vet, I would make sure that he is properly protected against fleas(if he isn't already)my westie goes hyper-itchy with them.Get frontline or similar from the vet(forget the shop bought ones they are not half as effective) Have you changed his food since you got him? In case it is a food allergy,James Wellbelloved is a good Hypo-alergenic food to buy, and even if he doesn't have problems with food it will be really good for him.My basset eats this and he has no allergies.
Another common one is dust.If you have carpets then hoover every day and boil wash the dog's bedding to kill off the dust mites, and take a damp cloth over the furniture twice weekly.
As Speedy said it could be certain plants too, but until you know for definate what it is I would start taking some measures to help him.A shampoo with teatree oil may also help calm his itchies.

I know it's not pleasant for you or the dog to have to put up with this and hopefully others will come on with other remedies to help, until he can be properly sorted.

BTW My westie takes 1 evening primrose oil capsule per day for her allergies(on the advice of a homeopathic vet) as well as being good for her coat, it is also a natural anti-inflammatary but it takes about 2-3weeks to work. This would do him no harm whatsoever.
Edited to add...Never use biological washing powder or fabric softener on dog's bedding as these too can cause bad re-actions.

[ January 02, 2006, 06:17 PM: Message edited by: Sadeyes ]

 

[CmFairygodmother]

Your vet stinks! Any animal that is in that much distress needs to be taken care of.

I know. I have been there. Louie is in and out of the vets all the time.

Your dog has allergies. I will tell you some of the things that I do that help sometimes! First off, bathe the dog. Alot. I bathe Louie everyother week. That seems to give him relief from itching. I use a very mild shampoo. Maybe something that you would use on a baby, that won't cause tears?

Secondly, do you have Benadryl or any thing like that in your chemists over there? It is an allergy pill. I give Louie 100mg. a day. The vet told me to do that. Seems like alot, and for humans it would be. Louie is about 70 pounds...so if your pup is smaller, half that dose. 50 mg. Give 25 in the morning, and 25 at night.

The most common allergen for dogs is BEEF! The second is CHICKEN...most of their dog foods have that in it...Read your labels...Louie gets a new food from Hills Diet called z/d...dry and wet. It does have chicken in it, but the protien is broken down so much that it gets by that immune system that is trying to attack it...ending in horrible itching and scratching.

Your pup sounds like he might have hot spots. If they are bald oozy spots, he needs antibiotics. Check between the toes too, are they horribly red? How about the ears...

I just had Louie to the vets for this and she put him on antibiotics, steroids and benadryl. I have very special food for him, and I am not to give him one spec of anything different...no cookies, no rawhides...he can have some of the dry kibble that he eats as a treat.

Good luck to you.

Louie is also allergic to lambswool, grass, trees and human dander. (in otherwords just about everything)...

 

[murraysmom]

I agree with everyone else about the vet.A good vet will help you figure this out. One note on the bathing- I think cooler(not cold) rather than warmer water is more soothing for itchy skin. Murray has every allergy in the book and I deal with it on a daily basis: part of our morning routine is belly, underarm, neck inspection to see if anything is acting up. He loves the attention and it keeps me on top of the situation.Switching him to fish/sweet potatoe kibble and eliminating corn and beef helped him a lot since part of his problem was food allergies.Hope something I said helps- please keep us posted and don't get discouraged!

[ January 03, 2006, 08:43 AM: Message edited by: murraysmom ]

 

[Milly and Lily]

I would certainly get another vet, there is always something you can do, a test to find out the cause or source of the problem etc. My basset doesn't have skin problems but my bully does and we have removed everything from her diet that contains wheat and that has helped tremendously. She has skin allergies and while wheat is not the source it does aggrevate the allergies themselves.
Good luck!