[Valerie and George]

George is still scratching and has made a rather nasty spot on his back. I put Neosporin on it before and it seemed to help, but here we are again. He's going to get another medicated bath this weekend but I wanted to ask if anyone has a better idea than Neosporin to make him leave that spot alone so it will heal. Cortaid, maybe? I think I'll buy some big Band-Aids and put one of those on, too, to make it more difficult for him to get at that spot.

 

[sadeyes2]

Sorry, don't have a clue Val, but you have certainly got your hands full at the moment between the two of them

 

[pinehawk]

www.nustock.com this stuff is real good order two jars and keep it on hand.

 

[Valerie and George]

Thank you! I did order two. Sounds like just the thing I'm looking for. I'd visit a shaman if I thought it would relieve poor George's itching.

 

[pinehawk]

i use this on my beagle Duke,he has a hair loss problem on his tail when we run or hunt,the brush wears his hair off and his tail is just a bloody mess but after running i put this stuff on and it seems to help his hair grow back quicker,but i feel i'll have to get his tail docked sooner than later.

 

[pinehawk]

how is George making out? wondering if the Nustock worked for you?

 

[Valerie and George]

It helps. but it doesn't stop the itching altogether. He has so MANY itchy spots and not all of them are obvious to the eye, and I hate to just bathe him in the stuff. Seems as soon as I find one spot and rub the stuff on, he finds a new spot to scratch without ceasing. I'm beginning to wonder whether he really itches or if it's some kind of obsessive compulsive disorder. We had a cat like that. He scratched himself absolutely raw and nothing, even medicine I got from the vet, could induce him to leave that spot alone so it would heal.

 

[Betsy Iole]

When they get so bad that they're scratching all the time, the itch-scratch cycle must be broken in order for them to get relief. You might consider asking your vet about a short course of steroids, if you haven't yet tried this option.

 

[Rubydoo]

Ruby is having a bad time of it all too and she's seeing the vet again tomorrow. Ka-ching! $$$$$

What are the ingredients in this stuff? Thanx!

 

[pinehawk]

maybe they are not hot spots have the vet check her out,maybe some allergy.

 

[murraysmom]

For Murray, Gentocin spray, perscribed by the vet, was a godsend. It contains cortisone and an antibiotic. Usually I only have to spray a spot twice before it heals. It seems to dry the spot out as well as stop the itching and infection. Just thought I'd mention it since it has helped Murray so much.

 

[Ed's best friend]

Louie is a Basset with many many allergies...I had him tested. One of the major things I cut out of his diet was beef and also chicken. He has not had a hot spot since. He does however get really rashy, I try to control that with 50 mg of Benadryl (one in the morning and one night = 100mg a day) I also shower him once a week. This week it got so bad, I took him to the vets. He was given antibiotics and steriods.

From what the vet told me, this is a really bad season for many animals!

 

[Valerie and George]

I've concluded that he must be allergic to something, nothing is making much difference. I'm going to try buying them some really expensive dog food and taking away all the other food they've had. Anyone have a suggestion for a brand to try?

 

[bcc11]

Chloe had a year where she got into the itch/scratch/wound cycle. It took great diligence on my part and a couple rounds of steroids from the vet to finally break the cycle. (She also needed an antibiotic to clear up a secondary bacterial infection.) I tried everything I could to break the cycle with products I read about here and elsewhere. Nothing worked until the steroids and antibiotics -- and that still took time.

I also switched her from Costco's food to Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin Formula (salmon is the protein) on my vet's recommendation. She felt she wasn't allergic to the food she was eating, but it was contributing to dry skin and making the itching worse. Chloe has done well on the Pro Plan and seems to smell better (not great, just better).

Hope this information helps!

 

[Valerie and George]

Thank you, I'll try that. Someone else recommended something with lamb as the protein and I would hate to buy lamb for fear of what the lambs' lives were like prior to becoming dog food. I don't mind them eating salmon so much.

 

[pinehawk]

what did the Vet say? what is he allergic too? What food are you currently feeding now?

 

[Valerie and George]

He hasn't been to the vet yet for this specifically, since he just had a checkup in August. The vet told me that the reason he gets into these scratchy-itchy cycles is allergies to a food ingredient and suggested then that I try different foods to try to pinpoint which thing is making him itch. He gave me some common places to start -- for instance, I used to give George dry cat food occasionally for a treat because he simply LOVES it, and the vet said that's a huge trigger, so I quit doing that. This time around, I've tried regular Purina Dog Chow, Beneful sensitive skin formula, Ol' Roy Sensitive Skin formula (because they both like that, for some reason), Kibbles 'n' Bits (two different flavors, they liked both but one gave them the trots), Gravy Train (they don't like it), some stuff from PetCo that the clerk said was really good for itchy and dry skin (made George throw up) and Pedigree, both dry and canned. Iams was next on my list. My mom used to give that to her beloved little poodle, Fang (ATB). But he didn't care for it, which is why I hadn't tried it already. In fact, Fang HATED it. I'm going to PetSmart today to see what they have. Frankly, I'm to the point where I don't care WHAT it costs if it'll make him stop itching all the time, poor boy, and I'm sure he agrees heartily. I read an article on the news wire at work (I'm a reporter) by a "holistic" vet that suggested organic food for itchy dogs, so I thought I'd give that go.

 

[daisy8869]

I would highly recommend Purina Natural Selects food with Turkey as the protein source. It has a natural formula with no corn. I've heard that corn causes a lot of allergies and it really isn't that good for dogs anyhow. It also contains blueberries and lots of vegetables. I had a huge struggle finding a food that Jackie both liked and agreed with her tummy. One word of caution...this food gives Jackie VERY stinky poops, not runny or anything just stinky.


Oh, and it is usually is on sale at Petsmart. Good luck!

 

[pinehawk]

ok here's what i use,but my dogs don't have any skin problems. i fed Purina Pro Plan Performance Formula,you may not want to use this as this is the "High Octane" of Purina Dog food,but there is other Pro Plan Formulas around so try them.

 

[Basset Momma]

We used the Purina Pro foods and my dogs have done fine- but with Jake's allergies to something unknown, we decided to try a different feed for him. It's the Authority brand from Petsmart- Harvest baked- It has no corn or other additives (I've forgotten which grain it has). We got the chicken and he seems to be doing good on it- It had a lot of the Omega 3's so our vet said to give it a try-. It's about $30 for a large bag-so he is the only one we feed it to B)