Allergies

[Raintheshepherd]

Rain my 10month old is very itchy, she doesn't have fleas, she is wormed, sleeps on clean bedding. She is always scratching and has lost hair on her legs from where she is chewing constantly.
She is on supercoat working dog biscuits and recieves a semi raw diet as well.
Is it possible she is allergic to something, if so I am thinking its something in the biscuits. But the ingredients list isnt very clear, so im not sure what it would be. Soy, wheat??
Can somebody give me an idea of possible allergys and a good biscuit to try her on??
Thanks heaps


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[Jax08]

Allergies could be anything from pollens to foods to dust mites.

It's summer there, right? Does she have the same problem in the winter so that it could be seasonal pollens causing it? If so, try giving her 1 tsp of local unpasteurized honey per day.

[Nigel]

Have you tried not feeding the biscuits for a while and see if the itching stops? Maybe start a process of elimination with suspect ingredients in her food. One of mine has allergies, both food and environmental and I'm thinking, for her anyways, its the enviro stuff causing the most problems.

[Raintheshepherd]

Yes it is summer, well I have only noticed it over the last couple of months.
I will try getting her off biscuits, just put her on raw food then and see what happens.
It's just that all the hair missing on her legs, it looks irritable and she can't leave them alone.
Are there any creams I can use that help soothe the skin?


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[Jax08]

If it only happens in the summer and goes away with the first hard freeze, then I would suspect pollen related allergies. Food allergies aren't actually all that common.

Get her started on an anti-histamine like Benadryl (1 mg per pound) or Claritin (1 - 12 hour tablet 2x day) and start giving her local raw honey from a local beekeeper. The honey should come from within 50 miles of you to contain the pollens she is reacting to.

And if her skin is all irritated, perhaps a vet visit is in order to make sure there is not a secondary infection.

[Courtney]

As Michelle knows, I second the raw local honey. It's worth a shot. We deal with Fall seasonal allergies only. Tried the local raw and seriously saw outstanding results in about 10 days, didn't even need the benadryl.

Fall of 2011 he did end up with a secondary skin infection, so you do want to watch out for that, it needs to be treated.

Good luck...it's sometimes hard to pin point the cause.