The Boxer is 4. The first summer we had ehr she was fine and didnt scratch at all. But every summer since then she gets all red and keeps scratching herself nonstop. The Bulldog is 2, She does the same thing. She bites her paws and scratches herself til she bleeds. We live in the northeast US. And when its cold from novemver to March they are fine. We have tried everything. Different flea collars...new regular collars, shampooed all the carpets, washed all their blankets, got all new toys, changed food, cut out table scraps, put stuff on the lawn outside, then didnt put fertilizer or weed killer on the lawn, we've tried oatmeal baths, we've tried baths every 2-3 days, the vet doesnt know what to do. The only thing that works are steroids, Prednazone ( probably spelled wrong). But that isnt good for the dogs and I dont want them on the pills. I think my Boxer has allergies cuz she gets all red, but the bulldog i think has egzema cuz she also loses her hair, but doesnt get red
Answers:
Maybe they have Scabies or Mange
You're right about the allergies, my daschund had the same thing, but the tablets were all that worked.
My dog has the same problems - mostly caused by food allergies but also by seasonal stuff. So far he's ok this year, hopefully it stays that way. We finally got him fixed up just this month from allergy season starting last May. Our solutions were moving (not b/c of the dog, but it helped) and an E-collar for 6 months straight. Once he got out of the habit of scratching so often, he did better. The E-collar will only help if you can get the itching to stop though.
Other than the things you've already tried, my vet also recommended taking our dog to an allergist/dermatologist. They may be allergic to something in the air (pollen, etc.). They can test for what they are allergic to and give them allergy shots for it. It's expensive, and thank God we ended up not having to do it, but it may be the only option. Your vet might also want to check for any underlying conditions that may be causing them stress. Treating my dog's arthritis seemed to help him feel better all around, and stop itching so much.
Also have you tried antihistamines? Like Benadryl or something? That seemed to help my dog some. The Prednisone helped too, but like you said, you can't leave them on that forever. I'd also try Frontline or Advantage instead of a flea collar - more expensive but also more effective. The only other thing I can think of would be mange, but if it's seasonal and happens every year I doubt that's it. Your vet can do a skin scrape though and look for it, along with any other infections.
I hope your babies feel better soon!
EDIT: I had to skip around several vets and get lots of opinions to find things that worked. Keep pushing and see what they tell you.
I've also been told to put vegetable oil in the food to help keep the skin from drying out. Any kind of moisturizing cream on the skin may help as well as Neosporin on the scabbed places. Gold Bond and cortizone creams may help the itching some too. My mother in law also gave us a soap that helped a lot. I'll put the link to where you can buy it online at the bottom (it's the citronella, anti-flea soap - Bowser's Bath Bar).
The final thing I used - and PLEASE talk to your vet about this, because I found out later that it can be harmful if ingested - was tea tree oil ointment. You can find it online. I put it on his scabby, bleeding places and it healed them like a miracle. But you should probably use an E-collar with this because I researched it and found out that it can be harmful if eaten, esp if you have cats too, and is also bad for pregnant women to touch. So please ask a vet before you use that!
http://www.annadele.com/soaps.html...
Down below I started on the search for you for some websites that have more information for dog allergies. Have you done a skin test yet for both dogs? Is there poison ivy or poison oak that any of them can get into?
I would advise that you start a 'dog journal' and in it start listing the date, the mold and pollen counts listed on http://www.weather.com/activities/health...
and the condition of each animal through out the day. Also state when you give the animal their pills, and throughout the day report if there are any noticeable changes in the animals.
These will hopefully help you identify what your dogs are allergic to, so that you and the vet and develop a treatment from there.
For most dogs, they do not develop allergies until they are older, so it is not odd that your boxer developed the allergies later.
I would also ask your vet how he would feel if you started to give the dogs some vitamin C to boost their immune systems. Some dog breeds naturally come with lower amounts of vitamin C and need a boost.
Good luck!! I hope that some of the websites will help you on your quest to happier dogs!
I actually asked my vet about this probelm with Chewie, my albino boxer, and he suggested that when I give him a bath to make sure I use conditioner. He said that since boxers have such corse little hair their skin gets dry and itchy especially in the summer with the sun and what not. I've been using the conditioner the past couple of months and he's completely stopped doing it. Hope this helps.
Caty
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