my dog keeps iching

[chilled]

hi my nearly 1 year old rhodesian ridgeback x boxer keeps iching.

ive checked him for fleas and there aint none.

i know we all iche but he does it alot.

when he does and its near the ear he is making him get as cut in his ears. but the iching seems to be everywhere.

any ideas???

 

[Wings]

Did you check his ears then? Smell from his ears? Any bumps on the skin surface?

 

[corsomom]

Is he losing his hair? What do you feed him?

 

[Debi]

just consider that there can be fleas, it's just that you're not seeing them. it could be food allergy....mites. since he seems focused on his ear, I'd suspect mites or an infection and have him checked at the vet. scratching until he is 'cutting' his ear tells you he is REALLY uncomfortable.

 

[ledoc]

Remember that scratching is simply a symptom - and there are a whole lot of possible causes. In many cases, a single cause may not result in scratching, but put a few together a few e.g. the odd flea, dust mites, humidity etc and the scratching starts.

In dogs, the skin is the target organ for allergies - in other words when a dog is allergic to something, very often the symptom you see is scratching.

So your list of most obvious possible causes will include mites (especially sarcops), flea, contact, inhaled and food allergies to name but a few.Remember to, in the case of fleas, if the dog is allergic to fleas, it doesn't have to be covered in fleas - one or two bites will do the trick.

As your dog is so young, I would advise that you get a vet to do a work up on him/her. If this is an allergy, then the sooner you know about it the better. You also have to sort out whether the ear condition is related to the general itchiness or a separate problem.

 

[bubbatd]

I echo the above, but it also could be mange..........

 

[zoe08]

What do you feed your dog?

My dog used to scratch a lot and I switched her to Nutro, and started giving her brewers yeast tablets and that has helped so much with her skin and coat.

If he is itching his ears, take him to vet. Even if you cannot smell the ear infection, they could have a little irritation. My dog had a little irritation in hers and the vet gave us a tube of panalog ointment and it cleared it right up...

 

[Gempress]

My dog has allergies that cause him to have chronic ear infections. Switching food solved the problems. But I would take your dog to the vet, just in case it is mange or something else.

 

[Pomp]

Adding salmon oil to a dog's food helps to give them better skin.

 

[chilled]

reply

how would i know if he has an ear infection??? is there any change in xolour , ear wax??

i aint really got the money to go to the vets,

i have just changed his food so i will see if that works.

he also scratches his face.mouth a lot

 

[bubbatd]

Sorry, Chilled, but if you can't afford a vet, you can't afford a dog.

 

[Gempress]

How are you switching the food? Say your dog is allergic to chicken. If you switch to another dog food with chicken with it, it'll do absolutely no good. You need to switch to an allergy-specific food, like lamb & rice.

 

[rowdy ridgeback]

That is a food allergy. My ridgeback was allergic to Science Diet. Cornmeal is very bad for dogs. Switch him to Nutro Natural or Innova. I bet it will go away. Innova is probably the best food out there but is hard to find. Nutro Natural is great and Petsmart and Petco carry it.

 

[nikkichan]

I know that vet bills can be expensive but it saddens me to hear you say you don't have the money for it. Pets can be expensive!

I'm hoping that you at least have your puppy on a heartworm medicine and flea and tick prevention.

If he has cuts on his ears from his scratching, you should really get them checked out so they don't get infected.

The worse it gets, the more expensive it will probably be!

 

[lapdog]

Ear infections can have a brown waxy discharge. But if he is scratching all over, I'd switch to a food specifically for allergies. If that doesn't help, start saving for the vet.

 

[memyselfandmiah]

if you cant afford the vet

you cant afford the pet!..

I say this, but I cant afford the vet either. I still take him, and it eats me up when I do. I never expected that a dog could be this costly. I have now turned one VPI pet insurance. I pay $25 a month, and have a $50 deductable. It is definatly going to help with my next visit. (my last visit cost me $450) unfortunatly the VPI does not cost pre-existing conditions, so if he ever gets mange mites again it will be all out of pocket! ANYWAYS!! It may be costly, but I would suggest the vet visit.

(This is not a great alternative to a vet visit, but I think that some help is better than none you know!) You can go to the library and look up books on dog health and natural remedies to common problems. They do have some books with home-remedies for common ailments. on the down side of this sarcoptic mites cause scabies in humans and you dont want that. The only way to determine what kind of mite problem you have is through microscopic investigation. (Taking a skin sample from the affected area and sticking it under the `scope. When you do this, you have to be able to identify and deferentiate between the different bugs you see!)