Warning - this is going to be SUPER DUPER LONG as I need to explain everything
Ok, so I have been doing alot of reading here about itchy, dry skin and I am just totally confused LOL. Tatum has really dry and itchy skin...it is mainly around her nose area and I have noticed that she has started to lose some of the hair around her nose/mouth. I think she is losing the hair because she is constantly pawing/scratching at it. Today she started itching SO bad on her nose (she was pawing, scratching and rubbing her face all over the carpet trying to itch it, which she never does...so it must be getting bad
) that I had to give her some Benadryl because she was just so restless. She would get up, run over to one spot...itch, itch, itch around her nose/mouth area, and then just plop down
Poor little thing just couldn't get comfortable. I could tell that she was just plain miserable, so I gave her some Benadryl and that seemed to help. However, this is only a temporary fix of course, and I need to get rid of it PERMANENTLY.
First off, she is going to the vet next week and I am going to see what he has to say about it, but I wanted to post as well and get some of your thoughts/opinions on it too.
While researching on YT, I read so many different things....it could be allergies, her food, me bathing her too often, the cold weather, etc., etc. and I am just totally confused. So, here is a breakdown of what I do with her and the things I use:
She gets bathed once a week USUALLY....sometimes I do slack off though
She and Stedman both are on Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lovers Soul
Both babies get bathed with Minksheen
Both babies get Missing Link sprinkled on their food (I have ordered a bottle of Dream Coat and once it comes in, I will be taking them off Missing Link and switching them over to Dream Coat as I read on here that it works WONDERS for dry skin)
Now, I have wondered if it could be the food that is causing the dry skin and all the itching, however, I think she has always had dry skin...only not ever this bad and she has never itched this much...and I DEFINTELY have never seen her losing any hair around her nose/mouth until recently.
One problem I have though, is that if it IS the food she is on...I don't know what I am going to do as Stedman is an EXTREMELY (and I do mean EXTREMELY) picky eater, and he LOVES this food. I had them on Canidae previously and he didn't eat it well at all. He started losing weight and got too skinny as he just didn't like the food. I WOULD be willing to buy 2 different foods for them, however, I free feed (I have to with Stedman as he has never in his life been a big eater, so I need to have food available for him at all times) - and if I keep two different types of food down at once, Tatum will just end up eating them both as she always wants what isn't hers (I think most dogs are this way
). Sooo....I am just totally confused here and don't know what to do
Also, I wanted to ask...I read that bathing them with an Oatmeal shampoo can help for dry skin. Can anyone recommend a good Oatmeal shampoo for me to try? Does Petsmart have one that's good? We don't have a Petco here and I really didn't want to have to order any online as I would like to get the shampoo ASAP.
I do have a bottle of Cranberry Fields shampoo (oatmeal scent) and Cranberry Fields conditioner (lavender) - would these be good to use on her or should I just get a regular bottle of straight OATMEAL shampoo? If so, please tell me Petsmart has one that's good so that I can go and get it tomorrow lol...
There are just sooo many different things that people tell you to do and try, and I always get totally confused and never know what to do lol.
Sorry for the billions and billions of questions, but I truly am at a loss here. I just want my baby to feel as good as she possibly can and I know that the itching has got to be driving her totally crazy