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Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom  If it's allergies, it gets sorta complicated sooo...
Is he biting back legs/front?
Is he chewing or licking his paws?
Scratching anywhere?
Ears bothering him?
When did it start...ie, after winter, during spring, after a food change?
Is the claritin helping yet?
Food allergies are rare (~10%), so if it's a food allergy - you can do an elimination diet and remove the allergen.
More likely, it's seasonal or enviro (dust etc). If it's seasonal - and you have a winter where you are, then you'd probably only need to give meds during pollen seasons. There are about 4-5 over the counter antihistamines you can give to dogs (try one for 10-14 before switching), prescription antihists, Atopica, Temaril-P, steriods, and allergy testing followed by custom injections ($$$).
If your baby is realllly suffering right now - as in, quality of life is poor - then you may want to consider steriods temporarily as you figure out the long term plan.
My Marcel has allergies and Atopica was a MIRACLE for him. |
He's still scratching today. My vet said not all antihistamines work for every dog, but it's only been 2 days. I wouldn't say his quality of life is suffering. He bites his front legs, his butt, and he does the army crawl to scratch his stomach.
Thanks everyone for the responses, I just hope he gets better and stops all this scratching. Poor little thing