I have two yorkies. Turner is three and a half and Annabelle is one and a half. They're full brother and sister from two different litters (allergies can be inherited). Turner has always licked his paws after going outside, but this year he's scratching and chewing everywhere he can reach. They have both been very itchy this late summer-fall season to the point where Annabelle was chewing the hair off her legs. My vet checked for mites and it was negative--some mites are microscopic--though she said sometimes you can get a false negative.
She prescribed a short run of steroids for Annabelle and we're trying different antihistamines on Turner, such as Benadryl, Zyrtec, etc. She said different meds work better for some dogs than others. Benadryl does help him, though it's not 100% and wears off between doses.
She also said that recently she has been seeing dogs for itching 10 times a day every day. It's that bad.
Annabelle is almost finished with her steroid treatment and we're now weaning her off of them, giving her one dose every other day. On the day that she doesn't get one, the itching and chewing come back though not as bad (probably because we are giving her Benadryl).
She said that some dogs get some relief from a cream rinse which we're going to go back and get. Sorry--I don't have the name of it at the moment but she said it's available at some pet stores. I'll post with the name of the cream rinse when I get it if anybody is interested. She said it's about $20 a bottle and applied and left in after a bath. She also said to give Turner one drop of fish oil daily, or a drop of Vitamin E, on his food, and to Annabelle when she's finished with her steroid treatment.
I've never been one to look forward to winter but if it will help them, I welcome it this year. |