Itchy, Itchy..what to do....
 

Hi,
We are new to all this Yorki business. I just aquired a 11 month old wonderful girl named Roxi.
Heres the deal. I feed her lamb and rice Nutro, she still itches. I have kept the flea drops on her since we got her in Dec., She still itches, havent ever seen a flea on her. She does seem to itch more after the flea drops....Humm?:confused:
Question. Does brewers yeast help? Does Vit E or Omega 3 help?

thanks for any helpful hints.
Kim and Roxi:aimeeyork

she may be allergic to something in the house
do you use rug powders ?

could it be the shampoo that you use?? My yorkie used to itch like crazy until i changed her shampoo to a more mild oatmeal formula. Just an idea...

thanks, but no powders. How about a warm house? My husband tends to keep it pretty warm sometimes. It is cooler at her level though.
Kim

hmmmi agree with the above poster
could be your shampoo have you tried a oatmeal one ?

have just started a new shampoo, 1 week ago. Really, how often should we bath?
And...anyone suspect allergy to the flea drops? She was due for drops last week. I am going to wait and see if it helps.
Kim

Well i'm not sure about the flea drops, because my vet doesn't have my puppy on them until the spring/summer and we don't use anything for fleas in the fall/winter. It is possible but its most likely the shampoo. I know i bathe my puppy once a week but i've heard people say anything from every 3-4days to once a month, it all depends on the puppy i guess and what you prefer. If you are going to be bathing your dog often, then you should really try a mild shampoo. Yorkies are notorious for having sensitive skin. Anything with oatmeal or shea butter should calm and moisturize the skin. sorry i ramble...

As others have said, yorkies are notorious for sensitive skin. I found out the hard way that Gabby is allergic to most foods on the market and the one I've found she can eat that doesn't irritate her skin is the Royal Canin. You have her on good food but there could be something in there that is causing the itchy skin. I gave Gage food one time that had turkey in it - within 30 minutes he had red whelps on him. Called vet immediately, told me to give him Benedryl and to avoid any food with turkey in it from that point on. I would just double check the ingredients in the food in addition to changing to an oatmeal based shampoo - see if that clears up. And yes, it could be the flea drops too.

Best of luck to your little one. Hope you find the "culprit" soon!

I have just discovered that Ahia is allergic to those yogart drops. that is what I have narrowed her itching down to lately. we will see. I went thru her hair with an eagle eye and found there were places on her that are comming from inside out. those spots that I found I put neosporin on and they have healed up over night. I stopped giving her the treats that I think was causing it all. and she seems to be getting better.
you just have to change things one at a time and narrow it down to one thing. good luck and I hope yours stops itching soon.

I'd quit the flea meds. she might be alergic to them.

Maybe its the food?
 

I used to feed my furkids the Nutro lamb and rice (Natural choice) and my Lexi was still so itchy... I had to give her Benedryl (Advised by my vet).. I recently switched their food to Dick Van Pattens *Duck and Potato formula* for allergy's. What a difference.. Its been almost 3 weeks.. and Lexi has been so much better.. No more hot spots.. or her scratching herself so.. that her hair would come out..:-)

Just thought I'd share my experience.. Hope this helps..:)

itching?
 

Where is she itching? All over or in certain areas? It seems like food or other internal allergies make a dog scratch her ears and lick her paws (according to my vet). So if it is all over, it could be an external allergen.....shampoo, flea med, environmental.......As a side note, my yorkie really does not like the flea and tick med (Frontline Plus). It really seems to aggravate him. He tried to rub it off. My other dog does not mind it all (he is a German Spitz- big & furry)......Just a thought.

No more itches
 

Hi,
One of my yorkies started itching a lot. Sha has very sensitive skin which a lot of yorkies do. The vet gave me a powder "Neo-Predef" with tetracaine powder. You just rub it where she itches and it works like a charm. Stopped the itching. Hope this helps! Also try the Royal Canine food for Yorkies it's great!

mine do to, I have tried everything. I thought maybe it was becoming a habbit. I got fed up with the scratching sounds at night. I went to wal-mart and bought them both a babies onesie in the baby department, my pups are 11 pounds and I bought the 6mos size (fit perfect. ) I put it on them cut a hole for the tail, and they don't scratch while they are on! go figure. We all get a good night sleep now.

Hello!! Has anything changed with itchies?? I would definitely recommend you try a new food. Nutro is an iffy food to begin with, I have attached a link to claims of Nutro causing deaths!!

Consumer complaints about Nutro Pet Foods

California Natural is a great LOVE ingredient food and made by a superb company called Natura.

I hope you find a cure soon. As for bathing....I bathe once about every 2-3 weeks. More often in the summer.

Good Luck:)
-Snick & Viv

what do you feed your Yorkie? I use to us Royal Cannin (prob spelled wrong) The vet had me change to this to see if it would help. but No!
They don't break out or anything , just constant itching. I am going to go read the info you sent. I hadn't heard any of that yet. makes me just want to cook for them myself! thanks for the info

Hello!!! Welcome to YT:)

I feed my Snickers a raw diet actually. This consists or premade raw meat which I defrost and feed him. It's a whole nother concept of canine diet. Snickers is thriving from it but I started out feeding just kibble as well. Snickers would not take to a kibble and eat it regularly and it scared me that he would have malnutrition. I read up on the raw diet and it works best for us. Snickers LOVES his raw and loves to eat everyday. I also keep kibble out 24/7. The kibble I use is called Acana and have gone through many before finding one that Snick would snack on.

Royal Canine contains corn, many dogs (Yorkies in particular) are affected by corn and get the itchies. This website can help you find a great quality kibble. Try to choose one that is 4 stars or higher. Many dog owners also feed a grainfree diet. The 6 star kibbles are all grainfree but in general higher in protein which does not suit all Yorkies. Snickers was on Innova Evo for ages (supplemented with his raw) but then go tired of it and now we are using the Acana which he adores for the time being. Here is the website:

Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble

Some excellent quality kibbles I like include:
-Orijen
-Acana
-Innova
-Nature's Logic
-Fromm
-Wellness
-Nature's Variety

Good Luck:)
-Snick & Viv

It could be the flea dogs. I have heard of dogs that are allergic.

Also depending on where she is itching, she may be allergic to grains.

If taking her off the flea meds doesn't help try switching to a grain free food.

Also if possible try adding a fish oil or coconut oil- both are made for dogs.

Hope that helps!

I have been dealing with allergies for 5 years it runs in this breed. They tend to have poor immune systems from inbreeding. I have spent thousands of dollars going to dermatologist, holistic vets, chinese herbs, raw diets, specialist in blood work, two allergy blood tests and yes I am in about 6-7k on all this so here it goes. I also am on an allergy group on yahoogroups.com called allerdog and read constantly on this topic. Also have bought every animal dermatology book on ebay and read them. So I consider myself to know alot on this topic.

First you need to rule out mites like scabies and demodex so has vet done mite scraping?

Second does your dog bite at back half off dog as that is flea allergy and one flea bite can last up to 3 weeks. I personally do not use flea meds and i live in southern california and btw you live in cali and cali is the worst place to live for allergies as we bloom all year round :(

Next you need to have a full thyroid panel done to make sure not hypothyroid as that can cause skin issues in dogs and this breed is prone to hypothyroid and yes my dee dee is also hypothyroid and on soloxine. Hypothyroid is all a immune mediated disease - the thyroid panel is t4, t4free, t3, t3free, t4aa,
t3aa- it is a 6 panel test and it should be done by dr jean dodds who we see for all our blood work or michigan state panel as they are the most accurate- Hemopet/Hemolife, HEMOPET a full animal blood bank, Diagnostic Laboratory, Adoption and Consultation has instructions on how your vet can send her the blood to be tested.

Next a food elimination diet and i recommend natural balance fish and sweet potato or venison and sweet potato. This needs to be done for 12 weeks nothing else no treats NOTHING. it has to be a novel protein and carb

90% of allegies are environmental and 10% food so if it is food you are really lucky. So once food allergy has been completed next is it is most likely environmental so here is what you are left with

Next step is a antihistamine trial for 3 weeks with each antihistamine - benedryl,etc. The most successful i have heard of is zyrtec so ask vet about it. Also antihistamines respond better when used with omega 3 and i prefer nordic naturals omega fish oil as it is distilled and no mercury and mercury can make dogs itch and some dogs are allergic to fish oil-- Welcome to Nordic Naturals - fish oil is a natural anti-inflammatory and allergy dogs get inflamed, red and itchy.

Coconut oil is a natural antibacterial and antifungal to keep yeast and bacteria infections down in the body so this helps allergy dogs

you have to be careful with this breed though as they are prone to pancreatitis and i have dealt with that with my other yorkie and he almost died of it so any fatty acid supplement can while rare trigger the pancreas.

antihistamines many times do not work in dogs so do not be surprised in severe cases where these do not work and benedryl can either amp a dog up or sedate them as it amps my allergy dog so she is bouncing from bed to bed. It has the same affect in humans

Allergy dogs must be bathed weekly and NO OATMEAL SHAMPOOS. Oatmeal is a grain and most allergy dogs are allergic to grains so no grains in food or anything else and your dog is on a grain food with rice. The oatmeal is a grain and it is very drying and many allergy dogs are allergic to it - Mine is. If they get red spots after bath and get red after bath they are allergic to shampoo. I only use hypoallergenic natural shampoos and i really like BLUE hypoallergenic shampoo you get from petco in a blue bottle

I am not a fan of flea meds and here is why

the flea med does not prevent the flea from biting the dog so the allergy dog can still get bit and it only prevents the population of fleas so if you brush your dog daily you should see if there is a flea and you are bathing weekly as well. So putting a chemical on their skin that is already irritated did not sit well with me so i would not use them. If you want to and you have a bad flea area the dermatologist recommends frontline plus

ok so you ruled out thyroid, food, flea and you still have a problem then it is environmental which is 90% of the time anyway BUT even if environmental a allergy dog should be on a limited ingredient diet as to not over tax the system.

Allergents are PROTEINS -flea saliva, pollen, and protein in food

So what can you do with Environmental here are your options

Local raw honey from a farmers market on finger build up tiny amounts on finger daily to build up immunity to the local pollens

Hyposensitization shots from dermatologist by using a blood test and VARL lab is most accurate but blood CANNOT determine food allergy only environmental - skin testing is the most accurate with a dermatologist and you should only pay for these things blood and/or skin if going to do shots. The shots take one year to start working and it works only in 85% of dogs and the reason is your dog could be allergic to 100 things but only 15 things can go in the vile to desensitize your dog so if they do not get those top 15 things right it will not work so it has to be one of the things your dog is most allergic too as well as in the area you live. Some claim it has made their dogs worse but it is the one thing I did not try and sorry i did not as it is the most natural and you should go more natural if you can.

Ok next is Atopica an immune suppressant drug that is safer than steroids but still a drug. It can cause GI upset and may make the dog vomit which it did mine so ideally given on empty stomach but usually have to give with food. It is not cheap will cost about $100 a month depending on how severe your dog is. The bile acids need to be done on yorkies since they have liver issues prior to any drugs i strongly recommend.

If this does not work all you are left with is steroids. The best is temarilp as it has prednisolone and tavist and prednisolone is broken down so less stressful on the liver than prednisone and less side effects than prednisone as i have used both and prednisone my dog looked like a cushings dog and it was horrible but no real symptoms on temarilp and best if doing steroids long term to use steroids every other day NOT every day and it can affect joints and ligaments so dogs with luxating patella on steroids are more prone to acl tears as steroids can deteriorate the joints and tendons.

ok so now I wash everything in perfume and dye free soap - no air fresheners we have laminate floors now and oreck air purification system and hypoallgergenic a/c filters.

Dee Dee also wears turtleneck shirts daily to keep pollens, dust and dander off her and it helps tremendously to keep from getting hot spots, bloody elbows and belly. It protects her. The derm calls it tshirt therapy and it works. I buy them from a lady on ebay -I will post a pic of them.

bumping this info

Great idea! Can you share the eBay seller's name or a link?

here is her link she can custom make them

eBay Seller: frantzavoca: Pet Supplies items on eBay.com

bumping

Wow dwerten! You really posted some great stuff. I always thought the oatmeal shampoos were good for itchy dogs. Thanks for taking the time to post all the info for us who are still learning.:thumbup:

yeah i did to :( it is so hard to know and each dog is so unique but at least you can see what is and is not working and understand may why it is or why it is not

Bumping for another allergy dog

grizzly salmon oil has helped chester