[hollydog]

I need help - I have been to several vets, and no one is on the same page.
Holly is a yellow female - almost 5 and for the last several years we've been dealing with excessive licking of the feet and scratching around the mouth. She also has the bad ears.

We already tried switching food - went from Nutro Max to Solid Gold Bison, and there was not a change. We thought she might be bored, brought in a pup and still not change - continued the licking and scratching.

We have discussed allergy testing with the vet - our current vet is holistic oriented - 3 of the 5 vets there do not think the allergy test will tell us much saying whatever she is exposed to right before the test will "pop" and not be able to determine accuracy.

I just want some help for my girl...I feel so bad for her, and I don't know what to do. We have tried Bendryl and Chlortrimaton and that doesn't do much.

The vet is wanting to put her on steroids permanently----what to do?

 

[hark67]

I had taken my last lab to U of P Dermotologist for allergy testing. He was itching face as well. They took a swab of the area and it turned out it was actually yeast infection near his lips. Apparently they do not really like to treat with oral antifungals(or at least did not want to treat him with it perhaps due to his advanced age). They gave me malesorb pledgets to clean his face/lips with. It did seem to help although he hated it and I did not like the fact that as soon as I swabbed his face he seemed to lick it off. With feet it might be easier. Perhaps that is a place to start to see if it may be a yeast infection as opposed to typical allergies.

 

[Yelloweyz]

Certain times of the year are worse for my three, right now...its the mold in the grasses that seem to bother them...I do benadryl twice a day for all three (Indy has itchy feet, Jo has goopy eyes, and Emmers has runny eyes).. it has worked pretty well for us right now...Plus they have a chicken/oatmeal based diet which has helped (Jo doesnt do well on lamb and rice)...

Hope things get better for your puppers...

 

[HersheyK's Dad]

I only ask because it is easy, and I am not familiar with those foods. Are either of those foods grain free, specifically corn and wheat free? If not, give it a try for a month.

Are they out of grass that is fertilized or with weed killer on it?

 

[hollydog]

Good Advice

She does have a yeast infection in her ear that we are working on, and I have wondered if that is what might be going on with the feet and mouth. Since she scratches the ears it could then spread the yeast to the feet and mouth. Funny though, the vet does not agree.

In between her toes is red and inflamed. We tried the Benadryl for a while - even at a point of 5 tablets at a time - no response, that is when we started trying Chlortimaton. It is not making a big dent, but it seems to lessen the intensity - still itching and chewing the feet though.

Her food does have grain in it. The Solid Gold did too - very small amount, but it still had the grain.

I have not heard of the pledglets???

A friend of mine mentioned the allergy testing, but that I needed to be ready to commit to next steps if I was going to invest in the testing since it is expensive to conduct. Her dog has to have allergy shots regularly now.

I would love to give her relief without steroids.

 

[kiddsmom]

Actually, the Solid Gold Bison has quite a bit of grain in it -

Bison | Ocean Fish Meal | Brown Rice | Millet | Oatmeal | Cracked Pearled Barley | Rice Bran | Canola Oil | Tomato Pomace | Flaxseed | Natural Flavor | Salmon Oil | Choline Chloride | Dried Chicory Root | Parsley | Pumpkin Meal | Almond Oil | Sesame Oil | Yucca Schidigera Extract | Thyme | Blueberries | Carrots | Broccoli | Vitamin E Supplement | Iron Proteinate | Zinc Proteinate | Copper Proteinate | Ferrous Sulfate | Copper Sulfate | Potassium Iodide | Thiamine Mononitrate | Manganese Proteinate | Manganous Oxide | Ascorbic Acid | Vitamin A Supplement | Biotin | Calcium Panthothenate | Manganese Sulfate | Sodium Selenite | Pyridoxine Hydrochloride | Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin) | Riboflavin | Vitamin D3 Supplement | Folic Acid |

Also, some dogs don't do well with flaxseed.

LIST OF GRAIN-FREE FOODS

 

[hollydog]

Thank you for the info. on the solid gold - the vet sent us to that food as a solution back when we were changing foods. I feel bad I did not watch the label better when I made the change.
I guess I took for granted the vet knew what they were doing.

 

[BigBrownDog]

FWIW, I have a dog on Wellness CORE grain free and he has done very well on it. He never had allergies, per se - but was getting repeat ear infections, which have stopped altogether.

Some got no success from a grain free food - but IMO - it is worth a try. You have to give it several weeks to judge effectiveness.

 

[hark67]

Here is the website
www.malaseb.net

It might be worth a try....they said even before the swab results came back that itching around the lips is frequently yeast related. There are other products on the website too...shampoo and sprays. Grain free is also a GREAT idea. I have my previously itchy lab on grain free.

 

[MicksMom]

...Holly is a yellow female - almost 5 and for the last several years we've been dealing with excessive licking of the feet and scratching around the mouth. She also has the bad ears...

Boy, does that sound like Caleb, although the feet licking wasn't excessive. He got much better once I put him on the Natural Balance Limited Ingrediet Diets (I rotate every couple of bags among the 3 varities). I'm pretty sure he has some environmental allergies as well as food. To help with the environmental allergies, I rinse him off if he gets itchy, or at least wipe him down with babywipes to get the allergens off. I've also found that wiping his lips, lip folds, ears and feet with Stridex acne wipes helps (I use the ones for sensitive skin).

 

[hollydog]

I checked out the Malaseb website - the spray and pledgets might be a good idea to incorporate while changing Holly over to a grain free food.

I am going to try the grain-free for a few months and see if that helps her ears clear up which will hopefully also help resolve the feet and mouth.

neat idea on the acne wipes!

Thank you everybody!!!

 

[hollydog]

I started wiping her down when she comes in from playing outside, and we bought new dog food today (grain free).
I'll keep you posted how things go.

 

[amazongold]

Her food does have grain in it. The Solid Gold did too - very small amount, but it still had the grain.

I would love to give her relief without steroids.

Try one of the Taste of the Wild foods that are grain free - they are also cheaper than Solid Gold. I think you might find relief for her that way, or any grain-free food.

 

[curly]

Any updates? Zakk has the exact problems that are described here... licking his paws, scratching around the mouth, and sometimes gets 'dry' areas on his skin (almost like bad dandruff). We are going to change him from ProPlan to non-grain to see if that helps. Benadryl does nothing but make him sleepy (as said before). I hate to see him in this shape... it has to be miserable .

 

[Shane23]

Switching to grain free was one of the best things I did for Shane. Although I do believe he has some sensitivities to grass. So the problem could be environmental instead of food. We did try Benedryl, but that didn't really help. I'm desparately waiting for a nice deep freeze.

 

[JeffG]

Same stuff here, Ty will just lay down and lick and chew on his feet for hours if we don't stop him. His poor feet are so red and inflamed looking, I have no idea what to do for him.

We've been on the following foods with no help: Diamond Naturals Lamb & Rice, Diamond Naturals Chicken & Rice, ProPlan Lamb & Rice, ProPlan Sensitive Skin & Stomach (salmon based), and now we're on ProPlan Large Breed Formula. Nothing has changed...

 

[joflake]

Willy had the same problems. We switched to a better food, we also had him allergy tested. Turned out he's allergic to dust mites, so we have to keep all of his food, treats, etc. in the freezer. That and washing bedding, stuffies, etc often to keep dust mites down. This has helped tremendously. This could be something easy you could try and see if it helps.