Itching for 12 weeks...our struggle...need suggestions
Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 11:22 am
For those of you who don't follow the other site (which I have been primarily using - this one is blocked via my work computer), on August 29, we adopted a male chow for McKenzie. Since bringing him home, he's been itching like crazy. We've been back and forth to the vet. He's been on a course of steroids, then we switched his food from blue buffalo lamb and rice due to the idea of food allergies. The rest of his story is below:
Keeta has been on 100% of his new food (Natural Balance LID Duck and Potato) since 10/27 (he transitioned over 5 days from blue buffalo). His itching got MUCH better for about 10-14 days after he got home from the vet last time (when he got the cortisol injection). A week ago, the itching started getting really bad again. He's back staying up all night itching and developed a hot spot on his foot (sometime in the last 12 hours). Luckily, his 3 week check up at the vet's was today. The vet said we're doing everything right, giving him the right food and nothing else in case of the food allergy, washing him in prescription shampoo every few weeks and making sure he's completely dried, trying to distract him when he does itch, etc.
The vet put him on cephalexin (antibiotic for the hot spot - also for humans) and chlorpheniramine (allergy medication that's actually an OTC med also for humans) and said that if these don't work to get rid of the hot spot and the itching in conjunction with the new food, he thinks something else is going on. He wants to check him again in 2 more weeks and if things aren't better, do bloodwork.
I mentioned wondering if flea prevention could be a culprit and he started explaining about it but then got interrupted and we both forgot about it again. I'm going to call back tomorrow about it I think.
I tried searching and I know I can use a purchased spray for the hot spot in conjunction with the antibiotics but I'd rather use a home remedy than a store bought one. Does anyone have a home remedy that isn't easily licked off? Someone mentioned that JudyFox had one but I can't seem to find it.
Can anyone else come up with any more ideas on what could be wrong with him?
His day consists of:
Breakfast (Natural Balance Limited Ingredients Diet Duck and Potato 1 cup, 1000mg fish oil capsule, and purified cold water - from PUR filter in fridge) at 6:30am every day
Morning walk to go potty at 7am (yard isn't fenced so we leash him and walk him on sidewalk and in some grass)
Then he normally sleeps while we're working during the day (most of the house is ceramic tile but the living room does have an area rug that he hardly ever but occassionally will lay on)
Long afternoon walk around 5pm, mostly in the grass so he does his business
Give him room temperature purified water when we get back inside at 5:30
Dinner (same as breakfast minus the fish oil) around 6:30pm
Brushing sometime during the evening while he relaxes more
Nightly walk, same as morning walk, around 10pm
Then he normally sleeps. He starts out in our bedroom which is carpeted but moves to tile at some point. During the early morning hours, his itching gets ridiculous and he itches constantly, normally from 3 or 4am until we get up. Then he does it occassionally in between eating and walking until we leave for work.
I don't know how much itching he does during the day because I'm not there but from what my sister told me on days that she was home with him, he doesn't itch during the day nearly as much as at night.
He also loves water and will come running from anywhere in the house when he hears water (sink, toilet, shower, or hears the fridge open - he always thinks we're getting him more water from the pitcher). He also likes to lick the door of the fridge and freezer and will keep drinking until you stop giving him water. He'll also lick the condensation from our drinks if they're within his reach. We limit his water intake so that it's within guidelines but he's still thirsty all the time. Then when he goes to the bathroom, you can slightly see his colon (I think it's his colon, when he goes, a little red flesh from inside his bum comes out).
He's very happy, energetic, and now with the new food, has a great appetite yet in addition to the itching and thirst, he keeps loosing weight. When he came home in August, he weighed 54lbs, 3 weeks ago, he was 50, now he's 48. He eats at least 2 cups of food per day (he gets his kibble as treats due to the possible allergy and since losing weight, I've been giving him heaping cups of food). I know you're supposed to be able to feel their ribs a little but you can feel almost every rib and his whole spine. If I didn't know better, I'd think he wasn't eating.
He got a dose of advantix (from the red box, up to 55lbs) and a dose of brown (50 lbs+) heartgard on 10/25.
I tried to provide any and all information that might help jolt an idea or two. I need as many ideas as possible because I'm at the point where he stays up all night itching and I'm up most of the night trying to distract him from itching then I can hardly complete my tasks at work because I'm so tired.
Please post with ANY ideas, questions, or recommendations. They are greatly appreciated!
Keeta has been on 100% of his new food (Natural Balance LID Duck and Potato) since 10/27 (he transitioned over 5 days from blue buffalo). His itching got MUCH better for about 10-14 days after he got home from the vet last time (when he got the cortisol injection). A week ago, the itching started getting really bad again. He's back staying up all night itching and developed a hot spot on his foot (sometime in the last 12 hours). Luckily, his 3 week check up at the vet's was today. The vet said we're doing everything right, giving him the right food and nothing else in case of the food allergy, washing him in prescription shampoo every few weeks and making sure he's completely dried, trying to distract him when he does itch, etc.
The vet put him on cephalexin (antibiotic for the hot spot - also for humans) and chlorpheniramine (allergy medication that's actually an OTC med also for humans) and said that if these don't work to get rid of the hot spot and the itching in conjunction with the new food, he thinks something else is going on. He wants to check him again in 2 more weeks and if things aren't better, do bloodwork.
I mentioned wondering if flea prevention could be a culprit and he started explaining about it but then got interrupted and we both forgot about it again. I'm going to call back tomorrow about it I think.
I tried searching and I know I can use a purchased spray for the hot spot in conjunction with the antibiotics but I'd rather use a home remedy than a store bought one. Does anyone have a home remedy that isn't easily licked off? Someone mentioned that JudyFox had one but I can't seem to find it.
Can anyone else come up with any more ideas on what could be wrong with him?
His day consists of:
Breakfast (Natural Balance Limited Ingredients Diet Duck and Potato 1 cup, 1000mg fish oil capsule, and purified cold water - from PUR filter in fridge) at 6:30am every day
Morning walk to go potty at 7am (yard isn't fenced so we leash him and walk him on sidewalk and in some grass)
Then he normally sleeps while we're working during the day (most of the house is ceramic tile but the living room does have an area rug that he hardly ever but occassionally will lay on)
Long afternoon walk around 5pm, mostly in the grass so he does his business
Give him room temperature purified water when we get back inside at 5:30
Dinner (same as breakfast minus the fish oil) around 6:30pm
Brushing sometime during the evening while he relaxes more
Nightly walk, same as morning walk, around 10pm
Then he normally sleeps. He starts out in our bedroom which is carpeted but moves to tile at some point. During the early morning hours, his itching gets ridiculous and he itches constantly, normally from 3 or 4am until we get up. Then he does it occassionally in between eating and walking until we leave for work.
I don't know how much itching he does during the day because I'm not there but from what my sister told me on days that she was home with him, he doesn't itch during the day nearly as much as at night.
He also loves water and will come running from anywhere in the house when he hears water (sink, toilet, shower, or hears the fridge open - he always thinks we're getting him more water from the pitcher). He also likes to lick the door of the fridge and freezer and will keep drinking until you stop giving him water. He'll also lick the condensation from our drinks if they're within his reach. We limit his water intake so that it's within guidelines but he's still thirsty all the time. Then when he goes to the bathroom, you can slightly see his colon (I think it's his colon, when he goes, a little red flesh from inside his bum comes out).
He's very happy, energetic, and now with the new food, has a great appetite yet in addition to the itching and thirst, he keeps loosing weight. When he came home in August, he weighed 54lbs, 3 weeks ago, he was 50, now he's 48. He eats at least 2 cups of food per day (he gets his kibble as treats due to the possible allergy and since losing weight, I've been giving him heaping cups of food). I know you're supposed to be able to feel their ribs a little but you can feel almost every rib and his whole spine. If I didn't know better, I'd think he wasn't eating.
He got a dose of advantix (from the red box, up to 55lbs) and a dose of brown (50 lbs+) heartgard on 10/25.
I tried to provide any and all information that might help jolt an idea or two. I need as many ideas as possible because I'm at the point where he stays up all night itching and I'm up most of the night trying to distract him from itching then I can hardly complete my tasks at work because I'm so tired.
Please post with ANY ideas, questions, or recommendations. They are greatly appreciated!