itch, itch, itch

[chow4life]

Matilda has been itching rediculously for the last couple of months. She is now working on her second hotspot. The first one has healed. There has been no changes in her diet. I feed her Organix- no grain, or corn. It consist of Chicken, brownrice, flaxseed. She is absolutely miserable. Does anybody have any suggestions?

[612guy]

Could be the chicken, many people have said their chows itch a lot eating chicken. Switch to another protein and see if that helps. That what I would do.


612

[chow4life]

Could be the chicken, many people have said their chows itch a lot eating chicken. Switch to another protein and see if that helps. That what I would do.


612

Thanks for the reply-
Do you have any suggestions on a brand? What's your thought on Salmon?

[applebear]

Could be the chicken, many people have said their chows itch a lot eating chicken. Switch to another protein and see if that helps. That what I would do.


612

Thanks for the reply-
Do you have any suggestions on a brand? What's your thought on Salmon?

I hear a lot of good things about TOTW and they have a fish formula. Fish is suppose to be good for coat and skin, so def couldn't hurt to give it a try.

[Rory's Dad]

Very little info in the OR, but our dogs are a bit sensitive to normal grooming shampoo. We asked for a more sensitive mix and they have been fine since.

[Jdcell100]

We had an itching problem with are blu chow puppie found out it was the chicken that was the problem. Put him on blu buffalo basics. Turkey. Itching went away completely. Pluse he luvs his food

[Sirchow]

I would agree that it might be the chicken and that is definitely a good place to start looking for the cause. I have two chicken alergic chows - they both get terrible itchy ears and their eyes run but it does affect different dogs different ways. I think a good fish food is a good idea. Hope that it helps

[chow4life]

Thanks for all the replies. One last question if matilda has been on this food for roughly 9-10 months could a chicken allergy develope? This itching has started in the last couple of months. Her routine as well as food, shampoo has not changed. I was just wondering if something had changed in this last batch of dog food. This is so difficult in trying to fiqure out if it is a food allergy or something she is coming into contact with. Has anybody tried benadryl to help with itching? Thanks again

[Sirchow]

I tried Benedryl for Izzie before I guessed what was causing it and it didn't help at all. Better to find out the cause if you can as benedryl wont cure your dog just supress the symptoms. Of course it might be something completely different. Izzie developed an allergy to chicken at about 11 months and when her puppies went to new homes I told the owners not to feed chicken and sure enough by accident they have all (through treats mainly) had chicken and four of the five of them are also alergic at this point. Izzie is now reacting to beef as well. I hope she doesn't take this on to other proteins. I think fish is a bit different so hopefully your chow will be OK on it. If not then you may need to start ruling out other things in the envirement but some are alergic to spores and moulds and pollens which is very difficult to deal with. You ned to be sure you know what is in any treats you give too as most have chicken in them though there are some good fish skin treats out there these days which mine love

[Tippsy'smom]

Jasper developed allergies to chicken and beef around the time he was a year and a half old. We switched him to TOTW and haven't looked back since. He was on the Wetlands Formula, but they started adding chicken into it and made his allergies flare up, but now he's on the Sierra Mountain formula.

[wokman]

You said Hot Spot, which I relate to old dead coat that has not been brushed out. Old shedding coat, dirt and skin oils can cut off air to the skin and give Bacteria an ideal place to grow.

[chow4life]

You said Hot Spot, which I relate to old dead coat that has not been brushed out. Old shedding coat, dirt and skin oils can cut off air to the skin and give Bacteria an ideal place to grow.

Thanks for your reply Wokman-
I have been combing and brushing her usually about every third day. I do agree this is the time of the year that all the ‘down‘ hair as i call it needs to come out. It's amazing how much of a undercoat these dogs have. I did go ahead and switch her food to no corn, grain, chicken, or flaxseed. Also, topped her dry dog food with a little bit of wet food and she now cleans her bowl. She use to leave it and eat a little bit at a time throughout the day. She is on the petite side anyway so the extra calories will do her good. I know flaxseed probably doesn't have anything to do with her itching but when i was researching possible irratants in food this came up. So hopefully between combing, brushing, and switching her food this will alleviate her itching and hotspots.

[swisschow]

chicken - so bad for many dogs.....only give mine fish based...plus fresh mackerel or sardines cpl times a week....really cheap when u live in switzerland!! Not. But hey my chow has a beautiful coat now.

[eveelima]

my chow is allergic too, but I have no idea what's causing it. the only new thing she's using is a special shampoo the vet told me to buy so her skin will be treated. she eats the same food since she switched from puppy dry dog food to adult (she's 2 years old now), but now she's got itches and I don't know what to do, switched her food, bought food for sensitive dogs, she loves it. it's basically soy protein and lamb meat, but maybe she's allergic to other ingredients most dry food brands use, like those chemicals or something? wanted to try to feed her home cooked food for about 15 days just to test my theory, but I'm scared that if I do this and that wasn't the problem, she will never want to go back to dry dog food again, since chows ARE stubborn like that.

[Constantina]

It's the chicken! I was feeding grain free and the hot spots just kept coming despite the daily detailed brushing out. When I picked a non chicken food scratching decreased by the day and stopped after two weeks. Another culprit was not drying her thoroughly after a bath-- YIKES!

[eveelima]

If you can't solve the problem by yourself, take your dog to the vet. I took mine to two different vets that diagnosed her with allergy and told me it was up to me to find out the cause. But I've tried it all (recently switched to salmon dog food), but now I think this is not allergy (or at leats not JUST allergy, she's not only scratching, she also has some black dots on her that look like dirt, so I think it might be some bacteria), so this week I'm taking her to a dermatologist, who's more likely to solve the problem since it's her speciality. Wish me luck, it breaks my heart watching Kiara scratching herself all the time

I'm adding a pic of the dots I mentioned, so everyone who's ever seen something like this please feel free to share experiences. On the pic it looks like these are healing wounds, but they're not wounds, if you take the black thing away, the skin underneath it is perfectly good.

[chowpups]

really read the ingredients on the packaging a lot seem to sell one thing but if you look closely chicken is added! My dog has been chicken sensitive and I use Solid Gold wolf king bison so far no problems with itching or ears or tummy problems. She was on wolf cub puppy bison early on.
also my last chow was allergic to gnats and really wasnt an outside type dog even, so check all things possible!

[JammyJoy]

Yes,I also heard about chicken. If you've already changed the diet,try to observe but if itching still continues then go and see a vet.

[Doppler]

The TOTW with fish oil formula works for my cousin's malamute foster. Here we add coconut oil on Doppler's meal to help on his dry skin plus he's getting good brushing everyday.