Duncan on his way to the vets again

Well poor Duncan has been scratching his face and feet like mad. I have been putting Visine AF in his eyes and massaging the area with vasoline which seems to help a bunch. But in the evening he starts biting his feet and scratching his head and under his chin. I am not sure if it is allergies or his eylids are curled and the biting is frustration.
I had changed his dog food last month to the Diamond brand from the Nutro brand which could be a factor. he scratches so bad that he had his face all scratched up and swollen, which makes me think more and more that he has an allergy. He just pushes his face in my lap and wants me to scratch and rub his face. I feel so bad for him.
So I have an appointment for him tomorrow to see if we can figure this out.

 

poor duncan, it sure does sound liek allergies, but from what. did he start to scratch just start in the last few days or did it start right after you swtiched the food? what was the meat/grains source of the Nutro compared to Daimond? to rule out allergies, California natural has a good lamb and rice allergy formula and so does natural blance duck an potato. I wouldnt use visine, I dont think you can use it for dogs, but I could be wrong

if if just started, and your weather changed it could be inhalent allergies

 

I see you are in CA, I am in N Ca and the last few days my allergies are miserable so it could be inhalent if it just started

 

Natalie has seasonal allergies which cause her eyes to run. My vet recommended rinsing her eyes with saline solution for sensitive eyes. Good luck at the vet tomorrow. Poor Duncan must feel aweful.

 

If you look for the pics of Duncan and Dowser I posted you can see that both tear some but neither have ever had any bad eye troubles. Maxx, Dowser's brother and both the sons of Duncan had to have his eyelids repaired when he was about a year old. They were turned inward just enough to be aggrevating. Duncan had started scratching his face about a month or so ago and yes it was right after I changed foods. I really hope it is only allergies, because I have extremly long lashes and if just one turns in on my I lose my mind, I can't imagine a dozen or so doing that. :shock:
I hope also Visine is ok because he sure likes it.

 

When ever my dogs have an allergic reaction to something, they get welts in their ears and then start the face rubbing. I don't remember his ears though...does he have spots in them now? Sure sounds like an allergy to me.

 

I had found some small bumps on them last week but after I cleaned them with some ear wash they went away. Also where he has been at his feet he has removed the fur from the top of a back paw. Like a hot spot.
Damn I never should have switched dog foods. I should know better since my EX used to feed him crap cheap dog food and he had chronic ear infections, dull coat, hot spots and smell. Since I got him back and switched him to good (no corn) dog foods he has not had any reoccurance of ear troubles or any of the other problems.

 

since it started right aftert the food change, what is the exact anme of both foods. like nturo lamb and rice or chicken and diamond chicken and rice.

Did you change meat source?

 

I would definately switch his foods again.

If you go to the vets, the best stuff to get is Temaril P. It has prednisone and other stuff. The cortisone shot did nothing for my dog, just the prednisone isn't as good either. The temaril p worked wonders but it is not a long term fix. If it is allergies, switch foods. Then you could try giving fish oil. Lipiderm is great stuff too. If the areas he has scratched are moist/raw, you could try putting gold bond powder there just to dry it up. I also give Nzymes treats. I don't know if they work but if you go to the website www.nzymes.com and read the testimonials it is worth a try. My dog got hot spots all over him this time of year last year, went through a few food changes, elimination diet, pills, etc. until I put him on Calif Natural Lamb and rice, salmon oil, and the nzymes. He has been great since. Only 1 minor hot spot right when spring started up.

 

The Nutro is the Lamb and rice, the diamond was the chicken. I have a new bag of Nutro and a half a bag of diamond in the garbage.
I was told by the vet today to give him benadryl full strength until he gets checked out, they are concerned he might tear an eyelid, (so am I). The benadryl seems to have helped some and he is kind of goofy on it too. Only problem is he has become intolerant of Dowser and keeps growling at him and getting in between him and me. Dowser is alpha and is getting pretty agitated over this.

 

Some good advice there. I noticed he is showing very dry skin and some dryness to his coat. This is just after 1.5 bags of Diamond. Amazing how such a change can cause so much trouble in so little time.

 

I would do just what eliza recommended, try the Californal natural lamb and rice allergy formula, you can find it at feed stores. and use the nzymes. I use it too, along with a good fatty acid supplement.

yes you will pay more for this, but look at what you are spending in vet bills.


you need to get this under control asap, since it sounds like he is really injuring himself and getting mad at your other dogs. and since he is sooo miserable.

good luck

honeybear

 

Was he fine on the Nutro? I think if he didn't have any problems with it you might try to switch him back to that one. Diamond isn't a very good quality, is it? Otherwise, California Natural is a good food.

Or you could just be done with it and feed him raw. Not many dogs are allergic to that.

 

Nutro was always fine but my feed store was out the last 2 times I needed to purchase. I will go to another store if this happens again. I have been looking at raw but with my 3 dogs I see it may be expensive. Nutro is $35.00 for 2.5 weeks food. So I have to look and see what the cost differance will be. I will see if either of our feed stores carry Cal Natural and Nzymes.

 

I doubt the feed store will carry nzymes. You have to order it I think.

A 40lb(i think-the largest they make) bag of Calif Natural costs $40. It lasted me a month with one St. Bernard. I don't really think it is really all that more expensive.

 

Well great news sort of. Duncan has allergies, that has caused his eyes to mimic entropia. We discussed the dog food and timming of this problem and the fact that he is biting his feet and other parts of his body. He will be on prednisone for now and if it doesn't help we will try a different medication. At least for now he will not be getting any surgeries on his eyelids.

On a side note I forgot how nice and attractive this vet is. Duncan allowed her to touch, and pet him with almost no resistance. (I would too ) At the other vets he snapped at and growled at almost everyone there.
I think Dowser will need a check up soon!

elizavixen: I was speaking of raw feeding when I mentioned cost differences, I will look into that dog food in the mean time.

 

:lol: Is that the vet up in BB or AV???? Just curious.

 

She is in BB, Kim @ Bear City Animal Hospital.

 

You need to be creative in finding sources to make raw feeding less expensive. If there is a co-op in your area, that helps a lot. Otherwise, you can check with butchers and farmers and try to get some things free or very cheap that humans don't want anyway. Join Yahoo's groups - "rawfeeding" and "carnivorefeed-supplier" for more ideas and info:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/?yguid=146152191

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CarnivoreFeed-Supplier/

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

But I do not Yahoo, ever. I will find alternative sources for info before I touch Yahoo. Not trying to offend, but me being in IT I have found it to be a source of many of my user troubles.