It’s that time of year and Bridget is starting to get a bit itchy again so this helpful note on allergies from a new reader was perfectly timed: Our 7 year old Scottie Maggie also has seasonal skin problems. The itch is close to unbearable for her. This is what I’ve learned:
1. We’ve tried many different treatments but have settled on frequent bathing as the most effective. We use an anti-seborrheic and dry skin shampoo called Allergroom (it’s also hypoallergenic) followed by an oatmeal cream rinse and conditioner called Epi-Soothe. Our vet said they can be used as often as necessary. We bathe her two or three times a week when the itch is really bad and as it improves we taper off to weekly. I may try using a medicated shampoo which you referenced to see if it cuts down on the frequent baths which she hates (why, I don’t know because she’ll plunge into the frigid waters of Lake Ontario to chase ducks and seagulls).
2. We also give her generic anti-histamine tablets (for humans) to relieve the itch, again just when it’s really bad. The vet endorsed the use of ‘human’ pills and recommended the dosage and frequency. Yes, price matters!
3. Finally, we try to distract her from the itching/scratching continuum by making her environment as stimulating as possible. This includes going for walks, spending time in the yard (in and out of the house about 300 times a day), access to windows when indoors so she can keep a close watch on the squirrel population and bringing her along in the car when we’re doing short errands.
All in all I’m satisfied with this approach. It’s effective and avoids us having to shipping kangaroo meat from Australia (!).
I had never heard of a kangaroo meat diet for allergies until this note arrived, but, yes, it is recommended by some. Scottie News will try and look into it further.
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I just thought I would share my experience too. I had a Scotty that would get horrible "hot spots" from warm weather allergies. We did a couple of things my homeopathic vet suggested and never saw another one again. We switched his food to organic dry food (not made from a primarily corn source, which is a big food allergy for dogs) and topped it with a little rotisserie chicken. The chicken wasn't to spoil him, although I had no objections to that. However, we were advised to incorporate flaxseed oil to his diet, and it was the only way we could get him to eat it. Also, we gave him a bath every one to two weeks with a medicated shampoo. We had to buy it from our vet, but it was well worth $15. I personally believe the flaxseed oil was the biggest contributor. It's only $15 – $20 a bottle and will last at least a month. You only need 1 – 2 tbsp per day.
I would imagine that the kangaroo meat wasn't so much because it was from Australia, or even that it was kangaroo, I would have imagined it was to do with the lack of preservatives or other chemicals. I have heard many many people comment of removing all chemicals from their dogs diet and how it improves all sorts of 'itchy' problems.
Dandruff Shampoo works great like Head and Shoulders or any generic brand we use Equate, Selsun Blue works great also, just doesn't smell as good.
Bron is having real problem with itchy skin – no fleas detected by the vet. She has patches of bare skin where she has nibbled, although these arenot red or inflammed in any way. I’ve bathed her with T-Gel shampoo (human for itchy inflammed scalps) which does help a little. Also had tablets from pet shop who condemned the dry food I was giving (Bakers), so I have now put her back on Eukaneba which is what she had until aged 6months (she’s10 months). We’re now waiting to see if the diet change works.