How much is too much itching/scratching/biting self?UPDATE

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Our new puppy, now about 17 weeks old has been itching and scratching so much that it's driving her and us crazy.  I just held up my camera to wait for her to start scratching and I didn;t have to wait 1 minutes between one scratch to the other. The only time she isn't is when she is asleep. And then I hear her during the night.

She is on Fromm, and I know it is rare that it could be food, but she gets yogurt also. I just started giving EPO and Fish Oil this weekend. She is bathed often, because she digs, but I went from baby shampoo to a non-soap oatmeal shampoo that I use on Murphy (who hardly has ever been an itchy doggie)

This morning I rinsed her in 50/50 White Vinegar and water also. She just kept licking that. I left it on without rinsing. Am I supposed to rinse?

This isn't necessarily a change from when we got her at 10 weeks old, just getting to be more annoying as it is so frequent. No red or hot spots, no particular area, just all over her body from paws to tail and everywhere in between. This is her usual pose!

 

I AM HAPPY TO REPORT A MAJOR INPROVEMENT IN BELLA'S SCRATCHING. FOR ANYONE WHO IS HAVING THIS PROBLEM I WILL TELL YOU WHAT I DID:

1. I washed her in the Tropiclean Oatmeal Shampoo. Got it at Petco. Followed directions and sudz'd her up and massaged in for 7-8 min. This helped about 50% right away.

2. I used a spray leave-in called:Earthbath, Tea Tree Oil formula and again followed directions and used after her bath and occassionally afterward. This seems to cut down the scratching about another 20-30%

3. I did not bathe her again for 3 weeks.

4. Added Fish Oil capsules to her EPO capsules she recieved daily. This probably has finally kicked in and with all the above has limited her scratching to maybe 3-4 times a day rather than 3-4 every 10 minutes all day.

 

She is getting baths again and has had 2 in the past 2 weeks. Using the Tropiclean. It is a soapless shampoo and my Vet recommended soapless when I had asked her about the itching.

 

So she is much happier and so are we. I hope this will help someone else. Thanks again for all your advise with this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Didn't know if this was for the Grooming, Food or Medical Group.

 

Monday update: she seems about 50% better with the good shampoo and spray. At least she can play and be more normal without stopping every 2 minutes to itch!!!  Now just wait it out and see if less frequent bathing makes it better. Let's hope, that's an easy fix.

[Mustard Seed Ranch]

Mites can also cause intense itching. Sometimes changing from your regular Heartworm to a few months of Revolution (Heartworm, fleas and MITES) may help as well. They are very hard to detect even in a skin scrapping. We had a dog that showed negative for two scrappings but the revolution cleared it up.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am so glad you have found what Camus needed.

[Carole (*Koda*Monty*Bindi)]

Sue~ I'm sorry that Bella is so uncomfortable. Poor baby. This may be a shot in the dark but I recall you said you had an issue with fleas a couple of weeks ago. When you posted the photo of Bella biting at her tail area the first thing I thought of was fleas. It's possible they weren't all eradicated the first go around despite all your valiant efforts. It's just a thought.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Carole, We never saw another flea since the vet found that one. We are still treating now for the second go around and she's had her second dose of Frontline again this month. We haven't had any problems, but we are still going to treat the house and yard for another month or 2.
I comb her with a flea comb at night and there is just nothing, so I think I have ruled out fleas, but it does seem the most logical thing to ask

[April Cliber]

I'd try not bathing her for at least two weeks. I know you like a really clean dog but my best guess is that her skin is too dry. Oatmeal shampoo is great but if she's getting a bath more then once a week, it's too much for a pup. If she gets dirty just let her dry and brush her out. That really will take care of most everything. I hope you see improvement quickly! :o)

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I was hoping you'd be online April. I have a feeling you're right as our skin is starting to get dry again since it's gotten so much colder here. 40's at night! I can hear you laughing at that now!

Anyway, I did look at the Oatmeal Shampoo and it has chemicals in it so I got the Tropiclean oatmeal soap-less shampoo,and the Earthbath leave in spray with Tea Tree Oil, which I am just finding to be a very useful Oil. ( the TTOil is helping Murphy's ears too) So she got bathed with the shampooed 2x as recommended,( I was shocked to see how dirty she actually was as I have been washing her with the hose in the backyard and she doesn't hold still very well yet, so I haven't been able really scrub and massage her like tonight in the tub)
I left on for 5 min, cool blowdry, then the spray and I got 4 mg chlor-trimetin and gave her one. It's been about an hour, she is almost dry and I haven't seen her scratch yet!!!!! But she has the wet zoomies, so she may just be too busy running around to care about scratching.
So we will see if she has gotten some relief from all this tonight. She was starting to make ME itchy!!
She will not get bathed again now until a week after her spaying on the 22nd. So we will see.
Thanks

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The combination of the antihistamines and the EPO has a therapeutic effect, but it can take a couple of weeks to start making a difference. So stay with it.
The best shampoo I've found for itching is Douxo Calming Shampoo. It's supposed to be available only through vets, but I get it on-line for half the price the vet charges. Relief Shampoo with Praxomine & colloidal oatmeal is a good one, too.

[Diana Erhart]

Another thing you may want to try...instead of bathing her so much, take baby wipes and wipe her off with them when she comes in from outside. Our Charlie was itching all the time and getting skin infections from the itching. Our vet decided it was from inhaled allergies (pollens, molds, etc.). Instead of getting respiratory symptoms with allergies like people do, dogs get itchy skin. Now I wipe Charlie down with a baby wipe when he comes in from being outside for walks, play, etc., and it really has helped. Plus I don't need to bath him as much since the baby wipes take away that "outdoorsy" smell.

[Christine & Camus]

Diana, What baby wipes do you use?

[Diana Erhart]

I typically use the Pampers Baby Fresh (in a green container). They are thick enough that I can do Charlie with a single wipe (he is a mini) and I like the smell. But I think any kind would work fine.

[Christine & Camus]

Thanks. I'm going to try using them on Camus' chin, which always seems to gets grimy.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I don't think these dogs need to or should be bathed too often. Spot areas can be washed. Mud etc., if allowed to dry will just fall off or can be brushed out. If my dogs get real muddy I put them in their crates to dry and they're good to go. The crate needs vacuuming though : ) I give mine baths about every 6 months.