Scratching and Food Allergies?

[Esther and Joey]

Joey is a month away from 2. She has been on Acana since we got her as a pup. She's never been a licker or a scratcher but in the past 4 weeks she's been scratching heavily. So much so that we can feel scabs on her neck. She doesn't scratch her face so much but she does bite her foot and scratches her ribs/side. On her tummy, there are no scabs nor rashes visible. She's also constantly licking herself now, which she never did before.

This morning was our 2nd trip to the vet to figure out what was going on. He said it could be scabies mites or food allergies. He's treating her for mites just in case but I really don't think it's it cause I've combed her for fleas and other parasites. So then he thinks it's good and tried to peddle us some hypoallergenic food that they sell. Do you all have recommendations on how to go about determining food allergy?

I also wonder if perhaps it's the sea water. We moved to SF from NYC about 5 months ago. For the past 3 months, Joey goes to the beach every day for an hour with her dog walker. Sometimes she goes in the ocean, sometimes she doesn't. As of this week, we've also cancelled her doggy playgroups to the beach/park thinking that it might be environmental. 

Anyone with similar issues?

Thank you

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If he's treating her for mites, did he do a simple skin scraping to test for them? If not, she's being treated for nothing. That's the first step that is performed when diagnosing mites. You cannot see mites, they are not visible to the naked eye, but they show up under the microscope in skin scrapings. 

The chances are that what is causing the itching is environmental, but environamental allergies have nothing to do with sea water or beaches. Environmental allergies involve inhaled allergens such as pollens, dust mites, storage mites and molds. Both Joey's age and the time of year suggest that might be the case. 

Omega 3 fatty acid supplements can help, as can Claritin or Zyrtec (NOT Benadryl). Bathing with a good hypoellergenic shampoo, washing her bedding, wiping her down when she comes in from outside, changing your furnace filter, keeping her areas as dust free as possible, all can help somewhat, but the only way to be sure of what is causing the problems is to consult a veterinary dermatology sepcialist and have skin testing done if the specialist recommends it. 

A word of caution, do not fall for any blood or saliva "allergy testing" kits, they have been proven to be a waste of your money. 

Food allergies are relatively rare, and are responsible for only 10% of all allergies in dogs. To do a food trial, you have to find a food that does not contain any proteins that she has eaten before, and feet only that food and those "novel" proteins for 8-12 weeks. I can help you do that if you want to try it. I need to know exactly what formula foods she has eaten in the past year, and what kinds of treats. 

[Esther and Joey]

thank you karen for your thoughts.

the vet gave her a shot that is suppose to take effect in 48 hours. if the itching stops, then it was caused by mites and it's been stopped. if the itching doesn't stop in 48 hours, then he will do a skin scraping to test for mites.

we shampoo her at least once a week and rinse her down with water 2-3x a week. because she has an active on the beach, she's mostly covered in sand that we have to rinse out of her. we also always wiper her paws with hypoallergenic baby wipes. we use Earth Bath brand dog shampoo as i understand it to be chemical free. i think i will try the one you recommend instead.

i'm hoping that we don't have to do the food trial yet. though the vet is somewhat keen on starting that. hopefully this is environmental.

thank you again. you've helped more than our 2 trips to the vet.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'd be very interested in knowing what that shot was. Did he tell you? I have never heard of a shot for mites before. 

The shampoo I recommend is Douxo calming shampoo. You can order it on-line. The lather must be left on for a least 10 minutes before rinsing.

Actually, environemntal allergies, or Atopic Dermatitis, which is the correct name, is a genetic immune-mediated disease which can only be managed, not cured, and can be expensive and difficult to treat, so it would really be better if it was a food allergy. Sadly, it rarely is. 

[Esther and Joey]

Karen, we're now exploring food trials. The vet is recommending their hypoallergentic food that they sell. The brand that we always avoid, so I was concerned. However, I do see the food on this site that you recommend: http://www.marvistavet.com/html/food_allergies.html

In the past year, Joey has only eaten Acana: pacifica, grasslands, ranchlands, and praire. She has had Primal patties in chicken, duck, lamb, beef. She's also had a sample of Taste of the Wild and Spot's Stew. When I say sample, I'm talking 1-2 cups total.

For treats she gets salmon jerky, lamb lungs, yogurt covered duck, peanut butter beef, and peanut butter.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I spent twenty minutes typing out a long answer and the DK gremlins ate it, so I'll try again. 

The medical info on the Mar Vista site is great. The food info is lousy. I do not ever take food advice from the vet, and I am never going to tell anyone here that's okay to feed an Rx food. Here's why:

According to research by Marion Nestle, PhD and professor of clinical nutrition, who has written extensively about dog food issues, there is no required nutrition curriculum in vet school. Most vets' entire knowledge of pet food and pet nutrition comes from the salesmen who sell them the Hills, Purina, and Royal Canin foods.

If you ask the vet what is in a particular Rx food would help your dog, they cannot tell you because they do not know. All they know is what the salesmen tell them when they sell them the food: "This one is for diarrhea, this one is for allergies, this one is for kidneys, etc". 

There is no medicine in Rx food. There is nothing therapeutic. The ingredients are the cheapest possible ones that will provide basic nutrition, and they are sourced from China. And you pay more for this crap than you would for the highest quality food from the most reliable companies. The vet makes the full profit that any retail store would make when they sell it. According to one study, many vet practices now make more profits from the sale of Rx food than they do from their actual medical practices. This is a huge conflict of interest. 

So if you want to follow your vet's advice on this, I can't fault you, but I also can't really be of any further help with this. 

Among all the protein sources that Joey has eaten, it's going to be tough to find one that we can be sure she isn't allergic to. I don't have time right now to go through all of those Acana formulas and check the proteins. I would also have to know the exact formulas of TOTW and Spot's stew.  We do know that she can't be allergic to is rabbit or kangaroo, because she's never had those, so if you are going to go ahead with the food trial, I would go with Natural Balance Potato and Rabbit, or California Naturals Kangaroo and Lentil. 

Whichever food you feed, even if you go with the Rx food the vet recommends, you have to realize going in that Joey cannot have any other protein source for 8-12 weeks. That means no treats, unless you can find rabbit or kangaroo treats, or some other protein source that she's never had. You might be okay with vegetarian treats like carrots or green beans. One bite of anything that contains chicken, duck, turkey, salmon, lamb, or any of the other proteins she's been eating, and you've just blown the whole food trial. 

And all of this on the 10% chance that her itching is due to food allergies. 

[Carol and Banjo]

Wow, bless you Karen for your patience with those nasty gremlins!   You're a better woman than I!

[F, Calla & Luca]

And the Ning tech wondered why when I type a long response I do it in word and then paste. Another suggestion, copy your response before you try to send it even if you type right here. Then if the gremlins come into play you can do another attempt on a new page and paste. Your responses are too comprehensive to type more that once!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The gremlins hadn't been bothering me since i switched to Chrome, so I stopped being cautious, lol.

Learned my lesson! Copying everything now that's more than a sentence or two. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

That is the gremlins for you, they wait for complacency : ) I'm on Chrome at the moment. I prefer Firefox but you have to choose your battles. It really isn't the browsers per se but the host I think. I've tried to wait patiently for 10 seconds before I type anything. It helps on Firefox at least.

[Esther and Joey]

thank you karen! your help is so much appreciated. i just went through all the acana protein's. i can say for certain that joey has not had kangaroo so think we will start there. i also am aware of vet's and their lack of nutritional knowledge so have always been against the food the vets peddle. in fact, our old vet never did this. with new vet has tried to sell us food 3 times now and i am ready to find another vet as a result.

are dogs only allergic to protein sources? do i need to be careful about any other food types? veg, carbs?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Grains would be the type of carbohydrates to stay away from. Grain allergies are the most common type of food allergies in dogs. It is possible to be allergic to just about anything organic, but it isn't likely. 

I would be extremely surprised if she's had rabbit. It is not included in any of the foods you mentioned. 

Honestly, just from this discussion, I don;t care for this vet at all. Did the old one retire? I would find someone else, this one didn't even mention the most common and  likely source of Joey's itching, environmental allergies. And it's springtime!  

[Esther and Joey]

We just moved from NYC to SF about 6 months ago. The NYC vet was amazing - maybe he had a special place in his heart for Joey since they met when she was a puppy. This vet hospital has 4+ doctors and we've seen about 3 of them now. Even that, I'm not a fan of. I prefer to stick with 1 vet who knows her.

In terms of environmental allergies...he said in this part of the world (SF) there is always something in bloom :(