Itchy Skin - Page 2

If I had a GSD with itchy skin I'd be having it skin tested for inhaltion allergies as that is the culprit 9 times out of 10. GSD's are prone to inhalation allergies because some breeders do not withhold allergic dogs or those that are known to produce allergic dogs from breeding. You can add all the supplements you want and change food every day, but basically you are probably wasting time. Food allergies are not as simple to prove as switching back and for from one brand of commercial food to the next.  You must make a homemade diet so you know every single thing that goes into your dog's mouth 24/7 including treats and flavored chew toys.  It can take up to 4 months to see the results from a change in diet, so you can't change food every few weeks; you must give it adequate time to work. A raw diet might also be a good idea because all commercial food contains some sort of preservative. I only know of one brand, Californa Natural, that has only a few contents and might be a good trial food for a dog suspected of having food allergies. If you decide to make a homemade diet, keep in mind that dog can have nothing else to eat except what is in that diet. Nothing, nada including food that seems innocuous like carrots. No carrots unless you are using them in the homemade food. Actually proving a food allergy is a gigantic pain in the butt unless you happen to get very lucky and eliminate the offending food on the first try. Good luck with that.

Since there are 2 scratching dogs in the same household, I'd first be thinking about the shampoo I'm using or too many baths. Try baby shampoo for a few baths and don't use anything else on their skin. Do they really need that many baths? Do you have a water softener? What are you using for flea prevention? One flea bite can start a chain of scratching in a sensitive dog, your dogs do not need to be polluted with fleas to scratch a lot. Some dogs are so sensitive that if one flea bites them in the same spot as one did a month before, it will start it all over again. Sarcoptic mange is another thought. However, dogs with that mange have bald spots and itch 24/7, they never stop. The areas that are typically effected are the ears, the elbows, the front legs; places where the hair coat is the thinnest. These areas will eventually become raw and scabbed over due to the scratching. Also, sarcoptic mange/scabies will bite humans so most who have dogs with scabies are also going to be itching like crazy.  They tend to bite humans where their clothing fits tightly, around the waist line and, with women, or men who want to be women, under their bras. If you get bitten by a dog scabie, you will not sleep at night, you will scratch instead. The good news is scabies can easily be found on a dog with a skin scraping, it is simple to treat and there is no need to do anything to a human with dog scabies bites. This mite prefers dogs so will bite a human an crawl off somewhere. Humans have their own brand of scabie.

I've been there, done that on with of the above. IMO, if you have 2 dogs in the same household that are both scratching, first rule out the above  - scabies, fleas, too many baths and too harsh a shampoo. If that doesn't work you probalby have the bad luck of owning 2 GSD's with inhalation allergies and they will need to be skin tested and desensitized or spend the remainder of their lives scratching or taking steroids.

I've found that most skin problems in the GSD involve Staph infections. Sometimes, unless you bathe the dog on grooming table, use a blow dryer, and examine his skin thoroughly, you may see no lesions.

However, the constant scratching you've described may be symptomatic of a bacterial infection known as Staph pyoderma--very prevalent in the GSD breed. Staph is a normal inhabitant of healthy skin.

However, Staph tends to proliferate and become pathological when the immune system is challenged--such as following vaccinations. It may also occur during hot  weather when we hose our dogs down with cold water and fail to dry them thoroughly. It frequently occurs during the winter months if the dog remains wet from being frequently rain soaked.

Moist skin under a layer of thick hair creates an ideal environment for the replication of bacteria. Staph pyoderma may also be found on the tips of the ears because the ears come in contact with the Staph on the belly when the dog is licking and chewing himself. Similarly, you may find lesions near the anus under the tail.

Sometimes, addressing the problem with topical treatment is successful. I suggest frequent baths (be sure to dry the dog thorougly with a blow dryer--if possible) with Eqyss Micro-Tek shampoo and spraying the dog in between baths with Micro-Tek spray. I also apply Happy Jack Pad Kote to moist, stubborn lesions.

Often baths and other topical treatments must be combined with a course of antibiotics. Cephalexin is usually the antibiotic of choice and must be continued for several days after the lesions have healed and the itching has stopped--anywhere from 10-30 days. Occasionally, when the itching has become non-stop, the only way to break the itch cycle is to combine the antibiotics with oral anti-inflammatory medication.

I have found that Temaril-P is a very effective medication to address extreme itching/scratching. Temaril-P is a combination of a steroidal anti-inflammatory agent with an antihistamine. It is fairly pricey (~$1.00 per tablet) and must be prescribed by a veterinarian. An adult GSD usually requires 3 Temaril-P twice daily for 4 or 5 days.

No, I'm only a retired vet tech--not a veterinarian. However, I have been in the GSD breed since 1964 and have seen my share of Staph pyoderma (which, unfortunately, is often not correctly diagnosed by many veterinarians) in our breed. Not too many years ago, a dermatology resident at the VMTH at UC-Davis conducted a research study regarding Staph infections as they pertain to the GSD. Even itching/scratching from other causes (mange, allergies--food, contact, inhalant, flea infestation, etc.) often evolve into secondary Staph infections (because of self-inflicted damage to the dermis).

My first GSD had severe inhalation allergies. I had him skin tested and then desentizied him. After about a year he stopped scratching and his skin finally healed. As Louise said, secondary bacterial infections are very common in dogs with allergies. We used Keflex to treat Dylan, but had I known about the things that Louise is suggesting, I'd have tried them first. If  you don't eliminate the source of the scratching it will be on-going. If the cause is the staph then killing that should eliminate the scratching and all will be well. If it's an allergy, then you must either prevent exposure to the allergin, reduce the scratching with streoids which retards healing or desensitize the dog to the irritant/s. The only way I know of to be sure is to either try to kill the staph and if it keeps coming back, then skin testing might be prudent. 

I bought a lovely, 9-week-old pup from a breeder with poor husbandry practices. From the time I purchased her, she spent all her energy scratching. If we made long road trips, all one could hear was: thump, thump, thump--thump, thump, thump. Upon opening her crate door, one could see lots of hair and dander on the crate floor.

Finally, I bit the bullet and realized that I had to break the itch cycle and put her on a course of steroids (only about 4-5 days) and antibiotics (for several weeks). She turned 11 in May and is as healthy as a horse--no further skin problems since she was a pup. Of course, she is on my modified raw diet and receives no vaccines (other than rabies), no systemic flea preventatives, no heartworm prophylaxis.

my daughter and son had gotten poison ivy at the begining of the summer... i still have alot of the Rx  ointment left...the name of it is Hydrocortisone Valerate cream, USP 0.2%--- i think this is a type of steroid right? what i was wondering is if it would be safe to put this on itchy/ hot-spots on my dog?

the ING are ---each gram contains : 2mg of hydrocortisone valerate in hydrophilic base composed of carbomer 940, dibasic sodium phosphate, methylparaben, propylene glycol, purified water, sodium lauryl sulfate, steareth-2, steareth-100, stearyl alcohol and white petrolatum

thanks

Dante gets bathed only when before he comes home from being boarded which is a couple times a year.

In the summer if he gets muddy (This is Oregon after all!) he gets hosed off and in the winter he just gets toweled off and then brushed when dry. 

He really doesn't seem to need any more baths than that!!

Barb

Oh and he's an indoor dog as well!!!