darren m Posted December 30, 2008 Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 my other dog is a bitch collie 10 years old and brill. recently she as started to scratch her self and finally as took to biting and pulling her fur causeing a few patches and scabs etc . at first i suspected a parasite ie flea or lice , maybe bought in by my lab , who as been in and out of the vets a lot recently. SO i,ve wormed them both with Drontal XL , and gave them a double dose de-flea of spot on ( vet grade ) from manor pharmacy. that was nearly 2 weeks ago and shes still scratching . what can be the cause of this scratching etc , any ideas please i,m getting desperate i,ve even given her a few doses of piroton just incase its an allergy . any advice welcomed thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imperfection Posted December 30, 2008 Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 You might want to get a vet to take a look at her,but in mean time try bathing her in an anti-flea shampoo and leaving it to soak on her for 5 minutes before rinsing.Although its not the season for them-check her all over for ticks.If you find one,dont yank it off because it will leave behind its mouth and infection will then set in.Either smother the entire tick in vaseline wait for it to drop off (it suffocates) or using one of them small droplet thingies you use for ears-put a tiny drop of nail varnish remover on it and it'll dissolve.You can get plastic tick removal tools from most pet shops too. The best anti flea remedy i know of is this one,but it needs a prescription from your vet. Another option if parasistes isnt the cause is allergies.This however is an expensive route to take and i personally feel a vet may try to push this upon you before other avenues have been explored.My sis has a dog with chronic allergies and its so far cost her hundreds.The dogs scratching is slowly being brought under control using injections,but will need them for rest of life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren m Posted December 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 cheers mate - just to add she as also developed a very flakey dandruff which in 10 years she as never had any skin probs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seb Posted December 30, 2008 Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 I know this is a different animal but one of our cats has a flea allergy which makes her scratch so much the skin is raw. The vet gives her some sort of steroid injection maybe every 6+ months and it goes away completely. They said she doesn't have to have fleas to get it even one going on her skin could start it off. It didn't start till she was about 8 years old. It would be worth asking the vet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stiv24 Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 sounds like a skin mite to me, easily solved so its off to the vets for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cushat Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Skin mite or mange probably - both easily cured but need prescription drugs from the vet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new to the flock Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 I am with the two above it sounds of mange to me so off to the vet. NTTF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren m Posted December 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 mange - hope not , but how would she catch it . what is mange , is it a parasite or skin condition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntinlass Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Mange is a mite which goes under the skin and lays eggs causing the dog to loose hair scratch and bite themselves. From my own experience when a dog has mange it tends to affect the following areas- chin, ear flaps, back of the legs, chest and the elbows. There are a few different types of mange some are contagious some are not but if you have another dog best to get to the vet before they are both infected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cushat Posted January 6, 2009 Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 They can pick up fox mange quite easily if there are foxes about... What was the outcome darren - did you get to the vets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren m Posted January 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 vet not 100% sure it is mange of some kind , he called it walking dandruff . i have shampoo and supplement , but gotta go back in a week if not getting any better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren m Posted January 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 right update -- on inspection the vet said , he could not detect a parasite or cause for this really bad dandruff in both my dogs coats. he sold me some shampoo and said give them a good grooming ( which i do anyway ). so i,ve shampoo'd the dogs and gave them a good groom BUT its still there , theres a lot LESS scratching ( which is good ) still a little bit but no where near as much . I am wondering as the vet got it wrong , how can 2 different dogs have the same skin problem if it is not a parasite what do you think . thanks all . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadSpringer Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Darren, Did the scratching coincide with a change in diet? Have you changed the brand you feed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren m Posted January 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 (edited) thats a good question mate . i did change there food yes for a while to a low fat one "CHUDLEYS LITE" to try and get a few pounds off the lab because of his leg problem , when normally i would feed them chudleys classic or the vat free Gilpa . there back on there old stuff now though and have been for about 2/3 weeks . looking back at the dates it would have started while they where on the LITE food Edited January 22, 2009 by darren m Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 might have something to do with the food but probably only if it had a certain oil content, have you changed shampoos around that time or washing powder if you wash their beds? Odds are it'll just clear up but as you say odd that its happened to both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren m Posted January 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 oil content is lower in the chudleys lite about half of that of the usuall stuff and protein was higher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren m Posted January 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 just to add they where both fed on the LITE food and both have the dandruff , but surely this would have passed by now .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadSpringer Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 Darren, Give them a couple more weeks on the old food and hopefully they will settle down again. Also add some extra Cod Liver Oil to their feed. It can take a good few weeks for them to settle in to a change in diet. Let us know how they get on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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