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Guest Veginator

Hello all, I am a new owner and member with a few questions about my hound. As soon as I brought Veggie home back in March I noticed some itching, shedding, and dandruff, but I thought that would die down after shedding season had passed and she settled into her new home. Even though she was vetted prior to her adoption, I took her to my vet after a week to get her vaccinations on record and get a wellness check. During her visit my vet suggested 50mg of Benadryl twice a day to help with the itching and she claimed the dandruff would stop when the itching/shedding stopped.

 

It has now been two moths and I haven't seen much improvement. She no longer has bald spots due to the scratching, but she still needs Benadryl 3-4 times per week despite daily brushing and weekly wipe downs. I have noticed that the itchiness is worse right after I apply her flea and tick medication. Yesterday Veggie got brushed, was thoroughly wiped down with water, and was then given her flea/tick/heart worm meds. She was up the rest of the night scratching, pacing, tossing, and turning. I gave her 50mg of Benadryl last night and this morning and it hasn't seemed to help.

 

I am now concerned about the cause of these skin issues. I suspect that her flea and tick meds are causing some irritation, but what other options are out there? Are there more effective methods or products to relieve her symptoms? Thanks for any input!

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Sometimes dandruff is caused by nervousness, not always but, sometimes. I would take foster dogs to meet-n-greets and within about 20 minutes of getting there - they were flaking pretty bad. Not all greyhounds will do this. The greyhounds did not look nervous so it would not be possible to tell this was the cause. Since your dog is new, I suspect there is some nervousness and that could be one of the issues.

 

The shedding - this is the time of year they shed - all dogs. You will need to brush with a rubber groomer or a glove as the regular bushes with bristles might be too much for your dog to handle and as a result. could be irritating the skin.

 

The itching could be the result of many things, maybe using a regular brush if you are doing that, could be fleas, could be an allergy to the food you are feeding, to the pollen, or to the laundry detergent/softener you are using.

 

Also, when was the last time that she was bathed? You might want to use an oatmeal shampoo.

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Jake had dandruff pretty bad, but it didn't seem to itch. We started using Missing Link and then added coconut oil when that didn't seem to help. Now we are just using the coconut oil with his food. He loves it (refuses to eat until I put it on his food actually) and it seems to help. He now only has occasional dandruff.

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Photographer in Phoenix, AZ www.northmountainphoto.com

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Guest DogNewbie

When we first got Wiley, he had bad dandruff and a rough coat. We started giving him one 1200mg fish oil capsule once day. It took about a month to see serious change, but now he has an amazing soft coat and no dandruff! He always gets compliments on how soft he is! Hope that helps!

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While safe I do not find Benadryl to be too effective when using it for allergies (which sounds like your baby has)--it's better used for acute allergic reactions like bee stings. You might want to try giving Zyrtec or Claritin (note!! never use an antihistamine with a decongestant --D). Frequent bathing will be a great benefit. Washing off topical allergens is half the battle. If there are no skin lesions an OTC oatmeal or aloe based shampoo is appropriate. My boys derm vet has me bathing my boy twice weekly--it really helps.

I would also limit the foods you are feeding as the only way to see if there's a food allergy is to do a limited food trial. Take for example my boy has environmental allergies (we did intradermal testing) AND he has a sensitivity to chicken.

One thing I would do is to introduce fish oil into the diet. I personally use Welactin but, there's a number of good quality fish oils on the market. Fish oils not only replenish the skin with oils they have an inflammatory effect within the dermal layer.

I would also stop the current flea and tick product you are using --there may be a reaction to product you are using (which product are you using?). It is important to use prevention as you want to rule out flea bite allergies--just might need to switch your product choice. Fwiw I use Activyl tick plus on my boy. It's a bit oily but, it's very effective against fleas and ticks.

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