Advice needed please (kinda long sorry :) )

[Chancejesi]

I took chance to the vet this morning because I have tried everything suggested in this forum for his skin problems and foot chewing and nothing seems to be working. I started feeding him Pedigree when he was a pup (before I found BW)and then switched to Canidae, then to Royal Canin Boxer 26, then to Wellness Whitefish and Sweet Potato formula and now I have him on Wellness Simple Solutions Duck and Rice formula (mind you this has been over about a 1 year process) I have let each food run the suggested course of 3 months before swithing to a new food and he still has the itchies,"dandruff", and constant foot chewing to the point they are now raw. So I did my research and thought it might be Sarcoptic Mange and when I mentioned it to my vet he said if Chance had that over this course we have been going through this I would have picked it up by now and since I haven't he said it could be because his body has built up an immunity to the Prednisone that I give him only when he gets real bad and I also give him Bendryll on a daily basis. I am now at my wits end I feel so bad for the poor guy he can't seem to get any relief no matter what we try, so the vet gave me Amitriptyline 10 mg to give him in the evening with dinner to try and calm him and keep him from chewing on his feet and he also wants me to increase the dose of Prednisone from 20mg to 40 mg for a few days and then break down the amount over the course of a short cycle(2 weeks) to see if we can break whatever is causing him so much distress. Have any of you ever had this kind of experince? The vet said if we still can't get relief then he will do an allergy test when we go back in 2 weeks so he can come up with a compound that will help build his immunity to whatever is making him itch and chew and such. If any of you have advice that can help my poor sweet boy I would greatly appreciate it and if I'm doing something wrong, please tell me (I take constructive critisim well) Chance is my first boxer and for the first 2 years we didn't have any problems but once he hit 2 that's when all the problems started and I just want to get my little man some help Thanks in advance for reading and trying to help Chance out, he sends slurps and wiggles to all of his buddies here in this wonderful community of fellow boxer lovers

 

[kayboxer]

Well, my only thought would be to get him off of grain. Rice is a grain my oldest is allergic too, so I find a food that has no grain in it at all. I am thinking my youngest boxer might be allergic to chicken also. So now, I'm having to find a food that has no grain and no chicken. I am trying Solid Gold Barking at the Moon. It's main meat ingredients are beef and salmon. No grains in it, just potatoes. Whitefish is a term for any ocean fish I believe. You might want to try something with a specific kind, such as salmon? Also, the Wellness you are feeding has Barley in it. Maybe that is a culprit. Find one that is totally grain free. This is the only thing I can think of next to allergy testing. Good luck.

 

[billbgh]

Don't know that this will help but I started the boys on Innova EVO ancestral diet(mixed with another chow) and the scaly patch that Rocky has had since a pup is nearly all gone. It really sounds like allergies. Is there something within the home that he could be sensitvie to? Cleaners, detergents(floor cleaners and laundry soap) smoking in the home, wood burning stove, anything at all like this. It could even be grass. My mom's poodle does the exact same things as Chance, but she's on an allergy med and doesn't eat her feet, but she still scratches and gets patches on her belly when grass pollen is high. I hope that whatever the case is, Chance gets some relief soon. Good luck

Erin
Apollo & Rocky's mom

 

[lucasmum]

I understamd what you are going through. Unfortunately boxers do seem to suffer from allergies frequently. My last boy did the paw chewing thing too. He also suffered with bad colitis which the vet seemed to think was linked, he wes just a very allergic dog. We had him tested and it turned out he was allergic to house dust mites. The vet set up a program of injections of some sort of anti allergy medication which was made specifically for him. At first he had to have them every few days and eventually it was once a month. He also had 5mg of prednisone daily and a shampoo called maloseb (sp?) for his paws. Whist all this helped, nothing cleared it up totally, it just kept it under control. Are you aware that the prednisone causes them to pee a lot? Especially the dosage your dog is on. I do hope his paws are less sore now, good luck and please keep us posted as to how you are getting on.

 

[Kaybie's Mom]

I struggle with allergies with Kaybie too so I feel your pain. I haven't wasted the money on allergy tests yet becuase even my vet admitted that they quite often come up with false positives. I was going to suggest possibly homecooking for your dog at least for a little while. That way, you know EXACTLY what is going in his food. I would start with just a very simple dog stew and only use one type of meat, one type of vegetable, one type of potato, etc. You might be able to narrow down the allergies by doing that. It's not very hard but is a little time consuming. I used to homecook for Kaybie and she did great on it.

 

[gmacleod]

Would you consider ditching the dry food altogether and trying him on a natural raw diet? Aside from raw products usually being less problematic for allergies in the first place, the greatest advantage of raw is that you can control every last thing that passes the dog's lips. Single food item, by single food item. This is the only true way of doing an elimination trial (it is impossible on kibble, because none can ever be single ingredient products).

Of course, diet cannot control environmental allergies - but at least you would discover whether or not the problem stems from diet (i.e. is food allergies). Natural raw food would also help his immune system, so even if food isn't the cause, can help to control symptoms. Worth some thought, anyway.

 

[Chancejesi]

WOW thank you so much for all your suggestions. Gmac I actually have been researching raw diets on the forum and have been considering them but it makes me a little nervous because I have never had any experince with it. At this point I am willing to try anything if it means it will help my boy out but I don't have the foggiest idea as to where to start. Yes lucasmum the vet told me it will increase his thirst and cause him to go potty more but his dad is in construction and is only usually gone for about 4-5 hours a day so he would be able to potty when needed unless daddy's not home of course but then if he has an accident we will just clean it up and move on. He did say to only try the Prednisone increase temporarily so hopefully (paws crossed) we won't have any accidents as he is very good about not going in his cage, although I expect with the increase in meds he may not have I choice but we will see. Erin we haven't added anything new to his environment excpet a new fish tank and I have always used the same detergents and cleaners since before I got him and we are non somkers and have no wood burning stoves, but we do have very good grass so maybe that could be it. I am going to do some more research on raw diets and see if that is a possibilty for us to try. Like I said I'm willing to try anything so if anyone else has suggestions please keep them coming, you guys are great

 

[TossBranAbi]

I am thinking that a RAW or homecooked diet may be the way to go. You somehow have to find out what the allergy is because it seems as though the vet is just treating the symptoms. Good luck on your endeavor.

 

[catcrazy56]

Foreman hs the same problem with the itching I am now on grain free and still the same he gets shurlan that I put on his feet and spots where itching starts and in his ears and after 3 days hes good for a while. I know I should try the raw but its worse in the winter and I have heard off adding extra fish oil which is what I am loking into there is also the innova red meat that is grain free I haven't tried yet orejen has a fish one that is grain free too he is actually a bit better lately but in the last year and half I have been switching around the solid gold beef and barley worked pretty good and then I couldn't get it anymore