Need Advice For Dog Itch Problem

[Biciclista]

NEP?
yeah i was wondering about that. Homeopathic doses are SO TINY!

Nep, nep, nep. Maybe you're confusing "herbal" vs. "homeopathic."
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[TsPoet]

Homeopathic treatments are purified as carefully as pharmaceuticals and regulated by the FDA under the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States.
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Nope, FDA does nothing with homeopathy. Unless you mean the truth in labeling attempts - ie what's in the bottle is supposed to be on the label. Over the counter drugs, as well as prescription drugs, have to undergo the safety and efficacy testing. The FDA has decided that the dilutions make the compounds so ineffective they also won't be toxic. They'll change that after someone is seriously injured or dies.
The immunotherapy aspect is the only one where homeopathy might work, since the immune system will magnify the effects, but I've never heard of that stated before you did. Then I read what you said again - and the immunotherapy theory doesn't apply to other processes, so it isn't an argument for homeopathy working - except via the same mechanism.

[papaver]

My dad started giving his dog vitamins for dogs and it took care of her hot spots. I agree with the booties, too.

Get rid of the Frontline if it's not working, Tulip. It's only making the fleas more resistant. (I use Advantage. Works great, but not for ticks. We rarely find ticks, though.)

Karen

True. My vet is very anti-Frontline.

[Selkie]

We recently went through this with Maeve and Fiona, the grown goldens. Took Fiona to the vet because she was really suffering.

Turns out that it was allergies to the flea bites. I don't like putting chemicals on the girls, so I haven't been using the K-9 Advantix that the vet prescribed. Well, all three got dosed with with as soon as Brian brought Fiona home from the vet. The vet said to use it every 3 weeks during the summer months instead of once a month. In any case, the itching has decreased significantly since we applied the Advantix. No new hot spots and the ones they had are healing. They are much, much more comfortable.

AdvanTIX is much better than Advantage, by the way. They've had ticks, too, and I've removed two attached ticks from myself this summer.

[Norse]

I spoke with our vet last night and she's putting Katy on chlorpheniramine starting today and we are also going to try a prescription anti-itch shampoo. Wearing booties is an interesting idea. She generally does not like it (we put them on her for winter hiking) but she tolerates it.

[papaver]

I spoke with our vet last night and she's putting Katy on chlorpheniramine starting today and we are also going to try a prescription anti-itch shampoo. Wearing booties is an interesting idea. She generally does not like it (we put them on her for winter hiking) but she tolerates it.

If she doesn't tolerate the booties, why not try vaseline? It's worth a try.

[spazzdog]

The problem with Vaseline is the dogs (or cats) lick it off, which is not so good for their digestive system... it is "petroleum" jelly after all.

better to work with the booties... the pooch will get used to them. I still remember my greyhound the 1st few times she wore them - bless her heart, I never laughed so hard in my life. This beautifully elegant creature walking like a clown in big clown shoes

Good luck with your pooch!

[Norse]

I still remember my greyhound the 1st few times she wore them - bless her heart, I never laughed so hard in my life. This beautifully elegant creature walking like a clown in big clown shoes

LOL. When we first put them on Katy, she prances around high-stepping like one of those show horses.

[kermit]

+1 on the booties. I got my JRT these rubber booties called PAWZ off of ebay. Came from some pet supply in NY. They are basically heavy duty balloon type boots but stay on and he can walk in them. I try to put them on him in the a.m. so when he goes out his feet will not get wet. They seem to help, not expensive either.

[indigoiis]

For topical treatment, we use nustock. http://nustock.com/ It smells very old fashioned (like camphor) and is all natural - and takes care of the itchies pronto.

But you do need to address the cause of the itch. And it's usually fleas or mites. And the best way to take care of them is baths.

Frontline works but if it freaks you out, you can rub citronella oil through your dog's coat every couple of days. But that can cause a reaction too.