My dog has worsening itching, hives, and rashes. Food or environment?

Many dogs like Frank have allergies. They fall into four main categories: fleas, food, thyroid conditions or environmental allergies. The key is to go through and systematically rule out each one. If none of the diets seem to be helping, I would recommend to try a special hydrolyzed protein diet as this is like an elimination diet. If that does not seem to be helping then I would bet Frank does not have food allergies. Make sure Frank is on an oral flea preventative like Comfortis as this will ensure that fleas are not a problem. To determine his thyroid levels he would need a blood test. Lastly environmental allergies can be the most challenging to diagnose and there are many different treatment options available. If his skin is breaking out that bad and oral antihistamines are not helping, take him into the veterinarian for further treatment. I hope Frank's starts feeling better soon.

It's not likely that a high amount of protein is causing the itching. It's possible the itching is related to drier skin, environmental allergy or food allergy. At home you can try giving him an omega 3 fatty acid supplement for pets but it may not correct the underlying cause. This can however improve over all skin health. There are two brands of food, Royal Canin and Nutro, which are aimed at skin health and they may help as well but again, they may not affect the underlying problem. If the itching continues, have Rocky checked by the veterinarian. Also, just so you know, most vets do not recommend to feed a grain free diet due to the potential link with heart disease. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. It is important to establish a diagnosis first in order to give the most effective treatment. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

Poor guy. It sounds like Bruce has skin allergies. Allergic dermatitis can be caused by something in his food or the environment, or both. THe top food allergens are chicken, beef, turkey and lamb, so these protein sources should be avoided. Its best to go with novel proteins such as rabbit, duck, kangaroo, etc. Here is a website link that talks about skin allergies more in detail. https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951973 I would then consider starting a food trial with him with prescription foods from your vet. However, since a food trial can take 2-3 months to show improvement its best to take him to your vet to start allergy medication (i.e. Apoquel, Cytopoint) to help calm his skin down immediately while we try to implement long term management treatments. My top hypoallergenic foods are Royal Canin Rabbit and Potato, Royal Canin ultamino and Hll's Z/D ultra. Best of luck with Bruce and his itchy skin and eyes! Take care.

There are plenty of options, just go to your pet shop and ask for a high quality food without any chicken in it if you think this is the cause, although it is very unlikely to be the cause if all dogs are affected (it's more likely to be an environmental issue).

Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

I'm glad to help you! If the hives have gone, I'd hold off on taking her into a vet, but if they return, do take her in. As for food, she needs a puppy formulated food and since she had a reaction to Royal Canin, I recommend Hill's Science Diet, Purina ProPlan, or Iams. I hope this helps!