Itchy dog- food intolerance?

[flower1]

One step forward and two step back  Toby had been off the beet pulp and wheat for about a week and been very happy and less itchy. Then last night, back to the usual itching levels. Going to persevere and get some more salmon oil or viacutan to try.

[john51]

One step forward and two step back

From what I can make out that's a pretty good summary of trying to sort out allergies.    

Perhaps more for JennyBee at the moment, because you are working on the assumption that food is the issue with Toby, but here is the reference to a good overview of current thinking on the treatment of atopic dermatitis in dogs. I have to say that it does not find any evidence that EFA supplementation on its own is effective for the treatment of atopy but does say there is evidence for its ability to reduce the amount of other drugs required to control it. We do give Lenny weekly baths which is recommended in the paper.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-3164.2010.00889.x/pdf

Lenny is certainly not as bad a case as the dogs shown in the paper but now I have stopped the treatment with steroid ear drops ready for the review with the vet, one of his ears is starting to become much waxier again. I hope we don't return to the stage of ear infection.

[flower1]

In a way, him being itchier has made me sure I didn't imagine the improvement.

Have you had any experience of dermoscent? I know somebody with a collie with a more severe skin problem that has used it in conjunction with a change of diet and it has made a big difference. I'm slightly cautious about adding extra calories and fats to his diet because we have lost cockers to pancreatitis so this seems like an option. Possibly for Brodie too?

Also going to start a diary with what he's eaten, where he has been etc to see if we can spot a link and stop my dad from cheating. (he swears he hasn't)

If the diet doesn't help, I'm going to get in touch with his breeder. They still have his dad and grandma so may be able to suggest if there is anything hereditary.

[john51]

The diary sounds like a good idea. I'd not heard of dermoscent so looked it up. It's distributor, Vet Direct, seems to promote it as a "dermo-cosmetic" to improve the smell and feel of an animal (?)

http://www.vet-direct.com/default.php?sid=VD-3007-4318-3748&nulllayer2n3=1&sessiontag=layer1select&data=5743

but there is also a document which claims to describe the rationale for therapeutic benefit. Unfortunately, it is not backed by trial results and, for various reasons, does not give me much confidence.

http://www.aventix.ca/pdfs/ldca/Dermoscent%20Technical%20report-Dr.%20R.%20Butler,%20Guelph%20AH.pdf

It may help in some circumstances so only you can decide whether you want to try it. As you know, it is very difficult to work out whether something has a real effect or is a just a temporary change in the condition of the dog. That's one of the reasons testimonials are not a great indicator of whether a product works or not.

Good luck whatever you decide.