my poor itchy babies - Page 3

Any head shaking?

Dermatologist...?
Why not try a behaviorist.

Sorry,
no.
Your vet can run tests just fine, or find another vet.
But it's your money.

Seriously,
I'd give another vet a shot at it first.

yes, head shaking started last week, i ask derm, cause vet said he could run deeper test, or refer me to derm, im not interested in payin money in a vet doing some trial and error stuff, and with a logical mind when vet said food allergy, i ditn believe it due to the fact that it affecting both dogs who are from different bloodlines, what r the odds that to totally different dogs have same allergy, unles its an outside influence (pollen, cold weather.......)

I paid a derm vet $700 to misdiagnose a dog with "food allergies" when the real problem was the dog chewed his leg because it was tingling due to a back/neck injury. I had a scraping done to make sure I was on the right track w/the injury. Utterly useless; I should've just skipped that part and went with my gut in the first place. Gorgeous, shiny dog...older dog...zero signs of food allergies but that's the catch-all when they have no freaking clue. I'm with Moons; switch vets, preferably someone older, more down to Earth, country vet if you can find one. Experience over fancy building on this one. 

My female has allergies. The vet (older, experienced vet) says the dog itching both at the mouth and anus are a sure sign of food allergies. Ears often itch too.

She did a skin scraping and tested the ears for mites, at my specific request. Both tests were negative.

Scabies are passed from infected dog to dog. If your dogs have not been in direct contact with other dogs it's probably not scabies. I have heard some insist their dogs got scabies from walking through an area where foxes have been, but I'm not sure I buy that.

Are you or any family members finding little bites  underneath where the clothing fits tight? They will itch like crazy, enough to keep you awake at night. If not, then it's time to rule out fleas and do as I suggested - comb them out and check the debris for flea dirt. Dogs do not have to be covered with fleas to have reactions to their saliva, one or two will do it if the dog is sensitive.

Speaking from experience, a vet dermatologist is money well spent when you can't identify the source of the itching. Switching food is useless unless you are going to make a homemade diet with few ingredients. The dog must only eat that for at least 2 months. Even then it's a big PIA. Dermatology is complicated, leave it to the experts. Food is rarely the culprit although it's hard to convince dog owners (and even some vets) of that. Most spend years switching their dogs from one brand of commercial food to another. Sometimes it helps for a short time, but odds are great the dog is going to be right back at square one in a short time. I know one of the best known dermatologists in the country and he is a very busy guy. Where do you live?

The only other parasite you might look for is something commonly known as "walking dandruff". You can see it on the dog, it looks like dandruff but it moves due to the mites. That is also easily curable with a pesticide. Flea dips will kill scabies and walking dandruff if you don't want to use ivermectin. 2 dogs, both scratching at the same time, really sounds like scabies or flea bite allergies to me.

Moons, I've been using ivermectin pulled out of the bottle with a syringe and squirted in dogs' mouths or onto their food at the advice of many vets since 1982. Never, ever, ever had a problem. It is not dangerous compared to a dog digging at it's ears til they bleed from the inside and the dog cries all nite and day because of pain that won't go away, or the danger of heart worms.
Anyway, that's my advice, and I can tell you from experience using it for the last 31 years, that ivermectin is safe to use.

I've used ivermectin for years too, Joanro. Never any problem. Before that it was caricide to prevent h-worms; every day, what a PIA. Scratching 24/7 is a terrible life for a dog.

A GOOD derm vet is an amazing resource. A not-so-good one is a big waste of money. Do a lot of research before deciding on a derm vet. If this is something that just came up and 2 dogs are affected, I would not think allergies are the culprit. 

I too have used ivermectin straight out of the bottle, squirted into the mouths of my dogs for years, given the idea by a vet. Never had any issues either. Let us know how things go!