Itchy paws, dark skin and itchy ears

#1 · March 25, 2022, 3:30 pm

My dog is no stranger to allergies of all kinds we know for sure he's allergic to fleas grass, grains and poultry. I've found he also struggles with digesting beef, pork and kangaroo. He won't eat lamb he doesn't like the smell and will avoid his food if it is mixed in. So after a dozen trips to the vet and thousands of dollars spent on emergency vet trips and different foods I really want to try and solve his issues without going to the vet. We started feeding him 6 fish about a month ago and it's the only thing that has given us solid (kind of) stool. It's still loose but there is no blood which is a big improvement for him. But now that he's on 6 fish Orijen food his physical allergies have increased. He's itchy constantly and is literally pulling his skin off of his paws now! His stomach has also become a really dark color his skin is almost black when it used to be a pink color. And to top things off I bought Acana freeze dried mackeral treats and they made him SO sick. He was vomiting and he had diarrhea, the food he has now contains a good amount of mackeral so I'm nervous that he has an allergy to that. I'm having a hard time finding a food that could meet his needs because of his other allergies. It needs to be fish based, grain free, potato free and it can't have any starches. He's also prone to yeast infections on his paws and in his ears so it's crucial that it is potato and starch free I can't imagine making him itchier the poor guy has already been through so much these last few months.

#2 · March 25, 2022, 3:30 pm

Hello there,
What a frustrating ordeal this sounds like! Allergies can be really challenging especially when an exact culprit cannot be found or too many triggers are causing the problem. Just wondering, has your dog ever had a thyroid level check? Just pointing that out because some skin issues such as itchiness and skin color changes can be due to thyroid problems. However, skin color changes are also seen with chronic inflammations in the skin. Since your dog has many skin issues, it may be worthy to see a veterinary nutritionist who can recommend you a custom-tailored diet that meets his specific needs. I know that you don't want to see a vet, but it could be that one appointment that could help you find something that he may better tolerate. Most dry kibble has some type of starch in it, because that's what keeps its shape. Without any type of carb/starch to put the ingredients together, we would be buying a bag of "crumbs." Just imagine making cookies with no flour or starch.

#3 · March 25, 2022, 3:32 pm

Quote from dragondawg on March 25, 2022, 3:32 pm

Quote from missylovesdogs on March 25, 2022, 3:30 pm

My dog is no stranger to allergies of all kinds we know for sure he's allergic to fleas grass, grains and poultry. I've found he also struggles with digesting beef, pork and kangaroo. He won't eat lamb he doesn't like the smell and will avoid his food if it is mixed in. So after a dozen trips to the vet and thousands of dollars spent on emergency vet trips and different foods I really want to try and solve his issues without going to the vet. We started feeding him 6 fish about a month ago and it's the only thing that has given us solid (kind of) stool. It's still loose but there is no blood which is a big improvement for him. But now that he's on 6 fish Orijen food his physical allergies have increased. He's itchy constantly and is literally pulling his skin off of his paws now! His stomach has also become a really dark color his skin is almost black when it used to be a pink color. And to top things off I bought Acana freeze dried mackeral treats and they made him SO sick. He was vomiting and he had diarrhea, the food he has now contains a good amount of mackeral so I'm nervous that he has an allergy to that. I'm having a hard time finding a food that could meet his needs because of his other allergies. It needs to be fish based, grain free, potato free and it can't have any starches. He's also prone to yeast infections on his paws and in his ears so it's crucial that it is potato and starch free I can't imagine making him itchier the poor guy has already been through so much these last few months.

Kangaroo???

You need to get a referral to a Vet internal medicine specialist. A hormonal imbalance (e.g. low cortisol, low thyroid) is the leading candidate for all the symptoms you have seen. Even if you had a previous thyroid test run, an internal medicine specialist would probably want to repeat, including tests for cortisol, estrogen, and IgA (e.g. low levels cause mal-absorption of any oral steroids).

The hormonal imbalance is treated by injections of thyroid, and steroids. Afterwards, when a normal balance is restored, there is still one hitch - all previous foods the dog developed an allergy to, the dog will remain allergic to. The immune cells will remember, and react. Thus, as you keep switching from one food source to the next, you could end up with a situation, where the dog becomes allergic to all of the different protein food sources. Even after resolving the underlying cause. So it's important to correct the underlying cause, before you run out of foods not previously tried. It sounds like you are fast approaching that state.

Here's a very good article by a Vet with a lot of endocrine detail, and discussion.

http://drplechner.com/allergic-dermatiti...in-3-dogs/

While waiting to get to a Vet internal medicine specialist, you might try high doses of Benedryl (consult with your Vet on dosage). As the article points out, it may help just by making the dog too lethargic to scratch. Possibly allow you to apply prescription Ottomax, or Panalog to the paws, without the dog licking it off immediately.

Quote from missylovesdogs on March 25, 2022, 3:30 pm

My dog is no stranger to allergies of all kinds we know for sure he's allergic to fleas grass, grains and poultry. I've found he also struggles with digesting beef, pork and kangaroo. He won't eat lamb he doesn't like the smell and will avoid his food if it is mixed in. So after a dozen trips to the vet and thousands of dollars spent on emergency vet trips and different foods I really want to try and solve his issues without going to the vet. We started feeding him 6 fish about a month ago and it's the only thing that has given us solid (kind of) stool. It's still loose but there is no blood which is a big improvement for him. But now that he's on 6 fish Orijen food his physical allergies have increased. He's itchy constantly and is literally pulling his skin off of his paws now! His stomach has also become a really dark color his skin is almost black when it used to be a pink color. And to top things off I bought Acana freeze dried mackeral treats and they made him SO sick. He was vomiting and he had diarrhea, the food he has now contains a good amount of mackeral so I'm nervous that he has an allergy to that. I'm having a hard time finding a food that could meet his needs because of his other allergies. It needs to be fish based, grain free, potato free and it can't have any starches. He's also prone to yeast infections on his paws and in his ears so it's crucial that it is potato and starch free I can't imagine making him itchier the poor guy has already been through so much these last few months.

Kangaroo???

You need to get a referral to a Vet internal medicine specialist. A hormonal imbalance (e.g. low cortisol, low thyroid) is the leading candidate for all the symptoms you have seen. Even if you had a previous thyroid test run, an internal medicine specialist would probably want to repeat, including tests for cortisol, estrogen, and IgA (e.g. low levels cause mal-absorption of any oral steroids).

The hormonal imbalance is treated by injections of thyroid, and steroids. Afterwards, when a normal balance is restored, there is still one hitch - all previous foods the dog developed an allergy to, the dog will remain allergic to. The immune cells will remember, and react. Thus, as you keep switching from one food source to the next, you could end up with a situation, where the dog becomes allergic to all of the different protein food sources. Even after resolving the underlying cause. So it's important to correct the underlying cause, before you run out of foods not previously tried. It sounds like you are fast approaching that state.

Here's a very good article by a Vet with a lot of endocrine detail, and discussion.

http://drplechner.com/allergic-dermatiti...in-3-dogs/

While waiting to get to a Vet internal medicine specialist, you might try high doses of Benedryl (consult with your Vet on dosage). As the article points out, it may help just by making the dog too lethargic to scratch. Possibly allow you to apply prescription Ottomax, or Panalog to the paws, without the dog licking it off immediately.