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I have a longhaired dachund female about 8 years

Sent to Dog Experts July 08 08:25 PM

I have a longhaired dachund female about 8 years old.We have had a problem with her
coat all the time we have had her, her four legs seem to shed its hair and also she has
an area of scale. we have had her to a dog dematologist to no avail. A recent exam also'
shows she has a thyroid porblem and we have pills for it but I don't believe they are helping. Her skin problem is not mange.she is constantly scratching and chewing her paws.

Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Answer
July 8 9:24 PM (59 minutes and 15 seconds later)
         
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The most common cause of these crazy skin problems is allergies, especially with some breeds. These allergies could be from grass, contact with a cleaner or chemical or could even be food related. The allergy part is sometimes tough to treat but there are some simple things that you can do.

  1. Talk with your vet about a low allergy diet. Rabbit and potato is my favorite and my dogs do well on it.
  2. Get the dog started on frontline to eliminate the chance that this is a flea allergy. If he's already on it, keep in mind that it only takes ONE flea to get the cycle started if the dog is allergic to fleas.
  3. Use a prescribed dose of benadryl when this gets bad. My vet recommends up to 2 mg per lb of dog given every 8-12 hours as needed when the itching starts

When the dog abrades the skin by chewing and scratching, this opens up the body to infection. Many dogs need antibiotics because of this.

See the vet so that they can get the dog started on antibiotics if you suspect this.

Many dogs also need a shot of prednisone to control the itch and give the skin time to heal.

The only thing that will give her immediate relief is the benadryl.

I hope this helps!

Let me know if you still have questions.

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