My poor puppy has eczema.

r710

Poor thing. My lab (year old) started scratching and nibbling her paws incessantly and our vet first diagnosed fox mange. She was treated for this, but after the course of anti-biotics she was no better. She has since had many skin scraping tests and was eventually referred to a dermatologist. It transpires she has atopic dermatitis and is allergic to house dustmites, a storage mite which can live in the dry dog food, feathers and moulds.

Atopy means that the dog has an inherited predisposition to develop anti bodies against environmental allergens. The dermatologist said that it is very common amongst labradors and golden retrievers. The Royal Vetrinary College is doing a genetic analysis and we were asked to allow our dog to participate.

May be something to bear in mind if other treatment doesn't work. My dog is now on steroids whilst they develop some injection for her, piriton, a prescrpition diet, has to be bathed 2-3 times a week in special shampoo. Hopefully your dogs scratching may improve with a different diet - just thought I'd share our experience. Had it been pointed out to me, I could have saved my dog from discomfort sooner.