Itchy Annie: Part, I've lost count

     Remember a month ago when Annie and Paul were put on Comfortis to keep fleas off of them?  (City dwellers who are jealous of yards, be happy you don't have to worry about fleas in said yard)  Well, a month later, we're still on Comfortis.  Annie is also on 2 other anti itch, antihistamine meds that have her consuming water like crazy.

     She's not horribly sick by any means, but wow, can she itch when she's not on these.  The amazing thing is, once we've cut back from teh 3 pills twice a day to 1 pill once a day with a plane Clariton, she almost totally stops itching.  She still nibbles on her paws, so we wipe them down with baby wipes.
     However, for the first time ever, Annie's not itching and scratching like crazy.  And before anyone lights my ears up (so to speak) please know she was our first dog.  I just always assumed that all dogs itched this much.

     What we are down to now: 1 pill of an antihistamine with a steroid once a day, 1 Clariton, wiping down paws after each trip into the yard, and cleaning out her ears each week (with gauze pads instead of  cotton balls)
   

The Saga of the Itchy Annie: Flees

Monday Night

     On Monday, I had to go to my first training of the school year (CPI certified!).  By the time I got home that night, Annie had removed 2 square inches from her backside.  She's always been itchy since we first got her, but she's never removed her own fur.  Upon closer examination, we noticed a bug bite on her back.  I did our monthly treatment of K9 Advantix.  Benadryl and some calamine lotion was all we thought we needed to help Annie out.

    On Tuesday, I went in for my 2nd day of training and once again returned home to find Annie had taken another square inch of fur off her backside.  Now the anxiety set in hard core.  Benadryl had usually done the trick in the past for taking the edge off, but this was a new one on me.  I started the hardcore freak out of thinking of everything that could be wrong with my dog.  Mange, separation anxiety, flee infestation, and allergy testing started rolling in my head and into my search results, knowing we didn't have the money for anything major to treat.  Melvin's Mom calmed me by telling me stories of what she's had to do for Melvin.

Wednesday Morning.

     Wednesday morning, while lying in bed with Annie scratching her, I found another flee.  "Great!" I thought, "The flees are laughing at me!"  I quickly got Annie off of our bed, closed the door, and called the vet.  I only wanted to know if I put Advantix on Annie on Monday night, if it was too soon to do another round of it.  I only got half way through the question when Gina the receptionist/vet teck stopped me and said that they were being overrun by flees this year.  (If you live in Virginia, here's another reason to hate all of the rain.  The flees are having a field day right now!)  She said that there was a prescription for a pill that would kill the flees as soon as they bit Annie or Paul.  And for the same price I pay for their monthly does of Advantix!  Since we had been in for Paul's yearly exam just a few weeks ago, we didn't need an appointment!  The anxiety stopped and I started the search for how to get rid of flees.

     I started the cleaning process.  Dog blankets, linens, our bed stuff, area rugs, and anything else I could wash was tossed into the wash and then the dryer.  All mattresses and box springs have been encased in vinyl.  I vacuumed the couch, recliners, and office chair.  Anything that can't be washed that Annie and Paul adore has been double bagged and is now sitting in the garage for a month just waiting (dog beds too big to be washed, toys, and pillows).    Aunt Karen stopped by to confirm that it was a flee bite, and noticed that Annie had a bit of a rash where she was taking the fur out.  Annie's skin is actulay black and white spotted (think Dalmatian fur as her skin.) so trying to see any abnormalities on her skin can get tricky.

     When we went into the vet, I brought Annie and Paul along.  (Double trouble as they're called) Gina pulled up our charts, took out the meds and patiently waited while I pointed out the fur that Annie had removed and commented on how she had never done that.  I also commented how 3 tabs of Benadryl twice a day wasn't helping either.  Dr Bunting was consulted and Annie got a mini vet visit in the lobby (free!) along with a steroid/antihistamine combo prescription.  She also said to switch from Benadryl to Claritin.  (60lbs dog get's 10 mg once a day).  For the first time ever, we got out of the vet paying less than $100!

     We got home, dug 2 spoons into the peanut butter, broke down the Comfortis (the big pills above), added in a vitamin e supplement,  Annie got her new prescription and within 20 minutes, both were both fast asleep on the couch.  Annie snored blissfully.  It's now Friday, and for the most part, Annie hasn't itched since Wednesday.  She normally does the lizard Anne when she get's her back scratched.  That's not even happening now.  Slowly, the fur is starting to grow back in on her butt.  Life is returning to normal.

Itchy Annie

     Yep, it's that time of year again.  The sun is out, I'm away from school, the grass is growing, the humidity is through the roof, and Annie is allergic to whatever the heck is in the air.

     The food we fed her had to be switched around because the Purina Pro Plan we were feeding them has been discontinued.  So the switch has been made to:

   With no corn, wheat, soy, artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives, it's a good alternative to what we had been feeding her.  We're pretty sure she's not allergic to chicken on it's own because she doesn't seem to have any problems when she gets chicken with a bland diet.  But still in the summer time, she continues to itch.  

     Annie and Paul get 2 bathroom breaks and 2 walks a day.  After each one, Annie has her paws and legs wiped down with baby wipes.  I've washed both collars, leashes, bedding, and vacuumed.  Annie and Paul are both being bathed about once a month (trying not to dry out their skin.)  

     And the itch goes on.....

     Anyone out there have any more ideas of how to slow down the itch?

Annie Itches: the Ahha! Moment

      When I started this blog, almost a year ago, one of the things I commented on was that Annie itches.  We were just coming out of the winter of 2011-12 where it was really mild.  Annie had been itching for over a year straight.  We had tried several different foods, switched to raw, switched back to no grain dry kibble.  Nothing seemed to help.
   

I'm itchy, so I'm getting a bath.  Woe is me.

     And then, this past winter, I had my "AHHA!!!"  moment.  We finally got snow.  Not enough to cancel school, but enough that we had snow (about an inch).  We took Annie and Paul on a walk like we always do, and it dawned on me at the end of the walk: Annie's not itching.

Cold paws, but not itching!

     And it suddenly didn't matter that we were feeding Annie all sorts of stuff with wheat in it Milk Bone any one?), she wasn't scratching at all.  Her ears weren't full of brown ear wax, and she was generally happier.

     Now that spring is here in VA, we're back to an itchy Anne.  Back to the Benadryl, but at least now we have a clue as to what's causing Annie to itch.