Jill (West Long Branch, Nj) on 02/16/2010
Re: itchy skin dogs and cats
I was wondering if the Apple Cider Vinegar sprayed on the animals burns. It has got to hurt if the skin is raw. Also, organic coconut oil works great. Most times it is the food they are allergic too. After reading these sites I switched food and the fur on both my German Sheppards and 8 cats all changed for the better. My fat cats lost weight and look great.
My friends dog was scratching himself to death. She changed foods 4 times,, but each time it was another garbage type
food.
You must see:
http://www.petfoodratings.net/
http://www.consumersearch.com/cat-food/reviews
Deirdre (Earth Clinic) on 09/13/2009
I have 3 dogs and took my 15 year old dog, Max, whom I've written about numerous times on this site, to a holistic vet in July. Because he was going #2 every 3-4 hours, the vet advised me to take him off his senior food and put him on another brand of food with less fiber. I slowly switched Max to another holistic brand. Well, changing to a new brand of food cured Max of his constant bowel movements, but within a few days, one of my other dogs, Tuxy, whom I also switched over to the new food, started itching and scratching. Within a week he was itching and scratching like no tomorrow: morning, afternoon, evening, middle of the night, scratch scratch scratch, bite bite bite. Poor boy! I surmised pretty quickly that the new brand of food was causing his new itchy skin issue, as I found no sign of fleas on him when I used the flea comb. What eased the scratching but did not solve the problem was to add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to Tuxy's evening food and a small clove of garlic mashed up just once every few days. I also bathed him and finished the bath with an oatmeal rinse. I put 1/2 cup of instant oats in a Bodum pot (the kind that pushes the coffee grounds down to the bottom) and then filled up the rest of the Bodum with hot water and let it sit while I was shampooing him. Once I rinsed off the shampoo, I poured the oatmeal water over him and did not wash it off. I could tell he was feeling pretty good after that and the scratching stopped for about a day.
At any rate, I ordered Tuxy's old brand of food online and just got it delivered yesterday. Amazingly enough, he has almost stopped scratching after only 1 day back on his old food!! So I am guessing he had either a yeast overgrowth or allergies in connection to the new food. Isn't it interesting that he started to scratch right away on the new food and stopped scratching just as fast on the old food?!
If your dog has skin allergies or yeast issues, consider that their food may be the culprit!