Scrach scrach scrach We Need Help!!

Question:
 Hi i have a scottish terrior 2 years old and it seems to me that every once in a while she gets into these scraching fits. She will just scrach till she bleeds. I am going to take her to the vet, I just don't know what to do for her. She is an indoor dog only going out side when she is walked. Everything is the same (food, shampoo, ect.). I was just wondering if anyone has gone threw this kinda thing before? Maybe have some advice to help me help her. Thanks.

Answer:
 What brand of food are you feeding her? What type of treats or bones? Is she on flea prevention?

Answer:
 What brand of food are you feeding her? What type of treats or bones? Is she on flea prevention?
She eats Imas lamb meal and rice formula, snausages about 2 times a day, and hartz advanced care once a month.

Answer:
 First off, Welcome to PF!!
When you described her, the first thing that came to my mind was food allergies, but it could be allergies to other things as well. Allergies require a lot of detective work to figure out what it could be. I start with the food and go from there. Iams has a lot of corn and other fillers which she could be allergic to. It is not the best quality food. Snausages have lots of fillers and food colorings which could also do it. If it was my dog, I would look into a better quality food, with fewer ingredients and eliminate the treats for now. Gradually change over to a new food and keep a journal of her symptoms and what is happening in the home when she is itchy. Did you clean? Write everything she ate,everything. What is the weather? Heat on or AC? All of these things can help you and your vet find a reason and eventually a cure/relief.
It could be an allergy to anything...Febreeze,carpet fresheners,dust mites,laundry detergent,shampoo, etc etc.
Good luck.

Answer:
 First off, Welcome to PF!!
When you described her, the first thing that came to my mind was food allergies, but it could be allergies to other things as well. Allergies require a lot of detective work to figure out what it could be. I start with the food and go from there. Iams has a lot of corn and other fillers which she could be allergic to. It is not the best quality food. Snausages have lots of fillers and food colorings which could also do it. If it was my dog, I would look into a better quality food, with fewer ingredients and eliminate the treats for now. Gradually change over to a new food and keep a journal of her symptoms and what is happening in the home when she is itchy. Did you clean? Write everything she ate,everything. What is the weather? Heat on or AC? All of these things can help you and your vet find a reason and eventually a cure/relief.
It could be an allergy to anything...Febreeze,carpet fresheners,dust mites,laundry detergent,shampoo, etc etc.
Good luck.
Thanks...you know what you just made me think of something...I am a foster mom for a local rescue group..and i am fostering at this time a cat who is very very thin so i keep food out for her all day....but most of the time the dog gets into it and i didn't really think anything of it but this hole scrahing event i belive started about the same time the cat came into our home. I wonder if that could be it?

Answer:
 Welcome to PF. I would suggest you put the cat food up where the dog can't get it. That may also be contributing to the cat being so skinny.
Also, take Sandypaws advice about the better quality food.
There are tons of threads on here about food if you do a search. You can also go to the California Natural website & compare lots of brands. Another thing to think about is any food or treat that is soft like the snaussages is loaded with salt, sugar & preservatives.
Betcha see a difference.

Answer:
 Almost all the terrier breeds have significant problems with allergies, atopy and other related skin conditions. About 70-80% of the dogs we get in our rescue have a skin condition and/or atopy. Our protocol typically consists of:
(1) Changing to a very simple kibble (CA Natural, Wellness Simple Solutions, etc.) OR a raw diet. Personally, I've seen the fastest results in my own dogs and rescues on raw. Get the cat food up and get rid of the snausage treats; they are filled with dyes and preservatives that can exaccerbate the itching.
(2) Stop the cycle of the itch. Address any parasite issues (fleas, etc.) if present and then medicate to stop the itch. Ask your vet how. Best results are often obtained by using antihistamines in conjunction with EFA capsules or liquids. Your goal is to stop 90% of the itching 90% of the time. Your vet should be able to find numerous veterinary journal articles on this treatment. Some of them are referenced here:
http://www.labbies.com/atopy.htm
Cortisteroids are sometimes needed for a short time to stop the cycle, but I really don't like using them unless absolutely necessary because they further impact the immune system.
(3) Address any secondary infections (ie: bacterial, fungal, etc.) with Rx medication or medicated shampoos. Don't use anything other than a medicated shampoo or otherwise bathe your dog. Overbathing is part of the problem.
(4) Stop clippering and overbathing your dog. Strip the dog down by hand over a period of 4 weeks to get the soft undercoat off the dog and help the sebaceous glands normalize. This is critical to getting a Scotty or other hard coated dog's skin normalized... they need the undercoat OFF and the hard coat to grow out.
(5) Address any potential environmental allergens... ie: pollen, dust, fragrances. Wash bedding weekly. Do not use heavily scented detergents or any fabric softener. Run through the rinse cycle twice. Vacuum regularly. Change your furnace filters. Rinse paws after the dog goes outside... these are just a few of the things you can do to address enviromental allergens.
We do allergy testing only when the above protocol provides no or little improvement, as that usually points to more allergens/irritants than we can typically address through diet, grooming, and environmental cleaning. Those dogs typically require desensitization shots, because their allergies are just too bad and their immune system is too blown to address any other way.
HTH. Please let me know if you need additional information.

Answer:
 Almost all the terrier breeds have significant problems with allergies, atopy and other related skin conditions. About 70-80% of the dogs we get in our rescue have a skin condition and/or atopy. Our protocol typically consists of:
(1) Changing to a very simple kibble (CA Natural, Wellness Simple Solutions, etc.) OR a raw diet. Personally, I've seen the fastest results in my own dogs and rescues on raw. Get the cat food up and get rid of the snausage treats; they are filled with dyes and preservatives that can exaccerbate the itching.
(2) Stop the cycle of the itch. Address any parasite issues (fleas, etc.) if present and then medicate to stop the itch. Ask your vet how. Best results are often obtained by using antihistamines in conjunction with EFA capsules or liquids. Your goal is to stop 90% of the itching 90% of the time. Your vet should be able to find numerous veterinary journal articles on this treatment. Some of them are referenced here:
http://www.labbies.com/atopy.htm
Cortisteroids are sometimes needed for a short time to stop the cycle, but I really don't like using them unless absolutely necessary because they further impact the immune system.
(3) Address any secondary infections (ie: bacterial, fungal, etc.) with Rx medication or medicated shampoos. Don't use anything other than a medicated shampoo or otherwise bathe your dog. Overbathing is part of the problem.
(4) Stop clippering and overbathing your dog. Strip the dog down by hand over a period of 4 weeks to get the soft undercoat off the dog and help the sebaceous glands normalize. This is critical to getting a Scotty or other hard coated dog's skin normalized... they need the undercoat OFF and the hard coat to grow out.
(5) Address any potential environmental allergens... ie: pollen, dust, fragrances. Wash bedding weekly. Do not use heavily scented detergents or any fabric softener. Run through the rinse cycle twice. Vacuum regularly. Change your furnace filters. Rinse paws after the dog goes outside... these are just a few of the things you can do to address enviromental allergens.
We do allergy testing only when the above protocol provides no or little improvement, as that usually points to more allergens/irritants than we can typically address through diet, grooming, and environmental cleaning. Those dogs typically require desensitization shots, because their allergies are just too bad and their immune system is too blown to address any other way.
HTH. Please let me know if you need additional information.
thanks for your help. I do have a couple questions for you....what is a raw diet? strip the dog by hand?
well i took my dog to the vet the next day the vet said she had never seen anything like it. she shaved, cleaned, and tested her. Then sent her home with meds she is getting better as far as the scraching goes. She is still not her selfbut the dr said that is b/c of the meds. I am going to switch her to a better food. so well see what happends.