What Can I Do To Stop Itching?
Q My name is Katie Bear. I am 1 1/2 year old female chow, and I love to play. I live with my mom and dad in a one-bedroom apartment. I have lived here ever since I was 4 weeks old.
I run around the house, jump up and down on the couch and the bed. When my mom and dad go to work I sit outside on the balcony and watch cars and people go by. I get to go out twice a day for a walk, and sometimes I meet my friend, Huey. He is a huge collie whose big tail always gets in my way.
Anyway, I have one big problem. I itch my legs a lot, now my hands, and my inner thighs go bald. My both knees have bald spots, because I constantly itch and bite them. My dad gives me bath using flea shampoo and dip a couple times a month. It helps me a little, but only for a day or so. We went to see doctors a couple times, and they have given me shots and medicines. All those help only temporarily. My dad even got some spray and sprayed me whenever I itched. It only get my pretty red coat wet! Now my toes are getting bald, too. My dad screams when he sees me biting my toes. What can I do to stop this itching??
Please help!!!
AIt sounds like you have bad hot spots. If it's hot spots then all you can do is sooth it and keep it clean and flea free. This is very normal for some Chow's. Start out with putting baby powder all around the sore areas. This will help sooth the itching. Have you bombed your house for flees and mites? Dipping and flea washing is great, but if the home and outdoors are infested it does no good. You should bomb the house and dip her at the same time while the bomb is running. If you have a yard or larger property you can call pest control and let them know your problem and they can do a flea spray around the property outside.
Another possibility is that all of the soap for the baths is not being thoroughly rinsed. As soap dries up it becomes extremely irritable, and you will see lots of itching. Don't confuse this with the dip; dips should be left to dry off naturally with out a towel. Have you switched shampoos? This might be a possibility; maybe she is allergic to some ingredients.
AI wish to reply to the problem of itching and scratching off of hair in chows. My daughter has an eight-year-old spayed female. For the past couple of years she has scratched all the hair off around her tail and hindquarters. Our vet first suggested a flea allergy. We tried treating everything--dog, car, house, dog bed, etc. She smelled bad and her skin was red and scaly. Her fur felt rough. Nothing much seemed to help. She began to have trouble with her joints as well. The vet gave her a medication consisting of natural vitamins, etc. and put her on a diet of rice and lamb dry food. No beef products, not even chew bones. All of her hair has regrown and she runs around like a puppy now! Perhaps this would help some of the other chows.
The medication I mentioned is named Glyco-flex manufactured by Vetri-Science. Sensible Choice manufactures the lamb and rice dog food.
