Hi everyone,
I have a Rottwieler female that has started scratching excessively, she does not have fleas and her coat looks healthy and shiny. She has chewed herself raw in her hind end a few months ago, at that point I wormed her, hesitantly but she is on a horse farm eating poop. It did help and she left that spot alone. She was still itching but not one spot getting raw, when I give her a bath she gets much worse, this time she scratched herself raw on her belly. The vets that have seen her just want to surpress it, I haven't done this for obvious reasons, I feel so bad for her being itchy all the time. I have questioned if it isn't behavioural since we just moved out of state and we lost our saint bernard (the rott's best friend) but the fact that it gets worse after a bath indicates it isn't. I have also tried Vita-derm scratch relief (liquid feed supplement) by Vetrinarians best natural care with no change. Any input would be most appreciated.
Thanks
Kim

Hi Kim, What is the dog eating other than poop (which incidently wouldn't be a problem)? It could be a reaction to foods, if you aren't feeding a natural raw diet, that would be my 1st suggestion. If you are interested in treating the area homeopathically, please list exactly what it looks like (dry, moist, scaly, colour etc) and what makes it worse or better, any info you can think of. Once posted, perhaps Dr. Leela or the others may have a suggestion for you.

I have changed her diet, she was on Diamond maintenance, then I switched to California natural, it didn't make a difference. Right now the spot she has is red and dry,unless she really scratches it, then it's moist, raw and yellow, that's what the spot on her hind end looked like before I wormed her. I mentioned her eating horse poop because she would have to pick up some worms from it, that's why I wormed her. Again, giving her a bath really makes her worse, that's about the only thing that makes a difference either way. Also, after I wormed her she got much worse as far as scratching but then got a little better (still itching but not makes one place raw)
thanks for any help,

Kim

Hi Kim, I don't know what those diets are but I suspect they are commercially preparred and as such contain preservatives and "mystery meats" (if any). What I would suggest is a raw diet constisting of meaty bones, veggies and fruits, no grains. In this way you have absolute control in knowing exactly what the dog eats and knowing its human grade and a trusted source.

Parasites are part of life, most dogs and cats don't have a problem keeping them in check. Frequent worming can sometimes be a problem because worming agents contain toxins to kill the parasites. I'm not sure what kind of worms horses carry, although I read they can shed samonella, which again I wouldn't worry about because the digestive tracts of dogs and cats are designed to handle most bacterias just fine.

Does she get more than one spot at a time? Hows the eating, drinking and voiding? Physical appearance of dog (overweight, too skinny?). Always hot or cool, likes to be touched or not? Ears, any build up or discharge? Nose, teeth, mouth? Any other complaints or past problems?

Hi Kim, The dog may very well had worms and the wormer may have been helpful to her. If other disease takes away from the over all health, the body becomes a wonderful opportunity to parisites. I see this often with flea infestation in cats (if they are sick with something else, they soon become infested with fleas).

I don't know exactly where the current spot is on the dog, but given a possible "grief stress",thinness, better for petting (external pressure on head), itchiness all over the body, special attention to the anus, worse for wet and cold, that sulphur may be a beneficial remedy for the dog. However sepia also comes up (especially with the belly thing). What about her genitals?

I see that Dr.Leela is on line, hopefully she will see this post and lend her expertise. I study homeopathy quite informally and only practice on my own animals or our shelter animals and I'm certainly not comfortable (nor do I feel qualified)to tell you what to give, so please wait for confirmation from someone else.

As for meaty bones, they are bones with meat on them. Chicken backs are easy to start out with because the raw chicken bones are extremely soft to chew. For more info and ideas, check out barfworld.com

Hi Krista,
The food I mentioned is commercially prepared but using natural ingredients with no preservatives or mystery meat. However still commercial, I will switch to human grade food. When you say meaty bones, what do you mean?
I agree with you on parasites staying in check, I rarely worm my horses unless I get a positive fecal. Any idea why worming her stopped her chewing her hind end?

She does not usually have more than one spot at a time although she itches everywhere. I forgot to mention her muzzle, before I wormed her she would itch them raw on both sides, to the point of bleeding, regularly. This too got better after I wormed her and she left it alone for a month or so, now she has started the same thing on the left side although not nearly as aggressively as before.
Eating, drinking, voiding fine
A little thin but still looks good. Loves to be touched and pet. Ears fine as well as teeth, nose, mouth. She has arthritis in her right elbow, it bothers her when it gets really cold.
Thanks for your help!

Kim