after bathing my 4 y.o. pug and putting moisturizer on her skin, she
still licks at her paws, scratches her rear end on carpet and barks at
me to scratch her. I've read tons of info about allergies and how does
one find out how to help a suffering pet without tying up a bundle in
vet.bills? I recently changed her from dry dog ood to canned/pouches
and eliminated buying any with beef products as I read allergies to beef
is common in pugs. Her scratching &biting is not only bothering her but
us in house too.....

after bathing my 4 y.o. pug and putting moisturizer on her skin, she
still licks at her paws, scratches her rear end on carpet and barks at
me to scratch her.

What kind of moisturizer? Most moisturizers for people have ingredients in
them that are irritating to pets and shouldn't be put on irritated skin.

I've read tons of info about allergies and how does
one find out how to help a suffering pet without tying up a bundle in
vet.bills?

If your dog is suffering from itching you should really at least have a
physical exam/consultation done. Can't diagnose over the internet and the
causes could be numerous.

I recently changed her from dry dog ood to canned/pouches
and eliminated buying any with beef products as I read allergies to beef
is common in pugs.

*IF* it is caused by food allergies it's rare that it is caused by just one
food source. You would have to change to a prescription food such as Hills
Z/D and cut out everything else, treats too. Nothing but the Z/D. Relief (if
food allergies are the sole cause) may take 4-8 weeks to be obvious.

But please, get this pooch some professional relief. It could be a
combination of environmental and food allergies or something else.

-Sharon

after bathing my 4 y.o. pug and putting moisturizer on her skin, she
still licks at her paws, scratches her rear end on carpet and barks at
me to scratch her.

What kind of moisturizer? Most moisturizers for people have ingredients in
them that are irritating to pets and shouldn't be put on irritated skin.

I've read tons of info about allergies and how does
one find out how to help a suffering pet without tying up a bundle in
vet.bills?

If your dog is suffering from itching you should really at least have a
physical exam/consultation done. Can't diagnose over the internet and the
causes could be numerous.

I recently changed her from dry dog ood to canned/pouches
and eliminated buying any with beef products as I read allergies to beef
is common in pugs.

*IF* it is caused by food allergies it's rare that it is caused by just one
food source. You would have to change to a prescription food such as Hills
Z/D and cut out everything else, treats too. Nothing but the Z/D. Relief (if
food allergies are the sole cause) may take 4-8 weeks to be obvious.

But please, get this pooch some professional relief. It could be a
combination of environmental and food allergies or something else.

-Sharon

"Sharon too" wrote in message
...
*IF* it is caused by food allergies it's rare that it is caused by just
one
food source. You would have to change to a prescription food such as Hills
Z/D and cut out everything else, treats too. Nothing but the Z/D. Relief
(if
food allergies are the sole cause) may take 4-8 weeks to be obvious.

you can also use any other high quality "hypo allergenic" or low allergenic
diet. it's not necessary to buy expensive prescription food from your vet
if you don't want to.

some good choices a

california natural (comes in chicken and rice or lamb and rice)
wellness fish and potato
wysong anergen
precise sensicare

there are a lot more, you just have to look for them. most will have one
protien source and one main carb source. wellness may be good for a pug
because the kibbles are smaller, but that's probably up to your dog. :-)

i have two allergy prone dogs, and i feed california natural with very good
results. i supplement their food with salmon oil, which helps relieve dry,
itchy skin, and makes their coat really soft. i also bathe them in oatmeal
shampoo, which is soothing for their skin.

keep in mind that this is also a bad time for inhalant allergies, so if it
started in the last month or so, that may be a factor in the itching.

good luck...

-kelly

"Sharon too" wrote in message
...
*IF* it is caused by food allergies it's rare that it is caused by just
one
food source. You would have to change to a prescription food such as Hills
Z/D and cut out everything else, treats too. Nothing but the Z/D. Relief
(if
food allergies are the sole cause) may take 4-8 weeks to be obvious.

you can also use any other high quality "hypo allergenic" or low allergenic
diet. it's not necessary to buy expensive prescription food from your vet
if you don't want to.

some good choices a

california natural (comes in chicken and rice or lamb and rice)
wellness fish and potato
wysong anergen
precise sensicare

there are a lot more, you just have to look for them. most will have one
protien source and one main carb source. wellness may be good for a pug
because the kibbles are smaller, but that's probably up to your dog. :-)

i have two allergy prone dogs, and i feed california natural with very good
results. i supplement their food with salmon oil, which helps relieve dry,
itchy skin, and makes their coat really soft. i also bathe them in oatmeal
shampoo, which is soothing for their skin.

keep in mind that this is also a bad time for inhalant allergies, so if it
started in the last month or so, that may be a factor in the itching.

good luck...

-kelly

. You would have to change to a prescription food such as Hills
Z/D and cut out everything else, treats too. Nothing but the Z/D. Relief
(if
food allergies are the sole cause) may take 4-8 weeks to be obvious.

you can also use any other high quality "hypo allergenic" or low allergenic
diet. it's not necessary to buy expensive prescription food from your vet
if you don't want to.

some good choices a

california natural (comes in chicken and rice or lamb and rice)
wellness fish and potato
wysong anergen
precise sensicare

The problem w/ those foods is that the dog could develop a reaction and/or
become sensitized to those protein sources as well. Hill's z/d uses a protein
hydrolizate that is too small for the immune system to react to. That's why it
is best to go to your vet to see what they recommend rather than to
"self-diagnose". However, Kelly is anti-Hill's so it's not surprising to me
that she would not want this to be an option.

. You would have to change to a prescription food such as Hills
Z/D and cut out everything else, treats too. Nothing but the Z/D. Relief
(if
food allergies are the sole cause) may take 4-8 weeks to be obvious.

you can also use any other high quality "hypo allergenic" or low allergenic
diet. it's not necessary to buy expensive prescription food from your vet
if you don't want to.

some good choices a

california natural (comes in chicken and rice or lamb and rice)
wellness fish and potato
wysong anergen
precise sensicare

The problem w/ those foods is that the dog could develop a reaction and/or
become sensitized to those protein sources as well. Hill's z/d uses a protein
hydrolizate that is too small for the immune system to react to. That's why it
is best to go to your vet to see what they recommend rather than to
"self-diagnose". However, Kelly is anti-Hill's so it's not surprising to me
that she would not want this to be an option.

However, Kelly is anti-Hill's so it's not surprising to me
that she would not want this to be an option.

Probably half of the pets we have on Z/D had already tried the route of
other brands of foods that have a hypoallergenic type of claim. Once on Z/D,
by the end of their first bag or one month relief was very evident. It may
be more expensive, but in the long run prevented all the vet visits and
medication, not to mention side effects of those medications. It treats the
source of the problem, not just symptoms. It was our own dog's saving grace
and nobody was more apprehensive than we were.

-Sharon

However, Kelly is anti-Hill's so it's not surprising to me
that she would not want this to be an option.

Probably half of the pets we have on Z/D had already tried the route of
other brands of foods that have a hypoallergenic type of claim. Once on Z/D,
by the end of their first bag or one month relief was very evident. It may
be more expensive, but in the long run prevented all the vet visits and
medication, not to mention side effects of those medications. It treats the
source of the problem, not just symptoms. It was our own dog's saving grace
and nobody was more apprehensive than we were.

-Sharon

"Sharon too" wrote in message
...
However, Kelly is anti-Hill's so it's not surprising to me
that she would not want this to be an option.

Probably half of the pets we have on Z/D had already tried the route of
other brands of foods that have a hypoallergenic type of claim. Once on
Z/D,
by the end of their first bag or one month relief was very evident. It may
be more expensive, but in the long run prevented all the vet visits and
medication, not to mention side effects of those medications. It treats
the
source of the problem, not just symptoms. It was our own dog's saving
grace
and nobody was more apprehensive than we were.


not anti-hills, per say. i'm against vets who are trained by hills, and
profit on the sale of the product, pushing it as an "only option" on people.
i'm against buying from a big conglomerate when you could buy from a small
company who actually cares about their product. i'm against the use of the
use of known carcinogens BHA and ethoxyquin in the food my dogs eat.

if you want to feed your dogs that stuff, by all means do. but it's hardly
the only option.

-kelly