That would be our dog, Baron. As previously posted, we took him to the vet about a month ago because of a large hot spot (hair had been licked/bitten off) on his side and also at the time he had been pooping and peeing without seeming to have control over himself. At the time the vet had treated his stomach problems which are now fine, but the itching will not stop.
I feel really bad he has been wearing a buster collar for over a month now, when we aren't watching him, because everytime we leave him alone he starts eating himself! We finally took him to the vet today expecting to discover that he has flears or something, and our groomer also said his ears are infected. Fleas are easy and relatively inexpensive to treat and would have been the best scenario. Instead the vet says that he doesn't seem fleas but is obviously an extremely itchy dog.
So, she reccomends doing a skin scrape to rule out mites, which are the easiest and least expensive possible cause of the problem. She also prescribes antibiotic. So after the scrape and the antibiotics our vet bill today ended up at about $125. And lo and behold, he doesn't have mites apparently, which means that we now have to move into the next level of investigation, including a biopsy and possible blood work. Added up we come to just about $500. For an 11 year old dog. I think we're gong to try some natural remedies first and hope the anti-biotics help.
Unfortunately we left the dog unattended without his buster collar as not only is the patch on his side much larger and worse, but he has created a bunch of new spots all up and down his front leg that he has done a great job chewing on. One of them was actually quite bloody and the rest are new. All I can say is that it is extremely frustrating and disheartening.
Anyway, I prayed over the dog and "laid hands" on him.. I told God that Baron is his creature and God promised to take care of the smallest of his creations. We can't afford $500 in vet treatments at this point so something else is going to have to be done. If you think of it, would you pray for my dog too? He's a really good boy who deserves better.
Well that's enough out of me - later.
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LOL! I have been there with my cat. He was a "college cat" - part of the Animal Health Tech program at the university. They limit how many times you can use an animal, but he was so docile that he was used the most. So, we got a cat with shaved legs and a shaved belly. The hair never grew back. He just kept licking and ripping and licking and ripping. Long story short - we had a cat whose lower body was bald for about 2 years.
They thought it was behavioural. We tried new litter, a depo shot (yes, the same one they use for human women) and even steroids. When our male cat started lactating, we knew there was a problem. Finally, we changed him to hypo-allergenic / sensistive gastro-intestinal cat food (the $30 a bag kind) and he stopped, mostly.
Apparently this is his nervous habit - the thing he does when he knows something is wrong. We discovered a great product that releases calming pheremones into the the air - a kitty air freshner if you will. I think there is one for dogs too. The cat product is called Feliway - you should check it out, I'm sure there's soemthing for dogs. OH! and if you buy it - BUY ON EBAY!!!! It's way cheaper.
Hi ryan, I recall our old springer spaniel did a similar thing. It was sort of an anxiety disorder that only seemed to happen when the dog was left alone. Dogs being social creatures thrive on companionship and social interaction. But I guess dogs like humans thare are variations of this separation anxiety disorder.
The other thing is did the vet think that it might be a food allergy, sometimes changing food seems to work.
I'll keep Baron in my prayers.
My parents dog Brandy tends to chew her pads/tuffs when she's either frustrated or nervous. Strange habit, and I've gotten down on all fours (no pun intended) and taken a good look while she's munching away. Sure enough, she chewing away but never seen blood occur. That said, could it possibly be just an old age thing?
-Q
"...Do old age humans chew on themselves?.."
*GULP!*
Or as Richard would say:
*GLEEP!*
I seem to recall that Baron starting itching fervently after you completed your dogsitting contract with Sadie. I wonder if the itching is an anxiety/loneliness manifestation now that Baron is not with Sadie everyday? Love, Mom
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