Food and Itching

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yummybagel
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Joined: Fri May 07, 2010 5:12 pm

Food and Itching

Post by yummybagel »

I have a year and a half old male Beagle, and he's having a little bit of problem with eating his food and itching.

When we first got him he was on Costco brand puppy food. He is our first dog so back then we didn't know anything about high quality food. Just thought whatever we can get is fine. Then I did some research on dog food, and found out about the whole thing with corn, soy, and animal byproduct. Costco food wasn't horrible, but thought it wasn't good enough so I changed it to By Nature puppy food. It still wasn't the best but it was the only thing that I could find in a local pet store that was decent and fit my budget at that time. His fur was so dry and had no shine when he was on the Costco food, and when I changed to By Nature it became better but was still a little dry with very little shine. Nonetheless we kept him on it for awhile and when he became an adult, we changed to By Nature adult food duck and sweet pea. Then we changed to Orijen. He has been on it for several months now, and his fur became alot more shiny and soft. But the problem is that he doesn't like Orijen either. I want to keep him on it, but he is not wanting to eat it. So I was wondering, if there are any wet food out there that is high quality but not too expensive to get?

He is also having problems with itching. He was recently infested with fleas so I put flea medicine on him (K9 Advantage) and flea combed for a week everyday. Now he doesn't have fleas, but he is itching alot, mostly near his face and butt. Any ideas on why he could be itching so much and how to relieve it? He was scratching alot before we changed to Orijen, but after it got alot better. But now it seems like the itch is coming back.
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Nettle
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Re: Food and Itching

Post by Nettle »

Is he underweight? You may be feeding him too much (I don't know: I can't see him :) ) dogs need surprisingly little food. Is someone else feeding him extra?

Has he had a full health check including bloods for organ function? Sometimes there can be illness causing loss of appetite. Teeth okay?

Re: the itching: could be he has developed a flea saliva allergy and this is still working through his system, or might be he is still picking up fleas from outside. They are very hard to eradicate, and you might now be faced with the next generation of fleas from newly-hatched eggs. More flea-combing needed, and have you treated your home also?
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yummybagel
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Joined: Fri May 07, 2010 5:12 pm

Re: Food and Itching

Post by yummybagel »

Image
Image
The white ring on his back is the flea treatment....His fur is all dry because of the soap water from flea combing....When he first got the flea comb the directions said to dunk the comb in water mixed with dog shampoo to kill the fleas as you brush him...We did that for a week straight, and I think it dried up his fur..or skin

This is Bagel...I think he is a little overweight.
I'm feeding him 1and 1/3 cup of Orijen food every day, 2/3 for breakfast and 2/3 for dinner..
He gets around 10 to 15 minutes walk in the morning, but I'm trying to increase it to 30 minutes...But that's hard because that means I have to wake up at 6:30 AM and that's near impossible for me :wink: Then he is supposed to get 20 minutes of walk at noon, but i'm not sure because I'm at school at that time and my dad is supposed to take him out. I think he does take him out, but for how long there is no way of knowing because whenever I ask him, the answer is "I don't know". And then he gets his exercise at around 4pm and come back by 5:30pm..I'm pretty sure that nobody is giving him extra dog food but when I'm at school, I can't monitor what my dad gives Bagel. He does give him stuff like steamed sweet potatoes for treats/snacks and I always try to stop my parents from giving him too much treats but they're so stubborn. There have been incidences when I put out the food for 30 mintues and Bagel didn't eat it so I put it away and go to school. Then when I come back the food bowl is out..

To be honest, it's been awhile since he got a full exam...It's been almost a year. He gets a comprehensive exam every year, but excluding that, we don't really take him to the vet too often...His next exam is scheduled for May I believe, but maybe I should schedule an appointment...His teeth seems to be fine..He eats dog biscuit.

As for fleas, we've washed all the blankets and vacuumed but that's the farthest that we have gone. How do I treat my house?? :?:

The pictures are hugh, sorry...
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Nettle
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Re: Food and Itching

Post by Nettle »

He is a little overweight but not scarily so (you should see some of the dogs I come across).

It's difficult when you are out so much and I know how tricky parents can be about overfeeding dogs :lol: and maybe not always giving the full walk, so you have my empathy there.

Beagles are high-energy dogs with a huge exercise need, though, so can you walk him more at weekends and school holidays? I don't mean go on huge long treks, because he isn't fit enough, but he does need longer than he is getting.

Meanwhile cut his dry food down a smidgen to make up for the little snackettes he is getting when you aren't there (don't tell the parents you are doing this or they'll feed him more).

I think you are right that all the bathing has made his skin dry, but you had to do what you had to do. Carry on with the flea comb: don't do anything about the house for the moment.

Can you get fish canned in tomato sauce? Half a small tin a day usually improves dry skin. He can have that on top of his Orijen.

Isn't he a HANDSOME fellow!
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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yummybagel
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Re: Food and Itching

Post by yummybagel »

Haha, thank you! I always say he's the handsomest Beagle ever :D

My parents do feed him alot...They spoil him rotten :roll: But I know they mean well.

I've cut down the amount of food he eats to a cup a day, and took him on a 30 minute walk today morning. He seemed to really enjoy that. Hopefully that'll continue.
Weekends, I'm planning to take him to the park, which is a 45minutes walk and exercise him there.

I did find one flea on him today when I combed him. My parents are trying to medicate him every two weeks, which is crazy. It'll be hard to fight that one since my little sister is constantly getting bitten..Are there any other good ways to kill fleas? I am worried that she gets bitten so often, but I don't want to over medicate him that way. I guess flea combing him everyday is in order, but that makes his fur sooo dry...

Canned fish in tomato juice...I haven't seen one of those, but I'll make a trip to the grocery store to look for them. Can it be canned in other liquids? I heard that tomatos are not good for dogs....Would small amounts be ok?
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Nettle
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Re: Food and Itching

Post by Nettle »

Tomato sauce and tomato is very good for dogs. Other things fish are canned in are brine, which would make him very ill, and oil, which might give him the squits. So if it isn't in tomato, don't feed it.

Do you have any cats? If so they need flea treatment also.

The house treatment is tricky because your Mom might take it the wrong way, and I don't want to get you into trouble - but fleas live happily in houses and wait for someone to bite to come along, so it helps if we vaccuum hard and often. And I don't see any way you can tell your Mom that without her getting antsy :? so this information is just for you when you have your own house.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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yummybagel
Posts: 77
Joined: Fri May 07, 2010 5:12 pm

Re: Food and Itching

Post by yummybagel »

Thank you for your advice! :D

It'll be a war against the fleas..... :twisted:
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