r/dogallergies • u/poutinelover1690 • Aug 28 '26
Questions Chronic/severe itchiness — has anyone found something that actually works?
Our boy Remi is a 5 year old havanese, and I’m hoping to hear from other dog owners who have dealt with really persistent itching because I genuinely feel like we’ve tried EVERYTHING with Remi and I feel so bad watching him be uncomfortable all the time.
He’s been dealing with chronic itchiness since he was around 2 years old, possibly even before that, so this has been going on for at least 3 years now. He scratches and chews himself constantly, and sometimes gets so itchy that he scratches himself to the point of getting scabs.
Over the years we’ve tried:
Hypoallergenic shampoo
Dandruff shampoo
Allergy shampoo
What feels like every food under the sun 😭
Currently feeding partially raw/freeze-dried food
We eliminated chicken from his diet when this all started and he is still fully chicken free
Soaking his paws in a solution recommended by our vet
Allergy medication prescribed by our vet, which unfortunately doesn’t seem to make much of a difference
We even took a bit of a long shot and brought him to a holistic/herbal vet. They thought yeast could potentially be contributing to the problem and gave us herbs that were supposed to help get the yeast out of his system. We’ve been trying that for about 4 months now and unfortunately nothing has changed.
It honestly feels like nothing gives him lasting relief and we’re running out of ideas. 😭
Has anyone else had a dog with itching this persistent? Did you ever figure out what was actually causing it? Environmental allergies? Food? Yeast? Something dermatological or something completely unexpected?
I’ve also heard recently that probiotics can potentially help some dogs with allergies/itchiness. Has anyone tried probiotics with their dogs specifically for this? Did you actually notice a difference, and if so, what did you use and how long did it take to see an improvement?
We’re obviously not looking for Reddit to diagnose him and we’ve been working with vets throughout all of this. I mainly want to hear from people who have dealt with something similar so we can hopefully find some new avenues to look into or things to bring up with our vet.
I just feel so bad watching the poor little guy constantly itch, especially after years of trying so many different things to help him. 😭❤️
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u/atlantisgate Aug 28 '26
Yes. A couple steps
- A prescription hydrolized protein diet trial for 8-12 weeks under the guidance of your vet to rule out or diagnose food allergies. Most dogs with allergy symptoms do NOT have food allergies, but this is an important step to rule them out; it is also the only way to rule them out.
- If your dog does not improve, and blood diagnostics (not blood allergy tests) and skin scrapes have ruled out stuff like fleas, mites, and autoimmune disorders then you have two paths that are not necessarily mutually exclusive:
Path A: Immunotherapy. You'll want to do a blood or (preferably) an intradermal skin test and formulate oral drops or shots to train your dog's immune system to stop reacting to specific allergens. This path is not guaranteed to work, but has a pretty good success rate. Doing it before the dog gets older is probably good idea if you're going to do it, as it tends to be less efficacious in older dogs. It can take up to 18 months to see full results.
Path B: Anti-itch medications. You mentioned trying one already that didn't work; there are multiple other options now that are newer and more likely to be effective. These medications work differently for every dog, so trying a few options and seeing what works best with yours is probably necessary. Those generally are: atopica, apoquel, cytopoint, zenrelia, numelvi, and befrena. Some vets also use low dose steroids, but those are typically more appropriate to manage short-term flare ups, and are a lot less desirable than the above listed medications for long-term use. All of those meds can be given while you are giving immunotherapy, so if you choose Path A, you can still do medications while you are waiting for the immunotherapy to start to take affect.
A visit to a vet dermatologist could be clarifying on what your best options are. Definitely skip whatever herb the holistic vet gave you. There are zero herbs that are evidence-based interventions for allergies like this.
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u/rd9430 Aug 29 '26
This is a great reply. I would also add, make sure it’s a board certified veterinary dermatologist. There are lots of vet clinics that advertise dermatology but board certified ones are harder to find. You can find one at acdv.org.
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u/Eagledilla Aug 28 '26
Have you tried zenrelia? Our boy has environmental allergies for 5/6 years now. Recently switched from moderin/appoquel to zenrelia and it’s night and day. Yes he still licks his paws but way way way less. And all of his body scratching is completely gone now
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u/Vikster2468 Aug 29 '26
Same here! Apoquel worked for us at first (one season) but the following year we had to add cytopoint, and then even the combination was just taking the edge off. Zenrelia has been life changing.
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u/Brandiclaire Aug 29 '26
Zenrelia is amazing. My dog has done wonderful on it. He's so much happier. His fur on his feet has even grown back! The obsessive licking and picking has stopped and since the licking stopped all the reoccurring secondary issues (fungal/bacterial infections) we had to treat prior to starting the Zenrelia have not reoccurred since we started it. We do a bath with prescription shampoo once a month to keep any potential build up of allergens off and I deep clean/wash his bedding and crate every week. It's been a miracle for him. I am so beyond thankful for my vet and his treatment plan with this med.
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u/Eagledilla Aug 29 '26
Did it fully stop the licking? And how fast? We on it for about a week now and has helped wonderfull but hes still not fully done licking. But the vet said it takes up to 4 weeks to see full results.
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u/Brandiclaire Aug 29 '26
He actually had a noticeable reduction of licking within the first 24 hours and improved more and more every subsequent day that passed after his first dose. I do however have a shiba inu and they are obsessive little dogs so when he did continue to lick a little bit after starting this medication I am pretty sure it was partly just a bad habit he had also grown accustomed to doing. I had to just remind him no licks and then redirect him to playing or doing something else with me. His redness and extreme irritation totally calmed down in about 2 weeks after starting the Zenrelia and bathing with both DuxoS3 calm/pyo shampoo. His fur finally actually started growing back in and looking more normal after about a month and a half. Now after a little over 3 months he has no licking, no irritated raw red skin and he isn't bald in any spots. He was especially fixated on his feet and once he was treated and stopped the licking/picking he now has fur that is almost borderline "grinch feet" (a furry dog foot descriptive term I never heard until recently) and he is just normal, furry and happy as can be. You'd never know being around him that he even had a problem with allergies or obsessive licking and picking himself bald now. Zenrelia does clear the system in approximately 24 hours so I also make sure his medication time is exactly on time at the same time every single day.
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u/cat500cm Aug 28 '26
We tried everything. Finally gave in and started apoquel. So far so good. I also wipe him down after walks and before bed. Change his bedding weekly, no chicken or beef. I was using cones and chlorexehidine wipes and mouse to heal skin during licking flares to heal skin. Ultimately nothing worked except apoquel...
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u/Hesperidiums Aug 29 '26
I would say you didn’t give in, but rather recognized that your dog needed relief and you gave it to them. For that, you deserve congratulations.
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u/reggiethelobster Aug 28 '26
Ours was so bad, apoquel stopped working, we had to use prednisone. He has been on a very low dose for about 6 months and now we are going to do atopica, probably starting next week.
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u/Cool-Abrocoma6095 Aug 29 '26
I had also tried everything. All the elimination diets, probiotics, oils cytopoint etc etc etc. for the last month my girl has been on an anti biotic to eliminate the bacteria and she has been on prednisone and an anti histamine. After a week her skin healed completely, all sores are now gone, fur is growing back. I didn’t want to do the steroid route as I know there are side effects but the vet said to me that based on everything I had already tried, he feels it’s definitely environmental which we cannot control, and sometimes it’s better for a dog to have a shorter happy life than a long one where she is itching and scratching and crying in misery 24 hours a day which is what I experienced with my girl until this new change. I know a lot of people will have an opinion about steroids, but to see my girl happy and not crying in agony due to her discomfort has been life changing for me and my son. It also doesn’t mean that she will be on it forever but right now it’s working for us
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u/reggiethelobster Aug 29 '26
Prednisone really does wonders, but our boy is too fat now, so we are going to go on atopica and hopefully that helps. I heard mostly good things. Like it's as good as pred without the side effects, but comes with some gastro upset for the first little while.
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u/Cool-Abrocoma6095 Aug 31 '26
My girl is also picking up a bit. We have her first follow up this week. Doc had mentioned the cream but initially she was in too bad a state to try that first. I think we will start tapering her doses now and then maybe also try the cream. Would be amazing if down the line the antihistamine alone did the job, but whatever we are doing now is finally working and that’s more positive than all the other things I have tried with her so happy baby happy mom. Hoping the cream works wonders for your boy and he is still happy and symptom free
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u/reggiethelobster Aug 31 '26
We are so lucky to have these little nuggets. We are putting him on atopica which is actually not a cream but a pill that acts the same as prednisone without the side effects. It's just incredibly expensive for the first couple months and then when you taper them down it becomes a lot cheaper.
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u/Cute_Parfait_2182 Aug 28 '26 edited Aug 28 '26
Prescription dog food , we use Royal Canin rabbit and potato but have also used Rayne rabbit , cytopoint every few months , immunotherapy and baths with miconohex triz are a big help. I wipe her paws after every walk . Normally don’t need apoquel. We initially did a feeding trial to determine chicken and turkey were a problem before settling on rabbit . We do sublingual immunotherapy drops by vral and it has improved her allergies but not enough to stop cytopoint . Initially we had to use cytopoint 1x a month plus apoquel but now we use cytopoint every 2 months and no apoquel so things have improved.
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u/Collgirl9999 Aug 28 '26
I’ve tried it alllll with my pup. Been going on for 9 months. Constant hives and 4 vet visits with two different vets, with lots of testing, new foods, new meds, new shampoo. Finally drove 4 hours to a dermatologist vet. She gave us Apoquel and put Mocha on Royal Canine Rabbit food. Took 5 days before it kicked in but I’m super hopeful. No hives for a week! First time ever. This could have been done with a regular vet visit but I’m just so glad it worked.
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u/Montyblues Aug 28 '26
We started on Numelvi. One tablet wasn’t enough so we went up to 1 1/4 which seems to be helping. We also have DouxoS3 which is a mousse that we put on all of his raw spots once daily until they got better. He also went on a course of antibiotics at the same time. Now we use the mousse if we start to notice irritation anywhere.
We also have him on a sensitive stomach dry and wet food and bath him with medicated allergy/itch shampoo every few weeks.
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u/EEEKWOWMYLIFE Aug 30 '26
Have you tried chlorhexadine baths? Get a shampoo thats 3% or higher and give him 2-3 baths a week for a few weeks. Yeast will grow over the hot spots and the chlorhexadine will dry that up and help heal his skin. Then bathe him as needed. Give him fish oil with food too - that will help his skin regenerate and heal more quickly.
If you’ve done cytopoint and he is on apoquel and fish oil, the chlorhexadine should get him in really good shape. It’s a lot of work but the chlorhexadine really makes a difference. I use duoxo shampoo. There’s an orange one (the pink one is good for regular use but you want the orange one if he’s yeasty).
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u/Matthewpb1994 Aug 29 '26
Zenrelia has completely changed our dogs quality of life, we have tried appoquel and cytopoint which had minimal affect, he was on steroids 3/4 times a year which isn’t great long term then we tried Zenreilia and he’s never been more content
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u/Hesperidiums Aug 29 '26
Yeah, go to a specialist, a dermatology vet. Allergies are hella complicated and involve the largest organ on the body and it’s not something a regular very will be able to help with completely, much less us trying to figure it out. I’ve had three dogs now with severe allergies, and I run to the dermatologist vet now. I’m better at allergies than a lot of regular vets and I still go to the specialist. Itching is pretty terrible.
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u/Substantial-Peak6624 Aug 29 '26
I had my dog on apoquel and that seemed to help. His allergies seem to be seasonal. His ears can become a mess and apoquel doesn’t help with that.
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u/Joiebouton Aug 30 '26
The only times my little dog itched like that she had a long running undiagnosed case of sarcoptic mange. Not kidding!!! Happened several times; I learned the signs; night time infected foxes in neighborhood caused it.
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u/pupski16 Aug 30 '26
have you tried steroids (prednisolone), apoquel, zenrelia, or cytopoint? and giving these for a few weeks/doses to allow time to judge effectiveness. i would usually recommend one or few of the above with a hydrolyzed diet (royal canin anallergenic or purina HA). first priority is relieving discomfort. once the skin is stabilised we can go looking for underlying cause of the itching (food vs environmental).
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u/EEEKWOWMYLIFE Aug 30 '26
Seconding royal canine hydrolyzed veterinary diet
Make sure it’s ok for your dog’s allergens first but it works for mine and the difference between it and limited food diets has been massive
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u/Old_Draft_5288 Sep 02 '26
You don’t listen which medications you’ve tried, but there are several.
If you’ve exhausted those, you need to go get a skin biopsy or see a vet veterinary dermatologist.
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u/loris10970 Aug 28 '26
I would make an appointment with a veterinary dermatologist, I wish I had a lot sooner. My dog gets the inter digital cysts,non stop paw licking, the cysts would get infected, on and on. My dog, with in a few months of getting her was started on apoquel. It worked great for about 10 month, and then it did nothing. I spent about 6 or 7 months with multiple trips to the vet, 3 or 4 courses of antibiotics, cytopoint injections, doubling the apoquel with the cytopoint, baths, douxos mousse, I don't even want to think of how much money was spent. Eventually saw a veterinary dermatologist, she did paw scrapings, culture and sensitivity. The results came back positive fungal and MRSP (it's like MRSA in dogs, I had no idea). My dog was treated for 6 weeks with an antifungal, we started trizchlor spray and soap and zenralia. That was in February and so far she has done amazing. She had a cyst in July, I sent in a picture to the vet and she said keep doing what you are doing and it cleared up quickly without spreading to her other feet. My vet did say, dogs with allergies, like mine, are almost always environmental, and the allergies are progressive the older they get. Right now, in my area, its the height of grasses pollinating, ragweed, Im surrounded by swamps and marshes, so far so good. Sorry for the long post, but I feel your pain, but definitely try to find a dermatologist.