Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 3/26/2008

Question
Hi
I adopted my 3yr old lab/golden mix about 4months ago.  She has been itching and scratching for the past month all day long I took her to the vet and they gave me a special shampoo and conditoner and a antibiotic becuase she got an infection from scratching so much.  She also recommended me to Purina HA it is very expensive and i was wondering if it is good and if they are other dog foods for allergy that may not be that expensive.  she was on Canidae and i think she is allergic to it.  What do you think?

Jen

Answer
If it is a food allergy, then you will need a specific hypoallergenic food for 8 weeks minimum.  They are all expensive.  I use HA, but many dogs do not like the taste. You can try z/d which is expensive, but you do not need to feed the dog that much to get the full amount of nutrition.

If the dog is that itchy, then the vet may want to dip the dog for mange mites first and see if that helps.  They may also want to prescribe steroids or ATOPICA to control the itch.  If that helps, then it is probably not a food allergy.

Allergy testing can be done and because of this dog's breeding, it is likely that the dog is allergic to things in the environment.