Hello,

I was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction here. I live in Poland and have a 6 month old german shepherd who has recently developed hot spots. I think it's the food because he's been scratching his nose for a while, but the arm and leg biting and ear/neck scratching started in the middle of last week (I've treated for fleas just in case, but I couldn't find any). The amount of fur from the scratching is killing my allergies.
I was using just normal purina puppy because that's the main brand the pet store here has. But, since he's got this allergy thing going on I've started using the purina pro plan because it claims to be hypoallergenic. Before you bash me for using Purina; the store here only carries 3 brands and even the vet and shopkeepers recommended it.

So my questions:
How long before I should notice a change in the excessive scratching?
Is there anything I can put on his skin to make it better? (A general ingredient would be good because I am in Poland and don't quite have access to the same things and I'll have to go to the store with translator book in hand so it makes it easier).
Would a canned diet be better if it's something to do with wheat or corn? (Sorry, no time to cook for myself let alone my dog!)
Does anyone have suggestions or know Polish dog food brands that are hypoallergenic?

Thanks!
And Copper thanks you too!

Without doing a screening test you will not now what he is allergic too, if its diet at all. Usually allergies are caused by the protein source, so try to find a diet that has a different protein source than your original diet (chicken, beef, etc).
It can take about 6 weeks to know if it's worked.

For hot spots you generally need to shave the fur around it to allow the air to get at it. You can bathe the area with epsom salts and warm water.

I'd suggest taking him to the vet to get looked at in the meantime. Is he up to date on vaccines?

Eukanuba Poland (http://www.eukanuba.pl/home)

My first suggestion would be to have your vet do a skin scrape to rule out mites.
If mites are the culprit then your course of action will be totally different.
And as stated above without the screening test it will be difficult to pinpoint exactly what he is allergic to, given allergy is the problem.
Allergies can be environmental or food or fleas.
At your dogs young age it will be impossible to tell if it is a seasonal allergy to plant material just yet.
I included a link above, it seems that Eukanuba foods are available in Poland, of course it is in Polish, so I couldn't read it, but there is a contact number.
And they do have some hypoallergenic diets.
Your vet should have other resources for diets.
Since I don't know how things are packaged and labeled in Poland I am a little hesitant to suggest anything over the counter for the itching, I hope you understand.
Edit: I forgot to add that Eukanuba diets may only be available with a prescription from your vet

You could always try benedryl to see if its not seasonal allergies.

Although its not uncommon for dogs to develop sudden allergies to their food, but if he's been eating it and is all of a sudden having a reaction, I would investigate environmental allergies... And this can include the cleaners you use in your home to clean.

As far as food goes.. Purina isn't the best to buy for a dog with food allergies. I realize that your pet stores are very limited, but you can also order off the internet. The only problem with online ordering that I can see is if the dog doesn't like it or symptoms increase, there'd be no way to exchange (unless the website has an exchange policy).

Before you go on the never ending search for a hypoallergenic food, try the benedryl. You want to purchase the plain benedryl with no other drugs in it for coughing and such. Ask your vet for the proper doasge for your weight of dog.. or even if your vet has an anti-histamine that he can give you.

That's what I would do.. And if the antihistamine fails and symptoms are returning, than you know is the food.

If you decide to try the benadryl, as Lucky said NO ADDITIVES use only the diphenhyrdramine.
Keep in mind that it is only effective in a small percentage of dogs and you may succeed in masking the symptoms and not treating the actual problem.
You can find the dosages and other helpful info here,
Benadryl for Dogs ? BENADRYL FOR DOGS (http://benadrylfordogs.org/)

Here are some more ideas on relieving itchiness.
Itch Relief (http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_itch_relief.html)

And in addition some info on food allergies
Food Allergies (http://www.marvistavet.com/html/food_allergies.html)

Check out the other information in that site re: allergies, there is a lot of helpful stuff there.
I still stand by the ruling out of mites as a probable cause, the test is quick, simple, inexpensive (at least in my area) and will give at least one "definite answer"

Thanks all. He's got an appointment with the vet tomorrow and I've using the last of my benedryl on him this week with only a slight improvement in the scratching. As far as vaccines are concerned he's only been vaccinated against rabies (yea I know... he's in for a world of vaccination when he comes to the states this summer... but that's the only thing the vet seems to think he needs). I'll try and cut around the hot spot on his fur and see if I can't clean it up a bit I've also got a t-shirt I've been putting on him at night to stop him from clawing so much... it works surprisingly well. I think the vet has food and stuff at the office that I'll ask about.

Anyway thanks everyone for your advice hopefully something works!

Oh, my-what a cutie!
Good Luck getting him sorted out.

Hi everyone, thanks again for your help. One more quick question: at the vet's yesterday they gave him several injections of cortizone to stop the scratching and I'm going to see a doggy dermatologist next week (I didn't even know they had those!! ) They took a scraping and that to analyze which I was happy about (seeing as incompetence is an epidemic here most of the time).

But I was wondering he's still scratching and biting quite a bit after that injection in fact he's really started in on his front paws; should I try and change his food again or wait until next week?

Thanks!!

I wouldn't change it yet. Give the steroids a day or two to kick in and see what happens.
I'm assuming that they saw nothing with the scrape?

One more thought re: post #6 Are you going to have trouble bringing him into the states with only a rabies vaccines?
There may be a lot of homework to do with the airlines and state you are taking him into?
If you haven't done it already that is.
I think the airlines can be pretty specific about about health certificates and such and may differ from one the next.

Oddly enough the only requirement to bring him in to the states is a rabies vaccine. I thought it would be a bit more complicated too. The airlines did suggest a health certificate for there own use, but besides that it's surprisingly simple. Getting him back to Poland might prove a bit more difficult... particularly if this scratching doesn't let up.

They had to send the scrape out for analysis so I don't know anything yet. Though, I probably should have had them scrape some for me and taken it to the doctors in the parasitology lab with my university.
I'll leave him on this food a bit longer and see what happens.

Thanks again!!