Honey's itchy skin & lethargy

H

Honey888

Forums Novice
Hi all,
We adopted Honey, 8-10 yr old sheltie from a shelter about 3 1/2 weeks ago. She was a stray, and we know nothing about her previous life or health issues. She got a good check-up from the shelter vet. She had an ear infection when she came to us, which our own vet treated successfully. She's seen our vet twice, had a very thorough exam, blood work, etc. and appears to be healthy. Question: she is scratching an awful lot, seems to be itchy all over, no particular lesions, sores, bumps, visible critters, hot spots, flaky skin, etc. We live in a flea-free climate. The itching seems worse at night, when she often wakes up scratching, even crying from the scratching. Our vet did a T-4 test, she scored 160, which he felt was in the 'normal' range, but I've read here and elsewhere that shelties might have a different normal range. She is also kind of lethargic, and seems even depressed to me. If anyone can suggest alternatives, solutions, or give me some ideas about the thyroid numbers, I would so appreciate it. We love this little girl, she is wonderful, and we'll do whatever it takes to keep her happy and comfortable. Thanks for any ideas!
Liz
 
Could she seem depressed because of all the changes? All my dogs have taken a month or two to settle in even though they fit right in and appeared to adore us instantly. One Aussie was so sad that we didn't know he had a puff of a tail for over a month. One day, it was up and wagging.

Did the vet do any kind of skin scraping or hair exam? Could it be demodectic mange from the shelter? Stress and/or exposure maybe?

Could it be a food allergy? Perhaps switching to another food source like lamb instead of chicken etc?

Doing all the blood work (esp. thyroid) is step one though. Just a few ideas that others can add to.
 
Hmmm....I was thinking food allergies? Adjustment period? Maybe she's not 8-10, but older? Granted, the vet should be able to judge better. Shelters seem like they have no clue how old a dog is and judges by their fur or something.

Since the thyroid numbers are within range (and I hope others here can answer if a Sheltie's range could be different), let's start with, what are you feeding her? Would you be willing to try different foods? It takes a lot of time.

Has the vet suggested anything? Soothing shampoo's, etc? I know my vet gave me some shampoo because my dog was itching a lot too. He got a bath and hasn't itched again (granted, it doesn't seem as severe as yours).

Just an FYI. Shelties don't tend to do well in shelters. They get depressed a lot of times, they're just sensitive like that. So, if the dog wasn't in a foster home, she may need to adjust to being with you...even if she's happy with you.

Mom2Melli had some great advice too. I think I just repeated it all. LOL.
 
Honey details

Honey was at the shelter for 3-4 weeks prior to adoption. It's a very good shelter, the best I've seen, in fact, dogs and cats all get loads of attention, free range in the office area, etc. Still a shelter, though. She actually seemed a bit perkier and happier when we first brought her home, cuddled more, liked her walkies. Now she keeps more to herself and kind of trudges along on her leash. We give her tons of attention and affection, encourage her to come up on furniture (we have dog steps everywhere). Her food is Wellness Simple limited ingredient, salmon & potato, no gmo's, meat by products, wheat, gluten,corn, soy, dairy, eggs, or artificial stuff. Nothing else at present, til we find out what's itching her. Her 'treats' are pieces of the dog food, which she likes.

We bathed her a few days ago in Virbac Epi-Soothe (from the vet) just in case she was reacting to the bath she had before we adopted her. Our vet suggested we give her benedryl 2xday, just to get her skin calmed down. It helps, but hasn't stopped the itching, just lessened it.

Vet did not do any skin scraping, since there were no areas where the itching was concentrated, no patchy bits, no sores, no areas of hair loss or visible irritation. Honey <does> shed little tufts of fluff, they are all over the carpet, but they don't appear to be falling out of or being pulled out of any particular area. I brush her, especially her downy areas, just about every day, and don't get a lot of undercoat out. (We're used to corgis, shedding isn't a problem).

Honey seems to like us, she follows us around the house, looks for us when we're out of sight, responds to our voices. She only gets perky and excited, tail up and wagging, on two occasions: when she's around another dog (she seems to really enjoy that) or when we get down on the floor and play with her (play bows, vocalizations, etc) I've wondered if she is missing a previous dog-friend, but we have no way of finding out.

Apologies for droning on, thanks for all of your help and ideas!
Liz
 
There are many T4 tests, so not knowing the range for this test it is hard to know if Honey's results are in the correct range. A sheltie needs to be be in the high normal range.

Ear infection, itchy and lethargic/depressed sounds like hypothyroid symptoms to me.

Maybe have your vet recheck the levels and see what he thinks...is your vet up on shelties and thyroid disease ? Somewhere on the forums is a link to Dr. Dodd's website and I think she can interpret results. I would get a full panel to check the thyroid's function.

Honey is lucky to have a home with you. Praying you can get to the bottom of her problems.
 
Maybe ask at the shelter if she had a special buddy there that she might be missing to rule out the psychological?

Rule out the thyroid angle as that one thing could cover most/all of the components.

Then maybe rule out food intolerance?

Did she start acting depressed before or after the Benedryl? That is kind of sedating too.
 
Honey's itching

Thanks for all the responses, I really appreciate them!

Honey was getting lethargic before the benedryl. It makes her sleepy, but as soon as she wakes up she's scratching again.

I'll check with the shelter about a special friend, she may also have had a dog buddy in her previous life. I would love to have another dog friend for her (and us) but I really want to get her health seen to first.

I emailed Dr. Dobbs, and am hoping to hear back her take on the thyroid issue. Meantime, we'll call our vet tomorrow, Monday, and let him know how she did over the weekend.

Will keep you posted!
thanks again!
 
My Wendell, 15 1/2 years old, started itching like crazy all over a couple of months ago.

No hot spots, nor any reason that I can figure out why . . .

Benedryl didn't help. My vet put him on Prednisone, and I have backed off to 1/2 pill every other day, and switched to Claritin every day. It has helped some, and in the meantime, I am in the process of switching his food to grain free. But he is picky about his food in his old age.

So far, he likes Fresh Pet Vital, which is grain free and a soft food that he can eat (he is missing a lot of teeth).

It is a frozen tundra here in the Midwest, so allergies are far down on the list. I thought it might just be dry skin, but I have a humidifier on the furnace, plus we sleep with a vaporizer in the bedroom every night.
 
Honey's itching skin

Finally convinced our vet to try Soloxine on Honey. I spent much of the weekend doing research on Shelties, hypothyroidism, Dr. Dodds' articles, etc. and Honey was exhibiting classic symptoms, IMO. Vet remained reluctant, but agreed to let us try it before doing the regimen he prefers: steroids for the itching and tramadol for her arthritis. I thought that sounded more like treating the symptoms than the root cause. I'll keep you all posted, I'm so glad we found Honey AND found the Forum!
thanks for all your help!
 
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