At a loss..uncontrollable itching?? .please help

[Haleschmidt]

My dog is a 3.5 year old GSD diagnosed with EPI right around his first birthday. We have done B12 and enzyme Diane combinations over the last 2.5 years that have worked great. Over the last few months, he has been itching like crazy. Nonstop to the point that his ears are starting to bald on the back side. The vet tested for mites and ring worm that wouldn't be excluded from his preventative vaccines/medications. All came back normal.

The vet has concluded that it is likely a food or environmental allergy. We can't exclude food allergy with confidence at the moment due to having a child that often drops food and we couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't eat anything but the prescribed diet for 6-12 weeks. The other alternative is to eliminate environmental allergies, requiring long term medications. This poor dog already takes so much, I'd hate to unnecessarily put him on a long term medication that isn't necessary.

However, I was reading that it is common for EPI dogs to have various vitamin deficiencies that can result in itchiness. We started working him to a new "gut friendly" food (salmon and rice purina pro plan) but have run into loose stools and him eating his poop again.

Has anyone else had similar symptoms in their EPI dogs? Is it possible its diet related? How do I rework his diet to best accommodate his needs without running into loose stools? We switched him from 2 cups of his regular food to 1 cup of each, twice a day.

I'm at a loss and this poor dog always seems to have something going on. Please help!!

[Eddiespaghetti]

The allergies I cannot help with for long term. My dog used to have bad allergies, but then they just stopped one day.
As for the diarrhea and eating the poop, a couple things can hopefully help. Either their B12 is low and they are not absorbing enough nutrients, which could cause them to eat their poop. Or, the new food might require more enzymes. If the food isn't being fully broken down and there is bits of food in the poop they also might eat it.
You can try giving B12 capsules and see if that helps. You can also try increasing the enzymes given. One or both of these should help with the diarrhea.
Now, one option to try short term for the allergies is Benadryl. It might just be the vicious cycle of scratching and causing damage. Then the scabs can cause itching which leads to more scratching and so on. I used to give it to Eddie when I saw the red paws and after a couple days it would go away because he wouldn't constantly lick them. There are medicated wipes/spray you can use, but I had zero luck with them. If you do go the Benadryl route, it's usually 1mg/lb. I don't recommend long term use, but maybe to give him some relief while you explore other options.

[Montgomery]

My Morgenne cat had bad seasonal allergies throughout her lifetime, worsening as she grew older. This is what helped her:
Bath, twice weekly, in chlorhexidine shampoo and thoroughly dried afterword. We were able to supplement her with salmon oil each morning, which helped her skin and her arthritis as she grew older. When her allergies were at their worst, she was given 1/2 chlortripelon tablet twice a day. Any bedding she came into concat with was washed with hypoallergenic detergent (Eco-Max). The floors and scratching posts were cleaned with hypoallergenic cleaner, too.
You can keep a dog on a hypoallergenic diet even with a toddler if you train both dog and toddler. Give the dog something special at mealtime (like a Kong filled with water and frozen), and banish them from the dining room until the toddler is finished. Conversely, when the child is fed, it is at the table and nowhere else. It isn't mean. These were house rules when I was small and with every kid my mother babysat, and it was never an issue.

[Olesia711]

YES!!!!!!!!!!! EPI dogs have a huge depletion in fat soluble vitamins and unfortunately, the enzymes don't help with this... they did a study and even after you put an EPI dog on enzymes, their fat-soluble vitamins still remain depleted....

SOOOOOOOOo.... don't change the food (yet) but rather add a quality fish oil... i personally really like Welactin (not capsules, but the liquid) it is a prescription., but IMHO... well worth it. Or get a quality salmon oil

The other thing you can do is give cold pressed/ organic coconut oil (the good stuff) just start with only a little, like 1/2 tsp since it is very rich, and if poos remain okay after a couple of days, increase to 1 tsp with meals.

Another thing you can do is start giving beef Colostrum (powder) ... mix in a little warm water ... and serve 20 minutes before meals.... this is great for "itchies" .. as long as your dog doesn't have sensitivities to beef. the product that i use :
https://www.pethealthandnutritioncenter ... -dogs-cats

if all of the above fails..... THEN you probably need to look at a food change and most likely start with a hydrolzed prescription food... the one we recommend to try first is Royal Canin "Ultamino"..... but honestly i would try all the other stuff first before switching to a prescription food...........