Does stress itch??

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Soooo.... yesterday I wake up to dog barf upstairs; a line of dog poo that starts in the kitchen and goes to the door; and a nice puddle of urine for good measure. Yeeesh. And a Cattle Dog (Jack) who is going crazy trying to scratch himself on anything available; but being an elderly fellow, he really can't reach much with his hind legs anymore; so he's just rubbing up against stuff. And pacing and panting and miserable.

My Vet squeezes us in between appointments - there's nothing obviously wrong with him - we decide the digestive upsets are due to his overall uncomfortable state; and she gives me prednisone to stop the itching. It works - he's now sleeping off all the frantic activity from yesterday.

An hour ago, my sister stops by - and half-jokingly, I said "You adore Jack - go ask him what his problem is". She comes back a few minutes later and says "He's stressed and probably has hives. He's scared you don't love him and he "saw" what happened to Ike and is afraid that's what will happen to him"

Well wow. I've always said my sister can get into an animal's head. I never realized JACK could get into my head - we've never "communicated" other than the obvious verbal stuff; quite frankly - I didn't think he cared one way or the other if there were other dogs in his life (he actually was "Ike's Pet"). So I will try to be more loving towards Jack and assure him that he's fine; and with MY luck, he'll live at least another decade.....

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? And why did this manifest 2 weeks AFTER Ike was put to sleep, if that indeed is what the stress is about? Nothing else in our lives has changed/same food, etc.

[KLO]

Thanks Wanderlost, I have 2 dogs that have a problem so this could be a life saver!

[Wanderlost]

KLO wrote:
Question on the Wee Cleaner. Can you get it at Perco or PetSmart or do you have to order it? It sure sounds like something I could use right now for dogs and other things.

It's only available online.

Wee Cleaner

I order it by the gallon, since I have an elderly cat with a leakage problem. As much as he leaks, there is zero urine odor in this house, thanks to this stuff.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Jack is off the prednisone and doing OK! We went back to the Vet for a checkup, and she was guessing he reacted to the load of pollen we're experiencing...OR.... the night that Jack had his itchy relapse - Ed had been feeding him bits of red licorice. So Jack is on a "no-color diet"....LOL!!

[CA_POPPY]

Just thinking, is Jack on any pain meds or anything similar? Some of those can cause hives on rare occasions. Our old vet said he once had a dog (client) that got hives so bad from Rimadyl, that he'd had to be put down. Vet said it was the one and only time he'd seen a reaction like that to Rimadyl.

[KLO]

Question on the Wee Cleaner. Can you get it at Perco or PetSmart or do you have to order it? It sure sounds like something I could use right now for dogs and other things.

[Wanderlost]

Poor Jack. How's he doing now?

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Around 10 PM last night - Jack went crazy, scratching; and now he's chewing at his feet (allergies?). And he's so miserable, he's angry - Jimmy just cowered on the couch. I gave him a benadryl tab; and fortunately, by bedtime, it knocked him out. I have an appointment on Wednesday with my regular Vet, who strangely loves Jack (?) and maybe she can get to the bottom of this. He was itchy this morning, so while I was in the shower, I invited him in for a bath, figuring it can't hurt - he happily hopped in with me; and for the moment now, he's sleeping quietly; but that could be because he's exhausted from all the scratching/rolling, etc.

I keep replaying the last few weeks in my head - and there's NOTHING in our environment that is different. No chemicals/fertilizers have been applied to lawns; and when I steam-clean the carpet, I just use clean water to rinse out the spot cleaner. The tree pollen counts had been high; but we had rain to wash it down, too. I'm just baffled.

[CA_POPPY]

Deb and Ed M wrote:
Well, just when I thought we were over the worst of it - Jack went back to water guzzling AND emptied his bladder in the back of my CAR. It' like the prednisone makes him drink too much AND be stupid..... he doesn't even ASK to go out. And then early this evening, he acted itchy again) although not a frenzied as before. If he's still being "weird" tomorrow - we're going back to the vet.

It seems to be his head/face that itches the most

Years ago, we had a poodle that had a little stroke and lost the gauge in his head that told him when he'd had enough water. He would drink until his belly felt like a water balloon and then, of course, he peed everywhere. He was an outside dog so it wasn't quite as disastrous to the environment. He did live a couple more years and got past that water problem but became deaf and crippled with arthritis. He was 16 when we let him go, but in retrospect, we should have done it earlier. 😞

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Well, just when I thought we were over the worst of it - Jack went back to water guzzling AND emptied his bladder in the back of my CAR. It' like the prednisone makes him drink too much AND be stupid..... he doesn't even ASK to go out. And then early this evening, he acted itchy again) although not a frenzied as before. If he's still being "weird" tomorrow - we're going back to the vet.

It seems to be his head/face that itches the most

[CA_POPPY]

Our other dogs SAW Poquita go potty in unauthorized locatons, so even the neutralizer didn't help. Oh, that was a hard few weeks!

[Wanderlost]

Use Wee Cleaner on all the spots where he peed. It will completely neutralize the odors we can't smell, but the dogs can, and ensure no one else thinks that spot is the potty location.

[CA_POPPY]

Deb and Ed M wrote:
(SNIP) Now to steam-clean everywhere so the new puppy doesn't think peeing in the house is acceptable behavior - eeeks!

A very valid point! When Poquita became incontinent, the other two dogs apparently thought there were new rules. :E For a month there, the house looked and smelled like a barnyard. We walked barefoot at great peril. I used a drawer full of rags and a whole box of swiffer refills. After 'quita went to Rainbow Bridge, all that stopped, thank goodness. There were a couple of mistakes but we managed to correct them pretty quickly. Whew!

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Jack is 13, so yes, "elderly" but in pretty good shape overall. Now that he's on 1/2 pill once a day - the water guzzling (AND itching) has thankfully stopped and we're back to normal. Now to steam-clean everywhere so the new puppy doesn't think peeing in the house is acceptable behavior - eeeks!

[CA_POPPY]

Poquita did the "drinking gallons of water and peeing everywhere" thing for the last month of her life. I thought she might be diabetic but the vet said no, it was her liver. We tried a supplement he suggested but it did not help. Poquita was 15, though, and I don't think Jack is that elderly, is he? Prednisone is such a double edged sword..