itchy dogs

[leslieann]

I was browsing looking for help with a situation that my dogs have and came upon this site. Upon further reading, I figured I would give it a shot and see what anyone knows on the matter. I have actually 2 pets with problems. My first is my dog KaCee. She's a 14 year old whippet/smooth haired fox terrier mix weighing 19 pounds. She is not underfed, as she is free fed. The vet says she is "at a perfect weight". Over the past several months, she's started to show signs of her age and wants to sleep alot. I take her to the vet regularily *about every 2 months* for check ups. She has an arched back, which after xrays, has been diagnosed with having a compacting spine. Since December, she's shown symptoms that she can not hear. We get her to go out and follow us by using sign language with her. We have been battling a never ending fight with ear infections with her. These are the first she's ever had. She's been on 3 different types of ear drops, along with epi-otic ear wash and 4 different pills, along with diphenhydramine. At one point, she licked off all the fur on her belly and the backsides of her front paws. She has had blood work and xrays, but they can't seem to pinpoint what is wrong. Her xrays have shown a "solid mass" in her stomach, which flabergasted the vets and myself, as she had stopped eating for 2 days. She has a heart mumur also. I want to have her comfortable and do the right thing, but I don't want to jump the gun and make the wrong decision. She doesn't show any signs of being in distress or anything. She does, however, sleep alot and is usually only playful and awake about an hour per day. Usually she curls up on the sofa and sleeps. Any suggestions or ideas? Now for my other dog. I am bringing this up together with the other one, as I don't know if they have anything to do with each other. I also have a 17 month old black lab named Max. He is very playful and very smart. A few things I am needing help with. For the past week, he's been itching his ears like he has an ear infection. I have taken him to the vet, but they can't find anything in his ears. He has also started licking himself and nibbling on his hind legs. He'll act like he is getting bitten. The vet put him on 3 25mg capsules of diphenhydramine 2 times a day for the past week, but nothing has cleared up. He has sores on his tummy area, that look like irritated moles. He has also gotten what looks like pimples on the flappy skin on his upper lips, under his nose. On his chin he has a pinkish lumpy patch about the size of a nickle which looks like a hive or something. The vet combed his fur looking for fleas, but didn't find anything and stated that she has seen a few pets with similar symptoms but hasn't been able to fully diagnose them. She thought that maybe they were stress sores. I don't know if part of what is going on with him is because of some very bad habits he's picked up that I am at a loss as to a way to put a stop to them. Lately he's been jumping up on the counters and pulling food off or cans and destroying them. We've started putting bags for garbage in the sink, which we take out nightly, but he still puts his paws up and pulls that out and destroys it around the house. He's pulled loaves of bread off the counter and eaten them completely and a can of special dog food for my other dog, he pulled off the back of the counter, chewed thru the metal and ate the contents. He's opened a 12 pack of orange soda, took out 1 can, taken it to the livingroom and punctured it. He's also, in a matter of only having been on the counter for 5 minutes, pulled tupperware containers of hummingbird nectar off and licked that up off the floor. He pulls laundry thru the hamper and destroys it. Numerous pairs of nylons now have no feet. I am at a loss as what to do and don't know if what he has going on with his skin has anything to do with his newly found destruction habits. Please if anyone can help, email me at laz0908@charter.net or message me on yahoo messenger at mermaid_wetty. Thank you so much!!!