I'm in desperate need of help to relieve Saber's itchy face. A little background info:

Summer of 2011 he started with the itchy face. It disappeared when winter came so I thought he had seasonal allergies. Then summer 2012 came and the itchy face started up again. It's now winter and he still has it. I've kept him from sticking his face in bushes and whatnot when I take him for walks. No difference. After every walk I wipe his face and feet with baby wipes. Doesn't help his face. My vet doesn't think it's allergies since the itching is only located on his face. Specifically, his forehead between his ears and eyes and underneath the eyes. He's started scratching some of the fur off under his right eye so now you can see the skin.

Also, in January 2011 it was discovered that Saber has an extremely low white blood cell count. My vet said his WBC should be 54,000 minimum. Saber's WBC is not even 1000. Anyway, at this point I'm thinking his itchy face may be because his immune system is compromised.

So, I'm asking if anyone knows of anything that would help his itchiness. Shampoos, sprays, creams, anything. I am desperate to help him.

Oh Beth that really sucks. My parents cat actually has a similar allergy in the summer. Her eyes get swollen and she develops sores from scratching all the time. My parents haven't been able to find any solutions.

Pets can take Benadryl, although I doubt it would be good for every day use, you might want to talk to your vet about whay dosage to try and see if it alleviates any itchiness. Tika needs some every time she gets a shot. Vets can give it in injection form, but you can give them pills or syrup if I am not mistaken. *No expert here* but maybe it will help.

Yeah, I thought about the Benadryl but I'm not sure if there would be any interactions since Saber's on three different meds. My regular vet is out of town but I'll ask his assistant tomorrow and see if she knows.

I also bought hydrocortisone spray that I haven't tried yet. Maybe I'll use it on him tonight and see what happens.

Benadryl, or diphenhydramine is the genaric name (cheaper at drug stores), dosage is 1 mg per pound of weight, usually twice a day. Before administering, always consult your vet. So sry to hear about the itchies. I hope they can figure out the cause.

Just an update to this thread:

After trying several things that didn't work, Saber has been to the vet twice in the last five days. The shots he's been getting aren't lasting as long as the vet had hoped. They definitely help but only for about three days. Last night the vet shaved a little of Saber's fur below his eye to take a look at his skin. Since the skin looks fine, we've come to the conclusion the itchiness is caused by his low white blood cell count.

So, the last option right now is to put Saber on prednisone. I don't want to as I despise that drug and my vet is not a fan either. It would be a low dose of 10mg every 48-72 hours. If he does well on that, he might only need a maintenance dose once a week eventually. The vet gave me some pills and said it's completely up to me if I want to use them. I'm really torn for a few reasons:

1 - Prednisone can suppress the immune system and Saber's is already compromised. But since his WBC count is almost non-existent, is there anything left to compromise???

2 - Saber takes carprofen for his back pain. Your not supposed to mix prednisone and carprofen. So, do I relieve his back pain or his itchy face?

3 - Saber has been on prednisone a few times before. He had the usual side effects of drinking a ton, urinating ALL the time and leaking urine. What I didn't like was that he was very restless and seemed to have some anxiety when he was on it.

Right now I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't want him to suffer from his face itching, but I also don't want to make any conditions he has right now worse by putting him on it. I feel like I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't. I'll have to put some more thought into it.

Most baby wipes contain alcohol of some kind which can lead to the drying of skin and actually cause the itchyness you describe. It actually dehydrates and draws moisture away from the skin. I actually think that could possibly be the problem, although i don't know if it started before or after you started using the wipes.

The itching started long before I was using the baby wipes. And the wipes I use are unscented, alcohol free and hypoallergenic.

SaberK wrote:

Just an update to this thread:

After trying several things that didn't work, Saber has been to the vet twice in the last five days. The shots he's been getting aren't lasting as long as the vet had hoped. They definitely help but only for about three days. Last night the vet shaved a little of Saber's fur below his eye to take a look at his skin. Since the skin looks fine, we've come to the conclusion the itchiness is caused by his low white blood cell count.

So, the last option right now is to put Saber on prednisone. I don't want to as I despise that drug and my vet is not a fan either. It would be a low dose of 10mg every 48-72 hours. If he does well on that, he might only need a maintenance dose once a week eventually. The vet gave me some pills and said it's completely up to me if I want to use them. I'm really torn for a few reasons:

1 - Prednisone can suppress the immune system and Saber's is already compromised. But since his WBC count is almost non-existent, is there anything left to compromise???

2 - Saber takes carprofen for his back pain. Your not supposed to mix prednisone and carprofen. So, do I relieve his back pain or his itchy face?

3 - Saber has been on prednisone a few times before. He had the usual side effects of drinking a ton, urinating ALL the time and leaking urine. What I didn't like was that he was very restless and seemed to have some anxiety when he was on it.

Right now I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't want him to suffer from his face itching, but I also don't want to make any conditions he has right now worse by putting him on it. I feel like I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't. I'll have to put some more thought into it.

Just a question what is saber's back pain caused from? Is there anyway you could just use the prednisone because it is an anti-inflamatory also? My akita/shepherd mix has been on prednisone for 6 years 10mg tablet once a day for multiple allergies and has had no side effect-incuding kidney and liver checks-clear. My vet also stated that 10 mg is not alot each day because it would be subscribed to a poodle and Nanuk-akita is 121 lbs.

Saber has spondylosis (bone growth on the vertebraes) that have fused some of his spine together. That's why he's taking carprofen. Since prednisone can suppress the immune system, my vet and I don't want to use it every day since Saber hardly has an immune system to fight off infections.

I'll probably end up at least trying the prednisone when his itching acts up. Since I've updated this thread, he's only had one minor itching incident.