About a month ago, Maizie started scratching her ears and licking and chewing the base of her tail. She would whimper and cry when she scratched herself. I have never seen a flea on her in her life, but since we had been to the dog park the day before she started this behavior, I put some Frontline on her. It didn't help at all.

After 2 days of this, and no sleep for either of us, I took her to the vet. She was running a fever and I could tell she felt bad. The vet diagnosed allergic dermatitis and said he'd normally give her a cortisone shot, but it was contraindicated when the dog has a temp. He put her on oral antibiotics and prescribed a $40 tube of ointment with cortisone and antifungal medicine in it.

I bought the smallest e-collar at Petsmart and put it on her because she wouldn't stop the biting and licking, and all the hair was off the base of her tail.

I thought it was doing the trick, but within a couple hours saw her twisted around and biting her tail again -- yes, because she is longer (her mom is 1/2 mini dachshund) the collar doesn't keep her from reaching her tail -- her neck is long and it slides down.

So I took her to the vet again, but a different vet this time. She wasn't running a temp, so he gave her a steroid shot and said to leave the e-collar on her and try to use the ointment as much as possible & to continue the antibiotics til they were gone.

Within a week and a half she wasn't scratching any more, and the hair started growing back.

A week ago, she started again with the scratching, licking & chewing on the base of her tail. I took her back to the vet AGAIN, and he gave her another shot. I dropped her off so they could observe her and run any necessary tests. He said while she was there and in the cage at his office she didn't scratch or bite herself.

The second I got her home, she started it up again. I called the vet back and he said he could put her on steroids, but he recommended a new medication for allergic dermatitis called Atopica, and said it is effective without the bad side effects of steroids. The downside is that it's expensive -- the first month will be $50, and she'll have to take it the rest of her life, he said.

I've already spent almost $250, and I can't afford to keep taking her to the vet, and I don't know if I can afford the Atopica. I love her with all my heart, but I just can't afford all this.

Please, does anyone have any advice or suggestions? I'm at my wit's end and don't know what to do...I know she is miserable, too, because she is crying as she scratches herself...

Thanks for any and all comments.

Dana B & Maizie

poor thing. I went through that with Lola except she was only scratching her ears & chewing her feet. She scratched other places as well but her ears were the worst. she had sores on them & still has little scars from it. lola's vet determined she was allergic to something she was eating. we got lucky. i was able to pinpoint by luck that she was allergic to chicken. i stopped giving her anything that had chicken in it and everything cleared up & she hasn't hada problem since.

it's weird though that your little one didn't have any problems while @ the vet but started up again once she got home. you could start by asking the vet what they fed her while she was there. but it could be that maybe she's allergic to dust or dust mites. or maybe carpet. do you have carpet?

there is something that is causing the allergic reaction so you prob need to try & pin point it down to see if you can help her feel better.

Lola has other allergies to certain things in the air and for a while she was even allergic to grass. when her allergies start acting up or she starts her "honking" the vet told me to give her benedryl. it's safe for them and not expensive either. i just get the regular tabs & cut them in half and give her 1 half.

our neighbor has a little chi that is allergic to grass & if it touches his belly he breaks out in these nasty blisters. so she has to make sure when he lays outside the grass isn't tall or that his belly is covered by a shirt.

these might be some things to try

Sorry to hear Mazie is having so much trouble, Poor baby.
I tend to agree with Telisa, sounds like an allergy.
I discovered my pup was Allergic to peanut butter so now no more pb for her. Hope she gets better real soon,
Lu, Tink & Pixie

Poor Mazie! A couple of weeks ago, Lili started scratching like crazy and she was extremely sensitive when touched along the backbone. Later in the afternoon, she broke out in hives all over her stomach. Since this was a Sunday, off we went to the emergency vets on the Katy Fwy. They gave her a shot of benedryl and watched her for a couple of hours. We were sent home with instructions to give her baby benedryl for a few days. We never determined what she was reacting to. I agree with Telisa. Try benedryl. I know we'd all love to here how Mazie is.

Dana, I'm sorry to hear about Maizie's dermatitis. It is such a tricky one to figure out (as it is in humans too). You can spend a fortune at the doctor and still not get any definite answers. Our vet told us to try the baby benedryl. We use the liquid but it's so messy, I think we're going to switch to the pills next. Certain times of the year really get our dogs to itching. Peanut, our shorthaired chi, is affected the most. We are constantly struggling with his runny eyes. That seems to be a year round problem now. I hope you can find out what is triggering her outbreaks so she can get some relief. Let us know how things turn out. Good Luck.

change her diet. twinkie has food allergies and even though she is on hypoallergenic food.. it helps very little.. he scratches her ears.... almost every other day.. and i spent alot of money also on vets.. so im pretty much on the same boat... goodluck hopefully it will clear up

Thanks for everyone's reply.

I talked to the vet again, and he said he didn't think I would have to worry about any side effects if I put Maizie on a short course of steroids.

So I got a prescription for steroids for her from the vet -- they were about $8, so not too bad. The other option was the Atopica, and it is much more expensive, so I opted to try the steroids first.

I give Maizie 1/4 of a tablet twice a day, and I'm keeping the Bite Not collar on her -- it looks sort of like a neck brace and goes from behind her ears to the top of her shoulders, and keeps her from biting, licking & chewing on herself. She hates it, of course, but I'm hoping that the skin will heal, and this is the only way to keep her from continuing to irritate it.

I had been giving her 1/4 of a Benadryl twice a day before this, which I forgot to say, but it didn't seem to make a bit of difference in the amount of licking, biting & chewing she was doing.

Thanks again for your responses.

Dana & Maizie