Luca's health

[adkins32]

I have a few questions.
First of all, Luca is 21 months old and we just got him back in December (someone found him and gave him to us, so we do not have much history on the him)
He has pooped 4 times within the last 22 hours (one of which was in the apartment and he is housetrained), what could be causing this? We have not changed his food in over a month.
Also - he got fleas about 1 1/2 months ago, I took him to the vet and got Advantage. It only lasted about 3 weeks and they came back. So this time (about 2 weeks ago) I got Frontline Plus, which seems to be working.
In the past week he has started scratching again - I have not seen any fleas, so I don't know if the fleas came back or not. My question is what else could it be? (allergies, dry skin?) And how can I find out? Without going to the vet, if possible.
Thanks.

[fasteddie]

Have you thoroughly checked his skin for fleas after applying the Frontline or Advantage? It could be he has diarrhea or something, did he eat any table scraps or anything out of the ordinary recently? Their tiny stomachs are very sensitive unfortunately, and any little thing could throw it off and make them poop that much. Sometimes dry skin does cause them to scratch a lot, there's some oil you can put in their food to help their coat and skin.

We use some Nourishing Baby Oil for his skin, that's the stuff we spray on after his bath. And the stuff we put a few drops in his food is Skin & Coat Supplement, which is made by "Everyone's Best Friend."

[adkins32]

Originally Posted by fasteddie

Have you thoroughly checked his skin for fleas after applying the Frontline or Advantage? It could be he has diarrhea or something, did he eat any table scraps or anything out of the ordinary recently? Their tiny stomachs are very sensitive unfortunately, and any little thing could throw it off and make them poop that much. Sometimes dry skin does cause them to scratch a lot, there's some oil you can put in their food to help their coat and skin.

We use some Nourishing Baby Oil for his skin, that's the stuff we spray on after his bath. And the stuff we put a few drops in his food is Skin & Coat Supplement, which is made by "Everyone's Best Friend."

I check the areas he scratches in after I catch him scratching, but I guess I need to check his WHOLE body. He doesn't necessarly have diarrhea (its not runny), its just alot. And I guess I should add that he went again when I went home for lunch, so that's 6 times in 24 hours. We do not feed him table food. And he hasn't eaten anything out of the ordinary that I know of. (unless he got into something while I was gone) I think I am going to try changing his food. I have read a lot today about Pro Plan and some others, so I know what to look for now. (as far as meat being the first ingredient, having protein be 20-25%, etc) I guess I should have done a lot more research on this breed before I jumped into having one. I love him and I do my best, but I admit, I am still learning. Thanks for all your help.
The Skin & Coat Supplement - you said that is drops in food? Do they make it for shampoo as well - I thought I read that from someone earlier??
Just curious because - I am going to the store this afternoon.
Again - thanks for your help.

By the way - my original post was about Luca "acting out"...have you ever heard of a dog being drenched in sweat or saliva, or something when he was in a crate? I mean covered from head to middle of the stomach. I stopped putting him in the crate b/c he was so pitiful, not to mention so nasty that he required a bath immediately.
Just curious.

thanks again

[adkins32]

I took Luca to the vet yesterday...it is apparently allergies. He got a shot of cortisone and some antihistimine pills. He is already doing much better!!!
I have also switched him to Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach and I have added the Skin and Coat Supplement to his diet.
Doing much better! Thanks.