My 2 Cavs are a bit itchy lately, one has licked his front legs until they are pinkish, and the other has nibbled bits of feathering from her feet. The vet couldn't suggest anything more useful than trying hibiscrub, which just made them pinker and also sticky and dirty. I'm trying regular baths in oatmeal shampoo which just arrived today, and I've also tried teatree shampoo and teatree spray. I'm also going to try the raw liquidised spinach that's often mentioned in Dog World. They had a teaspoon each last night, is that about right for a daily amount? And is it ok to freeze the bag once liquidised or do I resign myself to wasting at least half a bag?

It seems a bit coincidental that both have started with irritated paws at the same time?? If it's just their paws that are affected, have they been in contact with anything other than the norm? I would consider trying some protective boots for walking, if there is such a thing - just an idea?? My Harvey is plagued with allergies and has been terrible just recently and I put this down to Autumn pollen although he's been much better this past week so hopefully its dying down a bit. Of all the shampoo's I have tried on him, Sporal D seems to calm him better than anything else.

Just found these - http://www.dogbootsactive.com/dogpag/dogboots.htm  

There have been a few posts about itchy dogs recently so yes def something extending our usual allergy season!!

Hibiscrub - use it very diluted as it's quite drying.  A few drops in less than half a bucket of water will be enough to slosh 8 legs and paws!  If you have one, use a cat litter tray to make a foot bath - much quicker.  Do dry thoroughly afterward as wet paws = itchy paws.  This is my no 1 coping strategy for my itchy dog and it's a godsend

You can use Piriton - but see what your vet says about dosage.

I do give spinach from time to time but haven't found it's ever really made much of a difference.  I use the raw frozen stuff, as it's already in handy blocks, and chop very finely whilst it's still partially frozen.

My other miracle stuff is Dermacton.  HTH

> is it ok to freeze the bag once liquidised

Yes of course. I mix spinach with pear or carrot then freeze in an ice cube tray. Then I can get out what I need each day, that way I only have to liquidise once a week. A teaspoon each for your cavs sounds fine. I think ispinach is good for skin and coat so all ours have a good spoonful each day, itchy feet or not.

I agree with you about Hibiscrub. Our vet sells something called Mediscrub which does the same job but is much less drying. They use it themselves these days in the surgery. A bottle lasts ages but is quite expensive.

Dermacton is a good deterrent too and seems to have a soothing action.

My friend saw them today and reckons they have harvest mites or rabbit mites, she had the same problem with hers last year. So I might pop them back to the vet and see about getting Frontline spray which works better than spot on for mites apparently. Doesn't hurt to try the spinach too though, specially as they really seem to enjoy it!

> Doesn't hurt to try the spinach too though, specially as they really seem to enjoy it!

You're lucky, ours leave it unless I mix it with something sweet like carrot or pear. Still, I get it down them one way or another

We had a problem a few years back with fox mange.
It was the dogs elbows that were effected the most and they were very itchy, the only thing that sorted it was Stronghold.
It took a couple of applications 4 weeks appart to sort it out due to the lifecycle of the bugs.

I would also suspect a mite of some sort and would use benzyl benzoate first before anything else.