Hi it’s great you have rescued an older dog, since her old owner said she cant eat chicken then she must suffer with food sensitivities, I would change her food ASAP, my boy scratched & scratched on Royal Canine HP & Gastrointestinal & Hills Z/d vet diets, made him worse…..
Find a limited ingredient food with least ingredients 3-5 ingredients also make sure the fat & protein isn’t too high and is around the same as what she is use to eating….
Baths go & get some Malaseb medicated shampoo, Malaseb kills any bacteria on the skin, it softens the coat & relieves itchy skin, as soon as she starts her scratching give her a bath & wash off any allergens & pollens on her skin & paws that’s if she is having environment allergies, it may be food sensitives, my boy has both… Baths relieve their skin, I bath my boy weekly every Thursday, I use to bath him daily especially when his paws were red & itchy now I put Hydrocortisone 1% cream I check his paws every night while he’s sleeping.. You leave the Malaseb on for 5-10mins if you can, I massage Patch as long as I can about 5mins then rinse off with bath water then empty the bath & rinse all the Malaseb off with clean water…..
I did elimination diet & found he can’t eat chicken, barley, oats, maize, corn meal, carrot, he would get his red paws 20mins after eating chicken & barley, itchy body after eating carrot, oats, barley, corn…. also look for an omega 3 supplement & add to her diet or feed tin sardines in spring water or olive oil, give about 3 small sardines a day as a treat or added to her meal… I would start adding 1/4 new kibble for 2 days then 1/2 cup new kibble for the next 2 days see how her poos are going, if poos are good then on the 5th day just feed the new kibble you have bought…..With the new kibble you have bought I hope the ingredients are different to the Royal Canine she is eating at the moment…. Normally a fish kibble is the best to start on…
“Canidae” Pure Sea http://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products
“California Natural” Lamb & Brown Rice has just 3 ingredients.. http://www.californianaturalpet.com/products
I wouldn’t start any prednisone yet all prednisone does is puts the immune system in remission then as soon as you reduce the prednisone & stop giving it, your back to where you were before you started the Prednisone, Prednisone is just a band aid… If after the baths twice a week & new food & cream she is still in a bad way then book appointment to see a Dermatologist as they specialize in dogs skin problems. In the long run you’ll save money seeing a Dermatologist.
I also wipe my boy paws after walking with the Huggie baby wipes Aloe & Cucumber or they have just brought out new baby wipe Coconut wipes, I use 1 baby wipe per paw & a new wipe for face/head.. When at supermarket or chemist look in baby section for “Sudocrem”… I put the Sudocrem cream on Patches paws when it’s been raining for a few days as Patch gets red paws from walking in rain water & the Sudocrem acts as a barrier & stops any red & itchy paws… Between the new food, the baths twice a week or as soon as she scratches & using the Sudocrem cream you will see an improvement..
Keep a diary & you will start to see a pattern over the years… My boy has seasonal allergies & food sensitivities, he’s fine thru the winter months as long as he’s eating foods that agree with him, then as soon as Spring/Summer come he starts rolling & rubbing his body on my rug & is itchy…. Good luck Lucy I hope she is feeling better soon.
