At my wits end with my dogs itchy skin!!

[Foxtrot_s]

I think the only thing I have not tried is spirulina.

Our white Bull Terrier has itchy, pink skin. He is on minimal ingredient food, and I’m about to put him on Royal Canin SS. (Maybe)

He’s been to dermatologists, allergists and had literally thousands spent on him. He is about 12 years old and on Prednisone (Two tablets one day, one tablet the next, etc.) and it holds him perfectly. We gave up trying every suggested cure. After the loading dose, he does very well. If you forge to give him the pills, you have to start all over again.

There are a few shampoos that have ketakonozole in them which helps, but the pills do work for us. I just got to the stage that a shorter life but a happy one is better than a life of misery. Mal-A-Ket, Selsun Blue, and some others that members will be able to name.

I don’t believe i the coconut oil, though I have fed it to him and rubbed it on him…it seems like marketing to me.

[alto]

[QUOTE=everafterfarm;7852150]
We are on our second vet for the skin issues. I’m not against trying another. Mange was ruled out a long time ago. We are sure he has yeast issues as well, which is why I was so hopeful the thyroid meds would be the end of it.

Whether or not there is also something else going on like a food allergy, we don’t know. He is on a grain free food, but it is chicken based. I guess we all thought it would be “over” once we realized he needed the thyroid help.

The current vet I’m using said if the thyroid meds didn’t work his recommendation would be to take him to Auburn University(it’s the closest vet school to me).

I guess first order is to recheck his thyroid levels and do a skin biopsy even if one was done in the past. As for doing allergy tests, both of the vets I have used so far say it’s crazy expensive and often inconclusive.

My dog certainly feels much much better since he’s started the thyroid meds, and his coat came back shiny and beautiful, but it’s just now starting to be itchy again, and I can see a little bald patch in each armpit from the scratching. His past hairloss was his armpits and belly/genital areas. Also he stunk and you could see yeasty build up in the armpits. I don’t want him to get like that again![/QUOTE]

Yeast is often secondary which is why you see it with DM, allergies etc; it can also appear with skin irritation (eg excessive bathing, medical shampoos, chemical baths etc, etc).

As he responded positively to the thyroid meds, I’d start there, have his levels checked, Hemopet offers the gold standard on this :yes:

As for doing allergy tests, both of the vets I have used so far say it’s crazy expensive and often inconclusive.

I’m guessing that neither vet is an allergist

You don’t need to do all the testing, start by booking a consult & understanding what’s happening with dogs & allergies, & how to manage this - even in the absence of testing/desensitizing protocols.

Easiest way to assess food allergies, is to switch to a raw food diet, as you can limit everything (any processed kibbles will always be subject to contamination (from the production lines), also the processing alters protein etc structure which can also increase reactivity).
Of course this means research & knowledge & commitment, so take your time to consider what you’re willing/able to manage.

Many dogs do improve with novel protein kibbles, so that is always a reasonable alternative.
Many “grain free” foods, apply an interesting definition of “grain” - perfectly legal for that product line.

In general, wait 2-3 month to assess food changes, though if you observe a negative impact, obviously discontinue.

Some dogs are also sensitive to the antibiotics etc that are used in commercial feed production rather than to chicken, beef etc.
(again going with a protein such as kangaroo or herring, often coincedentally removes the antibiotic etc )

[RaeHughes]

OP - dont know if it has already been mentioned but have you tried Raw Food?

I am not a fanatic - but, after much pressure from my vet and $s spent on dealing with hot spots that start as itchy skin every 4-6 weeks, I moved my older BC to a (sort of) raw food diet. Really, it is a wheat-free diet - rice is okay. It works. I am also fanatcial about grooming - it used to be monthly professional grooming with an oatmeal shampoo which included a thorough drying and comb out. And being fanatical about giving her her thyroid meds. Also having the latest (very hard to come by) anti-itching drug (i think Accupol) for short-term use when she starts to itch - usually, when she is rubbing her back along the table-cloth or is “flat”.

I do feed a lot of offal (thanks, my nice butcher, who chops up the liver for me :)) and raw meat but her daily staple is what I call “boil up”. Pigs trotters, brisket bones, chops etc in a slow-cooker (up to 1.5kgs) and cook for 6-8 hours. Then remove all bones from the meat, shread the meat and cook 1kg of rice in the water used to cook the meat. Add tumeric and other anti-allergen/fungal/etc herbs and spices. About 5 minutes before rice is totally cooked add finely chopped celery, carrots, pumpkin, etc (not onions or any other related vegetable). Allow to cool and, when at room temperature, crack in 3-4 raw eggs and stir. Smooth into a tray that will fit in your fridge and watch it set. This makes about 3kg of food which does her and the labrador for about 5 days for breakfast. The lab will eat this in prefernce to liver! (The lab also has itchy skin - something we found out once our good groomer stopped grooming while her husband was ill and died. Trying to find a new as-good groomer is proving interesting.)

[MunchingonHay]

He is a ‘hot’ dog and needs a ‘cooling’ diet.

Google Ying and Yang diets for dogs. or Hot and Cold diets for dogs. Chicken causes hot dogs to get hotter. So does lamb and venison. Beef, bison, pork are all cooling foods, fish is neutral which is why everyone can eat it (and by everyone I mean dogs).

Stay off the grains. And steer clear of starches. I feed Great Life. They have a salmon one and a buffalo one.

My dog is very sensitive to ‘hot’ foods, as well as outdoor allergies. We make a foot bath for him.

One cup Hydrogen peroxide
two cups white vinegar
four cups water.

Every time he goes outside he gets his feet dipped in the solution. We keep it in a tupperware container out of the sunlight and change it out every other day. I also will dip cotton balls into the solution and clean out his ears. We did this for 2 weeks. He was nose to tail hives and itchey this summer with scabs coupled with hair loss.

We also live in Fl. (tampa area).

We make this dip every time some pollen triggers his allergies and his yeast levels go through the roof. We also bath him in homemade shampoo: castor soap, coconut oil, neem oil, jojoba oil with rosemary, patchouli, and tea tree oils. My friend makes it from him.

[everafterfarm]

I think I’ve found a bison food I want to try. You all have given me some new ideas and things to look into. I have to be careful with any long term meds that thin the blood as he is a VWD dog. Looks like I have lots more research to do! I didn’t realize allergies could trigger yeast.

[Beethoven]

I would recommend a dermatologist. The dermatologist at UF are fantastic.

[alto]

[QUOTE=everafterfarm;7852699]
I think I’ve found a bison food I want to try. You all have given me some new ideas and things to look into. I have to be careful with any long term meds that thin the blood as he is a VWD dog. Looks like I have lots more research to do! I didn’t realize allergies could trigger yeast.[/QUOTE]

Bison is often not distinct enough from beef to not cross react IF beef is an allergen for your dog, similarly, chicken/turkey/pheasant are often cross reactive.

Emu, Ostrich, Duck, Herring, Rabbit, Venison, Elk, Moose, Kangaroo are usually all good novel proteins.

Of course if your dog is allergic to some other component in a kibble mix (or even a commercial raw food), then confusion reigns

Also be very aware of any flea allergies … most allergies work on a cascade effect, so if you have a primary allergen present, then dog will be much more reactive to a family of minor allergen … remove the primary & everything improves.

I’m rather sad that your vets never talked about yeast & allergies :sadsmile:

[4Martini]

Our itchy dog after trying a ton of things is on a steady diet of Benadryl (4 2x/day), Claritin (1 2x/day) and fish oil (4 2x/day). It alone justifies our costco membership. Our vet says it shouldn’t impact her long term. It does work.
We’ve tried a lot of things and this is all that worked.

[MunchingonHay]

venison is a HOT food, I would not feed that to a yeasty dog.

[everafterfarm]

Ok, I have come up with a plan of sorts. It looks like it could take awhile to figure out the cause of his skin problems. I know the skin issues are a result of something else going on. I think it’s more than a thyroid issue at this point. Allergies are now something we certainly need to look into more closely. So, I’m going to try some of the things suggested here to help keep him comfortable while we work on getting to the root of the problem.

He already had a bath with the T-gel shampoo today, and I gave him one of my Claritins.

I’m going to try out the Spirulina. I am also going to begin to switch him over to the bison food I can get locally. It’s grain free, potato free, and has no other types of “hot” meats or by products. I do want to avoid a raw diet if at all possible but it will be my next choice if this bison food doesn’t help.

Also going to order another thyroid check and make sure my vet uses the hemolife profile 5, I have found out he only did the t4 test. So after I do all this and give stuff time to work, we’ll see what’s going on. If still no good results, then I think I have no choice but to take him to a vet school or dermatologist.

[lilitiger2]

im really sorry you have to deal with this!
We went through this with one of my cats - tried diet changes (novel protein! grain free! a zillion different brands!), topical shit, litter changes, changed HOUSES for her, steroids (injected, 2x, won’t do again and prednisone). No real effect… Andyes, she is on her thyroid med, made a small but not enduring difference.

We did go to a veterinarian derm who specialized in allergies. She said for those truly at wit’s end, there are two medications - the steroid family and cyclosporine (Atopica). We tried Atopica and it did not work (cat slept and threw up) and returned to prenisolone which does not solve the problems,but she is somewhat better.

I mention Atopica because they use it on dogs quite a bit. It is not necessarily better than steroids but different and I gather in many cases, better tolerated. If you are truly at wit’s end and diet isnt really getting you very far, and topicals don’t make a difference and your dog is miserable, you might want to ask about it. THere are risks with it too, but I guess it depends on how miserable your dog is as to how desperate you are!

Good luck!

[Nestor]

There’s nothing better for your dog than raw. I bet if you switched, your problems would be gone.

Really, no joke.

My friend has her dog on raw, but if that dog gets even 1 “junk food” biscuit with grain in it, she gets SO itchy and her eyes swell and run. Grain is not for dogs!! ANY grain is bad!

[kasjordan]

Bye Bye chicken protein and hello fish. My GSD didn’t get that bad, but I switched proteins pretty quickly upon noticing him starting to itch more and bite his paws as a growing pup. And make sure everyone in the house is on board and not giving him treats containing anything you don’t want him to have. If you’ve never switched the protein, I would actually have pretty high hopes for that working for you. It will take a few weeks to start to notice.

[stolen_virtue]

I stopped having skin problems when I started feeding my dogs Vit E capsules. It was recommended by my vet. I break the capsules and squeeze it in their food. We have terrible fea/itching issues where I live and the capsules are cheap(I guess relatively) and easy.

[RA12]

I had a vet just about scold me last weekend for feeding my dog raw. It has nearly saved her life! Why can’t some vets understand that. I just ignored the scold. I am very VERY careful with what I feed her, nonetheless I don’t regret anything raw I’ve fed her so far!

[ChocoMare]

If the new plan fails, consider Equipride. I had an UBER itchy terrier mix. Changed food umpty-up times and nothing worked.

I, too, heard the Dinovite commercials and was <this> close to trying it until I listened to the commercial again “Flax seed, digestive enzymes that are cooked out of regular dog food…” etc. and the light bulb went off: That’s what is in my horse’s EquiPride.

Since she’s a wee dog, I only gave her a teaspoon once a day with her regular feed… I added a bit of water so the tiny crumbles would stick to the kibble (Taste of the Wild Elk). Two days later, NO MORE ITCHING. Soft coat, super shiny.

If you wanna try it, I’ll send you a small container. If it fails, feed it to your horse

[right_horse_at_the_right_time]

[QUOTE=everafterfarm;7853340]
Ok, I have come up with a plan of sorts. It looks like it could take awhile to figure out the cause of his skin problems. I know the skin issues are a result of something else going on. I think it’s more than a thyroid issue at this point. Allergies are now something we certainly need to look into more closely. So, I’m going to try some of the things suggested here to help keep him comfortable while we work on getting to the root of the problem.

He already had a bath with the T-gel shampoo today, and I gave him one of my Claritins.

I’m going to try out the Spirulina. I am also going to begin to switch him over to the bison food I can get locally. It’s grain free, potato free, and has no other types of “hot” meats or by products. I do want to avoid a raw diet if at all possible but it will be my next choice if this bison food doesn’t help.

Also going to order another thyroid check and make sure my vet uses the hemolife profile 5, I have found out he only did the t4 test. So after I do all this and give stuff time to work, we’ll see what’s going on. If still no good results, then I think I have no choice but to take him to a vet school or dermatologist.[/QUOTE]

Allergy testing - easy as pie.

My dog suffered horribly and we tried the elimination diet but he was so miserable we couldn’t wait.

We had the bloodwork done and received a profile of what he could have. No poultry, no fish, no potatoes and tons of other things I don’t remember.

He gets lamb and rice. I don’t eat lamb and it bugs me but it’s what is best for him.

He also had other allergies (Bermuda hay, etc.) and we haven’t limited that as much other than seeding the lawn differently, but once we fixed the diet, he was better within days. Off all allergy meds, no more steroids, no more itching, biting, miserable dog.

WELL WELL WELL worth the expense. The report gave us a list of all foods he could have, by brand, etc.

I would get the testing. If he’s that miserable, it will make all of your lives better. We couldn’t take the time to do the elimination diet.

Good luck!