Dog with skin Problem

twg1

Well-Known Member
First post in this section , i have a year old ridgeback dog and he is suffering with a skin problem it appears to be concentrated around his neck and ears, we have been back and for the the vets for months, it originally appeared after he trashed a dog bed my thoughts were that perhaps the polystyrene filler had some thing on them but in hind sight now that may be a curved ball and actually have nothing to do with the condition,

So far the vet has been unable to identify the core problem , after spending best part of £1600.00 on steroids and antibiotics they are now saying that he has to go to a specialist to have further tests, that £275.00 for the initial consultation, we are now bumping against the insurance limit once that is gone if he needs long term medication we have a problem.

Moving forward we have thought about moving away from dried foods and feeding him naturally as some people call it that is to me raw meet etc we prep ourselves , i am interested to hear if anyone on hear does the same and what they feed their dogs do you give them any supplements as well etc.

With regards to the vet , i am a bit miffed the vet did not suggest the specialist earlier so am considering changing vet if anyone on here is in the epsom area and can recommend a vet it would be helpful.

Keith
 
gutted for you ! i think vets play on insurance and owners emotions far to much , i cant help unfortunatly but hope you get a good outcome ,atb arron. just thought , we have a wirehaired pointer x who everyyear loses a big patch of hair , i got some camarosa ointment after hearing good things about it , didnt work for my bitch but wouldt right it off as a thing to try !, she eventualy came good ,( think it is hormornal )
 
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Yes , can back clear for whatever they were testing for ! to be honest i am tempted to change vets , as soon as the pills end with in a day or two its back so my thinking is he as some thing in his system that the drugs keep at bay or he is reacting to something he is continually in contact with.
 
Diet can be a trigger factor. Randomly trying raw food may or may not help. To exclude diet as a cause we need to feed a specific exclusion diet offering protein and carbohydrate sources that are unique. Just feeding raw meat won't help if the dog was allergic to chciken etc.

Skin is usually simple enough to get to the bottom of. Scrapes are useful but can have low sensitivity (ie there may be mites there, but just not collect any). Skin biopsies vital to see what is going on, and can sometimes reveal some of the harder to find mites. Food trial very useful to rule in or out a component of food allergy. Depending on the pattern and age then blood tests to rule out hormonal derangements (thyroid, steroid) and possibly allergy testing by either bloods or skin testing.

That lot will get us to the bottom of 99% of skin cases. Many need ongoing treatment for life.

You can help a lot by using an effective flea product every 4 weeks without fail. Washing dogs beds regularly in non-bio washing up liquid. Medicated bathing.
 
Diet can be a trigger factor. Randomly trying raw food may or may not help. To exclude diet as a cause we need to feed a specific exclusion diet offering protein and carbohydrate sources that are unique. Just feeding raw meat won't help if the dog was allergic to chciken etc.

Skin is usually simple enough to get to the bottom of. Scrapes are useful but can have low sensitivity (ie there may be mites there, but just not collect any). Skin biopsies vital to see what is going on, and can sometimes reveal some of the harder to find mites. Food trial very useful to rule in or out a component of food allergy. Depending on the pattern and age then blood tests to rule out hormonal derangements (thyroid, steroid) and possibly allergy testing by either bloods or skin testing.

That lot will get us to the bottom of 99% of skin cases. Many need ongoing treatment for life.

You can help a lot by using an effective flea product every 4 weeks without fail. Washing dogs beds regularly in non-bio washing up liquid. Medicated bathing.

That helpful , he has had a skin biopsy which was clear , when i say raw foods we were going to feed him exclusively on one meat (protein) which he has not been exposed to and a form of carbs he has not either . what would you suggest to bath him in , irronicly one other thing which coincided with the first fair up was us treating him with a flea treatment.

​Keith
 
An exclusion diet requires a single protein source and a single carbohydrate source - ideally one the dog hasn't ever had before.

Rabbit can be good. Venison if you have surplus. Potatoes make quite a good carbohydrate source as most dogs only get them very infrequently. You can go for weird ones like tapioca.

Hoovering up a single bonio wrecks the whole thing.

6 weeks with NOTHING else to eat - even if you have to muzzle dog when out.
 
Depends how the skin is as to the 'best' shampoo. I like Malaseb for infections and Sebolytic for greasy dogs. Malaseb prescription only.....
 
A friends dog and a skin condition and tried all sorts of treatment suggested by his vet none of which cured the problem. He was advised (by another friend) to try putting manuka honey on the affected areas and he claims this cured the condition. Could be worth a try!
 
A friends dog and a skin condition and tried all sorts of treatment suggested by his vet none of which cured the problem. He was advised (by another friend) to try putting manuka honey on the affected areas and he claims this cured the condition. Could be worth a try!

Will give it a go anything it worth trying >

​Keith
 
Always check diet first. My initial thoughts were chaela Taela a skin mite. Failing that go to diet.


Ian
 
Try the raw meat diet.
Chicken carcasses ( not leg bones)
Or ground up chicken carcass again no leg bones.
small cube of liver now and then.
 
Leg bones shard and can get stuck in the throat always best to give uncooked wings the bones are soft
 
Try the raw meat diet.
Chicken carcasses ( not leg bones)
Or ground up chicken carcass again no leg bones.
small cube of liver now and then.

Why would you say no leg bones,I produce a 'Pet mince' for sale and have done for a long time and it is predominantly whole chicken carcass minced with any and all trims from the larder.My dogs also have whole carcass to gnaw away at,never ever had a problem.

Martin
 
Bit of an update, ended up taking him to a specialist , she suspected an yeast based infection, she called today to let me know about the results form the cultures ( think that the right term) and he has a bacterial infection which i cant recall the name of which is linked to the yeast problem but the surprise is that the culture grew ecoli as well which is a problem ! as there are not many antibiotics we can use apparently on him.

Keith
 
Yeast probably Malassezia (pronounced mal-es-these-ia)

Bacteria probably Staphylococcus (pseudo)intermedius

Glad you are getting on top of things.
 
One of my muts had a similar problem and while if did not cost as much we spent a small fortune on vet bills. Only finding out what was wrong after putting fog to sleep to take skin sample for lab test. Change in diet sorted the problem for good. I now feed a mix of Fish based dry food (acana) and fresh food which is basically a mix of whatever i have in the freezer (veni, pheasant mixed with cheaper beef mince and fresh veg chopped up and boiled). I also boil all carcasses as you would surprised by how much concentrate you can get off One. It is hard work cooking the fresh food but we have an afternoon once every 3 months and then freeze it. Works a treat, all dogs love it and is cheaper if you buy the ingredients in bulk.
I think the fish ingredient is also key to the skin problem. Zinc tablets may also help in the shirt term. PM me if you want any technical info re skin problem.
 
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