My Shepherd mix has had some patches of fur missing, off and on, for about six months. I recently changed his diet to no grain, started him on fish oil and bathe him regularly with a gentle medicated shampoo. He smells awful and has a large patch of dry scaly skin behind his front legs and on his abdomen. He does scratch and lick a lot.
He is a bad vet patient, I have to heavily sedate him. He is friendly to all others, strangers and all, anyone can walk right in my house, but he goes crazy in the exam room. Any last attempt suggestions before the heavy sedation has to come?
By Tracey
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Your dog has seborreah. A dry, scaly, itchy, smelly skin condition. My German Shepherd has it also. It is very hard to control and has no cure. After almost two years our vet has it under control. We feed him a no wheat, corn, or soy dry dog food.
We chose Purina One Beyond chicken and oatmeal recipe mainly because of cost. The other brands were so very expensive. My husband bathes him in the shower every Saturday with Malaseb shampoo. Cheapest place to buy is on line. Every day he receives 4 Benadryl, I actually buy the Walmart Equate brand because of cost. He gets two at 9 am and two at 9 pm. He also receives 20 mg of Prednisone a week (prescription)..half a pill on Monday, half on Thurs.
He also receives a shot of VARL every 23 days which our vet prescribed and my husband administers. It is a sterile solution that is kept in the refrigerator. Our vet taught my husband to administer it.
Now that I have sufficiently frightened you, I must say this is a very time consuming and expensive condition. It has taken us over two years of trying different combinations. But at last, Cisco has fur, has stopped biting and licking and is a beautiful dog.
I might mention he was a rescue and of course no one told us about his condition. By the time we arrived home the inside of our car smelled like Parmesan cheese. It is a horrible nasty condition. This poor animal had never been patted or kissed or shown any affection. He is sweet, lovable, and a joy.
I don't know that we would have gone though this had we known up front what we were in for, but we are so happy to be able to give him a good home with lots of love.
I think your awesome, thank goodness there are people like you in this worlds too have a dog who suffers from allergies and has a skin condition thats not pleasant ,but I do everything I can to help him feel better and what he most benefits from is my love.
The only person who is qualifed to correct this problem is your veterinarian. If you are not happy with their results please change your vet and a lot of animals suffer with anxiety when entering the surgery.
Ask your vet to give you a sedative (to your dog's weigh) to be given one hour before you visit the surgery. But a much better solution is have the vet come to you (they all make house calls), but give tablet just the same. Talk to your current vet about this. Hope this helps because this poor animal can not live like this.
Your dog is quite smart. Probable treatment from vet will be steroids. Steroids only let problem come back worse next time as it destroys the immune system. Vaccines destroy the immune system. Big no, no. You cleaned up his diet with no corn,wheat or soy?
Not perfect but quite decent is Diamond lamb and rice kibble. That is never in the grocery store , only livestock supply, some groomers, some specialty stores. Costs no more than Purina. Cooking and raw is even better.
Your pet probably has a fungus. Wet it with Listerine and be sure to soak the feet as well. This must be the amber colored Listerine. No pink, blue or green. Use as often as you wish until the fungus is eliminated. Fleas could be causing an allergy. Wash him in any bar soap 2 times when you bathe. Dawn dish soap is good as well.
Do the dry 20 mule team borax sifted into carpets and their sleeping quarters. Leave for 2 weeks before you vacuum. Yard have fleas? The dog cannot be reinvested so that has to be dealt with also. I like cedercide granules for that. keep me posted and we are going to get this baby comfortable. You don't need skin scrapings at the vet.
Almost invariably, steroids are prescribed. Steroids cause other problems. One being cataracts. relief is welcomed when we do this in a non poisonous way. No poison flea collars or poison between the shoulders.
Hartz Mountain products kill and maim. Any vet will tell you about the dangers of Hartz Mountain. Please don't kill your baby with this product.
My friend had lots of rescue dogs and cats on her ranch. Her friend bought cheap Hartz Mountain at Wal Mart. More than half of her dogs and cats died. 30 years ago I visited stores and put stickers on Hartz Mountain products that told of the death the product would probably cause.
Hartz has never cleaned up the problem. Follow the money train. Keep me posted. I have tips on natural worming and good health without pharma or poisons.
Sounds like allergies. Our vet has the 70 lb pit mix on 1 allergy pill per day. It's been a major help. We use the generic form of adult Zyrtec, 10 mg.His under the neck fur still looks a little 'moth eaten', and I don't know if this is due to the Boston terrier who is frequently nipping in play. His back looks about 90% normal now.
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