I have a German Shepherd with seborrhea. It's a horrible skin disease that makes him miserable. He scratches constantly, bites, and is missing lots of fur under his muzzle and stomach. The skin is like soft black leather and most of the fur is gone. He is bathed twice a week with Sebazol, takes 1200 mg fish oil, vitamins E and A, and 4 Benadryl a day (all on the advice of our vet). Nothing seems to work. I have tried the baby oil, Listerine, and warm water mix. It didn't help and just mades his coat greasy. Any suggestions?
By Cisco's Mom from FL
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
I had never heard of this (seborrhea) until I read your post so had to goggle it to find out what you were talking about. I'm sorry I don't have any answers for you or your dog, but wish you much luck in finding a solution! I understand how tough it is to see a pet deal with odd issues. Just wanted to wish you the best. You and dog take care, okay?
I had a German Shepard with the same problem. My husky has the same problem. Use clinical strength Head & Shoulders shampoo.
My standard poodle had the same problem. Her stomach became black and leather looking. She was losing hair up around her back. She was constantly licking. My vet had me change her diet That didn't work. Then he said it was because she was bored so to exercise her more. That didn't work. I changed vets and this vet analyzed skin scrapings and found she had yeast infection.
i appreciate the help but half of your reply is not understandable, spell check especially when trying to help, anti obote????
I have a sweet Pembroke Corgi wolfmix. Neither of my fur babies had ever had fleas, other girl is a Chihuahua, but I held a old landlord clean the apartment next to mine. Needless to say it not only was disgusting, but was left infested with fleas and hence my poor babies was miserable. The reason they never had fleas is I bathe them weekly with the original ( not cheaper simple brand name ) of Blue Dawn dish soap and a good amount of baking soda mixed. The dawn keeps fleas away even works on cats,baking soda soothes and they don't have a wet dog smell, come to find out the soda soothes more than I knew because after the stinking fleas I found out the corgi mix is extremely allergic to fleas, 2 rounds of antibiotics, steroid shots, and just a single flea causes the alergic reaction, she was pitiful, hair pulled out size of baseball, smallest golf ball but it allowed infection to setup and looked like a human with horrible MSRA staff places. We moved as soon as I possibly could and got both back flea free BUT since dogs develope the Seborrhea around the age of 2 she's older than 2,she is around three and a half years but the vet couldn't say if she'd gotten this or all was because of the flea issue starting it. It has been a constant battle ever since, and the smell due to the yeast that develops with the seborrhea is horrible. I get the hair growing back and boom here we go again. From what I've read food must be Salmon & Sweet Potato, absolutely no grains, artificial coloring and a shampoo with very spific ingredients. I need to start giving flea pills now since the weather is going to get humid soon as well. I can't give her any form of Benadryl,it makes her heart race and looks like it's going to come out of her, cannot give things the vet normally would give to calm anxiety down so I can get her shaved to about a inch so shampoos can get deep in the fur better and most of all let the bald,sometimes very light bleeding where she pulls it out, the vet said normally he'd give a xanax or Valium to keep calm long enough to cut,groom like needs to be because she has seizures in her sleep so he'll have to fully sedate her.
My young terrier has seborrhea so severe and the vet did not help at all
. I found after reading a lot online that these three things work amazing for her and she has healed 90 in a week. I use Petkin Itch wipes they soothe itching and scratching and they have a bitter taste so they stop licking biting and chewing on themses and are 100 safe. I wipe her with those daily all over then I spray Veterinary Formula clinical care Antiseptic antifungal spray for cats and dogs and I spray that on the itch wipe and wipe it all over her after I've already used the wipe with the itch soothing on it I just add the spray on it then twice a week and this is VERY IMPORTANT YOU DONT USE IT MORE THAN ONCE.
I have owned German Shepherds all my life. Please seek another veterinarians diagnosis. Good luck to you and your beautiful shepherd boy.
My Rosie has some sort of skin condition and she just chews and chews on herself. There won't be a flea on her, yet there are little red bumps all over her belly. I read a tip here on Thriftyfun about a reader who after everything she tried failed, soaked her dog in a bathtub with warm water and Epson Salts every two or three weeks and it cleared up her dog's skin condition and it's fur was growing back.
I did see an improvement in Rosie as well. I literally sat with her in the tub for 20 minutes pouring the water over her body and rubbing it in.
If I had a long haired dog, I would strip it's coat once so the skin could get all the benefit of the soaking. The fur grows back pretty fast and until it does just ket him outside to do his business and then back inside. They also make sweaters or since he's a large dog you can adjust a sweatshirt to keep him warm. I also give Rosie Benadryl but with time it can cause liver damage.
Good luck to you and your dog and I hope you find a solutrion that works for you.
How was the diagnosis made? Did they take a scrape for analysis? Like Farstar, I would suggest trying another vet. In the meantime, have you tried changing his diet. This could well be the cause. Good luck. It must be heartbreaking for you to watch this and not be able to help.
Nzymes.com. Does wonders. Diet? Raw is best. Google it. Absolutely no corn wheat or soy. No Purina. No grocery store dog food. Cooking is good also/mixed with raw diet. Combo sweet potatoes mashed with a little sweet butter, veggies and canned jack mackerel or other fish long as it is not raw salmon which can give a dog salmon fever . Not much tuna (has mercury). Brown rice cooked with ground turkey. When almost done add few veggies. Add a little sweet butter Dry borax your house for fleas. Coconut oil in and out good for lots of conditions. It is oily but has wonderful healing and anti bacterial qualities.
You might also try bathing him with T-Sal that humans use for seborrhea dermatitis. It doesn't have sodium laurel sulfate in it which causes lots of people problems, me included!
Another thought: Has the beast skin been scraped to make sure it isn't mange? Those crittters aren't always "at home" when the scraping is made. It took scraping my poor cocker spaniel to within an inch of his life before they found he had sarcoptic mange. Then it took dipping him 4 times and 3 doses of Ivermectin to cure him. He was great from then on! Good luck to you.
I have had good results with Diaper Rash Ointment, make sure it has 40 % Zinc Oxide.
Go to the pharmacy section of Wal-Mart and buy a gallon jug of pure aloe vera juice. Put about a quarter of a cup of it in a spray bottle, and fill with warm water. Spray it on the affected area several times a day. Also, buy some camomile tea bags, make a cup of it, then add another cup of water to it to make it half strength. Give this to your dog in place of his regular drinking water. Camomile has a natural calming affect that will help him to not be so frantic to scratch/chew/lick. Hope this helps! :c)
Aloe is toxic to dogs. Do not use it,especially if your dog is licking or chewing.
I have a GSD with Seborria I feed him from and use a medicated shampoo on him I also use tea tree oil mixed with water in a spray bottle between baths .works well and is safe for dogs
Have you considered skin allergies? It is so common. My terrier had it. after changing food many times, we finally ended up with canned salmon (skin bones and all) and brown rice. He stopped chewing himself right away, and lived on that diet until he died at 17 years. Good luck.
Thank you all for your advice, home remedies, doggie tips and well wishes. I am happy to report great progress w/our wonderful Cisco. Our vet did a deep skin scraping and the diagnosis was seborrhea and yeast infection. He was put on a very measured dose of steroids (yes, I know many of you don't believe in them). All of the pills were cut in half and he received 2 doses (1 pill) for 5 days then a half pill for 5 days and then a half pill every other day. The other prescription is Ketanazole which is used for vaginits in women. That is to attack the yeast infection. Along with the Benadryl, vitamin E, A, and fish oil twice a day.
I'm ready to apply for my medical degree (kidding). He is also bathed twice a week (my husband handles that) once with Sebazol and once with Pyoben. Purina Selects salmon with brown rice food, no wheat, no corn, no soy. Expensive, you better believe it. We are about $1K in the hole since we rescued him in Oct. Worth it, every penny. We have a new 2011 version of Cisco. Hopefully this has knocked it out of his system and from now on it will just be maintenance. As for Cisco, 3 days into the medication he stopped scratching. He has grown fur where there were black leathery bald spots. But best of all he is confident, playful (he loves to play ball) he kisses and loves to be hugged and patted. I don't think he ever was before since he was so oily and smelled so bad. He prances with his head and ears up and confidence. We are amazed at how smart he is, who would have know before since he spent all his time in a corner scratching.
He is a joy and a whole new dog. Thank you all my new friends!
That's great news. I'm so pleased for you and, of course, your dog!
Hello! My dog has Seborrhea and it is a terrible and frustrating disease. We tried everything until I finally put her on raw food and her skin has cleared right up! I suggest finding a provider that has good organic meat. I don't have to bath her twice a week or anything it's the only thing that has worked for her. Raw food is pricey, but not much more than expensive dry food. I would much rather spend the money on raw food than vet bills.
Hope that helps!
What is your raw food diet after thousands of dollars down the drain and just another 600 this month I am at the end of my rope and sick of shoving pills down my bassetts throat as I am sure she is no longer thrilled either after realizing long ago it's not treats.. I am ready to just pull out my hair.. and with lack of help and 2 others to tend to thankfully with no medical issues it exhausting.. please any suggestion THAT WORK.. I have googled things..and they DON'T WORK..i want from some ones experience. Please and thank you ..casey
My Black Lab was diagnosed with that today. The vet prescribed cephalexin 500 mg 3 capsules 2 x a day and some shampoo to use on a schedule. He also received a steroid shot. Here is hoping this solves this awful problem. I did not want to do any more home remedies only made it worse, Poor fella but I believe this vet has nailed it.
same with my black lab . even with an organic no grain diet it has returned 3 months later.
My Shepherd has the same problem. He was prescribed Apoquel for allergies. Works like a charm. Still has problems with Pyrodermas but we're working on that now.
Apoquel has some scary side effects, like tumors. Research it if the vet wants to keep your dog on Apoquel for a long time. My vet wanted to keep my dog on Apoquel for life!! Even with the high risk of tumors, etc.
Seborrhea never goes away according to the vet. Has anyone had it go away completely? Our poor little baby boy Guinness has it. The steroids and shots relieve for a short time. Our vet prescribed a medicated shamooo, $32 a bottle, 2 baths a week. Life Abundance grain free dry food at $50 for 20lb bag every 3 to 4 weeks for two American Cockers. 4 to 6 Benadryls a day at $4.50 a box. Hydrocortisone cream twice a day at $12 a bottle. Not to mention allergy drops at $185 every 3 months and monthly grooming. He should a dependent on our taxes! He is worth every penny spent, such a good dog, but he is nowhere near cured, more like managed. Please respond? Thx
My american cocker started 3 years ago with Seborrea. We changed her diet/Steroids/antibiotics. Apoquel didn't work which was disappointing because it's inexpensive compared to Cyclosporin which DOES work! 50mg capule/day. BUT she still has the worst ears ever. That is a daily issue. She's mostly deaf now at age 10 from the years of treating and fighting ear infections.
I have a lab with it and I get my shampoo and other stuff from amazon.com even the prescribed shampoo. who knew. It has lower prices for the meds I need for the awful stuff to ge away on toby. I give him fish oil twice a day and bathe him twice a week. I put bag balm and coconut oil on him and if he licks the oil will help internally. Coconut oil is a wonderful thing. my dogs love it when I put ice and coconut oil in their water. just use a little because it causes some diarrhea at first. a big difference in both my Chihuahua and my black lab. Persistence and patience and the proper priced tools is a big amazing treatment. coconut oil organic virgin is what I use daily . for all of us furry and furless.
My dog has been seborrhead. He got diagnosed by the vet..The vet prescribed him Douxo Seb shampoo and Medrone steriods.The steriods sent him nuts.The a Vitamin 12 injection as well..This did work for a while. I carried on using the Douxo Seb shampoo but didnt seem to help. Iv been using cold tar shampoo once a week which is helping with the dry flakiness on him.But the rubbery leather bits underneath just been the same.Iv always given him fish oils.. We moved countries a couple of years ago and he got fleas. Tried everything to get rid of the fleas,but for some reason it seemed really hard to get rid of them..Then he ended up with this skin disorder..Just trying to look into other ways i could help him naturally.Dont want to use steriods again.
My lhasa apso was in a horrible state with crusty scabs on her body and shedding smin everywhere. I had been unable to have her cut as she had an open wound from a recent op. Her coat was very long but I was grooming so there were no mats in it. When the wound had healed sufficiently i had her cut short. I was then able to see the extent of the skin condition. I bought Vaseline intensive care for extremely dry skin non gteasy formula. I rubbed it into the crusty scabs until they softened and combed out with a nit comb. I did this every night. Whenever she was lying beside me I applied the cream. I have bathed her a couple of times with T-gel shampoo for sebhorrea - baby shampoo on head. The improvement is remarkable. Her skin has only occasional build up of skin shich I cream right away. The terrible smell she had has all but gone. Just thought I would share this as I was really despairing about a month ago.
My dog has Seborrea. I have another that had such severe allergies, she would get covered in bumps and scabs so badly, it literally looked like sandpaper was rubbed over her. Answer: Yucca Root. All natural anti inflammatory. She has not needed a steroid or antibiotic since the Yucca Root. Also, a diluted mix with tea tree oil sprayed on the skin can kill both fungus and bacteria. Apple Cider vinegar. Two cups in the bottom of a Luke warm bath. Neutralizes the skin's PH.. Gluten free food for grain alllergies. Old fashioned tar based shampoo has worked better than ketocore (sp?), oatmeal, tea oil shampoos.
Hi did you just boiled the yucca and let the dog eat it? Please let me know
How often do you bathe your dog and how is the Yucca Root prepared? I just recently added Turmeric to her food (1 tsp once a day), is Yucca Root better and how much to feed?
Duoxo shampoo regimen works for my cockers very well
I have a dausand and she was itching and scratching. I started using a regular flea soap and a good conditioner on her. With a allergy shot every 2 months and coconut oils rubbed in her coat after a once a week bath. She no longer has itching or thining hair spots..this has been working over a year.
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
