My 6 year old lab Pepper is suffering from loss of appetite and terrible patches of oozing, bloody skin. I have had her to the vet 5 times. He wants 1800 dollars to allergy test Pepper. I love her very, very much, but I truly do not have that kind of money.
We changed her food from Iams to Blue Buffalo about a year ago. She is currently on the duck and potato recipe. The spots come and go, but her lack of appetite and lethargic behavior just started. Any suggestions from anyone?
By Mary S.
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
Dod food, like most prepared human food, is full of additives. Have you tried a more natural diet of raw meat? The allergy could also be something besides food; something that comes in contact with her skin.
What a tough problem. I had a dog with skin allergies that chewed himself raw. I kept changing diets until I began to cook for him. Every time I changed diets he would improve for 6 months and then begin chewing himself again. So I would change the diet again.
Just as I was thinking I would have to go to the exotic meat store because I had used everything available at the local supermarket, I tried canned salmon (bones skin and all) and brown rice. The chewing stopped and never began again. He lived to be 17 years old on that diet.
I cooked it every week for him. It is hard to tell if your dogs skin condition is from the diet, but it sounds like it may be. If I were you I would be thinking hard about another vet. It is much easier and cheaper to try different diets than to spend $1800 allergy testing. I would be looking for a 2nd opinion. Best of luck to you and Pepper.
Several answers come to mind. We had a lot of issues with our American bulldog. Skin rashes, diarrhea, bloody liquid stools, bloodshot eyes, the dog was miserable. We have him on Diamonds Natural Lamb Meal and Rice.
How we got him stabilized is another story. We feed him cooked rice an mixed in several tablespoons of organic yogurt with several live cultures. He got this twice a day. In the morning batch we also gave him a teaspoon or local raw honey.
The yogurt was to balance his flora in his intestines and it worked beautifully. The honey was created by local bees collecting from flowers/pollen from what is locally airborne. This really helped a lot. After about a month we weaned him down to 1/2 tsp and then none at all.
The skin issues are gone. We only use a sensitive shampoo on him. He gets a daily dose of yogurt every single day. A large heaping tablespoon. I am also making his yogurt now. I make a bout a gallon every 10 days. He love is it and he waits for it to come out warm and fresh. What a beggar!
I learned that all these things are happening to him due to the fact that he has an immature auto immune system. Which was one of the reasons fleas loved him. I couldn't put a flea collar or any type chemicals on him. He almost died the first time. it freaked me out!! So we do it all naturally with him. He is a sweetie pie.
Here are a large number of suggestions. I would have the dog tested for mange, or other mites. Mites are terribly itchy.
Slideshow on Skin Problems in Dogs
pets.webmd.com/
I would cover all bases as much as possible. I would assume it is fleas among other things, even one will cause an allergic reaction. Even if you don't see them on the dog, he could have them anyway. What kind of flea and tick prevention is the dog on?
Put her on comfortis, the pill, some dogs are allergic to any kind of topical and the fleas are immune to topical treatments most of the time now anyway.
You can buy this at the vet for about 15 or so dollars once a month and it is a great treatment for fleas. I would also assume yeast is out of control so I would do the grain free diet as much as possible..no treats from the store. Try a chicken diet for a couple of days and see how the dog handles it.
I would try to give the dog a bath at least once a week. Never use oatmeal shampoo if there is a yeast problem. The yeast feed on grains.
No scraps, bread, etc is bad for the dog. No store bought treats. If he needs a reward, give him a bag of turkey, the kind you buy in individual bags from the store to make sandwiches out of.
Change the dog food to a more expensive brand where on the ingredients list within the first four ingredients is chicken and not chicken by products.
Oftentimes, changing the diet to a grain-free, allergen-free food paired with a short-term dose of a steroid and a yeast-preventative medication and/or shampoo can start to improve a dog's yeast balance. There is no way to identify the absolute cause of the yeast infection, but treating all complications at once and maintaining a grain-free diet, as well as applying yeast-reducing shampoos, are often effective in treating a dog with chronic yeast problems.
Also please look at the pictures on this site of systemic yeast infections and how to treat them. This lady knows so much about dogs it is amazing.
www.greatdanelady.com/
I would give the dog 1 mgs of benadryl per pound of body weight.
The benadryl cannot be the kind that is mixed with cold meds. It must be the kind with only dipenhydramine in it. The pills are easier to give in food.
You can administer up to 1 mg/lb every 8 hours (or 3 times a day -- tid). So if you have a 20 lb. dog, it's 20 mg of diphenhydramine.
www.earthclinic.com/
The above link discusses some home remedies for pets.
Here are some items in the articles on earthclinic.com:
"that came about when he was 2. He was thought to have various disorders like Cushings and Addisons but the tests proved he didn't and no matter what we did he was getting worse to the point where he could no longer move and wouldn't eat.
I found a book called "The Holistic Guide to A Healthy Dog" by Wendy Volhard and followed the instructions for a cleansing diet to rid my dogs body of toxins and allergies.
He was completely better within 12 hours. Running around like a puppy, normal stools etc. I proceeded with the natural diet that is outlined in the book and he has led an amazing life since.
When people see him walking down the street they ask how old my "puppy" is. The transformation is remarkable. He is now 8 and his only vet trips in the last five years have been to weigh in and make sure I am balancing his vitamins properly.
I highly recommend this book even if a dog doesn't have issues but just to give it back the life dogs are meant to live.
The diet takes a while for humans to get used to... A bit more work than we are accustomed, but it's worth it! Also in the appendix are herbal, holistic, mineral and vitamin remedies for all kinds of ailments and issues. You may find it very interesting as well because of what you do for a living.
Take care and good luck!
More Reading:
About Candida Yeast in Dogs | eHow.com www.ehow.com/
I too, would find another vet as stated above. That seems too single minded of an approach when it could be metabolic or hormonal...
I too have a dog with allergies. My vet charged $400 for the test in which they test for the most common allergies. The results give number ranges, the higher the number, the more allergic your pet is. Mine is allergic to chicken, beets, carrots, sweet potato, and soy along with numerous grasses, weeds, trees, and household dust. There is no way to pin point exactly what your pet allergic too but this is the best way to start. However, if your vet is charging you $1,800 to run this test, he's ripping you off. I would find another vet. Believe it or not, chicken and poultry are one of the most common allergies in pets. I feed my dog Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach. It is the only thing I have been able to find that has none of those ingredients:
Salmon, brewers rice, canola meal, oat meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), fish meal (natural source of glucosamine), salmon meal (natural source of glucosamine), barley, brewers dried yeast, animal digest, salt, potassium chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), manganese sulfate, niacin, calcium carbonate, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.
H-4449
Allergy testing in Michigan is only $250.00. I'd call around for better prices. Had my first French Bulldog tested 3 years ago and my second only a week ago.
At last just hamburger and eggs...!
Dogs can't digest potatoes! It will make them sick. Sweet potatoes, carrots and peas have a lot of sugar in them so will feed a yeast infection. Nothing sweet for him. Sometimes it's the treats that are bad. For his meals, try cooking up chicken and brown rice. Start weaning him off whatever you're feeding him now, and give him the chicken and rice mixture, also Greek plain yoghurt the one without sugar. A spoonful on his meals should do the trick. Since you can't afford the vet, try the above, as you can't have him suffer. See if you notice a difference in 10 days, if not....you'll have to take him to the vet again.
I have a Cairn that has allergies. He has been tested for allergies at a cost of $497.00. Look for another vet to do the testing. He is allergic to 7 foods. You need to know what not to feed your lab, the fee is so worth the guessing and trial and error. He was tested for environmental and food allergies.
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
