Terrable itching, please HELP

[Sarge]

Hello, been looking through the site for awhile now. I have a male English Mastiff 3 years old and 180lbs. A specialist said he has food allergies so I switched his food about 5 times over the last 2 years. He's on science diet sensitive skin now and doesn't seem to help.

He has hot spots under his arm pits and under his rear legs and has chewed bald spots on his back legs. Other then switching his food I've even tired spraying him with a 50/50 apple viniger/water mixture hearing it would help.....nothing. I bath him in a sensitive skin shampoo once a week. He can barely walk without trying to scratch his sides.

Please help with any pointers or something you have used!! I feel bad for the poor pup. Thank you!!!

 

[megbot]

Have you tried olive oil? You can drizzle some on his food or massage directly into his skin. Maybe a bath a week is too much, you might be washing the essential oils from his coat which makes the itching worse. I feel for him. Skin allergies are the worst.

 

[Sarge]

Ok, how much oil should I put in his food? Just a little on top of the food? Also you might be right on the bathing, but after a bath his hot spots seem to go away for a day or so so that why I've kept the once a week schedule. How often should he get a bath?

 

[Aplatitsin]

Ask your vet for some antibiotics like cephlexin or some thing like that and get your boy a better quality food because science diet isn't some thing you want to feed you dog

 

[ShellNZ]

Fish oil capsules might help. Just pierce and squeeze onto food. Also what is your dog sleeping on? Some dogs have allergy to wool. Its frustrating having unknown food allergies but hang in there, you will find the answer eventually. We had a dog that licked her foot raw and also her rump, continually had sore, itchy scabby spots. We did sort her food out eventually by putting her on a fish based (no chicken) kibble. We found oatmeal shampoo helped soothe her skin plus we had to be extra vigilent with flea treatment because just 1 bite would set off a bad allergic reaction. Your dog may need a couple of days treatment of Prednisone from the vet to calm things down. Hope you find an answer soon.

 

[angelbears]

To start with, an all raw, meat diet. I have done a ton of research because I have a dog with chronic skin issues. While the raw diet didn't cure my dogs skin it did help a lot. In my research, around 50% of the dogs switched to raw had a complete turn around. If you have already tried antibiotics and it didn't work or only worked temporarily, I would stop using them, they can cause even more problems by creating a yeast imbalance.

For almost 2 years I ran Cane to the vets about every 6 weeks. He would get antibiotics, steroids and some kind of topical, he would get better but it would always come back and each time it would be worse. Even though I didn't have much faith in it I put Cane in the care of a homeopathy vet, I was running out of options. I have been truly amazed at the turn around. Even his personality has changed, he is much happier and carefree dog.

 

[mkj878]

If you don't want to go with the raw, or can't, you need to find a true high quality grain free kibble, preferably one with a protein source other than chicken. I've heard of (virgin)coconut oil helping the skin/coat, I give my pup a spoonful a day and i take 2 spoonfuls a day as well, it has LOADS of benefits and really can't hurt. Also there are many here who could help you decide on a better route for food, you are spending way too much on science diet. Even though you're vet recommends it, it is NOT a good food. Check out dogfoodadvisor.com I personally use Earthborn Holistics grain free food. I can link you to a place online that sells it at a very nice price with free shipping if you can't find it locally (which I personally cant).

Here are a few links to the benefits of coconut oil.
http://www.dogster.com/lifestyle/ten-reasons-to-add-coconut-oil-to-your-dogs-diet
http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/the-health-benefits-of-coconut-oil/

I could pull up loads more for you if you like...I wouldn't order from any sources they link though, I get it cheaply from Amazon.com or you could get it from a local health food store. The EfaGold brand (pure extra virgin) is 16oz for about 7$

 

[BlackShadowCaneCorso]

I second the raw option as I had a male corso that is allergic to stuff in kibble and after 4 exhausting and deciding RAW as a last option we now would feed everyone RAW if possible.

I do understand that some people can't do this though and in that case I second the better kibble (grain free) as SD is not a great food and full of fillers that I suspect aren't helping him get over his allergies. I suspect that your vet will give you hard time with this (maybe not but a lot of them will) but I would try a couple months on either RAW (took only 2 weeks for me to see a difference with my male) or a good quality kibble. If the skin is in bad shape now then I would see about getting Cephalexin to help clear that up so you can see how the food is actually doing and maybe a soothing oatmeal bath.

 

[allformyk9s]

^ to Angelbears & BSCC - our blue CC (on kibble, grain, corn, soy & wheat free, salmon) was always obsessively licking her front paws- drove me bonkers & I know it did her too .. since switching them to raw back in January the paw licking has completely stopped. There are so many great benefits to feeding raw. If you cant the above about kibble is great. GL!

 

[ruthcatrin]

Pretty much what everyone else said: get off the SD (your vet will fuss at you, hold your ground). SD has a huge amount of corn, and even the sensitive skin formula contains chicken flavor (which likley contains chicken). If you can't go raw, for the same price or a bit more than you're paying for the SD you should be able to get a good quality kibble, grain free by preference (at least limited grains), no chicken AT ALL (check the ingredients, ALOT of kibbles have added "poultry fat"), probly a fish based is a good idea.

What is he allergic too, did the specialist tell you?

What do you have for petstores by you? Major chains only or privately owned?

 

[Duetsche_Doggen]

Poor baby I agree with what's been said, off the SD nothing but crap in that "food." A grain free kibble might work, if not depending on what's available raw is also a good option. Like the rest mentioned my dog has skin allergies and other "issues" since switching back to raw I've noticed a difference, nothing signigicant as of yet but its a start.

Seconded what Ruth said about which foods he is allergic to?

 

[megbot]

As for the olive oil, I would do no more than a tablespoon per feeding. As someone else said, fish oil helps the coat, too. I believe you can do this with raw, too, though you may not even need it.

 

[allformyk9s]

Fish oil or coconut oil are great to add w/ feeding raw - if you're not feeding whole fish.

 

[musicdeb]

I feel your pain...Titan and I have been dealing with skin issues for months. I switched him to raw diet in early March 2012 and it has helped but we still have the skin issues. I add olive oil to his food everyday and rub it on his skin. I bathe him once a week with an anti-bacterial/anti-fungal shampoo which has helped. He's currently on cephalexin for another 3 days. I hate putting him on steroids which he has been on in the past but they do clear up the problem for about a month.

He's been food allergy tested and he's allergic to beef, pork, duck, and lamb. A raw diet group I belong to said that meat allergies usually do not apply to raw diets. I'm giving him beef and pork to test him out. I do not notice a difference.

Titan consistently has yeast ear infections, which I clean his ears every couple of days with vinegar/water/alcohol mixture. The mixture clears up the infection in about 3-5 days but it comes back in about 2 weeks or so.

I feel so bad for Titan but I know the vet will want me to stop raw diet and prescribe more antibiotics, their medicated shampoo, and steroids.

It's a long road...steep hill...

 

[Sarge]

Thank you all for the replies. He has a vet appointment on Friday to have him looked at.

Now when you all say raw, what type of raw meat, veggies, etc are you feeding them? And how much of each? how many times a day?

Thanks again for all the help

 

[Duetsche_Doggen]

It depends on what you want to do. There are some raw feeders that do fruits and vegetables along with the meat. Then there are others who prefer to feed nothing but raw meat, organs, bones, etc.

The amount for raw feeding is about 2-3% of the dogs body weight ( If dog is skinny feed more, chunky feed less)

I feed my boy twice a day in the morning and evening. There are somedays that he only eats once a day but that's his choice though...

 

[BlackShadowCaneCorso]

Thank you all for the replies. He has a vet appointment on Friday to have him looked at.

Now when you all say raw, what type of raw meat, veggies, etc are you feeding them? And how much of each? how many times a day?

Thanks again for all the help

How much you feed depends on his weight. We don't feed veggies at all just raw meat in a variety. I think the ratio is 80% meat, 10-15% Bone and 5 - 10% organ ( I think if not correct me someone as I have a menu done up for a month and just change out a few things now and then) but the thing that most don't understand is it is over time you balance (I certainly didn't at first) so not all these items have to be fed daily.

I attached a link with the company I get mine from that has some great info and meal calculator on it that might help out some.

http://www.totallyrawdogfood.com/

 

[ruthcatrin]

Yup, what BlackShadow said. Apollo gets the occasional treat of apples or other fruits (minus seeds!), but otherwise its meats/bones/organs all raw.

 

[musicdeb]

How much you feed depends on his weight. We don't feed veggies at all just raw meat in a variety. I think the ratio is 80% meat, 10-15% Bone and 5 - 10% organ ( I think if not correct me someone as I have a menu done up for a month and just change out a few things now and then) but the thing that most don't understand is it is over time you balance (I certainly didn't at first) so not all these items have to be fed daily.

I attached a link with the company I get mine from that has some great info and meal calculator on it that might help out some.

http://www.totallyrawdogfood.com/

Yes, you are correct. I follow the 80/10/10 rule, which is basically what you said you follow for the raw diet. 80% meat, 10% raw meaty bone, and 10% organ meat each meal for 2.5 to 3 lbs of food. I feed Titan 2.5 to 3 lbs of food each day. You'll probably start out weighing your food until you get an eye for what the amount looks like. I use to weigh his food, keep a chart, etc. Not anymore. I will say, if you fail to feed organ meat with meat, the dog will get "cannon butt." I learned that the hard way. One thing I'd like to mention, avoid weight-bearing bones. Example, beef leg bones. They are extremely hard and they will usually break dog's teeth. I do not feed Titan fruits and veggies.

 

[angelbears]

The first 4 to 6 weeks all you will be feeding is chicken. NO organs, mainly boney chicken, most start with chicken backs or necks, then you can proceed to quarters and breast. You have to give your dog time to increase their digestive acids. Try to resist the mistake that most of us make, adding a new protein or organ too soon. You do need variety in a raw diet but the first 6 months is a very slow intro.

Since you have a dog with skin problems I would stay away from all veggies and fruits until you get things under control. If you have a yeast problem, you may never be able to feed carbs. BTW, sugar also feeds cancer, so it is just healthier if you can stay away from it.