Irritated skin on 8 month old GSD - Page 3

Well we have tried everything suggested that is possible here in Bulgaria, with very little sustained progress.  We got put onto Geat Dane Lady who seems to be saying that fungus can't be cured from the skin but nust be fixed from the inside anyway.

Unfortunately domestic dogs are not generally valued in Bulgaria we have been told they (and strays) were used for food in communist times (28 years ago) and generally they are kept chained up 24 x 7 as guard dogs now.

It is pitiful to witness all his scratching, biting, licking and shaking (he nearly shakes himself off his feet sometimes) also his training has gone to pot as he now associates come, sit, lie down and rollover with unwelcome medication.

We don't want to lose him, if there is a way to cure him, but it must be getting close to cruelty to make him carry on in such apparent discomfort - he is still playful, active and friendly.

Any more ideas / hope  . . . . . please

Give him back his yoghurt,my dogs have it every single day,in fact they look for it at 9.30 every evening,i am convinced it does a lot of good and no harm.

A few years ago we had a shepherd with a constant rash,it was discovered that he had an allergy to the wool carpet.we had a laminated floor laid,it cleared up and he never had a problem after that,we were lucky our vet was into GSDs so we new we could trust him.

I would certainly see another vet. I truly wish you good luck with your baby and hope he is better very soon.

My GSD used to make himself bleed in an attempt to relieve his itchyness.  We stumbled onto the answer by mistake and all we had to do was reduce his protein intake to 21% or less and he started to improve in a matter of days.

If they are thinking fungal I would also look to a diet that doesnt have yeast, as it travels through to the skin from the gut.  The shower of shed sounds like tiny skin particals.  I would be looking for a tea tree or aloe vera shampoo for him as they are extremely good and natural.  If you can get it use CAMROSA  (www.camrosa.co.uk) on his sore patches as it is amazing and will help to restore hair growth.

You say that you vet is treating your pup for a fungal disease? Did he do any tests? Grow any spores?

At 8 months your pup still has an immature immune system. I feel so sorry for you and him, so many treatments, so many diagnoses, you must be so confused.

Maybe it is time to step back and reassess.

Take your records and run, find a new vet, this one is confused, he has no idea what is wrong with your puppy. 

Good Luck, I hope you find a cure for your pup.

OK - he's on a yogurt and raw meat diet now.

This morning he acquired a tennis ball sized lump at the bottom of his neck / top of shoulder.  It was quite squashy and mobile.

Took him to vet who said it was a sign of an auto-immune reaction which he had not considered before due to Mishka's low age (9 months now).  He gave him a steroid injection which he said should relieve the lump (it hasn't yet) and relieve the itching (which it seems to have done to some extent ).  He also gave him the second (of 3) anti-mange injections (speculative treatment as no mites have been found). 

We are to go back in a week (after the steroid injection is out of his system) for some blood testing for hormones which might confirm the auto-immune situation.

Any more thoughts / suggestions/ comments will be appreciated

Thanks, fred

Fred

If he's cold try putting a t-shirt or a jumper on him and trim back the arms.  They will often keep these on better than lying under a blanket.

Im glad to hear the sores are clearing up a bit and that the steriods appear to be helping.  Its also good to hear that the vet seems to have gotten on track with his needs and hopefully before very long he'll be back to his usual coat and doing well.

Fred,

I hope this works out for you, I had a dog who suffered skin and ear problem's and it was painful to watch him scratch and dig at his ear's.  Trip after trip to the vet.

Good luck.

Moon's.

Dont worry im also going through the same problem. When everything else fails try natural remedies. Switch to the the raw diet and try tea tree oil. For the immune system nothing beats the raw diet. My female has shown considerable improvemnet ever since i put her on the raw diet and tea tree oil.