Irritated skin on 8 month old GSD - Page 7

Bhaugh

My dog was fed RAW human grade untill the age of 2yrs when the problems started, it didnt stop him having fungal & bacterial skin/ear infections. I continued with a raw diet for a further 10 mths untill I ran out of protein sources, since Nov 07 he has been fed a commercial diet Skinners Duck & Rice and as had no further problems. So I have found in his case it is the opposite to yours. Maybe it isnt raw versus commercial but what ever the dog is fed at the time the problems started the dog can then not tollerate that type ie if fed raw resolves after switching to commercial and vice versa.

Hi Fred

Its great to know  he is improving.

Pam

Cutting the steroid tablets down to one every other day (from 3 a day) has brought scratching (to blood) on again.  Back to vet on Monday!

Good luck, Fred. At least you are keeping everyone updated here.

If anyone is having trouble getting pills down a dog, try wrapping the pill in braunschweiger (liverwurst). It's a thick paste of pork liver and has a lot of fat content so is very tasty - to a dog. Braunschweiger is sold in the refrigerated lunch meat section of supermarkets. Give a plain piece first, then the wrapped pill, quickly followed by another plain piece. Once the dog is eagerly eating liverwurst, you won't have to trick them with plain vs pilled meat. I have one dog who takes pills every day (long story) and this is what works for me.

I put apple cider vinegar in my pups water.

I occasionally wash him in sulfur soap with cool water and pat dry with soft towell.

Fred,I want to make this LAST attempt to help your dog and I hope you read this as I dont want to pm.I just want to know why you are being so resistant to the idea of changing this poor dogs diet.Not all dogs do good on the same thing Fred.Perhaps this dog just needs a simple diet consisting of a novel protein(one he has NEVER had,eg-lamb,venison,bison etc)and a novel carbohydrate(patato,tapioca)and that alone may help this dog.Also ,if the normal range of the thyroid test is 7-47 and your dog comes in at 15 then would it not be safe to say that he is within the low normal range?Im not quite sure why your vet started the meds but then i am not a vet and i dont have all the facts.I honestly urge you to try this suggestion and you might get this pup back to health.As I said before,I hope that you read this and that the dog is still living.Good luck

Lots of thoughts here, but I'll toss in my two cents as well.  When my dog was about 9mos we moved to a new house, and had a flea problem we didnt notice right away.  Flea irritation + playing in the hose most likely started a skin yeast infection.  She got very itchy rashy spots and smelled bad, patches of hair loss,  mostly under the belly and armpits.  We treated for fleas (all the pets) and then went on a yeast reduction diet (we already did raw, but eliminated fruits and veggies, any jerky products, eggs, and added daily yogurt)  and bathed with an anti-fungal shampoo.   Kept a fan on her crate at night for good air circulation and kept her out of the hose/pools.  Treating yeast can trigger bacterial overgrowth, and the yeast infection was followed by a bacteria infection.  What a pain!!  She was very itchy and uncomfortable for a few months whle we got it all balanced out.

The good news is that this has not reoccured and she does not seem prone to repeats of any of these issues.  She has had a flea now and then and no reaction, but no infestation like the last house.  Lots of swimming this year and no yeast, etc.  So at this point it does not look like she will have immune system issues of any sort, but she is still young (just over 2yrs).   I chose to treat homeopathically / naturally because I was concerned about using any of the prescriptions that suppress immune responses or create resistance, but I would have gone that route if what we were doing didn't seem to be working.  I did use Frontline to clear up the fleas, as that was the most immediate issue for all the pets. Good luck, figuring out skin issues can be a huge pain, and the poor dogs are so uncomfortable in the meantime!

GSDXephyr  I have had some similar issues, I would be very grateful if you could answer some questions.

What anti-fungal shampoo did you use?

How did you treat the bacterial infection?

How often are you using frontline now?

Fred Flintstone,

How is your dog doing now, please keep us updated.