dry skin - Page 1

The wannabe alpha male always gets dry skin during our frigid Wisconsin winters and scrathes like crazy all day. Can't give him a bath because his back legs are too weak and unsteady due to torn ligaments. Is there any kind of topical treatment or food supplement that might help ease the itching? The vet suggested giving him Benedryl a few years ago which helps but then Murphy just sleeps all day. I also bought some kind of topical treatment once (can't recall the name) but it didn't do much of anything.

"Show Stopper" from Animal Naturals and "Grizzly Salmon oil" are very good. Both work well for skin and coat condition including dry skin, hot spots, and itching. Also ask your DVM about a cortosone shot if the above do not help.

first, what are you feeding him? If you are not already, feed him a food with no corn or wheat. If possible a food with no grain, but not too high protein (Evo is too high). Give him a raw egg per day, or at least one a few times/week. Supplements can help too, make sure the supplements are not based in wheat (bran) or corn (gluten) powder. I prefer normal fish-oil capsules to salmon oil. I had one dog get itchy on the salmon oil, not sure why but I stopped feeding it. molly

How much benedryl are you giving that makes him sleepy? At the recommended 1mg /lb dose [we get some seosnal itching every fall] it does not seem to phase my dogs. I know the cooler and more humidified you can tolerate in the house would be better too.

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I've been feeding Murphy Iams with meat (usually chicken) mixed in. I was thinking about adding tuna in oil as thought the oil might help. I'm open to switching dry food--whatever will help with the itching. As for the Benedryl I would give him one capsule. He's not a very active dog to start with and the one capsule just seemed to zonk him out. We've really had some cold windy weather recently which keeps the furnace running almost constantly. The humidifier helps a little but has a tough time keeping up.

So true about the dryness this year. Even I am itchy. Have my humidifier going 24/7 especially with my stuffy nose and cough. Triod, even if you don't change foods add salmon oil on top as a dressing, you can also use grapeseed oil, and many other types. I found with fish oil pills, my dog smelled of fish but when given the actuall oil he doesn't. Weird but true. I feed RAW and since it is colder and drier my dog cold use the extra calories and oil, I feed a can of mackrel, sardines or pink salmon every other day in the mornings on top of his regular meals at night, until he picks up enough weight or the dryness stops.

When dealing with skin and coat, always treat from the inside out. Vitamin E, grizzly oil, and raw eggs. If you heat with wood, use a humidifier, that also helps!