6 m/o GSD scratches with coat loss (long background story) - Page 1

Background:
My wife and I basically rescued Riley and his littermate Kasey (pure bred GSD’s) from a “breeder” about 5 months ago. They were kept in a dusty chicken coop-type pen, and in terrible shape when we got them. They were 5 weeks old, and had severe anemia (most likely from the exorbitant amount of fleas), and more hookworms than I’ve ever seen under a microscope. Riley was 5.9 pounds, and Kasey (the runt) was barely hanging on at 2.9 pounds.

The first vet we went to started them both on a routine of liquid vitamins for the anemia, a deworming schedule, recommended Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy food, and gave them a harsh alcohol based flea spray that made Riley’s puppy coat brittle and dull (it was gray). Boths pups recovered from the anemia and hookworms, but Riley started getting hotspots on his underbelly, and really bad Pyoderma in his forearm pits.

We didn’t agree with the vets methods, so at about 2 months we went to another vet that specializes in dermatology. He determined that the lesions weren’t mites (skin scraping) and immediately started Riley on a daily wash routine with Chlorexiderm (medicated for the Pyoderma), Etiderm (for the rest of his coat), and an after bath pink lotion called Resicort. He continued Riley on the liquid vitamin routine, told us that Eukanuba was OK, and gave us a cold pressed Flax Oil topping for Riley’s food.

Riley’s coat started to turn more black, and got thicker. Seemingly he was on the right track, but he still scratched like crazy and still broke out with Pyoderma despite our daily wash routine. About 2 months, and thousands of dollars later we felt a little better with Riley’s progress, but still felt like we were just masking a larger problem. He still scratched till he bled, still got Pyoderma, and now started losing his coat anywhere that he could reach. I mean he was BALD on his entire hindquarters, forearms, and his underbelly still had a blackish tint to it in some areas.

BTW just for reference Kasey was doing great by this point

At around 4 months we decided to start changing Riley’s diet around. Come to find out, Eukanuba has a high content of wheat, corn, and byproducts, so we started looking at food allergies/intolerances. We maintained his normal routine, but switched him over to Innova 70%/25%/5%, with a 5% content of grain (only Barley for grain). We also stopped giving him processed rawhide, started washing his bed with hypoallergenic soap, and didn’t let him go outside unattended. His coat is much better, and the bald spots are now more of a 5oclock shadow, but he still scratches and chews and is constantly irritated.

He is now a little over 5 months old (55 pounds), he’s an indoor crate trained dog (we keep the thermostat at 76 all day), he is incredibly well behaved, well trained, perfect tempered, absolute joy that is still VERY uncomfortable.

I know allergies are common with the GSD, and living in South Florida doesn’t help… but where do we go from here?

Thank you

1) buy in any pharmacy or grossery store omega 3-6-9 pills and give him 2 with meal in the morning and 2 with meal in evening
2) put neosporin when you see hot spots immediately
3) if it is too bad put him on antiboitic for at least 3 weeks, no less!!!! to clear up infection and stop washing him every day
4) stop vet bills, they will break you and do everything for you to come back again and again
5) stop  any  commercial foods for a long time, until he is completely well, only home prepared meals: 75% of ground beef or pork slightly cooked mixed with raw grinded 25% of mix : beats, carrots, apples, blueberry, raspberry plus1 human Centrum vitamin a day with food

your baby will look like a million dollar in 2 months!

my method been checked by real life many many many times

try a grain free feed......

oh, forgot

put him on K9 Advantix and Sentinel Spectrum

Wow... Thanks for the fast reponses! 

Panther: 
1. We give him cold pressed Flaxseed Oil once daily on his food for Omega 3, 6, and 9
2. We tried neosporin before we gave him the Resicort, but he just licked it off within seconds
3. We'll stop the washings... I know not to wash GSD's (any dog for that matter) too often, but I figured since it wasn't with shampoo (it's a medicated wash) it would be fine... We'll stop the washing though since it doesn't seem to be helping really
4. So true
5. I'll try it! Just so you know we have him on Innova which is 75% animal, 25% fruits and veggies, and 5% grain (which is only barley)

He is on both K9 Advantix and Sentinel Spectrum as recommended by our vet

Sitasmom: 
The only grain he gets is the 5% Barley that's in Innova... I'm going to try going non-commercial like "Panther" reccommended though

Malshep: 
They only gave him an antibiotic for the Pyoderma. It worked great while he was on it, but the day after we stopped the antibiotic treatment the pyoderma came back. No revolution treatment from what I remember (??)

Okie Amazon:
He's always been in a metal crate, and we don't even store his food in a plastic bin, but his bed pan is plastic (which is pretty much all he comes into contact with in there). Any ideas for alternatives on that? His bed covers the plastic pan, but he likes to push the bed into a ball in the corner more often than not... The plastic is cooler.

Thanks again for the quick input everyone
 

The other thing I would like to add is that his hair loss, and affected areas always seem to be uniform. His hair loss is the same on both sides of his hind quarters, abdomen, and front legs...

I know this is a long shot, but has he been tested for hypothyroidism? I have an itchy allergic dog also, so I sure do feel for you.  Whether the itchiness is due to food or not, I'd change to a better quality food . What helped my dog was putting her on a homemade diet of various proteins, organ meats, ground bone (no chicken-she is allergic to it) and some cooked veggies, supplementing with a probiotic, digestive enzymes, goat kefir & Alaskan Salmon oil. I never use a soap based shampoo and I don't bathe her more than once a month. I use all "green" and/or natural products in my house and yard (no chemicals). 

The best thing to do is check out the yahoo allerdog forum- that is where I got a lot of help, advice and support.   http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ALLERDOG/ I hope this helps. BTW, I had my dog tested for hypothyroidism (Thyroid 5 panel) and she is within the normal range- I wish it would've been that simple! Another thing- I would recommend doing titers on your dog rather than automatically doing yearly vaccinations because they can further damage your dog's already seemingly suppressed immune system.
Best of luck to you.
Char

Had a similar experience with my girl, was always an itchy pup, and when we tried giving her a food that had fish as the main ingredient, she developed the worst itching, rash and coat we've ever seen. She looked awful, was miserable, and we would give her oatmeal baths, wash her bedding, bleach her pen area at work, everything. Turns out, it was the fish she was allergic too, as well as the fish oil in most foods on the market. Once we put her on a no-fish diet (Natural Balance LID Venison & Sweet Potato), her coat and skin did a complete 180 and she's now healthy and happy and itch-free. Royal Canin's GSD food also has no fish products in it, in case it turns out to be a seafood allergy with your pup.

You might also try offering your dog some yogurt in his food. My girl loves it, and I've also poured them into ice cube trays to make yogurt pops in the freezer. She'd get one to lick on after she went in her crate at night.

We're in Central Florida, so I know what you mean about grass and insect allergies and all those kinds problems!