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06-21-2008, 04:11 PM | #1 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Irving, TX
Posts: 3,180
| Skin & Hair issues Lately I've been noticing that Sadie's skin is very dry and flaky. Kind of like dandruff. I haven't changed shampoos or anything, so I don't think that's the problem. I'm not using anything any different than normal. I'm not doing anything any different. Her allergies were pretty bad this spring, but have gotten better in the last month. I haven't been having to give her her allergy pill lately. As always, her IBD acts up occasionally, but when I start to notice symptoms, she gets a pill and all is ok. None of this is any different than normal. I've also been seeing more hair around. Not a lot, but some. Today, she was between me and the window and she shook (you know what I mean - the way dogs shake themselves out sometimes) and I saw hair flying. So it made me realize that she is also shedding. I'm wondering if that's in relation to the skin issue. Does anyone have any ideas on what this could be & what I could do? I'm going to contact my groomer on Tuesday to see what she recommends. I'm trying to avoid having to take her to the vet, as money is tight right now & if this isn't an emergency, I'd rather not have to go. Not that I won't if it is necessary, I just don't want to freak out & take her unnecessarily.
__________________ Christie and Sadie |
Welcome Guest! | |
06-21-2008, 05:12 PM | #2 |
Furbutts = LOVE Donating Member Moderator | Hmmm...well, it's always tough this time of year with all the junk in the air. But, once you mentioned the shedding - I sort of went another way. Because she has IBD and is also having skin issues and THEN some possible hair loss - it makes me a little suspicious of malabsorption. If the intestine is irritated/inflamed and not absorbing nutrients properly - one of the places you'll see this on the outside is in skin/fur, bc if there are not enough nutrients available to the body - they'll go to the essential functions *first*. So, if you don't think she has any fungal issues going on and she's not itching excessively to indicate that - then it might be something to consider. What is she eating? How did the vet diagnose the IBD? What you could do is get some probiotics to help the intestine and some digestive enzymes (Prozyme or such) to support the digestion of her food and breakdown of the nutrients.
__________________ ~ A friend told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn. ~ °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° Ann | Pfeiffer | Marcel Verdel Purcell | Wylie | Artie °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° |
06-21-2008, 05:39 PM | #3 | |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Irving, TX
Posts: 3,180
| Quote:
__________________ Christie and Sadie | |
06-21-2008, 05:51 PM | #4 |
Furbutts = LOVE Donating Member Moderator | Have you ever tried homecooking or raw? My Marcel was diagnosed w/ ibs/colitis (loooong story) after 2 bouts of giardia as a pup (giardia will digest the tissues in the intestine - leading to longer-term problems in puppies). He was on Tylan, Metro - you name it - hundreds at the vet; mushy, bloody, mucusy stools for months on end. Finally contacted a nutritionist - did a special homecooked diet and supplements for about 2 mths - he had firm poos (NO meds) after 1.5 days on the new diet. After 2 mths, we moved to NV's pre-made raw. Never had another issue since bc his intestine finally had a chance to heal while on the hypoallergenic diet, it was a miracle.
__________________ ~ A friend told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn. ~ °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° Ann | Pfeiffer | Marcel Verdel Purcell | Wylie | Artie °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° |
06-21-2008, 05:55 PM | #5 |
Donating YT 2000 Club Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: North Carolina
Posts: 8,317
| Has she had a thyroid panel done? Thyroid imbalance can cause hair loss and skin problems. My Lady is hypothyroid and it's an easy fix, just a half a pill twice day. The pills are very inexpensive, too. Do you give Sadie a fish oil supplement? My vet suggested omega-3 fatty acids years ago for Lady's allergies and it has made a huge difference. I use 3V caps. |
06-21-2008, 05:55 PM | #6 | |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Irving, TX
Posts: 3,180
| Quote:
__________________ Christie and Sadie | |
06-21-2008, 06:08 PM | #7 |
Furbutts = LOVE Donating Member Moderator | You're not terrible for saying that ! I know exactly what you mean. You could also try switching to NV directly instead - some ibs/ibd dogs experience miracles w/ raw. You could start w/ freeze dried first for about a month, then go to the Raw Frozen Medallions. Here is NV's website: Natures Variety Click on Raw Diets. I can get this food at several stores in Phoenix; they have a really good store locator on their site too - I just put in Irving, TX - and a whole bunch of places came up. I've been in your shoes - and it was horrible watching Marcel go through what he went through - so feel free to ask anything.
__________________ ~ A friend told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn. ~ °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° Ann | Pfeiffer | Marcel Verdel Purcell | Wylie | Artie °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° |
06-21-2008, 06:27 PM | #8 | |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Irving, TX
Posts: 3,180
| Quote:
__________________ Christie and Sadie | |
06-21-2008, 06:36 PM | #9 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Irving, TX
Posts: 3,180
| I read on there that they recommend the rotation of the raw food with kibble. Do you do this or only the raw?
__________________ Christie and Sadie |
06-21-2008, 08:22 PM | #10 | |
Furbutts = LOVE Donating Member Moderator | Quote:
So, I assume they've totally ruled out anything else like liver/pancreas involvement - they've done all those blood tests? Are most of his ibd problems with the stool - or is it vomiting too? Does his tummy make awful noises during episodes?
__________________ ~ A friend told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn. ~ °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° Ann | Pfeiffer | Marcel Verdel Purcell | Wylie | Artie °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° | |
06-21-2008, 08:34 PM | #11 | |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Irving, TX
Posts: 3,180
| Quote:
Yes, her tummy makes horrible noises. I call it the squishy sound, as that's the only way I know how to describe it. That's usually my first clue that something's wrong.
__________________ Christie and Sadie | |
06-21-2008, 08:41 PM | #12 | |
Furbutts = LOVE Donating Member Moderator | Quote:
So, if you really want to do the NV - I'd recommend getting the Freeze Dried Raw in Venison. Start by taking a 1/4 medallion and sprinkle on kibble for a few days. If all is well, go up to 1/2 medallion and less kibble for 4-5 days or so (whatever feels right). Then go straight medallions if you like. Later, you can switch to Raw Frozen, depending on the changes you see - which I hope are good ones.
__________________ ~ A friend told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn. ~ °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° Ann | Pfeiffer | Marcel Verdel Purcell | Wylie | Artie °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° | |
06-22-2008, 02:06 PM | #13 | |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Irving, TX
Posts: 3,180
| Quote:
Is there any reason that you recommend starting with the freeze dried over the frozen - is there a special benefit to that? Sorry to ask so many questions, I just know you know what you're talking about! And it's nice to have someone who knows what it's like and has been there. I'm sorry your baby has had to go through it all, though - it's rough. On them and us.
__________________ Christie and Sadie | |
06-22-2008, 02:09 PM | #14 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Irving, TX
Posts: 3,180
| UPDATE: I called my vets office this morning (the vet I use is also our local 24/7 vet, so they're always there) and they said to go ahead & bring her in to make sure that it wasn't some kind of skin infection. So I did & the good news is that everything's ok. It's just dry skin. It could be caused by the allergies, so I've got to give her her allergy meds daily for a few days. Or it could be a vitamin deficiency, so we got some vitamins to give her for a while. I showed him the info on the NV food & he said that the same vitamins he's giving her are also in the food, so if I start her on that, it should continue to help. He said do whatever I wanted to, but thought the diet was a good idea.
__________________ Christie and Sadie |
06-22-2008, 07:51 PM | #15 | |
Furbutts = LOVE Donating Member Moderator | Quote:
As for the freeze dried - since she has a sensitive system, I just think it's better to start w/ something that is most similar to her current diet and then move toward the Raw Frozen. But, you absolutely don't have to. You could buy the Raw Frozen and try adding a bit - if it doesn't agree w/ her, you could still save it - but then go get the freeze dried and go with that plan instead, and later go back to Raw Frozen. I will say the Freeze Dried is the most $$ bc it requires the most processing steps in raw, of course.
__________________ ~ A friend told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn. ~ °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° Ann | Pfeiffer | Marcel Verdel Purcell | Wylie | Artie °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° | |
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