I have been having this problem for months now with my little guy. He is a tiny poodle, and not a yorkie. But I will just tell you our experience. He has had extremely dry, itchy skin that was flaky. It slowly but progressively began to get worse. I tried all natural shampoos, hollistic products I researched, etc. Oatmeal shampoo, tea tree oil shampoo and many others all didn't help at all. I also then switched his food from royal canine to a five star high protein, wellness core.
He continued to worsen until he was scratching constantly to the point that he had large bald spots. Initially the vet treated him for sarcoptic mange. He did get negative scrape test results, but they basically treated him for it to rule it out. They said that many vets will treat for sarcoptic mange when a dog presents with dry flaky itchy skin with no apparent cause. This treatment didn't help at all..... so thus they ruled out sarcoptic mange.
I requested to see a dermatology specialist at our LSU vet school. I really thought he had some kind of allergies and an overgrowth of yeast...which is why I initally switched him to a grain free food.
The LSU vets do think he has allergies. They said that it's actually quite common in smaller breeds like toy poodles and yorkies. They said that we will know if it is indeed food allergies vs atopic if the food trial works. His food trial will last three months.
1. They had me stop everything I was giving him....no treats...nothing.
2. They switched his food to a royal canine prescription diet. They explained that it's the most ideal to switch the dog to a food they've never had when initiating a food trial.(This food is rabbit vs chicken, fish etc)
3. They did put him on an antihistamine that works better in dogs than the benadryl, claritin, and zrytec that I had previously used with him.
4. They had me stop all of my shampoos, coat oatmeal sprays, basically everything. They prescribed a ketachlor shampoo to help the itching, and this is all I can use on him for the next three months.
It's been only 12 days, and for the first time in a year, he finally has relief from the severe itching. His skin is still flaky but does seem to be getting better.
So, I just wanted to pass this along since they said that this is common in both poodles and yorkies. I spent alot of money on numerous visits to multiple vets before I finally got to this point. So, hopefully your little baby gets better from what you're already doing. But if not, you might be better off to either see a dermatology specialist or at least a vet that sees alot of skin issues and is familiar with treating them.
Good luck!!!!!!
Michelle |