Spot on my dogs thigh
 

Hey yorkie mamass! Its me again with a concern

My baby Max has like this spot on his thigh that a bit bald and has red and brown dots i think , very dry skin. He's been on Merrick for some time now but after switching to adult food instead on puppy he's been scratching time to time. What could this spot be?

Mia had a spot once but it was a ringworm and it looked nothing like the spot max has.

If this is the outer/upper thigh area, this could be the result of a previous vaccine shot site. If it's inner thigh, then it's more likely irritated and slight inflamed skin...possibly due to some sort of allergy.

In addition to the itching, does he chew or lick his paws?

If it does not go away I would bring him in and have it checked out. Susan

he has been scratching his head n some times licks his paws and that ever since i switch him to adult food. could it be the food? his skin is pretty dry.

I've tried a conditioning mist and no improvement. Do I have to change his food completely? someone told me to try salmon oil

Paw licking and chewing is the cardinal sign of allergies in dogs. So if this only started since the food change then, yes, I'd get him off that food ASAP bc you don't want to further compromise or activate his immune response.

What was he on before, exactly, and what is he on now, exactly?

He was on Merrick Grain Free Puppy Recipe, I switched to the Salmon sweet potato and he had the same side effects , switched to texas beef and same effects now. Im going through the same thing I went with Mia. Thank god shes doing great on Merrick.

I cant deff switch Mia to any other brand besides merrick, she was allergic to nearly every other food brand. She will be staying on Merrick.

What should I do?

You may have to do allergy testing from the vet then. It's an extensive test and probably costly also. Then you may find out that she is allergic to grass or dust, something you cannot do anything about. Or perhaps you should talk to a dog nutritionist and see if you can start home cooking. There is a brand called Honest Kitchen. All their food is dehydrated/freeze dried (can't remember which). They have one line of food that is just veggies that you add in your own protein. That worked for us for a while, but it does take some time to prep the food, and the dogs loved it so much that they would bark non stop until it was ready.

Below are the ingredients in the puppy grain free from Merrick. So, if he was just fine on this formula, then what I'd try first is feeding the "adult" version of the puppy formula -- ie, find the formula that is closest in ingredients in the adult version.

Ingreds:

Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Potatoes, Peas, Sweet Potatoes, Natural Pork Flavor, Potato Protein, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Natural Chicken Flavor, Deboned Salmon, Apples, Blueberries, Yeast Culture, Organic Alfalfa, Flaxseed Oil, Potassium Chloride, Salmon Oil, Salt, Minerals (Zinc Amino Acid Complex, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Amino Acid Complex, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Copper Amino Acid Complex, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Amino Acid Complex, Sodium Selenite), Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Thiamine Mononitrate), Choline Chloride, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product.

I took a look at the past ingredients, I think I'm going to try the Merrick classic Beef, whole Barley and carrot formula. This will be my last attempt to stay with merrick. After hearing about Merrick being bought by Purina, Im not very sure I'd like to remain in the circle.


Im thinking I would switch him to a another food brand; which food brand would be better that I can purchase at Petco ? (not wellness or Blue, had a previous experience)