Skin & Hair issues

[Sadie's Mom]

No, he didn't. He thought the shedding was a direct result of the dry skin. And if she's scratching at all (which she does some) that is part of it too. So he thinks the vitamins and the new food will help a lot.

I'm going to stop by the store tomorrow on my way home & get some of the food. If they have both, I'll get both, otherwise I'll get whatever they have. I'm excited about this change. Something tells me it will be for the better.

I want to thank you again for all of your help and guidance through this. I'm sure I'll have more questions as I get into the new food.

[blonde281]

I have been having problems with my little girls fur for over a year now. She looked like she was growing her adult coat and then when it reached a certain length it wouldn't grow anymore. My groomer said it was because of her dry skin. I tried giving her vitamins and that din't help. Then she got fleas when she went to stay at my mom's house for a few days(they have a lot of land in the country and two dogs who love to roam). She lost at least a third of her hair. The vet said it was because of a flea allergy. So the gave her a steroid shot and said that should help it. Well that was 7 months ago. Her skin is still dry, her coat is dry and dull, and her hair is thin and ragged looking. I tried an oatmeal shampoo that the vet suggested and switched her food to Eukanuba Yorkshire. I Even have tried adding salmon oil to her food cause someone said that would help. The last time I took her to my vet they said they think it is a genetic defect because it looks like she doesn't have an undercoat. I could have her genetically tested but it cost $200, they'd have to shave part of the little hair she has, and even if it came back that it is a genetic thing what good would it do because nothing could be done. I have moved 6 times between 3 places in the last year so she has now seen 2 vets and 3 different groomers. I feel like no one knows what they are talking about and just spits out an idea even if it's not the truth. I was just wondering if anyone else has had these problems and what it could be, what I should do? I am going to try to post some pictures up of her so maybe someone else can tell me what they think.

[blonde281]

I'm new at this so I hope they upload

[blonde281]

hope someone can help it's driving me crazy

[mscat]

Originally Posted by Sadie's Mom

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.

What type of vitamins did he reccomend? My Suzi has a little bit of dry skin, and flaking. But, is not losing hair, shedding. She is only 4months old. I switched shampoos and it lessened the dandruf but did not cure the problem. I am not bathing her as frequently, to try aqnd see if the natural oils in her skin will help. She eats a high quality dry kibble. BY Nature.

[tamandkota]

For a while my kota kept having dry skin problems. Our vet put her on a supplement for a little while (omega i think), and it helped some. However I found this shampoo and conditioner we love and it has done wonders for dakota's skin and coat. It is called Wags. It is a natural wheatgrass shampoo and conditioner made for dogs. It has oatmeal, aloe vera, vitamin e, papaya, kiwi, raspberry, and mango extracts, chamomile, and wheatgrass (of course. that is just most of the ingredients off the back). Once we started using it dakota's coat started looking much healthier, and now she doesn't have any dry skin issues. I am not sure if you do this, but I ALWAYS use conditioner on her after shampooing. And with Wags, I can scrub her down, use the conditioner, rinse, towel her off, and still run a comb through her hair with no tangles!! It is amazing! Hope this helps, and hope your little one gets better soon!
tamara and dakota

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by blonde281

I have been having problems with my little girls fur for over a year now. She looked like she was growing her adult coat and then when it reached a certain length it wouldn't grow anymore. My groomer said it was because of her dry skin. I tried giving her vitamins and that din't help. Then she got fleas when she went to stay at my mom's house for a few days(they have a lot of land in the country and two dogs who love to roam). She lost at least a third of her hair. The vet said it was because of a flea allergy. So the gave her a steroid shot and said that should help it. Well that was 7 months ago. Her skin is still dry, her coat is dry and dull, and her hair is thin and ragged looking. I tried an oatmeal shampoo that the vet suggested and switched her food to Eukanuba Yorkshire. I Even have tried adding salmon oil to her food cause someone said that would help. The last time I took her to my vet they said they think it is a genetic defect because it looks like she doesn't have an undercoat. I could have her genetically tested but it cost $200, they'd have to shave part of the little hair she has, and even if it came back that it is a genetic thing what good would it do because nothing could be done. I have moved 6 times between 3 places in the last year so she has now seen 2 vets and 3 different groomers. I feel like no one knows what they are talking about and just spits out an idea even if it's not the truth. I was just wondering if anyone else has had these problems and what it could be, what I should do? I am going to try to post some pictures up of her so maybe someone else can tell me what they think.

I wish I had more experience with flea allergy info - but I don't. I can see some sparse fur in the pics - so clearly something is going on (she is ADORABLE, btw!). One thing I'd recommend right away is getting her off of the Eukanuba - and instead getting her on a premium food - or, better yet feeding her Natures Variety Raw Medallions. That may prove miraculous.

Another thing I'd recommend is to copy your post from this thread - and start a whole new one of your own so that more people see it and can respond to the specific "flea allergy" issue, which is sort of unique. But, others may have had a similar experience.

[Sadie's Mom]

Originally Posted by mscat

What type of vitamins did he reccomend? My Suzi has a little bit of dry skin, and flaking. But, is not losing hair, shedding. She is only 4months old. I switched shampoos and it lessened the dandruf but did not cure the problem. I am not bathing her as frequently, to try aqnd see if the natural oils in her skin will help. She eats a high quality dry kibble. BY Nature.

It's a "fatty acid" vitamin with A, D and E, and a few other things.

[Sadie's Mom]

Originally Posted by blonde281

I have been having problems with my little girls fur for over a year now. She looked like she was growing her adult coat and then when it reached a certain length it wouldn't grow anymore. My groomer said it was because of her dry skin. I tried giving her vitamins and that din't help. Then she got fleas when she went to stay at my mom's house for a few days(they have a lot of land in the country and two dogs who love to roam). She lost at least a third of her hair. The vet said it was because of a flea allergy. So the gave her a steroid shot and said that should help it. Well that was 7 months ago. Her skin is still dry, her coat is dry and dull, and her hair is thin and ragged looking. I tried an oatmeal shampoo that the vet suggested and switched her food to Eukanuba Yorkshire. I Even have tried adding salmon oil to her food cause someone said that would help. The last time I took her to my vet they said they think it is a genetic defect because it looks like she doesn't have an undercoat. I could have her genetically tested but it cost $200, they'd have to shave part of the little hair she has, and even if it came back that it is a genetic thing what good would it do because nothing could be done. I have moved 6 times between 3 places in the last year so she has now seen 2 vets and 3 different groomers. I feel like no one knows what they are talking about and just spits out an idea even if it's not the truth. I was just wondering if anyone else has had these problems and what it could be, what I should do? I am going to try to post some pictures up of her so maybe someone else can tell me what they think.

I agree with everything Wylie's Mom said.

Are there any specialists in your area? I Know the clinic that I take Sadie to where the internal meds specialist (for her IBD) has many different specialties in it. One of them is a pet dermatologist. Maybe you could look into something like that. Your regular vet usually has to refer you to them, but it'd be worth it to find out what's wrong.

[blonde281]

Yeah I was living in a really small town before so I didn't have access to any specialist but now that I'm in a bigger city maybe I can find one. I found a place that sells the raw food that was suggested so I'm going to pick that up today. Thank you so much for all of your help.

[Sadie's Mom]

Well, I went and got the food today. I had to call several places before I found one that had the medallions, but I found one. One place I called, the guy talked to me for like 20 minutes on the phone about it all. He was really nice. He said don't give her any kind of treats, though, because that's just putting the junk back in her system. She doesn't really get all that many treats, though. What kind of treats do you give your babies?

[Sadie's Mom]

Well, it DID thaw out enough for me to give her some with her dinner tonight.

Did she like it? Well, let's put it this way: she's STILL in there licking her bowl.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by Sadie's Mom

Well, it DID thaw out enough for me to give her some with her dinner tonight.

Did she like it? Well, let's put it this way: she's STILL in there licking her bowl.

So cool! I'm so excited for you both! Some babies turn their noses up at first - others go crazy. Sometimes too, they get the zoomies after they eat when they start raw, almost like they had espresso - like "woo hoo"!

As for the treat thing, it's really up to you how radical you want to go with it. Once you start feeding raw, you'll probably hear a lot of folks who will say "don't give anything but raw or this and that" - and can be very closed to anything else - and that's fine.

But that's not me. I give Bully Stix, occasional Denta Stix, Sweet Potato Chews (those are GREAT), Canine Caviar Stix and a few other things I can't recall. You can also give baby carrots and real food. You could give Raw Meaty Bones (RMBs) like a lamb chop (can consume the bone and everything - don't cook the bone, ever) or turkey neck. I also give my guys a few pieces of my Kashi Cereal bc they love it.

[Sadie's Mom]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

So cool! I'm so excited for you both! Some babies turn their noses up at first - others go crazy. Sometimes too, they get the zoomies after they eat when they start raw, almost like they had espresso - like "woo hoo"!

And you're just NOW telling me this??? Ha! Just kidding. She actually does have the zoomies right now, but it's cause she just got a bath, not from the food.

I probably will still give her some other stuff. I don't think it'll hurt. It's not like she gets much anyway. Maybe she will actually be able to have bully sticks (they've never sat right with her before).

Judging by the calculator online, I should be giving her 2.6 oz. a day, which translates to approx 2 1/2 medallions. Does this sound about right? She's 6lbs. (I"m not sure how big your baby is or how much you give him) This is all after the full transition from her other food to just this.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by Sadie's Mom

And you're just NOW telling me this??? Ha! Just kidding.

Judging by the calculator online, I should be giving her 2.6 oz. a day, which translates to approx 2 1/2 medallions. Does this sound about right? She's 6lbs. (I"m not sure how big your baby is or how much you give him) This is all after the full transition from her other food to just this.

LOL, my guys get the bath zoomies too! My Marcel (3.4 pounds) gets 1 1/3 medallion per meal (2 2/3 med. per day) . Wylie (7.8 lbs) gets 2 medallions per meal(4 med. per day). I started w/ their recommendations, then fed based on how their ribs felt to me.