It's easily treated....she'd simply take a pill every day.

would that be for life? I know my hubby does :(

I have been consulting with a allergist for my Bichon. She said that the NV has eggs in it and it could be the cause for the itching and loosing hair. So, that could be part of the problem. It also could be pollen, as it can be brought in the house by people, so they can have a reaction to it even if they don't go outside.

Raw is absolutely not good for every dog or every owner.
No diet is...
I wouldn't feed my dog raw but that doesn't mean I'm right either.
Based on what I've read, it is my opinion.

That said, this could be related to the diet, so I would switch her back to the old diet and see. However, it could be something else too and if the diet change doesn't work, she needs blood work and a skin scraping.

Des, I'm sorry baby Annika isn't doing well. I would definitely have her thyroid checked. Dry itchy skin and hair loss were two big problems for Alex before he was diagnosed as hypo-thyroid. He takes one pill a day and what a difference!

As to the raw, I feed it to mine and have noticed a huge difference in my older guys teeth and coats. However, I had fed them Science Diet and Iams for years (I didn't know any better before YT :() and I believe that finally switching them to a good healthy diet in general (not just the raw specifically) was a big factor in the change I saw. Since you were already feeding an excellent food, yours probably already had a very healthy coat so you wouldn't have seen the changes I saw in my guys. Raw works great for my dogs and we all love it, but I don't think it's the right food for 'every' dog.

Good luck, and please get that thyroid checked!

I agree... :thumbup: I havent feed RAW, its just not for me but if your dog is having these issues since youve made the switched it is probably the food. I had Tucker on TOTW brand dog food not long after I got him and he went from having a shiny, fluffy, puppy coat to having a dry, rough, no shine coat. However I didnt relize how bad it was untill I had him shaved down and his coat underneath was so soft. After I switched his food his coat went back to normal.

Awww, poor little Annika! Des, it IS kind of funny that Annika has ALWAYS been fine and she just started scratching and losing hair once you started her on the Raw diet. My theory is, "why mess with a good thing?" ;) If they were both doing great on their previous kibble, then I think that is exactly what you should stick with/go back to. She wasn't itching or scratching and her coat was nice...she was doing well on it and she liked the food, not mention, the food itself is great....so why switch ;) I would put them both back on it....hopefully it will all go back to normal after you do :)

P.S. - Tatum scratched quite a bit while on Raw too :( It was just so odd to me...

DES! Don't you DARE say that!! YOU??? A bad mommy!?!? NEVER!! You are a GREAT mommy to your babies! :hug: They love you soo much and I know you are head over heels in love with them! :) You have never ever been a bad mommy to them a day in your life! You only switched because you hear everyone talking about it and you wanted to try them on it to BETTER them :) Unfortunately, it didn't work out for Annika but that's ok :) You would never have known if you didn't try it! It happens....no biggie :) She will be back to her normal self in no time I'm sure! ;) :thumbup:

A holistic vet would be nice....geez, I'd give anything if only we had one here! :(

I am soooooo glad somebody else also raised this issue because I thought that I was crazy.

The symptoms that you are describing are almost exactly what my dog has started to experience once I started feeding her raw. The only exception is that she has no hair loss. She used to have a perfect long silky coat that would almost never mat. After switching her to raw, her coat started matting crazy. She also started having almost like a dandruff looking flakes on her tummy. Her eyes used to have no gunk, but after I switched her, they became significantly more watery.

With all that said, I really don't know what to do with her. She LOVES her raw food. She is seriously obsessed with it. I've never seen her being that crazy about her food.

The reason I switched her in the first place was because of her sensitive stomach. She used to be on California Natural for sensistive stomachs dry mixed in with Merrick canned food twice a day. She would have a variety of stools on this diet ranging from perfect to soft to a full blown diarrhea with a typical once a month accident of her throwing up. With all that, her coat and mood has always been fine on it.

I figured that people liked raw because it is allegedly better for dogs's sensitive stomachs to digest uncooked meat than the one cooked.

I read Dr. Pittcarn's book on dog's diet and he recomends an allergy diet there that consists of raw ground lamb or turkey and brown rice mixed in with Ca supplement, multivitamin and vitamin c powder. That's what I used to give her. She loved the taste. She was full of energy. Her stools improved dramatically. They were perfect. But.... her coat became a mess.

It is not as shiny and very matted. I brush her religiously every night and wash her every week with Cranberry Fields Oatmeal shampoo and conditioner. So, I don't think it causes any problem. I am actually positive that it does not because the routine has not changed in a while. Only diet did.

It almost seams to me that she started excreting something by her skin that causes her to mat more after I switched her diet.

So, now I don't know what to do. How can I have her stomach and her coat to be better at the same time.

Any thoughts?

I just read something in the vet's office that surprised me. It said the primay things dogs can be allergic to, in order, are:

- Beef, followed by other types of meat
- Dairy
- Wheat.

I was really surprised that oatmeal was not on the list, because I've read that as a potential allergen here many times. I always try to stay away from oatmeal shampoo, or giving Thor oatmeal. I think I may try it now, though.

Anyway, perhaps that is a reason that raw doesn't work for some dogs?

ChicagoSoul - what you're describing makes me wonder if your baby has a fatty acid deficit/imbalance. Are you giving those - or - is their diet supplying them? I'd recommend trying Ark Naturals Royal Coat - it has the fish oil (EPA/DHA), but also has GLA and LA, which are esp. great for coat/skin (and LA is the "essential" one); it also has vit a/d/e - so you wouldn't need to add the extra E yourself. I love this stuff.

I am adding a complete mutlivitamin with her food. So, I assume that a multivitamin has to have the proper balance of fatty acids, shouldn't it?

No, it probably has very little - but more than likely doesn't have any at all.