Skin problems

[envoy]

Hi everyone, need some inpute for my 18 month old male. For the first 4 months of his life he was a happy healthy big boy. Then he started having serious skin problems. Mostly itching and hair loss and flaking skin. Vet tested him for mites and took skin scrapings, and could find nothing but gave me a special soap to bathe him with. Nothing helped until I changed from Canidae to Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul dry kibble. Most of his hair grew back but about a month ago things got bad for him again. I feel really bad cuz i have not been able to help him and get this problem completely irradicated once and for all. I even tried cooking chicken breasts and rice and sweet potatoes etc for him to eat. Is anyone else having problems like this>?? If so, maybe you have found something that will help me make my Argus happy healthy and whole.
PS Heartworm medicine really does a job on his skin also. seems like he has an allergic reaction to a lot of medicines. i am trying to use least amount possible and some items not at all until he is 100% healthy. He does have a lot of energy and is a big loveable companion. I just want to do right by him. Have had rotties before, but never experienced this skin allergy thing for so long and severely.

[brunie's mom]

I would try switching completely away from any chicken based food. It seems that chicken may be the ingredient that bothers him?
Try fish based food such as California Natural Herring and Sweet Potato, or Eagle Pack Holistic has a fish food, and I believe Natural Balance does also?

What flea , heartworm medication are you using? You may need to change that also.
Where does he sleep? It could be a type of contact allergy also? How often are you bathing him?

Gina

[bessy-senior]

Hello I went through the same problem with Bessy last year. Similar problem - serious itching caused her to scratch so much, her fur would come off in patches. To the point that some areas were raw from her scratching.

Vet did tests for mites etc but nothing.

He even gave me a special shampoo (twice a week, leave her in the foam for 15 minutes before rinsing) but also nothing.

Meanwhile, he also told me to change her food - switch to something completely different. Different meaning a food that she has never eaten before. At that time, I was feeding Bessy Canidae. So I switched her to Natural Balance Duck and Potato Formula - this worked GREAT. Within a few weeks, her scratching stopped and her fur grew back.

I waited about 3 months before feeding Bessy a food with chicken in the ingredients - this time, no problems at all. I think it was the Canidae... have read that they changed their formulas, with a lot of negative results for other dogs.

Ask your vet about the possibility of food allergy. A dog could be eating chicken and be fine all its life, then suddenly develop a very strong allergy to it for no reason!

Good luck!

[envoy]

thank you for the information regarding the different food. so far i have been able to find the eagle pack and california natural brand close by and will be buying one of those that has the fish with potato. i appreciate you sharing your personal experience in this area because my Argus is part of the family and i want him to be healthy and happy.
i have even bought new stainless steel feeding bowls and replaced all of his bedding.
i have not been able to give him any heartworm because that really aggrivates the problem. also, i had tried frontline plus flea med and everything was fine when he was a puppy then even that made his allergy worse. i had tried a special shampoo from the vet but with his dry itchy skin i have stopped washing him with any shampoo at all. he onlyl has an odor if he itches one specific spot and it becomes raw and inflamed. i have been watching him carefully and have been able to apply some aloe vera to cool that spot off. does anyone know if that is a problem?? So far the aloe does not seem to aggrivate the area. it is not fresh aloe but something i purchased in a tube that i use. would fresh be better. Does anyone have any suggestions about something natural or at least not to strong that i can apply to his hot spots?? hopefully the new food will do away with all of this.