Westie with skin problems! Health

Hi, I have a 5yr old westie very similar to one i have read about on here. He had a food allergy test and is allergic to practically everything! He has been on Atopica capsules which seemed to keep things under control, was weaned off to see what happened and hey presto, the problems are back! The only food i have found which deals with all of his allergies is Royal Canin white fish and tapioca, which he is very bored with. Back to vets on Tues....whoopee!

Aw poor boy, i understand how frustrated you must be with his boredom for his food as my Lhasa Apso is on a special low protein diet and she gets so bored with her food but she can't have anything else. Hope things go well for you at the vets

Thanks for your concern, have just changed vets so will be interesting to hear if they have any new ideas.

Hi, i hope everything goes well at the vets, i know how frustrating it can be my dog had a test and he was allergic to a lot of things too and now only eats Turkey or fish, so i just stick to the James wellbeloved food and naturediet, he also gets a teaspoonful of salmon oil on his food too and he seems so much better, all his hair has grown back on his legs where he was licking and doesn't itch much at all.

What about making your own food, especialy as he is a small breed.
I have this problem as my dog can only eat Duck in meat proteins, so he is on Skinners but occaisionaly as a treat he gets fresh duck or I will give him vegetarian treats.

Just a thought as you have eliminated what he is allergic to within his diet and without the Atopica the skin problems came back, have they done the panel for environmental allergies?
Pam

went to vet yesterday, is possibly a seasonal thing, looking at past history so trying atopica again, think fish oil may be the answer so wil try to give him more fish.

I got a good tip years ago in the Jane Lilley Column in Dog World for skin allergies and that was fresh spinnach , which you mixed with a little vegetable oil in a food processor and put a coouple of dessertspoonful sover the dog's dinner daily. I tried it with my dachie who had seasonal allergies and it worked for hm. Takes a few weeks to get into the system but he never looked back. She also had loads of letters of thanks from people who said it had worked on their dogs.

Might be worth a try.

thanks for that, will give it a go x

Read this with interest. My Irish terrier has persistant skin problems. Had a skin scrape done under sedation which showed he was clear of mites but they still don't know what it is. We can control it with shampoo but this means bathing him every fornight. Okay for us but not so good for him.

Did you have the allergy test done at your vets, Sheeps11? Our vet wants to do a skin biopsy under GA but I'm really not keen. He doesn't itch himself or seem bothered by the spots so an op under ga felt a bit extreme.

Interesting about the fish oil. Going to start trying that from tommorow.

Do you find that the James wellbeloved works for your dogs skin problems Tori? Looked at this before but never tried it.

hope I'm not highjacking your thread. Just such a relief to hear such good advice after all the head scratching and puzzled looks from the vet! xx

Hi, yes my westie had an allergy test done by the vet under GA but he was really scratching and constantly licking his paws. It was decided to do this after his skin scrape which showed me mad no mites. He came out as allergic to cereal, wheat, soya, rice, dairy products, potatoes, pork and lamb....whoopee! The only food I have found that is suitable for him is Royal Canin sensitivity, white fish and tapioca (the white fish changes according to the season) When i went to the vets recently they gave him a course of antibiotics to deal with the infection he had from scratching, Atopica capsules daily which he had been on before and work excellently, also some spray called Viacutun which is a homeopathic remedy containing oils that is sprayed on his food once a day.It all seems to be doing the trick along with monthly bathing with special shampoo (can't remember the name but is prob the same that you are using) also regular use of frontline. I have to say my own thoughts are that skin probs are something to do with the need to build up on fish oils so have been treating him occasionally to tinned oily fish, not much cos' is very rich. Phew now I have written my essay, I hope I have been of some help? Good luck, Jo

Brilliant help, thank you Wonder if that's what our vet meant? Sounded like they were going to take a huge chiunk out of him and it scared me off but maybe I was wrong. He doesn't itch his body which is where the little scabby spots develop but does sometimes chew his feet. It's Malaseb shampoo. Good stuff but we need something more. Our Irish has roast chicken twice a week as a treat and because I thought the protein would be good for him but do you think this might be irratating him more? He will not be happy if his faves, chicken, cheese and toast have to be banned! Poor wee dogs. Liking the fish oil idea. Can start that straight away. Makes sense to increase the oils when their skin is sore anyway. Can't do any harm.

x

Hi glad i could help a little, its unlikely to be chicken but perhaps stop the cheese and give him wheat free toast! You'll have to start shopping in the gluten free aisle of the supermarket, I used to joke saying 'great i have a dog with coeliacs disease!!!' The allergy testing doesn't hurt (as far as I know) and at least you will know what to avoid. If you can try the royal canin sensitivity dry food and mix it with a tiny bit of oily fish, your dog could pick anything he fancies....wooo shopping will become his new treat!!!
Have fun, good luck x

p.s apparently chewing feet is usually a sign that somethings up and yes Malaseb shampoo is the one I use but only about once a month/6 wks then follow it up with frontline x

I think my dog is doing very well on James Wellbeloved and he loves it, not been scratching either.

Made a note of the Royal canin food and salmon oil. Also like the spinich and oil idea. Definately going to try this. We got a small bag of Purina Beta dry food for sensitive dogs today as it was all our local market had but going to see what the bigger supermarket has when we do our shop tommorow as it doesn't say its wheat, dairy etc free though it is salmon and rice based. Also tried a James Wellbeloved wet food pouch mixed with his usual dry food tonight and it was polished off

Some really good tips on here.

Yep we regularly frontline him. After a trip to the woods on a warm day last month we were very glad that we do. We picked off five ticks before we got back into the car, (they hadn't bitten on). Ugh, they were horrible!!

x