I have a 5 yrs. old Pekingese. And for 3 of those years "Sammy" has been suffering .?

Question

He has a cronic skin infection. I was told it could be allergies.So I changed his food, got flea treatment,shampoos, lotions, animal dermatology visits, holistic treatments. He now is on an anti-fungal, steriod and antibiotic meds. He does good for a while ...then he flares up again. Not to mention he kinda smells (like corn chips), and his skin gets really dark and he soon starts to lose his hair. Oh yeah ...AND his skin oozes......and no one can tell me what's going on with my baby. Not even his vet. They just keep giving me meds to give him. But they only work for about 2-3 months then we are back at the same thing all over again. And I know that over a period of time the steriod is going to do damage. So can someone please give me some advice. Maybe you've gone through something similar. Any home remedies? I'll try anything to give Sammy some relief. Only heart felt answers please. Thank you.

Answer 1

Yep. I had a dog like that. Only Mr. Belvedere did not smell like corn chips, he smelled like rotten eggs. Tar soap worked for a while. So did Ivory dish soap, don't ask me why. Poor thing would get a flea bite and go bald. He was allergic to flea medication. We sprinkled MSM (a vitamin you can get at any pharmacy) in his food and that helped a lot. Mr. Belvedere was sick from age 2 and yo-yo-ed for years but he lived a happy, healthy 14 years before we ended up putting him down.He was a livelt little bugger, even if he was bald half the time and smelled bad. We loved him anyway. West Highland Terrier who was obsessed with basketballs.... In the end, he had a series of grand mall seizures so we put him down because he stopped eating, stopped loving his basketball and wouldn't jump on the cat anymore. HE was old for a terrier. So here's the list of things to try:

-MSM sprinkled in his food.
-Wash him in Ivory dish soap
-Tar soap
-lanolin lotion on his naked spots
-Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) watered down (dip a washcloth into it and rub it on him, maybe 20 drops into a warm water bowl)

Don't ignore the vet. Keep taking him. The steroids are gonna make him fat, but that's okay. Me Belvedere was pretty fat, but he was happy most of the time. I feel your pain and frustration. Just like a human, he's going to build up tolerance to his meds. Be patient and give him lots of love, even if he does smell like corn chips.

Answer 2

I think you should find a homeopathic vet. There is a very good book "Dr. Pitcairn's New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats ." that you may find some help in. It sounds like your problems are beyond traditional vetranary treatments.

Good luck. :)

Answer 3

I don't know if this will help but my cat can't be treated for fleas as she is allergic to everything and I have nearly lost her 3 times so I'm not trying anymore.
She has started with skin infections. My vet just said to us dawn dish detergent once a week to bath her. You may also want to try sufadene for teh itching. I did get one of those cone collars tostop her from scratching and chewing on herself.
Good luck
I also hate to say this but I new a person who had an irish Setter that had severe allergies to grass after going through about 2 years of pretty much what you are doing they finally figured it was more humane to have the dog put to sleep. In that case I think it really was teh best thing.
Again good luck

Answer 4

You can trade him in at my house. I have a 10 month old girl that I would be more than happy to trade with you for. You should send him to her house (or room or whatever) at 1 in the morning to o this Soulja Boy dance for her. It should give her wonderful dreams! And make sure he takes the song along with him!!!

Answer 5

I don't know that you are going to get any answers you haven't already gotten. My Great Dane is allergic to the red food die in dog food maybe look into that and he is allergic to fleas.It still sounds like you have probably tried this stuff have you tried a different vet sometimes a new set of thoughts might work Kindda stumped on this one.

Answer 6

Have you taken him to a canine dermatologist? This skin disease specialist may be able to help you better than a regular vet.Have you had skin scrapings done? Have you done any allergy testing? It sort of sounds like Acanthosis Nigrans but that is found mainly in Dachshunds. Symptoms are thick, black, greasy, rancid smelling skin and hair loss starting around the arm pits. A really bad yeast infection of the skin sounds like this too. Is he itching? Put him on a totally natural diet with NO chemical preservatives. No grain based foods such as wheat, soy or corn. No treats with chemical preservatives and artificial color or flavors. Don't use any room deodorizers, rug cleaners or powders, dryer sheets etc. A good shampoo would be Chlorhexiderm.. lather for15 mins then rinse really well. space baths out 2 times a week. Do not try to over treat him by increasing baths or meds, that can cause other problems. He may just be a dog that has a constant condition so you may have to continually treat him. I had a client that had a similar chronic disorder. She was allergic to beef, turkey, chicken..all grains, grass, and more. She was put on a prescription diet of salmon and potato, cortisone was stopped, bathing was done on regular basis...her skin started to get a bit better and her coat started to come back in.

Answer 7

Please go read the books on this site...

You might find something that will help your dogs.

www.rawmeatybones.com

I started our foster on a raw diet and her skin problems cleared up.

Good luck.

Answer 8

I have a Pekingese so I just have to try and help with this question.

What brand of food is your Peke on? Have you tried "California Natural"? Its made with the LEAST amount of ingredients .. making it the perfect hypoallergenic food for dogs with allergies. You can try this to see if it works .. but it will take 2-3 weeks for it to work.
http://naturapet.com/brands/california-natural.asp

Are you sure your dog doesnt have "hot spots"? There is a new drug that is for humans but has been FDA approved to treat different infections for dogs.
"Simplicef was developed by Pharmacia & Upjohn Co., a division of Pfizer. Dogs ingest a single film-coated tablet once per day to treat wound infections caused by several types of bacteria including Escherichia coli, Pasteurella multocida and Staphylococcus aureus.

Infected dogs break out in rashes that redden, swell and roughen the dog’s skin. As infection worsens, “hot spots” can deepen, ooze and cause the dog’s hair to fall out." (sounds like what you described) .. Here is the link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5868077/

You can try Oatmeal based shampoos to help soothe the skin.
Here are some soaps that help soothe skin (and battle odor!) .. and will help relieve dry itchy skin. So if you're dog is in any discomfort .. this will help a little.
http://chagrinvalleysoapandcraft.com/dogshampoo.htm

With flea treatments .. have you tried an All Natural flea treatments? (not like advantix, frontline .. etc) Here is a site for natural flea treatments: http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Only-Natural-Pet-Herbal-Defense-Shampoo-Conditioner/999035.1.aspx

I hope this helps and you find something that works!