How can I help my dog's skin?

Question

I live in Florida, and have a 1/2 lhasa, 1/2 peek-a-poo. He's 10 years old, and he spent the first 9 years in PA with my family, where he never had any major skin problems. But now, he seems "itchy in his own skin". I give him flea medication and treat the lawn with a pet-safe insecticide. I've cut out corn and wheat products from his diet. Still, not much relief. I've tried vets, but all they want to do is sell meds to me without diagnosing him (the steroid and cortizone shots had little or no effect). Anyone have any ideas on what might be wrong or how to help him?

Answer 1

He sounds as if he has allergies and dry skin. Poor baby. You can give him Brewers Yeast tablets to help with the dry skin and put a bit of mineral oil in his food to help also. You can also use olive oil for this, if you do not have mineral oil available.

Use of baby rated sunscreen when he is outside, just to avoid burning and irritating his sensitive skin.

Check to see if you can find some l-lysine tablets, they are a skin support tablet which is actually an enzyme produced by the body, he may not be producing enough of it.

My family and I have used these suggestions for our dogs when they have had dry skin and/or hot spots, and have found them to be a lot more helpful and less damaging than steroids and cortisone.

Best of luck to you and your pup.

Answer 2

You're dog could be suffering from mite infestation or allergies - inhaled or food.

Being that your dog has little to no response to steroids, I'd think he could have a mite infestation. Two mites that are contagious and cause extreme itchiness are sarcoptes and demodex gatoi (this is the ONLY contagious group in the family of demodex - demodecic mange is usually a non-contagious illness). Skin scrappings can usually identify these guys, but they can be hard to find. Often we treat based on clinical signs, history, and resistance to other therapies. Treatment for sarcoptes involves treatment with Revolution, once every 2 weeks for 3 treatements, or a less expensive route is oral administration of ivermectin. Demodex gatoi is harder to treat and involves lyme dips every 2 weeks for 3-4 treatments. Because they are contagious mites, every animal in the hosue may need to be treated.

Food allergies are usually year round, start at any age, and are normally to any food substance normally found in comercial dog foods. This includes meats and starches primarily. While changing foods seems like the right thing to do, it is actually a mute point because many plants that make "venison and rice" food also make food with beef, chicken, corn, etc and the machinery is contaminated with these food particles.

To evaluate for a food allergy, feed him Hills Science Diet z/d Ultra for 10 weeks. You have to feed this and nothing else. No chew toys, no treats, no flavored medication (i.e. many heartworm preventatives are flavored, so you'd have to get an unflavored one). Feed only in ceramic, glass or stainless steal dishes as proteins in plastic dishes can cause a reaction. The z/d food is unique in that it contains hydrolyzed proteins- proteins that are "pre-digested" in a size so small the body's immune system doesn't recognize it. If there is improvement, then your dog has a food allergy. Some are on the food for their entire lives (and that it okay - the food is balanced).

If there is no improvement on a food trial, then most likely your dog has inhaled allergies. Sorry to say it, but Florida is the worst place to be a dog with allergies!!! If this is suspected, then seek out a boarded veterinary dermatologist (usually found at large referral hospitals and universities). They can do skin testing to see what your dog is allergic to and start him on hyposensitization therapy to decease itchiness. This is expensive therapy - the skin test alone can cause $300-500 and allergens can cost $200-300 per bottle.

Good luck to you and your itchy - poochy.

Answer 3

Go to a site named: dognameswoof.com/skin.htm they have an article that may help you, there are other sites (below) that are recommended.

It seems you have tried to remedy the problem with no good results. I treated my dogs like humans. I would just douse him with some gold bond powder, and find some capsules that are good for allergies for pets. That's my remedy, but I am no Vet.

If this does not help, then back to the Vet and demand some results --in a civil manner, of course.

Answer 4

Welcome to Florida, the same thing happened when we moved here. There are more fleas and more allergens in general since it's so humid and more things grow here! You could try changing his flea medication--Frontline Plus did nothing for my dog, but when I switched her to Advantage I saw a huge difference. You could also switch him to a food with high fish oil content, put fish oil on his food, or give him the capsules of it. That is really good for their skin. Also try oatmeal shampoo (for dogs). Good luck!
Just make sure that if he is scratching a lot and his skin is red, you do take him to the vet because he could give himself a staph infection, which requires antibiotics.

Answer 5

I had a dog with skin allergies, and a few things worked for us. Oatmeal shampoo helped alot...and there are various shampoos available for skin infections. We also fed her Wellness brand food...the whitefish and sweet potato variety. This seemed to help. We also went to a holistic vet; more pricey than a regular vet, but used herbs as treatment.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Some people have had success with olive oil.... massage it lightly into the skin and let it set for awhile. If he licks, it won't hurt him. Then shampoo it out lightly with a moisturizing shampoo. This also will kill any fleas he might have. His allergy might be air borne; you would need a vet who specializes in skin diseases to determine the exact cause.

Answer 7

i have an older dog that is always itching too...we give him baths with special oatmeal dog shampoo...it could be dandruff or dry skin..my dog is 11 and he has really dry skin but the oatmeal shampoo seemed to help.

try getting some..its not flea shampoo just regular dog shampoo...with oatmeal in it..you should be able to get it at a regular pet store..or even walmart.

Answer 8

Oatmeal Shampoo is specially made for dogs with skin problems. You can buy it in almost any pet store. I would give that a try.

Answer 9

This might sound a little weird but I have a lhasa also and he gets itchy just like you talk about your pup. I went throught the vet thing too. i keep flea meds on him but I also figured out his skin was drying out from the dry weather. So i use dandruff shampoo and when ever he is in the sun I put baby sun protectant lotion on him. No more itching and he is alot more comfortable.

Answer 10

he probably has allergies. My friends dog has to have special shampoo because she will scratch her skin raw. Just get her that and call a vet and have a talk with them. Ask about a possiblity for allergies.