Dogs: skin problems, itching

Advertisement

Expert: Patti – 12/16/2009

Question
I have a weimareiner and he is the grey/blue color, he has major skin problems.  he itches constantly and has whelps that are red and raised and even has a yeast smell to his skin.  he has been to the vet, numerous times and got antibiotics, steroids, itching pills, pills to make him sleep so he won’t scratch. But I don’t know what else to do, he is miserable. Answer

Hi Vicky,

Skin problems can be a long term chronic problem with many dogs. They are usually hard to treat. Even though you’ve been to the vet a number of times, you need to continue working with your vet and try to find the underlying cause of the itch. The medication your vet prescribed treats the itchy symptoms, not the problem itself, so it might be effective in suppressing the itch for a while but the underlying problem remains. Itching can be caused from many things, ranging from a habitual behavior caused by boredom, to an allergy, an infestation of mites (which can be microscopic). Chronic itching can be caused by an inherited predisposition such as a thyroid disorder. On top of the thing that main thing causes of the itch, it sounds like your dog has a secondary yeast or bacterial infection which requires separate treatment.

You didn’t say what diagnostic tests have already been run on your dog, what treatments have been tried, and which (if any) have worked. If your vet seems stumped by your dog’s problem, having a veterinary dermatologist examine him would be helpful. If your vet can’t give you a referral to a veterinary dermatologist, you can locate one here: https://www.acvd.org

Talk to your vet about the possibility of a food allergy. Dogs with a food allergy usually develops itching on it’s feet, tail area or ears. Several studies have shown that some ingredients are more likely to cause food allergies than others. In order of the most common offenders in dogs are beef, dairy products, chicken, lamb, fish, chicken eggs, corn, wheat, and soy. A food trial is something to try if diet is the suspected cause. A food trial consists of feeding your dog a “novel” food source of protein and carbohydrate for at least 12 weeks. A novel food source would be a protein and carbohydrate that your dog has never eaten before. Examples would include be rabbit and rice, or venison and potato. There are a number of such commercial diets available on the market, or you can buy a prescription hypoallergenic diet from your vet’s office. Regardless of the diet used, it must be the only thing your dog eats for 12 weeks. This means no treats, no flavored medications, no rawhide or pig’s ears; absolutely nothing but the special food and water. In addition, your dog should not be allowed to roam, which may result in him having access to food or garbage.

If after the food trial, your dog shows no improvement in his condition, you can rule diet out as the cause of the problem, and other diagnostic tests would be needed to get a diagnosis.

Steroids are powerful drugs that can have serious side effects with long term use. You should work to find the cause of the itch (if possible) and only use the steroids for the worst itching episodes. Besides treating your dog with the steroids, you might try an Omega Fatty Acid supplement to see if that helps. Veterinarians have found that fatty acids play important role in the health of the skin and coat, and also helps with allergies. Marine fish oil such as Salmon Oil  (not Cod Liver Oil) or Flax seed oil, as well as several over the counter brands such as Drs. Foster and Smith, 3V Caps, or Derm Caps ES  can be considered. You would need to give the Omega Fatty Acid supplement daily for at least a month before results may be seen. You should talk to your vet about using an over the counter antihistamine to control the itch. Different over the counter antihistamines have different active ingredients, you you may need to try more than one before finding one that works for your particular dog, which means your vet would need to give you dosing info on whatever brands you try.  Antihistamines can make your dog drowsy, so watch him around stairs!

I hope I’ve been a help.
Best of luck,

Patti