Dog has really bad dry skin

[hippyhappy]

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Hi, Maya is a 7 year old labrador. Over the last few months, she developed an extreme itch. Her skin was all scabby.

Vet gave her antibiotics that helped for a short while but the itch soon returned. She then put her on steroids which helped at high dose but not at lower dose. Maya was really unhappy while on them and I didn't want her on them long term. I tried her on antihistamines....no help. Frequent baths with Maliseb....that actually made the itch worse. So....now she is on Apoquel for the last 2 weeks, which has gotten rid of the itch and she seems quite happy.

The thing is, her coat, which was beautiful up until a few months ago, is full of dead skin and clumps of hair are still falling out. I am *hoping* that it will ease once she has been on the Apoquel a bit longer.

I give her 2 fish oil capsules every day....but does anyone have any ideas of how I could get her skin and coat healthy again?

 

[JoanneF]

I give her 2 fish oil capsules every day

Are these fish liver oil capsules? If so, it is possible they could be causing the skin problems, skin irritation is one of the symptoms of too much vitamin A.

 

[hippyhappy]

Hi, I believe not. They are sold as 'fish oil capsules' as my vet said to stay away from the cod liver oil. However I have posted a question on the suppliers site.
I also have a bottle of yuderm itching dog oil but I didn't want to give her this at the same time as the capsules, in case of overload.

 

[JudyN]

Could it be diet related? Even if her diet hasn't changed, she could have developed a sensitivity to an ingredient. A lot of people find their dog's skin and fur improves enormously when they switch to a raw diet.

 

[Hemlock]

Has the vet taken a skin scrape?

 

[hippyhappy]

Jydy, Not sure if it is diet related. I did consider changing her food to grain free.

Hemlock, no, they haven't even suggested it.

One of my concerns is, Maya has had cancer twice...mast cell tumours. Analysis showed that it was grade 2 but with the fact it had returned once, there was a fair to strong chance it would return again. She has no tumours that I can feel....but I am worried that she has tumours internally. I read that mast cell tumours one of the problems/signs is an overload of histamine. I asked the vet about this but they were non commital. The vet knows that my hubs and I have made the decision that if it comes back, we are not putting her through the treatment again as she was so very, desperately unhappy before and it changed her personality quite markedly.

 

[Tinytom]

Have you considered giving her pure salmon oil instead of the capsules ...

 

[hippyhappy]

Have you considered giving her pure salmon oil instead of the capsules ...

Tinytom....no. Are they better for skin problems?

I went to pet shop this morning and bought her a grooming mit. That seems to be better at removing the dander.

 

[JudyN]

Not that I've had any experience of skin problems, but I'd definitely look into getting her onto a grain-free and/or raw diet, and ask the vet about skin scrapes. If there is some mite or similar that would only show up from a skin scrape, then everything else you do could be a waste of time.

 

[Ksf]

Raw diet all the way! 10x better skin, coat, health, teeth, life span! Never too late to change and you will not regret it.

Also, completely natural and better than pumping your dog with chemicals

 

[excuseme]

It would do no harm at all to try a raw diet. No chemicals, no artificial additives, completely natural for our canine pets.
It can be as convenient and clean as you like, with no bloody mess. "Natures Menu" would be a good start.
.

 

[jackaranian]

Jydy, Not sure if it is diet related. I did consider changing her food to grain free.

Hemlock, no, they haven't even suggested it.

One of my concerns is, Maya has had cancer twice...mast cell tumours. Analysis showed that it was grade 2 but with the fact it had returned once, there was a fair to strong chance it would return again. She has no tumours that I can feel....but I am worried that she has tumours internally. I read that mast cell tumours one of the problems/signs is an overload of histamine. I asked the vet about this but they were non commital. The vet knows that my hubs and I have made the decision that if it comes back, we are not putting her through the treatment again as she was so very, desperately unhappy before and it changed her personality quite markedly.

Sorry to be a Jonah. I stopped Apoquel with my girl as I thought the side effects were not worth risking the moderate benefits. She also had 2 tumours cut out of her foreleg, that was the first time I'd heard of mast cell tumours when the vet said he was worried they might be MCT. After that she started to get interdigital cysts and still horrendous ear infections. And very dark grey belly skin. Then I started to research Apoquel. I stopped them 12 months ago, I am managing the sporadic breakouts but the best thing I did overall was to start Orijen 6 Fish biscuits. Advised (in one of the groups) by a guy whose dog had intractable itching. At the moment, amongst other things, I treat itching breakouts externally with a tincture recommended by Helios Homeopathy, hypericum, calendula and urtica. That works on them and on me! I look for different ways to manage her inflammatory disease so I'm also using various supplements. Fingers crossed and here's to better health for all our puppers.