Japanese Akita inu- Skin problems

[Oliviar15]

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Hi,
I was wondering if there’s anyone on here who could possibly offer their advice? Our Japanese Akita Inu has developed some sort of skin condition- at first we assumed it to be allergy related and have tried him on an array of food (inc his current diet of raw tripe!) and nothing seems to work.

His symptoms are developed after his first birthday when his full adult coat came in and the puppy hair was gone! He tends to scratch an awful lot, particularly his back, the centre of his head and his tummy. He bites his legs and his paws and often his skin can become scabby and his ears are awfully dry inside. He’s lost so much hair and can sometimes get so irritated! I get him groomed around once a month with vet prescribed shampoo and he seems to be better that day but then continues to itch the day after! I’ve tried introducing coconut oil to his diet and that seemed to work but no longer proves to help!

I have tried to do everything to avoid getting a skin biopsy done- as I obviously want to avoid ridiculous vet bills but I just feel so sorry for him now!

Any advice is welcome and appreciated!

TIA,

Olivia.

 

[JoanneF]

I would suggest asking your vet to prescribe an antihistamine. Then, if the problems clear up, you know it is an allergy - just not what he is allergic to. If they don't clear up with antihistamine, maybe ask the vet to do a skin scrape to check for mites.

If it is an allergy, it might or might not be food related - even raw tripe could trigger him if it is beef he is allergic to. So you could put him on an elimination diet with a single source of a novel protein, such as kangaroo. After six weeks, you hopefully would see an improvement. If not, it might be something environmental. Then you would have to start eliminating things like household products (laundry, cleaning etc.). Hopefully you will have had some clues by then, because there is always a chance that he is allergic to something like grass, which obviously is almost impossible to avoid.

 

[merlina]

The only other thing I've found helped (with a puppy that came severely itchy and did have mites) was Head and Shoulders shampoo. Still do my spaniel in it now and again if he seems uncomfortable. Obviously now your boy has got him adult (super) coat it's more difficult getting it down to the skin!

 

[Janer]

Yes try him with an antihistamine, my Spike has half of a piriton a day sometimes it goes up to one a day if he’s very itchy, at least you would know if it was a skin problem. Spike had allergy tests and is allergic to fleas, dust mites and grasses so there’s lots of other things your dog could be allergic to besides his food. Good luck as I know how difficult it is to get an answer when they are so itchy x