My German Shepherd Dog Has A Skin Allergy. Would A Change Of Diet Help?
My beautiful GSD has been itching and scratching herself raw on her belly and hind legs. She has lost a lot of fur and the skin underneath is red. We have seen the vet but he was no help, he said it was an infection and the heat has made it worse. We give her Revolution for flea control, she’s had 2 courses of antibiotics, steroid injections, and medicated dog shampoo baths, but nothing has really helped. She may be allergic to something, and I want to change her diet, but don’t know what is best to feed her. I don’t have the time to home cook meals for her. We are in Australia. Any ideas???
Tagged with: Allergy • Change • Diet • German • Help • Shepherd • Skin • Would
Filed under: Flea Allergies In Dogs
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Hey Chezza,
Our GS had to eat roo meat to get rid of his allergies. It turned out that he was allergic to beef and any preservatives. Kangaroo meat is high in protein and low in fat (about 2%). Kangaroo meat has a very high concentration of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) when compared with other foods. CLA has been attributed with a wide range of health benefits including an anti cancer action and reducing body fats. Our dog became much healthier by having only this but it’s important to make sure he gets different bits eg bones, offal etc and not just mince.
DO NOT EVER cook meat for the dog… especially the bones.
Your dog may also be allergic to wheat or grains. So rice and dry food may not be good… but you’ll have to try combinations.
If it really is an allergy to food then ask the vet for a allergy test to determine what is the cause.
This will help you get a better Idea of which food to switch over too. For example it could be wheat your dog is allergic too or rice or beef or what ever meat product is in the food. In that case then you do not want a food with that product.
Try changing her hard dog cereal to Lamb and rice. Lamb and rice is a very “hypoallergenic” food given to dogs with food allergies, this is because it has a very low allergic reaction rate. We had a dog with a food allergy who had very similar symptoms to your poor pup, and after changing her over to the new food, her symptoms were gone in a week.
Best wishes!
Try changing her hard dog cereal to Lamb and rice. Lamb and rice is a very “hypoallergenic” food given to dogs with food allergies, this is because it has a very low allergic reaction rate. We had a dog with a food allergy who had very similar symptoms to your poor pup, and after changing her over to the new food, her symptoms were gone in a week.
Best wishes!
These sores you keep seeing are hot spots. And yes, there is a food that can help. Science diet z/d. My grandmother’s dog has very sensitive skin and they feed her that to keep it under control. I also worked at a vet hospital for 3 years and that’s what was always recommended to clients.
If you have “Canadae” brand dog food, that is what we use. It could be the food, but it could be alot of other things…
Maybe you should take her off all dog food and cook her food Rice and meat for each meal? I would find some Natural dog food recipes and try that. Nevermind I just read your question again…. Poor doggie
Good luck
You should probably get a 2nd opinion from a different vet. It could be something you are bathing her with or a chemical she is coming in contact with.
yes test take different things out of hes diet and watch
Something similar happened to my doggie! It turns out that it seems to have been caused by the shampoo we were using. I know you said you have tried medicated shampoo but have you tried to just rinse her off with just water and see if it gets better? Or maybe try a different hypo allergenic shampoo.
And yes it could also be her food! What brand are you using? I would try and find an all natural pet store and tell them the situation and ask if they have a recommendation for a natural dog food. Have you heard of the brand blue buffallo? It is suppose to be really good for your dog. I know Petsmart sells it.
Also, do you put any cleaner on your carpet or does she have a dog bed that you have washed recently? If so, maybe try re washing the dog bed with a non allergy detergent. It’s good to try and rule out everything!
I hope you figure out what is the cause soon! It can be soooo frustrating!
Im no vet but I dont know if that’s a dietary effect. It seems to me that if it was the diet it would be an internal problem not external. Trying a new diet wouldn’t hurt but maybe your dog is allergic to something in your house, liek your carpet or cleaning stuff or maybe he just got bit by a spider or someting. Try putting an ice pack on the infected part when he’s laying down since the vet said that heat was bad. I put ice packs on my kitties in the middle of summer when it’s really hot out to cool them down and maybe that will help. Be sure to either move the ice pack around a lot or to wrap it in something to you dont hurt him. I hope you figure itout!!!
The infection is a symptom, not the cause.
When you are not SURE what’s causing an allergy you remove ALL possible allergens, wait until the allergy has cleared up, then gradually re-introduce the possibilities one at a time, waiting a week or 2 to see whether she starts reacting again before re-introducing the next one.
Did the vet test for the various pancreatic insufficiencies? The pancreas is an absolute power house of enzymes but all sorts of internal infections can permanently damage parts of it – diabetes is the best-known pancreas problem, but far from the only one, and your bit.ch’s symptoms sound very like pancreatitis. Treatment involves getting rid of organisms such as yeasts growing on her skin, and sprinkling the appropriate enzyme over EVERY bit of food you give her.http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/The_G… will tell you about some pancreas problems.
NO cooking is involved in feeding a normal dog, other than that it is advisable to add your cooked table-scraps to your dog’s diet. If you don’t have time to cook for yourself, you don’t have time to LIVE, let alone to care for a pet! But some dogs are so allergic that you could end up cooking rice and/or potatoes for her, and maybe fish.
If you suspect a food allergy, immediately dump everything except kangaroo – luckily you live where they run wild! – and maybe natural/acidophilus yoghurt.http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/The_G… has various feeding ideas.
If you suspect a contact allergy, dump your current shampoo, wash out all “pour ons” and make sure you wash out whatever soap or shampoo you used to bathe her in, supply her with a sheet or blanket to lie on to protect her from contacting the carpet – and wash that protector in Napisan instead of in a laundry detergent, then rinse VERY thoroughly.
I disapprove of pour-ons, preferring to make the environment toxic to fleas without putting the poison into the dog’s system.
If you are in WA or QL and want to be contacted by an experienced-but-busy GSD person in your state, click my portrait then e-mail your personal e-address to me. I could probably find someone in any of the states, but those two I know already.
Les P, owner of GSD_Friendly: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/GSD_F…
“In GSDs” as of 1967
Okay it may be an allergy but l cannot understand a vet not coming to some solis answer and l would ring around and find some vet that has a good reputation in the dog world.Contact the GSD club of your State and speak to someone who has been around a long time and can give you some advice or a competent vet.As to diet you have not told us what you feed the dog and l assume you went to the trouble of having tests which are not cheap you obviously care for your dog,.If l knew what State you were in l would put you onto someone as have been around a long time on the show and obedience scene.There are a loot of foods out there that can cause allergies but when you obtained the dog ask the breeder what he or she suggests and be tactful as the breeder may think you are havimg a go at her or him.There are cases where dogs are actually allergic to flea bites and although you use Revolution it only takes one flea to cause this type of reaction as l had it in a dob l owned
A raw diet gives her the benefit of real food without you having to cook. It’s also the best way to determine whether she has food allergies, because you can feed her one ingredient at a time. Maybe you should learn some more about a food trial with raw to see if that helps.
BTW, my dog has had the exact same symptoms as yours for the past 2 months, and it all started with fleas. She IS on Frontline, but even one or two fleas on her will trigger a reaction since she is particularly sensitive to them. I’m also in the process of eliminating other possible allergens in my house to be sure that nothing else is getting to her (I also suspect dust mites). From what I’ve heard though, those symptoms — the same that my dog has — are often from fleas. My boxer has the shortest, whitest coat, so a flea sticks out like a sore thumb on her — It’s definitely possible that your dog could also be allergic to fleas, just one or two can cause a reaction like that (and on her the fleas would be much harder to find). Food allergies normally involve excessive licking and chewing on the pads of the feet, believe it or not. I also suspected food allergies in my dog at first, but now I believe other things are to blame. She could have a food allergy in addition to other allergies, but I do not believe that the food alone would result in such a bad reaction. I got a lot of good answers (much better than these BTW) when I asked about this last week — here’s a link to my question:http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?…
Check where she is sleeping. Have you changed her bedding?
Do you have dust mites in your house? In your carpeting? How about your yard (aka garden)? Any poison ivy/oak? Irritating plant life? Lawn chemicals?
Is her hair thick, tangled, matted? She might need a good haircut.
She could ba ALLERGIC to the flea control.
You could try her on a hypoallergenic diet–you don’t have to cook that stuff, you can buy it. It’s expensive, but if that’s not the issue, you can go back to feeding her what you usually feed her. If it does solve the problem, the trick to cooking for puppy is to do it once every week or two, portion it out, and then FREEZE it. You keep three days worth in the fridge, the rest in the freezer. As you use a fridge meal, you replace it with a freezer one. Why three? In case you forget to take one day’s worth out of the freezer (you’re not frantically microwaving/chopping). That way, you always have a meal ready to go.
Have a look at the link, below, and check the protocols followed–it seems you’ve done some, but maybe you need to have a look at triggers in your environment, like bedding, carpeting, lawn chemicals, that sort of thing.
FWIW, I don’t agree with NOT COOKING a dog’s food. In the wild, they ate raw meat because they don’t have opposable thumbs and can’t set up the barbecue. Dogs PREFER cooked meat. They’re domesticated animals. Also, cooked food will NOT have e-coli in it, and cooking also kills assorted parasites that can kill pets and are invisible to the naked eye.
I had a dog with the same problem–it was agonizing for her. I got rid of some (old) wall to wall carpeting, refinished the wood floor underneath, tossed down some area rugs and solved the problem.
Good luck….
at large pet stores there are usually ultra holistic food formulas that are intended for dogs with food allergies…….
could it be canine distemper?