Question by Confuzzed: Dog with a musty smell, tried everything!?
Alright, I’m getting a little tired of this musty – basement smell coming from my dog. I figured she was allergic to fleas (or flea bites) so I’ve always used Frontline. Doesn’t seem to work in the summer very well. Took her to the vet and he said it’s allergies to flea bites.. yada yada and gave her a shot. Well I have been using this oatmeal soothing shampoo for her (for itchy, irritated skin) and it works for about a day – then back to itchy itchy. I’ve heard a lot of people complain about this through the years – but what is the cure here? I do not want to over-bathe her and the shot NOR Frontline seems to help. It’s not her food, I tried switching last year and went through all of that and nothing helps the scratching! (Also, I’ve tried different beddings to see if it was that – no change. Different laundry detergents – no change). I just don’t get it!
Add: What’s odd is it doesn’t seem to bother her. She seems to enjoy scratching for some odd reason. It’s never the ears – it’s usually the small of the back (which I hear of a lot w/ allergies).
Thank you!! I will try that oil and even the shampoo. I’m willing to try anything. I asked my vet about any skin tests to determine what she’s allergic to and he couldn’t do that. I also checked around my area and can’t find anyone. I think we’ll be making a trip very soon to someone who CAN do the test! Thank you all!!

Best answer:

Answer by Launi~Wild As The Wind Is Love~
Yes. There is something you can do. Ask your vet to run a full panel for allergies. Find out exactly what the dog is allergic to. If he/she does not have the means to do this, see a canine skin specialist.

Often it is simply something in the food you are feeding and/or different grasses/pollens. There are steps which can be taken by changing a few things and getting the correct medication.

Good luck.

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Question by clairez23: Can anyone help – I have tried everything!!?
My dog Jake has been suffering with skin infections for the last couple of years on and off and we don’t seem to be getting anywhere with the vets. They just keep prescribing him antibiotics which clears it up to be bearable in the short term but it keeps coming back. We recently paid out to have allergy tests done which seem to show he is allergic to everything except lamb and rice but even after changing his diet; couple of months on and still he is suffering. They have basically now drawn a blank and I don’t know what else I can do. He is affected mostly on his stomach but particularly his sheath – that is the most sore and swollen – sometimes so bad that he has discharge and cannot retract the penis. His coat condition is good and his gums, ears, eyes etc are fine it is just this repeated infection of the sheath and stomach. Can anyone help – I am open to all suggestion, even vitamin supplements or holistic approaches. Oh and he is a 7 yr old GSD/ retriever x..Thanks! xx
The tests showed that he was allergic to all meats except lamb, turkey and fish and also wheat and soy bean. In addition he is also allergic to dustmites but nothing else other than that. I have had four different vets see him and they all just say that skin infections are common in GSD breeds. Thanks for all of your responses and will keep trying x

Best answer:

Answer by TonyusSeptimus
Home made raw diet. Problem will go away completely in 3-4 weeks.
No vet will tell you that.
Late Entry : dear “negraters”, kindly GFY!!!

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Question by Hazel C: My cat is losing weight & I can’t get him to eat. I’ve tried canned foods even.?
He just recently became an outside cat again after living inside for about two years. I’m pretty sure he suffers from allergies because he’s always sneezing and has runny eyes. He does have a tendency to throw up his food every once and awhile. But now he just isn’t eating. I’ve left canned food out, different types of dry food and dog food. I even left out a piece of lunch meat which was gone in the morning but we’ll never know if he actually ate it… help!
He was a stray that came to us. He was always an outside cat. Then two years ago one of my neighbors trapped my other cat and took him to the pound. Since then, my cats have lived indoors but this cat is not meant for the indoors. My two cats do not get along and the outside guy has a thing for peeing on the furniture. If anything he was less comfortable living indoors.
TOOK HIM TO THE VET. HE HAS FELINE AIDS :’(

THANKS FOR THE HELP ALL

Best answer:

Answer by Bill L
Maybe he wants back inside where it’s safer..

bl

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Question by bonniclarkson: Has any one ever tried “Natural Way” natural dog food?
I have been feeding my 4 month old Goldendoodle IAMS Puppy Formula (which is what my breeder was feeding her). However, I am not particularly happy with the ingredients in it because it has a lot of by products and contains a lot of grains such as corn.

My groomer told me that corn can cause allergies in dogs, and it can cause a “doggie smell” that is almost constant… as well as skin and digestion problems.

So I have been researching dog foods, and I came across a brand that is supposedly “endorsed” by Lassie, and it is called “Natural Way”. The first five ingredients seemed pretty good…

Lamb Meal, Rice Flour, Rice Bran, Ground Rice, Chicken Meal,…

I was wondering if anyone has tried it and what do you think of it??

You can view more info about this food at http://www.lassie.com/naturalway/index.html.

NOTE: This is not a debate about the best dog food… or why IAMS is good or bad… or anything like this. I am simply looking to find out if anyone has tried this food!!
Like I said, the ingredients in “Natural Way” seemed “healthier” that the IAMS. I found that IAMS had a lot of corn and by products while Natural Way did not. I am also wondering if anyone eliminated corn for health problems in their dog?

Best answer:

Answer by rebecca_11_f_ct
Yes my dogs are on that food now. They love it!

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Question by Rachel B.: Tried everything to get rid of Fleas on my dog!!! Need other ideas.?
To start off, my 11-year-old Chow/Shih-tzu mix has skin allergies (we think it may be seasonal), so when we saw her itching alot a couple of months ago, we thought that it was because of that. So we switched her food to Nutro Natural Choice dog food along with a half can of wet food at night which we mixed in an all-natural supplment powder, fish oil, and a multi-vitamen pill for senior dog. During the day, we would give her a fish oil pill, and twice a week she would get a bath with a anti-itch shampoo that I got from PetSmart. We tried that for about a month, and didn’t really notice any difference.

The next month, we kept her on the all-natural diet with the supplements; but, this time when I gave her a bath, I noticed a couple of fleas on her backend. So I immediately went out and got a flea spray from PetSmart to see if that would work—-it only works to kill the fleas that are on her; it doesn’t stop them from coming back though. So I then went back to PetSmart, and got another flea product to put on her back—that didn’t work. Then I got another flea product that had more good reviews then the last one, along with a all-natural anti-itch spray and anti-chew spray for my dog. The anti-itch spray only works when it’s wet so that doesn’t last long; and the anti-chew spray didn’t really deter her from chewing on herself, and after we sprayed it, everyone in the house was able to taste it.

A couple of weeks ago (after trying everything), I took her to the vet to see if they could finally get rid of the fleas. They gave me a shampoo for irritated skin, predisone, and a steroid pill along with advantage flea treatment for her and my inside/outside cat (which has shown no sign of having fleas on her). They told us that we should Fog the house and outside—–my parents said that we can’t fog the house because we have an in-home daycare business so it would just create a big mess for us to clean up in the daycare, ect. And they thought the backyard was pointless, because my dog goes everywhere outside (different neighborhoods, dog park, downtown, woods in the back of my house)—and we doupt that those people fog their own homes, so when my dog comes into contact with that area there will probably be fleas there. So they went out and got this flea spray (recommended to us by a couple different people) for inside the house—-we washed everything, moved alot of stuff around, and then vacummed everything. We then vacummed the carpets and everwhere that my dog went for the next week, and sprayed again on Sunday. Whenever I do wash (every coupl of days), I always wash my dog’s bedding too. She still has fleas.

Now, my dad thinks that it would be best and easier for us to get my dog shaved down so that we can start from scratch with trying to fight off these fleas; along with buying her and my 12-year-old cat flea collars. I asked the vet about shaving my dog down, and the vet said that it would only irritate my dog’s skin more which I told my dad and other family members—–they all seem to agree with my dad now because we did try everything that the vet said (besides fogging the house and yard), and that didn’t work. So any ideas would be greatly appreciated because I really don’t want to pay someone to shave my dog when that’s not really going to work or help make the process of getting rid of fleas easier. Thanks!
I don’t allow my dog to roam by herself—-whenever I go out, she goes out with me on a leash. When you live in the city, it’s very important to keep your dog socialized; and that’s why I tend to take her everywhere with me.

Best answer:

Answer by Syd *Dedicated SPCA Worker*
Frontline Plus. Or i have to use Pro Meris for my PB because she has skin allergies. It works great. It is a little more expensive then the frontline. Take your dog to the vet and they will give it a cap star to kill all the fleas that are on it now. Then get a topical flea medication, like Pro Meris, and that will keep the fleas off.

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