Bad Day!!

[RiddicktheDobie]

My day is going horrible!! Poor Riddick's allergy problem is getting worse, not better. The vet visit was good though because we still have more options to make it better.

But...I came home and the girl I was getting Riddick's new little sister (a boxer) from called to say that she died last night. Poor little puppy! She was only 3 weeks old!!! She stopped eating her mom's food and got weak. They only had one female and Riddick wants a sister.

Sad Bad Day.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

So sorry about Riddick's sister.

What is going on with Riddick's allergies?

 

[Brattina88]

Sorry to hear about the puppy
((((hugs)))))

Maybe we can help with your allergy problem ?

 

[RiddicktheDobie]

Riddick has bad skin. A topical spray didn't help. Canidae dog food made his coat shine but didn't help the dry skin. Now in the past days he is dry and itchy, not to mention WORSE. He is chewing his paws and has scaly moist skin under his belly and arms. Benadryl didn't help over the past two weeks either.

The vet now is trying a new diet (Royal Canin, potato and duck). Has anyone ever tried it? He also gave him a steriod shot.

If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know. I feel sooo bad for him. I would love to hear any success stories!

 

[Doberluv]

I'm so sorry about the little pup. How very sad.

I'm also sorry you're having such a trouble with the allergies. Is that positively what it is? What color is your Dobe? I forget. Has the vet done a skin scraping and white blood cell count? I do hope this passes. How miserable he must be. I'm so sorry.

 

[Kase]

Awww I'm so sorry about the puppy (((((((((HUGS))))))))).

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Has a skin scraping been done to rule out other possible problems?

Royal Canin is so over-priced that I would rather go for California Natural or Natural Balance.

Steroid shots used long term are bad, IMO. Buddy had one cortisone shot and I swore never again as it had a horrible effect on him.

Can you tell us more? There are quite a few of us that battle with allergies with our dogs... I'm sure we can be of some assistance!

 

[Doberluv]

Also....has he had a thyroid work-up?

 

[RiddicktheDobie]

Riddick is a black and tan. He has ALL of the bad health problems dobies are known to have. He is even getting ready to get a new hip. It really is a good thing my entire family loves him because I would never be able to afford all of this on my own. His personality wins over everyone he meets so they are all willing to help. It goes to show that if you get a dog be very aware you can go into debt and you have to be willing to do so.

Between this problem, his hip, and discovering he will sallow socks whole, he is an expensive dog. He has had the skin scrap done and the vet (not my present vet) said that the test came back fine.

My current vet did a thyroid test and it came back low. We have him on medicine for that. His skin did improve with that medication. The improvement we saw was really with the shiney coat and less dandruff.

We haven't done a white blood cell count but the vet did mention that. What would it mean for his count to be abnormal?

Right now the vet feels as if the Canidae could be cause the drastic change in his skin. It really looks like he has poison ivy on his belly and under his arms. Side note, Could the thyroid meds cause this at all? I need to ask my vet that.

The Royal Canin is expensive!! I was hoping I could get it cheaper through petmed.com or somewhere else. Is the natural balance food good? I did research on canidae before I started feeding it. It is suppose to be really good food. Has anyone else ever used it?

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Many people here use canidae with no problems while others have stated that their dogs did not do well on it.

As far as price goes I think California Natural may be a little cheaper than the Natural Balance (specifically the salmon and sweet potatoe and at least in my area).

A food with few and simple ingredients would be best, if I were you, I would try California Natural.

Also, you can supplement with vitamin E or a salmon oil to help Riddick's coat.

What kind of 'extras' do you feed?

 

[Brattina88]

My dogs are currently on Canidae, and they're doing really well on it. Its a good food IMO I switch it up every couple of months or so between Canidae, Eagle Pack, and sometimes Innova EVO (depending on different circumstances lol). I haven't personally used Natural Balance, but my friend has a lab that has had a lot of allergy issues and she did better on NB.
My Cocker, like many cocker, showed signs of allergies when she was younger. The vet said it was most likely a food allergy, but we weren't positive. She was eating eukanuba, and at the time I didn't know any better. The vet prescribed her doggy benedryl, and put her on a prescription science diet food, and that's when I did some research and learned a thing or two about dog nutrition! My plan was to do an elimination diet, but after switching she instantly did better. I guess it was all that crap in the other foods that was doing it!!

I'm not sure about they thyroids, but I'm sure someone else will chime in with some help

How long has he been on Canidae? Has anything else changed in the past couple of days - laundry detergent, carpet powder, grass sprouting, high pollen, etc ?? Not trying to be nosey - just wish I can help!

 

[RiddicktheDobie]

I started feeding Canidae about 2 months ago. And the first month I did see improvement because he has always had dandruff and it did make his coat shiney. I supplement fish oil to help with that as well.

There is an extremely large amount of pollen around here right now. For about 2 weeks we did the doggy benedryl because we thought it might be pollen but his condition got worse.

I am going to look into the other foods you guys have suggested! And I'm glad to hear the advice from others who have been through this.

Thank you!