Dogs with skin allergies and problems - urgent advice needed.

elsien

TM (if all goes to plan) will be leaving me for a new home sometime in the next week.
There is another white EBT who temperamentally seems well suited to my situation, but who has had skin problems (I think more on the feet and legs) which as far as I can tell jave never really seem to fully clear over the last 3 or 4 months since she arrived at the charity. Obviously these won't be insurable if I have her, but she's too far away for me to meet before saying yes or no to taking her on.
And I'm sort of thinking the trade off between temperament and health needs might be worth taking on to get a dog that fits my circumstances. Except I don't really know what it's likely to mean in terms of future vets bills etc. I realise it's all a bit "how long is a piece of string" - I'm not on the breadline and can afford to cover costs of they don't get silly, but I don't want a dog that might cost me an on-going fortune in referrals to specialists etc.
Anyone had a dog with recurring skin complaints who might be able to give me more idea of what I could be letting myself in for? I need to make a decision before the dog gets placed elsewhere.
Thanks

Lieja

The family dog I had growing up had pretty bad skin problems all over her body, but mainly under her legs and belly. She wasn't insured so was never referred to a specialist as the cost was too much, and instead my parents paid around £20 every six weeks for steroids. The vet said they would aleviate her symptoms, which they did, but would considerably reduce her life. She was on them from about 1 year old, and was pts at the ripe old age of 15. Obviously it's dependant on what's causing the problems (the vet thought my dog was allergic to grass!), but that's my experience. Her symptoms were managed quite easily, although I'm sure there could have been a much more expensive treatment that may have cleared it up completely.

Misty_Blue

One of mine has allergies to dust, dust mites, and certain food ingredients. As in the post above, he was on steroids, but for most dogs it's not ideal to have them on those long term, and also they never quite cured his symptoms (though they did alleviate them quite a bit).

What worked miracles for him is Atopica. He started off on 1 tablet per day, which worked out at about £200 per month. He's now on such a low dose that it's more like £78 every 6-8 weeks. But his skin is perfect, his itching is gone, his temperament is a lot more even as he isn't irritable all the time.

MrsAtobe

A friend of mine has a dog with atopic dermatitis, and when allergy tested, came up s being allergic to a whole host of things, grass, trees, pollen along with a whole host of dietary allergies to chicken, etc. She stumbled across a food called Barney and Dave's, got a trial 2kg pack of their fish and rice food and he's never looked back!

Would the charity pay for allergy testing?

elsien

MrsAtobe wrote: »

Would the charity pay for allergy testing?

No, I don't think so. I think the current foster asked and was told they didn't consider it was worthwhile doing.

krlyr

Diet can have a huge impact on allergies, and I know many Bull Terriers are switched onto a raw diet and have a good improvement in their skin conditions. I often browse the BT rescues (want one in the future..for now it's wishful thinking!) and see descriptions specifying that certain dogs have to stay on the raw diet they're on because of their skin issues.

Coconut oil is also quite 'faddy' at the moment, and is meant to do wonders for the skin - given as a food supplement and also applied to the skin directly.

elsien

Yes, I think coconut oil is one of the things that has been tried.
A raw diet sounds a bit of a faff with any dog going back and fore between me and mum's, plus working full time.
It's really difficult to know what to do for the best - the problems with TM have made me very cautious but the dog does seem to be what I'm looking for otherwise. I need a crystal ball. I just think no dog is likely to be perfect, so what trade off can I live with? It can be quite hard to get answers to questions though, which doesn't help at all in inspiring confidence second time round.

krlyr

A raw diet isn't the only option - a good quality grain-free may suffice, but raw does allow much more control over what the dog is exposed to. It doesn't have to be much faff - you can buy "ready-made" raw, i.e. all mixed up ready to just portion out of tubs each meal, though the downside to that is the cost. But I literally might spend 10 minutes one evening putting raw meat into enough Kongs for the week (having removed them the night or morning before to defrost) and putting back in the freezer, or perhaps dividing up some offal into smaller portions (as it comes in 2lb bags), other than that, it's food chucked in bowl/onto the lawn/Kong put on the floor and off they go, no more fuss than buying dry food, decanting into an air tight container, filling up an activity ball with the kibble pieces, etc.
My dogs sometimes stay at my nan's in the evenings too (e.g. when I'm at college and OH is away with work) or we'll all head over to my mum's and sometimes stay the night, it's as simple as taking some frozen Kongs over - the Kongs are very low-mess and have the benefit of occupying the dogs for ages, they'll either eat in the garden or on a blanket in the conservatory.

I'm not a raw "purist", I don't recommend it for every dog, and I think commercial foods are fine for many dogs, but a raw diet is something I see cropping up over and over for EBTs with skin issues so I do think there's something to it - I would personally give it a trial if it were me.

GoldenShadow

Steroids are miracle (cheap) drugs to a degree but can cause severe harm. Atopica can cause serious health problems also and there is a lot of info on it. Not only that but its very expensive.

Re raw I do not believe there is any suitable pre made diet in tubs. I am not aware of any that use 5% liver and 5% other secreting offal. Nor do I believe an individual dog's needs can be met by tubs alone. Folk should only commit to raw if they are very confident they can meet their dog's individual needs.

I have a golden retriever with a severe skin condition. He is nearly 5 and has had this all of his life. He is currently stable and its been hard work.

Do you have much disposable income per month to try out certain things? I've found a wonder supplement for my lad and for his weight (30kgs ish) it costs £50 a month. Steroids will usually sort it, BUT they really can cause all sorts of problems and from my research the only time my lad would go on Atopica is if there was nothing else in the world working (even steroids), and it would be a sign the end was near.

If you are willing to try out different things and can afford to within reason then I would go for it, there is a lot that can be done.

Rowan9

My Golden Retriever is insured but not for itchy skin which she had before the insurance. Some summers are better than others. Last summer she seemed to be at the vet once a month at least and was on antibiotics for skin infection for a couple of weeks. What helped keep it under control was Piriton, prescription baths and cotton bedding only, washed in non-Bio at hot wash every 2-3 days. I also used cream called Dermacton on the rashes if bad and inflamed and also diluted cider vinegar to dab on spots she got. She had Frontline every month.
W

elsien

I've decided not to take this particular dog on - having spoken again to the foster, they've tried piriton, changing food, bathing in hibiscrub etc etc. If the tests had been done and we knew what the allergy was it might be different, but if it turned out to be something like dust, my fully carpeted house wouldn't be the ideal environment.
Plus the cost of tests, etc - I think if it's a dog you've had from a puppy you go the extra mile. Taking on an uninsured unknown quantity that I can't meet before saying yes is a bit different, especially if it's going to be a long drawn out process.
Having had 2 previous dogs that cost a small fortune in vets fees has possibly made me overcautious. Having TM and realising I didn't ask enough questions with her has made me even more cautious.
I'll start looking again once TM has moved on and I stop missing her.
There'll be a bullie out there for me somewhere, I'm sure.