Skin Irritation

[sigzephyr]

I have been feeding my two whippets BARF for about 6 weeks.

My boy has red skin on his tummy. Near the start of his penis (if this makes sense). It is obviously made worse by his licking the area. Could this be caused by the new feeding regime? It does look better at times, and then flares up.

I have been putting Paw paw cream on it which seems to help.

I love feeding them Raw food so hope I don't have to stop. They get chicken necks for Breakfast, and minced meat and Pulped fruit and vegies for dinner, sometimnes with added offal and sardines. They also get cottage cheese, eggs, omega 3 oil, yoghurt and a supplement.

I am thinking maybe they need more bones....what do you think?

Any advice gratefully received.

[Vehs]

The feeding looks good to me, but that's not to say you boy isn't allergic to some thing you are adding.

Does he wear a jacket/coat at all that could be rubbing him? Different bedding or laundry detergent?

Is your other dog affected at all?

If he is licking the area a lot I would take him to the vet to check out the reddness

[Cavandra]

More bones would be good

Your dog may well be detoxing from the processed foods he ate before you switched to raw. But dogs can be allergic to anything, so it coudl be possible he is allergic to the dairy products or maybe red meat ........

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

More bones would be good

Your dog may well be detoxing from the processed foods he ate before you switched to raw. But dogs can be allergic to anything, so it coudl be possible he is allergic to the dairy products or maybe red meat ........

Or something growing in the yard or the area or blown about by windy weather...or any number of things. Or he may have an irritation/infection. Or it may be something else altogether.

I'd be visiting the vet for this one. Better safe than sorry IMO and it's not that expensive for a consult if it turns out to be 'nothing much' that will right itself in time. OTOH, if he's diagnosed with something treatable, his irritation will stop once treatment takes affect.

In the meantime, stop the dairy, increase the offal while decreasing the veg - and what supplement are you using? If it's got brewer's yeast in it, then stop and see if the irritation clears. Many dogs react badly to brewer's yeast in the form of skin irritation.

[Prydenjoy]

Sounds like it may be an irritation to something. Has he ever had anything like this before? It is the time of year for allergies, have you moved or changed anything in your garden?

[arby]

My boy taz gets a big red belly rash, thats grass related. Could be an environmental allergy