Long shot: Nutrition advice for general skin complaints

[Scottsmum]

Ok.  So this is likely to be long and vague and um... its an odd topic.

 

I have an old school mate, lives off the disability allowance (money is very tight), has limited access to the internet, lives 40 minutes out of a small/medium country town and a has a few old dogs, one of which has a terrible skin allergy.  She has a vet who's great financially.  They always offer her levels of solutions - eg with the last old dog she had they quoted full hospital but also gave her the option to take him home and nurse him with regular check ups & showed her the signs of what to look for and  the offer that they'd do an emergency home visit if needed at the cost of a regular consult. They also let her pay off her accounts - which she's been doing for years - she pays off as much as she can every pay day. 

 

All that aside...  this old girl with the skin is not showing any improvement.  Originally she went onto a supermarket brand grain free, and showed some improvement. Today she texted and said she was on this special, very expensive diet and had shown signs of improvement originally but was again back to square one.  And it was now getting to the point where she was wondering if it was time to put her to sleep.  So I said I'd ask some doggy friends (that's the DOL brains trust)

 

What I know - as I said:

 

• Tried supermarket brand grain free
• went on to an "elimination diet" which consisted of Hills D/D (Which I've never heard of) the friend says "tests don't show anything and vet thinks its old age"  (dont know what tests they are)
• after a while they introduced chicken eggs back into her diet and then (and I promise I'm not making this up) "rawhide treats dipped in honey"  which she also had a reaction to!

 

I have asked if they'd tried single protein diets other than the hills or novel proteins but she tells me the dog can no longer eat any form of meat. (not sure what would be available to her locally and in her budget - delivery to her home isn't really an option).

 

I'd be inclined to try a balanced raw, maybe single protein of goat or something else. Maybe even an unbalanced raw...  

The freaking D/D still has chicken and "animal fat" in it - so it's no wonder its not helping. No idea what the dog/s were fed before this girl was swapped.  I've also told her no more rawhide and honey!

 

Anyhow - She's not in a position to change vets or get a second opinion. I certainly don't want to drive a wedge between her and her vet but none of this sounds right to me. 

 

What would you guys suggest? 

 

 

[Rebanne]

cortisone tablets will relieve a lot of inflammation. Yes can have some side effects but if it gives an old dog comfort why not?

[Papillon Kisses]

Hey SM,

 

Are you sure they are being very strict with the diet? As in, no treats from ANYONE – no family member or friend or neighbour or random stranger giving treats because they think they know better and feel sorry for the dog? You'd know this but they may not realise that a vet exclusion diet will not work if they are feeding any extras, unless the extras have been proven to be tolerated and are prepared in such a way to avoid cross-contamination (which may have been an issue with the supermarket food, but I digress).

 

Do suggest they check online for any prescribed diets as may find them a lot cheaper elsewhere.

 

Also I'm not seeing any chicken in the Hills DD? http://www.hillspet.com.au/en-au/products/pd-dd-canine-potato-and-venison-formula-dry.html

[Scottsmum]

52 minutes ago, Rebanne said:

cortisone tablets will relieve a lot of inflammation. Yes can have some side effects but if it gives an old dog comfort why not?

Good point.  She did mention a possible steroid - but also said the vet said the effects of it would likely to be short term too.  Suppose that's better than the green dream. 

 

22 minutes ago, Papillon Kisses said:

Hey SM,

 

Are you sure they are being very strict with the diet? As in, no treats from ANYONE – no family member or friend or neighbour or random stranger giving treats because they think they know better and feel sorry for the dog? You'd know this but they may not realise that a vet exclusion diet will not work if they are feeding any extras, unless the extras have been proven to be tolerated and are prepared in such a way to avoid cross-contamination (which may have been an issue with the supermarket food, but I digress).

 

Do suggest they check online for any prescribed diets as may find them a lot cheaper elsewhere.

 

Also I'm not seeing any chicken in the Hills DD? http://www.hillspet.com.au/en-au/products/pd-dd-canine-potato-and-venison-formula-dry.html

Well... No. I'm not sure.  But she does live on her own 40 minutes out of town.  So there is no family or neighbours or random people walking up the street.  That said, she could well be getting into any number of delights hidden over the 20 odd years shes lived on the property and had various pets come and go. 

 

Also my bad on the link - I linked to an international one which does have chicken in it.  I'm not sure you've linked to the right one either - she was amendment that it had NO meat in it. So don't think the venison one is quite right either. 

http://www.hillspet.co.za/en-za/products/pd-canine-prescription-diet-dd-egg-and-rice-dry.html

 

Edit: found another D/D also with chicken in it: http://www.vetproductsdirect.com.au/catalog/product/view/id/6133/s/hills-dog-derm-defense-11-3kg/category/156/ 

 

Who knows...  is the short version. 

 

Edited July 14, 2017 by Scottsmum

[JulesP]

This is a new problem? The dog didn't always have allergies? If yes then it is possible it is 'old age' or more to the point something else is going on. Amber had a nasty allergy when her liver was playing up. I was doing all sorts of food elimination diets that weren't doing much, actually made her condition worse as I was using super premium foods that were quite high in protein. 

 

 

 

 

[Scottsmum]

6 minutes ago, JulesP said:

This is a new problem? The dog didn't always have allergies? If yes then it is possible it is 'old age' or more to the point something else is going on. Amber had a nasty allergy when her liver was playing up. I was doing all sorts of food elimination diets that weren't doing much, actually made her condition worse as I was using super premium foods that were quite high in protein. 

 

 

 

 

No.  Not new - she grilled me on grain free back before Scottie was really sick, but in the time that I've been in NZ - so its been going on less than 2 years. Or I've been aware of it for less than 2 years. 

 

She says "all tests are clear" but who knows what that means exactly. I'll check to see if / when she last had a full plain old "normal" blood panel done.

 

That's about all I can really say.  Like I said - old school mate who I text with every so often and chat to even less often.  I knew it was a super long shot vague question to ask. 

 

[Scrappi&Monty]

That's tough...

I would usually definitely recommend Raw Feeding to anyone with dogs with skin allergies (cured Scrappi's completely!) 

But you said the dog is supposedly allergic to meat, so my advice is probably terrible haha.

I suppose it's worth a shot though.

 

Would highly highly recommend coconut oil though! 

 

Scrap used to have skin allergies, vet said it was environmental (like pollen/grass etc) so prescribed prednisol. First spring/summer it seemed to work. Then we took him off it for winter. Then next spring he got itchy again so we put him back on it but he reacted badly to it. It made him all out of sorts, hungry all the time, grumpy, sad and tired.

So we had to wean him back off it. 

 

Then we researched other options, and long story short changed him over to Black Hawk kibble (not necessarily recommended for your friend though if she can't afford it. But it is a hell of a lot cheaper than Science Diet.)

And also half raw fed. 

Coconut oil, 1tsp daily with food, and sometimes topically as well. Coconut oil worked wonders!