Diet suggestions.....pls help

[hankbaby]

The first time we ever took him to the vet the hair was a little thin around the eyes and the vet said she believed it to be demodex and that if Che didn't notice any improvement that she would need to do a scraping and then go from there. As he got a little older she said it was looking better (I couldn't tell, ithought it looked the same) and told me not to worry about it. She says the reason that it has gotten worse is because of his allergies and that the allergies suppress his immune system and the stress he gets from his allergies suppresses it even more causing the demodex to thrive.

 

[hankbaby]

We tried the duck formula from eagle pack, the only real difference in the formula is that it is duck instead of lamb.

 

[hankbaby]

Sorry I keep posting replies and they keep going to the front of the thread

 

[hankbaby]

Since you know he tolerates Eagle Pack could you try their holistic duck and oatmeal formula? Both duck and oatmeal have a low allergenic profiles.

hankbaby
Puppy
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 6

We tried the duck formula from eagle pack, the only real difference in the formula is that it is duck instead of lamb.

 

[Windancer]

This is for someone else..has about a 6 mo old newf.....lots of itching, some hair loss.particularly around eyes...Cannot find a food that agrees with him...Vet has done tests and can find nothing...she told them the hair loss was demodex, which has to be an immune thing... any ideas anyone?

 

[Lori]

Chance was an itchy guy and did lose some of the hair around his eyes. He was never actually tested for allergies, but through trial and error I found out he was allergic to wheat. Once I removed it from his diet and added Prozyme (digestive enzyme) daily, the itchiness, goopy eyes and yucky ears cleared up. Hope they figure out the little guys problem.

 

[Prdmary]

How's the pup's stools?

Turner had diarrhea almost his entire puppyhood.......no skin issues then, but he has them now. The only food he could eat (and I know this sounds crazy) was Science Diet WD. It was the ONLY thing that would not give him diarrhea. We also ended up adding more fiber to his diet by giving him Metamucil twice a day. Prozyme also helped. Organic yogurt and canned pumpkin was also good. Avoid wheat. Turner was also allergic to beef. It's really hard to figure out sometimes what they are allergic to.

Also, Turner was on steroids and flagyl for the diarrhea.......which in turn lowered his immune system and gave him UTIs and demodex mange.

 

[SheilaT]

This sounds like Angus as a pup. He has several allergies and sensitivities. First, with him, one flea bite sets off a ridiculous reaction with his skin usually needing antibiotics if I don't catch it soon enough with the medicated shampoos. Next, he had itchiness, flaking skin with soft poops...kibble with chicken contributed to this. Tried all kinds of kibbles, but still had issues. Switched to raw and the boy is thriving. He can even eat chicken, if it's organic or free range. I add salmon oil and pro-biotics. Now, the only time I have an issue is if there is a particularly voracious flea that gets him before the Advantix kills it.

 

[Pipelineozzy]

Are they treating for demodex? and what is the indication that the food is not agreeing? (digestive like diarrhea or do they consider the skin to be part of the dietary thing?)

 

[Largo]

Try a grain free diet and give it time to see if it starts to make a difference. It has helped Bax a lot. I think Bax may also have issues with chicken in dog foods. No poop problems for Bax, but really bad skin issues on grain based foods.

 

[victoria1140]

the hair loss sounds allergy related, eye drops plus smear vaseline around the eyes as this catch's extra pollen.

wash him in a mild shampoo plus all bedding , what food options have been tried?

has he been tested for any allergys or skin mites, also does he have contact with cats as their fleas an cause major problems

 

[Windancer]

The poor guy gets terrible stools....like pudding..if on the wrong feed..I think the Demo is an immune problem...from the feed

 

[hankbaby]

This thread was started for my little guy Hank. Hank has a very sensitive stomach and thus far the only thing that doesn't give him pudding poo or projectile poo is Eagle pack lamb and rice. Problem is is that according to our vet he is allergic to something which while he scratch to the point of whimpering. He has dandruff (from the allergies) and hair loss around the eyes which the vet says is demodex brought on by the allergies. We have had blood work done, gi panel etc. Any help would be awesome.

 

[Tricia2]

Since you know he tolerates Eagle Pack could you try their holistic duck and oatmeal formula? Both duck and oatmeal have a low allergenic profiles.

 

[Pipelineozzy]

Have they done a skin scraping to rule out other types of mites???? There are several different kinds of mites...I had a "dandruff" puppy that scratched like that and he had "walking dandruff" - once treated with Revolution the itching subsided within 24 hours. Allergies that intense do not usually show up until they are older. If they haven't done skin scrapings and microscopic examination ...that would be the FIRST thing I would do.

 

[Tricia2]

Have they done a skin scraping to rule out other types of mites???? There are several different kinds of mites...I had a "dandruff" puppy that scratched like that and he had "walking dandruff" - once treated with Revolution the itching subsided within 24 hours. Allergies that intense do not usually show up until they are older. If they haven't done skin scrapings and microscopic examination ...that would be the FIRST thing I would do.

Cindy,
Would there be any contra-indications that you are aware of to prophyaxis with Revolution? I had two dogs that had negative skin scrapings but clearly had some sort of parasitic/mange/mite infestation.
The decision to treat was based on examination and a large concentration of fox in our area. Both cleared with treatment.

 

[Pipelineozzy]

They need to skin scrape to identify WHICH mite they are dealing with. The type my pup had was treatable with revolution, but they do not all respond to it, and might need a different treatment.

 

[hankbaby]

Maybe I will try a different vet since she doesn't want to do skin scrape. She says since the hair loss is right around the eye and nowhere else is why she is certain it is demodectic mange.

 

[Pipelineozzy]

Demodex commonly causes hair loss around the eyes, she's certainly right about that. The part that I really wonder about is not TREATING.While many dogs will overcome demodex on their own, some don't. It seems very odd to me that you have a dog that is obviously positive for demodex mites, and also has an itchiness problem, and they are assuming the itchiness is due to allergies instead of treating the demodex and seeing if getting rid of it will stop the itching. Demodex requires daily treatment with ivermectin in most cases, which is a small dosage given orally, but over a long period of time. Just because the demodex is only obvious around the eyes does not mean that's the only place the dog has it.
There is also the possibility that the dog has another type of mite problem going on concurrently...and I would agree with seeing another vet and having that checked if the dog has obvious dandruff as you suggested in your post. The type of mite that mine had made him SO itchy he was keeping me awake at night scratching.

Demodex can be serious in some dogs, and progress to a generalized condition. But I would sure be looking for a better diagnosis than just food allergies in this dog if it was my dog.

 

[Windancer]

well, I think the bad stoll is the indication of food allergies...And she is probably right about the immune system...I would go for the ivermectin also..just to generally get rid of external parasites. We could have two seperate things going on here.