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Yes, I too have a Golden with skin problems
I've got a Golden Retriever with some troubling skin issues. I've spent
many hours here reading about food allergies, contact allergies, diet and just Goldens in general, but I've yet to find a solution to this. This summer has been particularly bad with hotspots. Through the winter and fall he went months without any hotspots, but He broke out overnight with about eight large hotspots around the beginning of this summer. Our vet shaved all the spots (much to the dog's dismay) and they've since healed, but he's continued to get rather large hotspots pretty regularly throughout the summer. He also spends a great deal of time licking his feet/legs and scratching (which he never really does during the winter). Certainly there is something about the weather that is causing all of this right? If this is a seasonal allergy, is there anything at all I can do to at least lessen the symptoms and make him a little more comfortable? The vets I've visited seem to have very little information on how to actually prevent skin problems focusing more on treating the damage after it's done. Other important info: I'm currently feeding him a natural food diet consisting of turkey, beef, veggies, oats, olive oil, garlic, and Missing Link supplement. We bathe him every two weeks with Dr. Goodpet's hypo-allergenic shampoo, and I've seen maybe three fleas on him the entire summer. Sorry for the enormous post, branden |
#2
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On 18 Aug 2005 10:02:51 -0700, "manowatt" , clicked
their heels and said: Sorry for the enormous post, branden not enormous, and you have sympathy here. Cool and dry are key words when it comes to Goldens and hotspots. Keeping the undercoat raked out (do you have and use an undercoat rake? An invaluable tool for a Golden), keeping the dog in and cool, drying completely in a cool environment after a swim. As you have seen, shaving gives AIR to the area and that's how it can heal. Hotspots are moist dermatitis. Take away the moist and half the problem is licked. Topical preps can include itch relief sprays with bad taste added to them, Milk of Magnesia dabbed on (and it's cheap!), and some veterinary products. I have found that ocean swims have done amazing things for hotspots - and excuse to go to the beach! The only ways to find out food senstitivities or allergies or contact/inhalant allergies is skin testing and elimination diets. And some things, like grass, can't be avoided. Coat maintenance and massage are good in general and can help skin heal and stay healthy. -- Janet B www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bestfr...bedience/album |
#3
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Goodpet's hypo-allergenic shampoo, and I've seen maybe three fleas on
him the entire summer. Chances are all the grooming he's doing is disappearing the fleas on him before you can account for any. All it takes is one to really cause a horrible flea allergy. Treat for fleas with Advantix/Advantage or Frontline or whatever your vet recommends first to eliminate that issue. As for hot spots, our dog has horrible food allergies that only responded to Hills Z/D diet. however, it's about that time of year that the seasonal issues pop up in the form of hot spots. She only gets them for a couple months. Hubby vet treats with something topical and steroids if need be since it's for a short period of time. I've seen some creative solutions for hot spots here and am going to try them myself. I look forward to seeing the suggestions here. -Sharon |
#4
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Janet, Thanks for your advice. I brush him twice a day everyday, but I
don't even know what an undercoat rake is, so I'm definitely off to the pet supply store tonight. He's an indoor dog, so his only real exposure to the heat and humidity comes during his walks. Maybe I should keep our house cooler during the day? |
#5
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On 18 Aug 2005 10:22:45 -0700, "manowatt" , clicked
their heels and said: I don't even know what an undercoat rake is, so I'm definitely off to the pet supply store tonight. You will be truly amazed at the new dog's worth of hair you can rake out. Walmart actually has a decent quality one at a good price (their whole line of grooming tools, with dark green handles, are pretty nice). He's an indoor dog, so his only real exposure to the heat and humidity comes during his walks. Maybe I should keep our house cooler during the day? Can't hurt! Spend it on electric bills or on vet visits! ;-D I feel for both of you - hotspots are not fun and pop up out of nowhere. -- Janet B www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bestfr...bedience/album |
#6
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We've been giving him Dr. Goodpet's Flea Relief this summer, and it
really seems to be working. I'm not real kean on the toxic stuff. Last fall when he first came to live with us we weren't giving him anything and it was quite obvious that he had fleas. Fleas were visible in the house, the cats had them, and luckily the onset of winter cleared all of that up. This summer I've yet to see any fleas in the house and only a couple on Judah, so I'm hoping that I can eliminate this as a cause. I haven't tried Hills, but I've learned from experience that Judah is not real found of store-bought kibble. When we first got him (we adopted him at five years old btw), he was on kibble and canned food, and we constantly struggled to get him to eat. After trying a lot of different high-quality kibble (Innova et al) to no avail, we finally switched him over to a raw diet and he's been cleaning his bowl ever since. His diet has so few ingredients I can't imagine that he's allergic to anything there, and even if he was wouldn't these symptoms show all year round? Maybe I should move to someplace that has no summer. _b |
#7
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On 18 Aug 2005 10:40:54 -0700, "Branden" , clicked
their heels and said: we finally switched him over to a raw diet and he's been cleaning his bowl ever since. His diet has so few ingredients I can't imagine that he's allergic to anything there, and even if he was wouldn't these symptoms show all year round? Yes, although allergies compound as well. But, it sounds like he's not food allergic. Just curious what raw you're using. I use BRAVO and am very happy with it. Maybe I should move to someplace that has no summer. LOL - good luck! -- Janet B www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bestfr...bedience/album |
#8
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His diet has so few ingredients I can't imagine that he's
allergic to anything there, and even if he was wouldn't these symptoms show all year round? Yes. Typical food allergy symptoms would be iching, redness, recurrent ear infections etc. But as you say it would be year round. Sounds like your dog has some nasty seasonal stuff going on. Maybe I should move to someplace that has no summer. Well, sometimes we think that summer will never come here! However, this summer we're in a 3 month heat wave and drought! Best of luck. -Sharon |
#9
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Actually Janet, I'm using the low-tech approach of just making the
stuff myself. We whip up a big batch every week. It's time consuming, but the cost is about the same as the kibble/can food we were feeding him. The Bravo stuff looks good and I'm sure it's a time saver. What are you paying per pound if you don't mind me asking? _b |
#10
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My dog gets that seasonally. I wash him in a grapefruit seed extract soap
and it goes away. Dr GW Graham http://wwwgrandpagraham.com free environmental newsletter "manowatt" wrote in message oups.com... I've got a Golden Retriever with some troubling skin issues. I've spent many hours here reading about food allergies, contact allergies, diet and just Goldens in general, but I've yet to find a solution to this. This summer has been particularly bad with hotspots. Through the winter and fall he went months without any hotspots, but He broke out overnight with about eight large hotspots around the beginning of this summer. Our vet shaved all the spots (much to the dog's dismay) and they've since healed, but he's continued to get rather large hotspots pretty regularly throughout the summer. He also spends a great deal of time licking his feet/legs and scratching (which he never really does during the winter). Certainly there is something about the weather that is causing all of this right? If this is a seasonal allergy, is there anything at all I can do to at least lessen the symptoms and make him a little more comfortable? The vets I've visited seem to have very little information on how to actually prevent skin problems focusing more on treating the damage after it's done. Other important info: I'm currently feeding him a natural food diet consisting of turkey, beef, veggies, oats, olive oil, garlic, and Missing Link supplement. We bathe him every two weeks with Dr. Goodpet's hypo-allergenic shampoo, and I've seen maybe three fleas on him the entire summer. Sorry for the enormous post, branden |
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