I have a 4-year old female, standard, smooth black and tan Dachshund.
She was purchased from a reputable breeder (AKC certified) who has
since passed away. About 6 months ago she developed severe problems
and we cannot find help for her despite having taken her to numerous
vets (standard and holistic). Her problems include: little,
pus-filled bumps all over her body; severe itchiness especially in hind
quarters and paws; chronic ear infections that go away and then return;
raw, itchy paws (which she licks constantly); regular bouts of
diarrhea; bladder/uti infections. This animal is suffering and we have
tried every conceivable treatment from sterioids and antibiotics (which
work for a short time, and then the problems continue) to holistic
remedies. We have changed her diet 4 or 5 times- hoping to isolate a
food allergen- to no avail. The dog has now lost most of her hair (as
the pimples scab over, her fur falls out), has two infected ears, has
diarrhea and is constantly itchy. The only saving grace is that she
continues to have a strong appetite (she's a dachsie, after all!) and
her energy level and personality are normal. I am literally at wits
end and was hoping that someone - ANYONE - has insight into this
situation. Is this something that is known to plague dachshunds? Has
anyone had similar problems with their dachsie? Any help will be
greatly appreciated!

"jetta's mom" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a 4-year old female, standard, smooth black and tan Dachshund.
She was purchased from a reputable breeder (AKC certified) who has
since passed away. About 6 months ago she developed severe problems
and we cannot find help for her despite having taken her to numerous
vets (standard and holistic). Her problems include: little,
pus-filled bumps all over her body; severe itchiness especially in hind
quarters and paws; chronic ear infections that go away and then return;
raw, itchy paws (which she licks constantly); regular bouts of
diarrhea; bladder/uti infections. This animal is suffering and we have
tried every conceivable treatment from sterioids and antibiotics (which
work for a short time,
...........did anyone ever give you a diagnosis? Did they ever do skin
scrapings, fungal cultures, skin biopsies? What exactly did they do? Did
you ever have any thyroid levels run? Anything happen in your house 6
months ago - new carpet, moved, etc.?

and then the problems continue) to holistic
remedies. We have changed her diet 4 or 5 times

............elimination diets must be kept for 90 days to see if they're
doing any good. Were these commercial preparations you used? I suggest
finding someone who can help you design a home prepared diet to limit the
ingredients.

buglady
take out the dog before replying

"jetta's mom" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a 4-year old female, standard, smooth black and tan Dachshund.
She was purchased from a reputable breeder (AKC certified) who has
since passed away. About 6 months ago she developed severe problems
and we cannot find help for her despite having taken her to numerous
vets (standard and holistic). Her problems include: little,
pus-filled bumps all over her body; severe itchiness especially in hind
quarters and paws; chronic ear infections that go away and then return;
raw, itchy paws (which she licks constantly); regular bouts of
diarrhea; bladder/uti infections. This animal is suffering and we have
tried every conceivable treatment from sterioids and antibiotics (which
work for a short time, and then the problems continue) to holistic
remedies. We have changed her diet 4 or 5 times- hoping to isolate a
food allergen- to no avail. The dog has now lost most of her hair (as
the pimples scab over, her fur falls out), has two infected ears, has
diarrhea and is constantly itchy. The only saving grace is that she
continues to have a strong appetite (she's a dachsie, after all!) and
her energy level and personality are normal. I am literally at wits
end and was hoping that someone - ANYONE - has insight into this
situation. Is this something that is known to plague dachshunds? Has
anyone had similar problems with their dachsie? Any help will be
greatly appreciated!

I live in Houston, Texas and my male dachsie had skin infection problems for
about two years (age 1 to 3). He is a standard red/brown male. His skin
infection problems would start like a pimple, progress to scaly red, get
infected with hair falling out all around for about a 1/2". Our vet sent
skin scrapings to local labs and to the Texas A&M vet school. The mix of
bacteria causing the infections could not be traced to any one source.
Houston is sub-tropical, all kinds of things were growing in my back yard
plus the unknowns when going for a walk. I had the same treatment options
with steroids and antibiotics over two years. Every time the drugs would
clear it up, but after a couple of months it would come back. The various
lesions were never over about six at a time, Butch never did much more than
give them a few random licks so it really did not seem to bother him. We
changed his diet to a venison and potatoe vet food and very low daily
dosages of Bendryl ( 3 mg a day for a 22 lb dog). The only problems with
his ears were caused if I skipped a weekly cleaning and a yeast infection
might appear (very humid in Houston).

At about age 5 the skin lesions went away. I moved and had trouble finding
the same brand of venison and potatoe food and swtichted to an IAMS.
Butchie is 9 now and other than the $7,000 for three ruptured disc
surgeries, he is very healthy. Gulf Coast Veterinary Hospital has the money
I would have spent on a large screen LCD TV. But large screen TV's do not
give kisses and play catch/tug-of-war with you.

Don't let your dachsie jump! Ever!

While Dashies are somewhat known to have allergies...this does not sound
like the typical allergy situation.
Dietary allergies, usually to grains, would have been my first guess but it
sounds like that has already been considered.
Have you tried an all raw diet?
surely he has been checked for mites and mange etc etc.

We had a Beagle in our rescue that has simliar issues. Working with his
adoptive family we tried all the normal things, just as you have done.
Changed his diet, gave him every manner of anti biotic and steriod. The
problems would subside for awhile then return. Having the utmost confidence
in our vet, we brought him back here and took him to our vet. After a month
of being here and treated by our vet, he was the best he had ever been.
Seemed all healed. He went home...in less than two weeks he was right back
to the same issue. He wasnt sick when we adopted him....and came back here
and got better...went home and got worse again...our vet was sure it was
some sort of environmental allergy. We spent months going through the
adoptive families house trying to figure out what was so different about
their house...we made charts and graphs...what was different about this food
from that food...what was in their house that was not in ours....what
bedding did they use...what brand laundry soap did they wash his bedding
in....how was it different from what we used etc etc etc
turns out...
the dog was allergic to the Swiffer products his mom used to clean!
The moral is...when you have exhausted all likely possibilities...get
scientific! Here what we did....
Made a list of all the things the dog came in contact with...from cleaning
supplies and yard chemicals (we also had a dog allergic to the Tru Green
Chem Lawn treatments) all the way down to its food...and eliminated one
thing at a time till we found it.
good luck!
wish I could be more help!

"jetta's mom" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a 4-year old female, standard, smooth black and tan Dachshund.
She was purchased from a reputable breeder (AKC certified) who has
since passed away. About 6 months ago she developed severe problems
and we cannot find help for her despite having taken her to numerous
vets (standard and holistic). Her problems include: little,
pus-filled bumps all over her body; severe itchiness especially in hind
quarters and paws; chronic ear infections that go away and then return;
raw, itchy paws (which she licks constantly); regular bouts of
diarrhea; bladder/uti infections. This animal is suffering and we have
tried every conceivable treatment from sterioids and antibiotics (which
work for a short time, and then the problems continue) to holistic
remedies. We have changed her diet 4 or 5 times- hoping to isolate a
food allergen- to no avail. The dog has now lost most of her hair (as
the pimples scab over, her fur falls out), has two infected ears, has
diarrhea and is constantly itchy. The only saving grace is that she
continues to have a strong appetite (she's a dachsie, after all!) and
her energy level and personality are normal. I am literally at wits
end and was hoping that someone - ANYONE - has insight into this
situation. Is this something that is known to plague dachshunds? Has
anyone had similar problems with their dachsie? Any help will be
greatly appreciated!

so you would say that butchie's allergy was not to food, but rather to
something in your previous environment in houston? interesting... so
sorry about his disc problems. we are careful with jetta's weight but
she does jump off the couch- and it really worries me! thanks for your
story- it is helpful to know that other people are facing the same
battles!

thanks for your note. we tried both conventionally prepared
elimination diets (i.e from the vet) as well as our own home brew. i
feel as though we have given these diets ample time - 6-7 weeks. we
have now been feeding her a diet of fresh venison (my brother-in-law is
a hunter) and zucchini with a little rice. she has lost a lot of
weight on this diet and it is not seeming to be helping, so now we are
mixing in a bit of canned (abady apex 1). she has had all manner of
skin tests- for mites, mange, etc.. all have been negative. she
recenty had a blood test- to check for thyroid levels, among other
things, and all were at normal levels. she is now itchier than ever-
licking her paws and scratching her ears. we put her on antibiotics to
clear up the ear infections but now she has these scaly rashes all over
her face and ears! i really have ever heard of anything like this! we
are planning to take her to florida for the holidays so it will be a
real test to see if she gets better outside our home.

jetta's mom wrote:
I have a 4-year old female, standard, smooth black and tan Dachshund.
She was purchased from a reputable breeder (AKC certified) who has
since passed away. About 6 months ago she developed severe problems
and we cannot find help for her despite having taken her to numerous
vets (standard and holistic). Her problems include: little,
pus-filled bumps all over her body; severe itchiness especially in hind
quarters and paws; chronic ear infections that go away and then return;
raw, itchy paws (which she licks constantly); regular bouts of
diarrhea; bladder/uti infections. This animal is suffering and we have
tried every conceivable treatment from sterioids and antibiotics (which
work for a short time, and then the problems continue) to holistic
remedies. We have changed her diet 4 or 5 times- hoping to isolate a
food allergen- to no avail. The dog has now lost most of her hair (as
the pimples scab over, her fur falls out), has two infected ears, has
diarrhea and is constantly itchy. The only saving grace is that she
continues to have a strong appetite (she's a dachsie, after all!) and
her energy level and personality are normal. I am literally at wits
end and was hoping that someone - ANYONE - has insight into this
situation. Is this something that is known to plague dachshunds? Has
anyone had similar problems with their dachsie? Any help will be
greatly appreciated!

From looking at the post it doesn't look like you ever tried a
hydrolyzate diet. Perhaps you did, but I don't see it in the listing
above. You really need to take the time to try a hydrolyzate diet for 6
week period before assuming that dietary adverse reactions are not the
issue. A hydrolyzate food contains no intact proteins that can trigger
the immune response, instead the proteins are broken down into pieces
too small for the immune system to detect. Check with your veterinarian
and give this a try. If there are no positive results you can quit
worrying about food. You will have to follow VERY strict feeding
regimen - absolutely NO other foods of any kind, no supplements, no
treats, no occasional snakies for the table. If you are unable to
follow such a strict regimen the whole test will be worthless.