Re: Skin allergy
I have been browsing all of the skin related health issues and have a few questions. I live on 6 acres and have 2 crazy Boxers that love to run and romp in the woods. Around Dec. I noticed what looked like a scratch on the female when she came inside. Soon thereafter she began getting dry spots like scabs and lossing hair in the region of the scratch. I went to the vet and they did all of the usual things, change diet, thyroid test and daily Derm Caps. Very little change noticed so far. I was using Eukanuba and now we are working on Hills z/d. I know many people do not like these foods and I plan to change to something better but I wanted to give z/d a chance first since it was vet reccomended. Now my male is starting to get the same dryness and loss of hair. From the breed disposition website it seems like this condition may be atopy but they do not itch. They are both 2.5 years old - so I think they ruled out mange. I am scheduled to go back to the vet next week to discuss other foods and further tests. They seem very happy and not bothered by the condition except for the lack of treats. Any reccomedations? I am afraid I will have 2 bald boxers soon.
Hi, you need to change their food for sure, Hills & Sci Diet are recommended by vets, but the ingredients are ridiculous.....a raw diet is prob best, but not as easy to do (in my opinion), but you can change their food to Solid Gold or Candidae, or something w/ meat as a first ingredient, not full of fillers, try a holistic vet, they will tell you. Also, don't let you regular vet feed your kids full of steriods, they are horrible for them and have awful side effects if used too long. Try antihistimines and try allergy shots if deemed necessary (from a canine dermatologist). If they don't work, cyclosporine is a wonderful alternative to steroids. I only tell you this b/c I wish I had known sooner and had not subjected my baby boy to steriods. He looked like he was going to die and my vet didn't seem to notice. I finally got him to a specialist after demanding a referral, and he is much better, not perfect, but much better. The cyclosporine is expensive (almost $200/mo), but as I said, my baby does have terrible allergies, and the allergy shots are not enough alone. A lot of people have had success w/ the raw diet, which I want to try, but have not been able to (w/ horrible work schedules, etc) sorry to say, to see if used correclty if it will really help. Keep researching and again, don't go for steriods, they shorten their too short lives as it is, and there are other options to try that are much better first.
Good Luck,
MD & Titan & Jasi
I Love My Boxer Children!
