My one year old boxer is losing hair. He has scratched all hair from his face and it is now raw. He bites his leg and the hair there is very thin. We have taken him to the vet several times they have treated him for different things but nothing is helping. He has had steroids, cream, and now medication for mange. Does anyone have any idea to what this could be?
losing hair
- Thread starter KIMIKE
- Start date
- Status
Well, that sounds like allergies, and that he's scratching because he's itchy. How are his feet? Does he itch and bite at those too?
Allergies can be environmental, or they can be food related. If it's the latter, then the culprit is usually nasty ingredients like corn, wheat, beet pulp, soy or by-products. What do you feed him?
Allergies can be environmental, or they can be food related. If it's the latter, then the culprit is usually nasty ingredients like corn, wheat, beet pulp, soy or by-products. What do you feed him?
sweetboxer
Banned
Poor baby...Skye has this happen to her too. She has both environmental and food allergies, so it's not always easy to determine what is causing the itching. Once you find that out, you'll be better able to treat it. Has your vet done any allergy testing?
We feed him Iams puppy food still. My husband thinks he should be eating puppy food for a few more months. We thought because Boxers don't do well with plastic that it was possibly his crate so we got him a metal one, it has not helped. If you think it is the food I can change that right away we haven't tried that yet. I was thinking of going to another vet. This has been going on for quite some time. I feel so bad for him. He is our little man.
I would change the food, definitely. I'm afraid to say that Iams is actually a very low quality dog food - full of by-products and cheap grains that commonly cause allergies. Even Eukanuba is better (made by the same company) - but it's not a great food either.
Probably you won't even need to go to an allergy formula food for your dog - just something with high quality ingredients instead (and let's face it, any food can only be as good as the ingredients that go into it).
Do take a look at our feeding page at www.boxerworld.com/feeding That page has some very good information on what to look for in a good quality food, what to avoid, and why.
Just to illustrate this, here is the ingredient list for the Iams food you're currently feeding:
Chicken, Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken By-Product Meal, Fish Meal (source of fish oil), Corn Grits, Natural Chicken Flavor, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of vitamin E, and Citric Acid), Dried Beet Pulp (sugar removed), Dried Egg Product, Brewers Dried Yeast, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement, (source of vitamin B2), Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), DL-Methionine, Rosemary Extract
I've highlighted the ingredients most likely to be causing problems in red. First thing to note is that this is a food that is made up predominantly of corn. There is precious little actual meat in the food at all, which in itself renders it unsuitable for a canine. Well, corn is quite useless nutritionally, and along with wheat is the most common cause of allergy problems such as yours that we commonly hear of on these forums. I would not feed a food that contained corn to any dog. Beet pulp is another very common allergen.
And the other big issue with this food is that the meat main protein source is chicken by-products. Here is the official AAFCO definition of that ingredient: a meal consisting of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice. That's just not good nutrition.
Sooo - yes, I'd switch his food immediately to something with rather better ingredients.
Since it was Iams he's been eating, as already said, I doubt that you'll actually need an allergy formula for him. Just a food with a good quantity of quality meat sources, and free of the cheap nasty grains like corn and wheat.
As suggestions, I'd try something like:
Innova or California Natural: www.naturapet.com
Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul: www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com
Wellness: http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/dogs/wellness_overview.html
Fromms Four Star: http://www.frommfamily.com/products_fourstardry.asp
Merrick: http://www.merrickpetcare.com/
Canidae: www.canidae.com
All of those foods are very very much better than the Iams he's currently on, and none of them contain the sorts of ingredients that commonly cause the sort of problems your guy has. You won't find those foods at Petsmart or in supermarkets, but their websites all have store locators. If none of those happen to suit you, there are plenty of alternatives in the premium food line that we could suggest here.
Probably you won't even need to go to an allergy formula food for your dog - just something with high quality ingredients instead (and let's face it, any food can only be as good as the ingredients that go into it).
Do take a look at our feeding page at www.boxerworld.com/feeding That page has some very good information on what to look for in a good quality food, what to avoid, and why.
Just to illustrate this, here is the ingredient list for the Iams food you're currently feeding:
Chicken, Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken By-Product Meal, Fish Meal (source of fish oil), Corn Grits, Natural Chicken Flavor, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of vitamin E, and Citric Acid), Dried Beet Pulp (sugar removed), Dried Egg Product, Brewers Dried Yeast, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement, (source of vitamin B2), Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), DL-Methionine, Rosemary Extract
I've highlighted the ingredients most likely to be causing problems in red. First thing to note is that this is a food that is made up predominantly of corn. There is precious little actual meat in the food at all, which in itself renders it unsuitable for a canine. Well, corn is quite useless nutritionally, and along with wheat is the most common cause of allergy problems such as yours that we commonly hear of on these forums. I would not feed a food that contained corn to any dog. Beet pulp is another very common allergen.
And the other big issue with this food is that the meat main protein source is chicken by-products. Here is the official AAFCO definition of that ingredient: a meal consisting of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice. That's just not good nutrition.
Sooo - yes, I'd switch his food immediately to something with rather better ingredients.
Since it was Iams he's been eating, as already said, I doubt that you'll actually need an allergy formula for him. Just a food with a good quantity of quality meat sources, and free of the cheap nasty grains like corn and wheat.
As suggestions, I'd try something like:
Innova or California Natural: www.naturapet.com
Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul: www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com
Wellness: http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/dogs/wellness_overview.html
Fromms Four Star: http://www.frommfamily.com/products_fourstardry.asp
Merrick: http://www.merrickpetcare.com/
Canidae: www.canidae.com
All of those foods are very very much better than the Iams he's currently on, and none of them contain the sorts of ingredients that commonly cause the sort of problems your guy has. You won't find those foods at Petsmart or in supermarkets, but their websites all have store locators. If none of those happen to suit you, there are plenty of alternatives in the premium food line that we could suggest here.
Allergies
I too had issues with skin. We are still dealing with the healing, but remarkably Drake is improving every day. We are feeding nutro, but he was receiving a good deal of table treats that seemed to be causing the problems. When we cut that out, we saw an immediate improvement in the skin rashes, itching, bumps. I discovered that my husband,who is not with him all day was giving him things like hot dogs, chips, etc. (full of sulfites)
Hope this helps.
I too had issues with skin. We are still dealing with the healing, but remarkably Drake is improving every day. We are feeding nutro, but he was receiving a good deal of table treats that seemed to be causing the problems. When we cut that out, we saw an immediate improvement in the skin rashes, itching, bumps. I discovered that my husband,who is not with him all day was giving him things like hot dogs, chips, etc. (full of sulfites)
Hope this helps.
- Status