Skin Problem (Dry?)

[Doreen H.]

Hi--
I have 2 boxers...Griffin and Bridget. We adopted Bridget last year. We were feeding her Iams and she became quite heavy...she loves food. Griffin, on the other hand, has a "sensitive" stomach...we were switching his food around and finally settled on Purina One Sensitive Systems. Griffin is doing much better and Bridget loves anything so we switched her to the same. Bridget has lost weight and looks great.

My question is this...Bridget looks like she's losing some of her fur. She looks like she has dark stripes going thru her coat, but on closer examination, I think it's her skin. Griffin is starting to get a little bit of this too but it has taken longer. We took both dogs to a groomer and she thought that they (well, Bridget at least) had dry skin.

Does anyone have any thoughts? I live in Pennsylvania and it's still pretty cold here and I do have the heat on. I guess the air is pretty dry. I am so happy that we found a food that agrees w/ Griffin. And I don't know if that's even it. Has anyone else encountered this problem?

I'd love to hear what anyone has to say.

Thank you!!!!
Doreen

 

[Jan]

If you think it is just dry skin, you could try adding some oil to their food. Like olive oil, flax seed oil or salmon oil. All would be good options.

It wouldn't hurt to take your dogs to the vets to rule out any other problems.

Good luck!

 

[shy1]

I am having the same problem with one of our boxers, the vet took skin scraping, I still have another week to wait for the results, she is on purina one, they put her on an antibiotic for 3 weeks, she has bald spots all over her body.

Shy1

 

[Doreen H.]

Thanks---I have to make an appt for Bridget in May for a checkup so I was gonna ask the vet then.

Let me know what the skin tests show...oh, and have the antibiotics cleared anything up?

 

[shy1]

Hi, Doreen. I haven't seen what the antibiotics are doing, she still is losing hair in different spots, I guess the vet was thinking she could have an infection I am going to call and ask if any of her tests are back yet.

 

[Poetic_thing]

I agree with Jan on adding some oils to their diet, salmon oil is really good. You may however want to look at a better food that doesn't contain fillers and additives. If you do a search of kibble, dry food, etc. You will come up with lots of threads. We are currently on Wellness and my pups have silky, soft, smooth coats - they are really lush and barely any shedding whatsoever. Previously were on Natural Balance and did well on that. They also get Missing Link added to their food which is a supplement that has omega 3 oils, flax seed oil, etc.

Some really good kibble that a lot of people rave about is Wellness, Canidae, Chicken Soup and Natural Balance to name a few. Good luck with your babies.

 

[Doreen H.]

Thanks...we have tried several of those brands and Griffin hated all of them. I think Bridget will eat anything put in front of her. I'm going to try one of the oils and then ask my vet about what the problem could be. Hopefully the oils will help.

 

[paulsboxers]

Alopecia areata
Thought to be an autoimmune disorder
Symptoms: Patches of hair loss especially on head, neck, and body; no itching
Diagnosis: Microscopic examination of hairs; biopsy
Treatment: Usually recover spontaneously

I found that on this site - it could give you some ideas to discuss with your vet: http://www.peteducation.com/article...3&articleid=421

The website above has some great info. We have 2 boxers, brother and sister. Been fighting this for three months. My female has it pretty bad and it began around Dec. We tried changing their diets and did a lot of testing. She is now starting to grow some hair back so I think we ruled out the food allergy. My male has been a little dry and flaky all winter but not too much hair loss. Well guess what? He is now getting the spots on the side which is how the female looked in the early days of this and it looks like textbook seasonal flank allopecia. As it turns out, this can happen in either in the fall or spring. Wouldn't you know I have 2 dogs that have to get it on opposite cycles. Oh well...they are healthy and happy. On a brighter note we ruled out thyroid and other allergies with all of the tests. Hopefully this is the end of my worrying.

 

[Doreen H.]

Thank you so much for the website...I checked it out and it was very informative. I do have to take Bridget to the vet and will ask about this. What a bummer that your dogs are on 2 different cycles. I'm glad they feel well, though!

Just a quick question...and this may be very dumb. When people talk about flaxseed oil and the fish oils, are these pills?

 

[Jan]

You can get the oil either as a liquid or contained in a gel capsule. I prefer the liquid myself. Flax seeds can also be ground up in a coffee grinder and fed that way. That is actually what I do as it way cheaper and doesn't take up room in the fridge. You can get a cheap coffee grinder for about $10.00.