Thinning of his hair and cysts

[luvmykanin]

Ok this may be kind of long so here goes. We got Kanin back in Oct 2004, he was born in July 2004. He all of a sudden started chewing on his paws and scratching a lot. I took him to the vet..said he had allergies to give him Claritin, see if it helped. 2 weeks later no change so back to the vet. They gave me a spray..2 weeks later no change so back to the vet. I requested that I see my vet that I always had used over the years, not any other associate. I explained that this was the 3rd time I had Kanin in there for the same reason. Chewing on his feet and now he was getting bumps around his neck. One had burst under his collar on his neck so I was freaking out. Vet told me it was just a cyst and the other ones were too, but should not be a big deal. He gave him an allergy shot adn home we went. It seemed to help Kanin, just made him thirsty all the time..the shot was a low grade steroid. So he did good for about 6 weeks then he started chewing his feet and scratching again, and I noticed he was loosing hair and hair like dry skin patches. Back to the vet we went. Another shot and vet told me to not feed him table scraps cause he was allergic to something and that we had to figure out what it was. Kanin was on Iams, told me to switch him to Science Diet. He wouldn't eat his kibbles unless I mixed it with our food. So I got Science Diet canned and he likes it. But I find out here that it is not real good food. I have my niece get me some Canidae and reccomended from several people here. He wouldn't even touch it. He smelled it and walked away. So back to the Science Diet I went. I am getting some Blue Buffalo this weekend, as my brother is coming to visit from Indiana and is bringing me a few cans and some dry. Any ideas what Kanin's problem might be? He acts normal and all, just real thin hair for his coat and very dry skin. I did put vegtable oil in his kibbles as my vet told me to give him some moisture, but he would lick the oil off and spit the kibbles out. My am losing my mind. I even called the breeder where we got him and she knew nothing about any of the other pups having any problems. She was curious on the cyst isuue though and told me to let her know what I found out. She no longer breeds boxer as she sold her 2 females last year. She ahs a great reputation so I don't think for a minute that she was a BYB. She also bred Bulldogs and has a couple IL State Champion dogs. I saw pics and their awards. So any ideas for me would be greatly appreciated. She did tell me to try Bill Jac, but of course it is not available in my area. I am limited to food as I live in a small town. Effingham, IL is the closest big town and only 15 inutes from me, but again not a lot of selection. What can I do to get him to eat good quality dog food? I know he needs it and want to use him to breed when he turns 2 in July. But if he has allergies and skin problems, I don't want to pass that around to his offspring. As along as I can have a healthy Kanin I am not concerned with breeding him. Thanks in advance for any help. This is a grat site and I have all ready learned so much!! He still gets little bumps on him by his neck and on each side of his back bone, but they end up going away, not coming to a head and popping like the others did.

 

[beachboxers]

sounds kind of similar. Jackson started with bumps a couple years ago ane we we through many food changes. It didn't seem like anything worked. He never scratched or itched though. Eventually he began to lose his hair. We had him tested a couple weeks ago. The outcome was that he has hypothyroidism which can cause hair loss. It's a simple test you could try it.

 

[EmmaWiggles]

Chicken Soup

When I got my boxer I found this site and researched ingredients for good dog food and found Chicken soup for the puppy/adult dog food. The first day I brought it home, both of our dogs went crazy for it! I live in a small town to (Newport, NC) and it's available at our local pet store.

 

[gmacleod]

Neutering him is a good idea. There is plenty of evidence around to suggest that the abnormal immune system response that causes allergies is hereditary. There's nothing to be gained by producing more puppies likely to suffer allergy problems. You wouldn't breed a dog with the defective immune system that permits generalised demodex to develop. Well, this is the same principle - you shouldn't breed a severe allergy sufferer either. And besides all that, being neutered is better for your dog's health. The simple fact is that neutered pets live longer and have fewer health problems than un-neutered pets. Who doesn't want their dog to live a longer and healthier life? There's more on that in this short veterinary article: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1625&articleid=911

Now, on the allergies question. What you're describing there is classical of a dog suffering food allergies (though it does not discount the possibility of environmental allergies as well). Unfortunately, the foods you've been recommended are far more likely to make the problem worse than to help it. Science Diet, Iams and Bil Jac are amongst the lowest quality dry dog foods available to buy, and they all contain multiple ingredients that are amongst the most common causes of the sorts of problems your dog is experiencing. Sorry, but they are.

Things that should be avoided in dog foods, like the plague if you've an allergy sufferer, but also in general because they constitute horrible nutrition, are by-products, wheat, soy, corn, beet pulp and molasses. Every one of those ingredients is notorious for causing problems. And a quick examination of the ingredient lists of your SD, Iams and Bil Jac will tell you that they all contain those things in spades. So throw them out

There is some good information about how to choose a good quality dry dog food at www.boxerworld.com/feeding No food can magically be any better than the ingredients used to make it, and that page tells you what to look for, what to avoid, and why. With the information there, you should be able to make a reasonable assessment of any food you look at, and very quickly see what is so wrong with SD and Iams.

If you'd like some suggestions on foods to try instead, how about something like California Natural (an allergy formula - ingredients are chicken or lamb, rice and sunflower oil), Wellness' Simple Solutions - another allergy formula, one of the Fromms Four Star range (quasi-allergy food), or Natural Balance, who make several good allergy foods.

Other very good alternatives, as long as your dog is an adult, are grainless foods such as Innova EVO, Timberwolf Organics Wild & Natural, Solid Gold Barking At The Moon, or Nature's Variety Prairie Raw Instinct. Being grainless, these foods are an excellent option for dogs who suffer food allergies from low quality ingredients.

Given the foods that your dog has had so far - all of which contain very common allergens - it is actually quite likely that a specific allergy formula is not needed at all and he'll be just fine on a premium food that doesn't contain any junk ingredients. So if the above suggestions are difficult to get, you could also look at foods such as Canidae, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, Merrick, Solid Gold, Artemis Fresh Mix, Timberwolf Organics or Blue Buffalo.

You'd find the websites of any of those manufacturers easily with an internet search. And they all have store locators, so you may find a stockist near to you (try feed stores - that's usually the best bet for premium foods). Alternatively, you can always buy online and have it delivered!

 

[Net45582]

It does sound like an allergy. I changed to Timberwolf Organics and order it online. Even with shipping,its not outrageous in price.They have several varieties available. All the info is on their website.Chancey has since stopped licking her paws raw. You could try BARF also. Good luck
Wanda Chancey & new angel Kiddo

 

[Paws1996]

our Paws has always had the itch and scratch. this past year his coat was starting to fall out a bit and lost its lustre, plus the hair around his nails was disappearing. he tried to gnaw and scratch himself to bits, we constantly had to stop him. Turns out he has hypothyroidism. Ask your vet to do a simpel blood test to confirm if that is what's going on or not.

I am not sure how old your baby is, but our Paws has had black cysts popping up on his rump and some on his back. our did not pop, he has no discomfort. in our case they are things that just pop in up as the dog ages.

 

[luvmykanin]

I will talk to my vet and get the hypothyrodism test done. So what does this test prove and what happens if it comes back that Kanin has this? What can be done for it? Also I have tried the Canidae canned dog food. I think I stated that in the original thread. Kanin smelled it and walked away from it. He would not eat it. I do have some Blue Buffalo coming Sunday as my brother from IN is coming to visit me and bringing some. I have no good food selection in my town or Effingham, where I work. The closest place to get good quality food is 1 hour away. But I agree as stated in my original thread that I don't want to breed him and pass his problems on. I stated that in my thread. So I will check on the test and go from there. thanks so much for the help and support. I hope to figure this out soon, as it is driving me nuts. I don't like for my baby to be miserable!!