[Jason Glavich_New]

Hey all. I used to post here all the time but lost my old account (Jason Glavich) info and mostly lurk now. I haven't been able to find much on this subject other than old posts and I am hoping for some help if you all have any ideas.
My yellow lab is going on 14, been a great dog her whole life. For the last 2 years we have been chasing skin issues. Scratching till she bleeds in a matter of minutes, licks till raw, pustules (sp?) on her paws etc. At one point half her face was raw after being unwatched for about 30 minutes, almost neurotic in a way.
We have done antibiotics, steroids, each have helped at one point or another. She has been on Apoquel 1 pill daily as well. It has had its good moments but those are fleeting. I feel horrible for her, we (us and vet) also added in a shot similar to apoquel last month that also prevents itching and it helped for a day or 2 but not much longer. She is now healing with no new sores but its a matter of time.
Feed her PPP Salmon base currently, have tried Turkey, Chicken, Lamb etc. Even did the vet diet of the hydrolized protein food or whatever it is called. Added Fish oil as well, and also tried coconut oil (Pure, Cold Pressed, Virgin Coconut Oil) No change. Appetite is also hit or miss. She is an indoor dog at her age, mostly sleeps, of course she is very slow moving and such but when her she has sores on her skin or feet it is obviously worse. She also now smells even with a fresh bath and gentle shampoos.

All previous blood work is normal.

Only other issues and I am not sure if they are related or not are her legs giving out randomly, like walking and back legs go out, then she is immediately back up and fine till it happens again.

I am out of ideas and I think the vet is close to that as well.

 

[Kenneth Niles Bora]

So very sorry, sucks when they get old.
14 years, you are obviously an excellent owner. While I offer no help, please give the smelly old girl a hug for me.

 

[mwk56]

Have you heard of systemic yeast infections? Sounds like that might be what’s going on. You might need an anti-fungal regimen to help get her cleared up.

Hugs for the old girl. They are always special.

Meredith

 

[JackCreek]

So sorry to hear of your poor dog's predicament.
We also have a dog, female; 12 years old who, at 10 year of age, started developing skin, ear and paw issues. She constantly scratched and licked and her ears were inflamed. Went to different vets who prescribed the usual; change of food, prescription diets (hydrolyzed protein, etc.), steroids, in addition to Cytopoint injections and Apoquel. The Cytopoint and Apoquel helped a bit and for awhile. After a bunch of web searching, I found NutriScan (Hemopet) by Dr. Dobbs, DVM. It is a saliva test to indicate food substances that your dog (horse or cat) is sensitive to and those food substances which cause inflammation in YOUR pet. When we received our results, we were stunned at what irritated her but we faithly followed the Nutriscan recommendations for foods to avoid. In addition, our local vet told us about Balanceit.com. A board certified veterinarian nutrionist who originated the site that provides you the ability to custom make dog food recipes for your dog that balances out all of the AVVCO nutrients required. It does require that your purchase their Balanceit vitamen/mineral, etc. suppplement to add to your recipes.
Thus, we embarked on testing our dog (Hemopet) then customizing diets that we made cooked to suit her particular sensitivities (BalanceIT.com). It was a lot of work but for our dog, the combination of knowing what she could eat and then making it happen has worked wonders. It took about 6 months to really clear things up but it has worked. Luckily, the commercial dog food industry has come up with a number of liimted ingredient "canned" foods that will work for our dog. Kibble has too many legume products as well as potato and corn that our dog cannot have, so we feed an exclusive canned food diet and a few treats that are also limited ingredient.
I don't know if this will help your dog or anyone else who finds that they have a dog with food sensititivity issues, but it has worked wonders for us. Nutriscan by Hemopet and customized dog food recipes by Balanceit.com

Good luck and best wishes for your dog.

 

[ErinsEdge]

Hey all. I used to post here all the time but lost my old account (Jason Glavich) info and mostly lurk now. I haven't been able to find much on this subject other than old posts and I am hoping for some help if you all have any ideas.
My yellow lab is going on 14, been a great dog her whole life. For the last 2 years we have been chasing skin issues. Scratching till she bleeds in a matter of minutes, licks till raw, pustules (sp?) on her paws etc. At one point half her face was raw after being unwatched for about 30 minutes, almost neurotic in a way.
We have done antibiotics, steroids, each have helped at one point or another. She has been on Apoquel 1 pill daily as well. It has had its good moments but those are fleeting. I feel horrible for her, we (us and vet) also added in a shot similar to apoquel last month that also prevents itching and it helped for a day or 2 but not much longer. She is now healing with no new sores but its a matter of time.
Feed her PPP Salmon base currently, have tried Turkey, Chicken, Lamb etc. Even did the vet diet of the hydrolized protein food or whatever it is called. Added Fish oil as well, and also tried coconut oil (Pure, Cold Pressed, Virgin Coconut Oil) No change. Appetite is also hit or miss. She is an indoor dog at her age, mostly sleeps, of course she is very slow moving and such but when her she has sores on her skin or feet it is obviously worse. She also now smells even with a fresh bath and gentle shampoos.

All previous blood work is normal.

Only other issues and I am not sure if they are related or not are her legs giving out randomly, like walking and back legs go out, then she is immediately back up and fine till it happens again.

I am out of ideas and I think the vet is close to that as well.

I rescued a dog like that. He was on 10 different pills and supplements and had a foot high of past records. What worked for him was Duck, the closest thing to a natural food for dogs, 1-2mg of steroids once a week, and he went to the doggy spa once a week. He was neutered at 3 mo of age according to the records.