[Silverlady]

I have three chiuahuas (yeah, I know I'm crazy). They are of course inside dogs for the most part. Do any of you know of a good additive to put in food or just to give them that would help with the dry skin that indoor dogs get? They are fed top quality food but it doesn't seem to help.

Billye

[jccgf]

Hi Billye,

Gosh... my guess is that flax oil might help? Just drizzle a little of Barlean's liquid every night over the food?

Found this:

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It looks like it is put out by Barleans, but comes with references
.
. We used to use this for a while on our Golden to help with arthritis, but her coat did seem to get shinier.

Also, is your pet food free of wheat, eggs, corn, soy, sugar & dyes? We just got an info sheet for our new puppy coming home soon, and this is what our breeder suggests. She didn't have to convince me
.
.

I was surprised yesterday when our breeder recommended the following shampoos~ Pantene or Suave conditioning shampoo, and tearless baby shampoo. Pantene, Suave or Cure Care conditioner. I always thought you weren't supposed to use people products on dogs, but because I swear by Pantene for myself, I can't wait to try it on my new dog. I'd check with your vet on this one~ but I plan to try it.

Cara

[Wittesea]

My dog had a lot of problems with dry skin, and the Vet gave us this oatmeal based lotion that is made specially for dogs. It was easy to rub it into her skin even though she was long-haired and fluffy because just petting her would get the lotion down through her fur and onto her skin.

And it wasn't greasy or gross and it didn't leave her looking like she had lotion all over her. It soaked into her skin and into her fur and it stopped her dry skin and gave her coat that beautiful shine.

I wished I remembered the name of it... but I do know it was oatmeal based and it had a matching shampoo and conditioner (although I only bought and used the lotion).

[mrsD]

This website has alot of information:


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Some animals cannot stand corn..and this is a filler in many foods.
This happened to our cat. Removal of the corn led to healing of her skin.

So try an elimination diet...starting with corn, then wheat, etc.

But I do think healing dry skin from the inside with EFAs is the way to
permanently help. This will also improve blood vessels, heart, neuro
functions. So it is a global thing really.

[Wittesea]

I forgot to add...

One of the major causes of my dog's dry skin was allergies. For years, we could never figure out what she was allergic to - the vet was stumped and so was I.

Then I moved out of the home I shared with my ex, and into my dads house - and the dog's allergies went away. So we assumed it was environmental in some way.

Then I met my current husband and the dog and I left dads house and my (then boyfriend, later we got married) and I moved in together -- and the dogs allergies came back.

We finally figured it out - she was allergic to cigarette smoke. There were several smokers in the home I shared with my ex, my dad did not allow smoking in the home so I smoked outside when I lived there - and my husband and I both smoked when we first moved in together.

So we finally realized that she was allergic to the smoke - which is why her dry skin was always worse in the winter (because the windows were closed and the smoke lingered in the house).

Once we realized the problem, we got air purifiers and we tried to do most of our smoing outside -- and she got a lot better.

But the lotion stuff still helped a lot during times when she had a dry skin flare.

[dahlek]

entails...[oops, baad pun!] Check out websites for dog skin supplements... One site is from a company I've known and used years ago for my horse {dont laugh}
.
FAQ's: skin & coat enhancing dog supplements. These guys have been around a long time and test all the products they sell. You'll probably not be surprised at some of the nutrient info-sounds very familiar. Like all mail order products, you mite get it cheaper at a local pet-mart or the vets considering S&H costs and all. I bet you will find the right combo! It hurts US to see our creatures unhapppy.

Hugs Billye & scritch those guys for me! - j

[mrsD]

The animal food industry was AHEAD of the human food industry on this one.

I was researching Flax oil over 10 yrs ago, and on the Barlean's website,
was a link to IAMs. I clicked on that, and discovered, the food issue for our
cat.

That link I gave above, has the Dr.Foster remedies on it, too.

There are other nutrients for hair/coat:
Vit E
Selenium
Zinc
Vit C
vit A
A good pet supplement/food should have these as well.

[Silverlady]

Thanks all of you for info on dry coat. We've just gone thru the 2nd trip to the vets with our little female Chi, for her ears. It is the vets opinion that it is allergy based. We are feeding the dogs Science Diet for small dogs. So I don't think it's the food (but not sure) and it is chock full of vitamins, etc. No smoking ever in this house. But we live in a heavily wooded area and possibly it is an outside irritant. It seems to be seasonal, late Summer and early fall. I'm going to look at the links and see if I can find anything that will help. The vet is having us give her children's Benadryl 3 times a day. Which will dry her even more. Appreciate all the help. We love our babies.

Billye

[jccgf]

Here are the foods recommended by the breeder... as free of the allergens posted above.

Wellness
Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lover's Soul
Natural Balance
California Natural

These are recommended by DogtorJ (a vet with celiac disease)...as hypoallergenic foods for dogs, Keep scrolling...the foods are listed mid-way:

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Check your Science Diet label. Is there wheat or corn? If so, it might be worth a trial of a food change.

Here is the Science Diet site.

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I don't know which of the formulas you are using, but I checked a few and they have wheat, corn, soy, egg, etc., even the sensitive skin formula has corn, egg, soybean oil.

IngredientsBrewers Rice, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Pork Meal, Dried Egg Product, Soybean Oil, Flaxseed, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Chicken Liver Flavor, Potassium Chloride, L-Lysine, Iodized Salt, DL-Methionine, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, L-Tryptophan, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Taurine, Beta-carotene, Rosemary Extract.




I'd ask the vet about trying one of the others I've mentioned. You can find Nutro pretty easily...but be sure to check the label as they are not all wheat free. We use the Rice and Lamb, although it does have some soybean oil in it:

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Cara

[Silverlady]

Well I spent my whole evening reading about animal health. I never knew there was so much I didn't know. I have learned a lot. And there is so much more to learn. I ordered Barleans Flax Oil for animals tonight. I'm going to give it a try for about 3 months and see how they do. If it doesn't do any good, I'm going to put them all on one of the allergy free type foods. I just really hate to change foods because they have done really well with their weight, energy and the desire to eat all of their food since we changed them to Science Diet.

Until we get this Mayo trip out of the way, I need to keep things as simple as possible for my dog-sitter. She has animals and children of her own so can't spend a huge amount of time with them. She will be coming in twice a day to feed, water and let them out to play and poop for a little while. I'm hoping she will spend time playing with them some. Two of them are huge "people" animals. The other one is shy but will like some petting. This sounds crazy I'm sure, but I think of all the things I am the most worried about having to do on this trip to Mayo is leaving my babies. My son thinks this is silly and told me to put them in a kennel. I don't think my little Rio would eat if he were in a kennel. He's afraid of everything.

Billye