# Skin Issues



## AmeliaPond (Mar 25, 2011)

We adopted our dog (a mutt...but perhaps a Carolina Dog mix) in September 2008. When we got her she was about 1.5 years old. Her skin was in decent condition at the time. We gradually switched her to Wellness brand food but after a few weeks, her stomach wasn't doing too well on it. Looking back, I'm not sure if it was the food or just the new environment. Even so...we then gradually switched her to Natural Balance Ultra. She had no skin problems at all until the summer of 2009.

First...she had a lump on her neck, which we had removed. I think it was from her vaccines but the vet says no. (We've since switched vets.) After that, she started developing these weird scabs on her head and body. They may have been fly bites. They eventually went away. Around September of 2009, we noticed the skin on her ears thinning out. The vet did a scraping to make sure it wasn't mites or anything like that. She then put her on prednisone for months, which I wasn't really a fan of. It didn't really seem to help.

Things never improved 100% but they did seem to get a bit better.

Then in the summer of 2010 she started getting these weird spots. Basically little patches of her skin would be darker and not quite scabby. There would be some hair loss. It wasn't super bad or anything. I tried to find pictures but you can't even really see it in pictures. Also around this time, her ears were getting flakey with some hair thinning. And the back of her head was kind of greasy with a weird smell.

We found a new vet at this point. This vet thought it could perhaps be a yeast problem. So we did the medicated washing as she advised. Not really sure if it helped. Now, we do it once a month or if we notice it getting bad. But she was still getting the weird spots and whatnot.

Her skin hasn't been 100% healthy since before the summer of 2009.

So in November 2010, we decided to switch her food to see if it helped. We stayed with Natural Balance brand but switched to the Sweet Potato and Fish formula. It's Almost April and we haven't really seen an improvement at all.

So now I'm wondering if I should switch to a different brand completely. I don't know if it would even help. Maybe her skin problems are environmental or something.

One brand I'm considering is Wellness Core. But I'm not sure.

Any thoughts?? (Sorry if this made no sense, I am horrible at describing things.)


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## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

Well here goes. I'm not at all an expert so maybe someone else with more experience will post later.I have a Basset with not yeast any more but 2 different bacteria in her ears I'm dealing with.I have put her on PMR.I also have a Bullmastiff that gets a rash on her belly and inside her thighs on most foods.So far she can only eat EVO turkey and chicken(haven't tried the others) and Nature's Logic Venison and lamb.She did get raw when I first put her on the Nature's Logic so I had to order the EVO on line because where I get mine they had quite selling it due to P&G buying it out.It took a while for it to get here and after a little bit she got better.So I am giving it a go again, OK so far.I also feed fish oil and I think you should definitely put her on that.Also maybe try a probiotic I use them sometimes.I can't remember if Wellness Core is grain free or not but I know it's also considered one of the better kibbles.I think you should maybe try grain free.However Nature's Logic is not it has millet in it so maybe grain was not my dogs problem.Hopefully someone else will have better advice I just didn't want to leave you with out anything.


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## AmeliaPond (Mar 25, 2011)

Wellness Core is, indeed, grain free. It also had probiotics added, I think.

I used to give my dog fish oil supplements but they didn't really help. Do you have a brand you'd recommend?


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## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

I've been using Icelandpure.They have 3 different kinds and I change each time what kind I get.The Mastiff is a fawn I would say and my Pitbull is light yellow about like a yellow lab.They both got much darker when I put them one the fish oil and softer coats.I get it from doggiefood.com.Sorry I don't know how to put it in right.It has a very handy pump on it till you get to the bottom then you have to poor it out.


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