Skin scratching and biting

[M&D]

My 6 month old is chewing her hind end a lot. I know with past dogs this was a sign of skin allergies due to food. I see a lot of people recommend going raw as opposed to dry kibble. What's the best way to start without causing too much digestive distress? I also read Omega 3 supplements can help, are there any recommended brands? Pros and cons of both? Thanx in advance!
Dayna

 

[BlackShadowCaneCorso]

I love raw, but with growing puppies there is a balance to ensure they are getting all the proper nutrients. There are several FB pages as well as websites that can help lay out a detailed plan if you want to try that course of action. Some other things you can try is to ensure that you aren't dealing with fleas as they can cause an allergic reach that needs some vet meds to clear up. Sometimes it is environmental based but you can also try use the omegas or coconut and fish oils to help with the skin.

 

[M&D]

I love raw, but with growing puppies there is a balance to ensure they are getting all the proper nutrients. There are several FB pages as well as websites that can help lay out a detailed plan if you want to try that course of action. Some other things you can try is to ensure that you aren't dealing with fleas as they can cause an allergic reach that needs some vet meds to clear up. Sometimes it is environmental based but you can also try use the omegas or coconut and fish oils to help with the skin.

 

[M&D]

Thank you for your response! Its definitely not fleas, we dealt with an infestation a few years ago and there are no signs of them right now, thank god!! My husband has been rubbing coconut oil into her skin and we started giving her plain yogurt yesterday. Should the coconut oil be added to her food as well or should the yogurt do the job by itself?

 

[DennasMom]

I found adding fish oil to Denna's meals helped a LOT with low-grade itchies. Our vet was never that excited about her sensitive skin... and she eventually grew out of it... with help...

We switched Denna to a raw diet at about 6 months old. At that age, they're big enough that the 'balance over time' aspect of home-prepared foods really helps. Under 6 months, I'd say you need to provide balanced nutrition daily... above 6 months, if you get everything balanced within one week, you're good.

There's a whole sub-forum here under health about the raw diet.

We started Denna on the "Whole Prey Model" diet, which is easy.... ~30% Bone-in Meat (i.e. whole cut-up chickens or pork ribs), ~60% Boneless Meat, 5% liver and 5% other organs (normally kidney around here). There are a few other "rules", but that's the gist.

Most people prefer to find a good quality kibble that works for their dogs - and there are lots out there.
Many mastiffs have a sensitivity to chicken-based kibble... so you might check for that in what you're feeding. Even using chicken fat as a preservative can cause issues if your pup is sensitive.

I'd recommend:

1. a chicken-free kibble option

2. add 4x a human dose of fish oil capsules to the daily meals (any good cold water fish oil... I'm using NatureMade from Costco) for at least 2-weeks to see if that helps, you can back down to 2x a human dose for maintenance

3. add a good probiotic (human or canine version; I'm using Dogzymes right now, but I rotate through a lot of different versions)


Yogurt does have probiotics, but some dogs can get the itchies from dairy... so unless you KNOW dairy isn't a problem, I might opt to skip the yogurt for now.
Some people swear by coconut oil... it didn't do anything for Denna when we added it to her food, so we stopped doing that.

And... if you're interested in trying a home-prepared raw diet, start doing some research! Search/read here on the forum, and/or ping me if you want some resources.
I love the control of feeding Denna REAL food... and I'm pretty sure she's a fan, too. LOL.

 

[Zeela]

Hi M&D, Zeela was itching the same when I first brought her home and she had no fleas. Salmon oil is what I put in her food, just about 3 squirts at each feeding and it takes
a few weeks but it definitely works. I heard coconut oil is good too.