Ahhh! I need help! Thyroid/Food/Skin Problems

[Gregory5]

Hello everyone. It has been awhile since I last posted, things are just busy. Anyway, Vader is now 3 and about 169 pounds, the biggest and sweetest. From early on, Vader has always been battling with skin issues. We started feeding him Earthborn Meadows, then Coastal. His skin issues got worse and we eventually switched to Wellness Grain Free. His skin issues got better, but since June they have been out of control. We have come to find out he has a thyroid issue and is on medication for it. The problem, the vet said that many dogs with the thyroid issue, will sometimes have the loss of hair and skin problems. He has been on medication since June and although some of his issues have gotten better, the skin issue is still there and has recently developed loose and stinky stools (never had this before). Do I switch his food back to Earthborn? The only reason why we switched to begin with, was b/c we thought the food was causing the skin issue, not the thyroid. The vet also said that the protein in the wellness, may be too high for him and she recommended going to a lower protein. A neighbor recommended Fromm Grain Free, (she has an English Mastiff and he does well on it), but I see it has chicken. I don't know if Vader is allergic to chicken, but we have always kept it out of his diet. Any guidance or help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Rugers-Kris]

I think I replied on your other thread.


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[marke]

i'm not a raw feeding person , i've never seen the need , but i think someone with a dog like yours may want to consider giving it a try , if nothing else you limit the ingredients ........jmo

unless a dog has kidney disease i don't believe they make a dog food with too high of protein ..........

how old is your dog ? how was he vaccinated ?

 

[Gregory5]

Hi Marke, thanks for the response. He is just about 3 (will be in December). We vaccinated him slowly and spread out the shots. We started him on Earthborn Meadows feast and for awhile, he was doing great, then the skin issues started. The first vet said allergies, etc and we changed his food to wellness (fish only - since the vet and neighbor friend - she has English Mastiffs) had mentioned that sometimes dogs can have sensitivities to meats / try fish. We had him on wellness core for awhile and it seems his skin issues got worse (loss of hair, lots of ear infections). Finally went to another vet who has experience treating giant breeds and that's when we found out Vader has a thyroid issue. She said that the original food, may not have been the problem. He is on meds and we have noticed some improvement, but she recommended getting him on a lower protein diet (the wellness core we have him on now is 34% protein - she said try for lower than 30). Recommendations that I have now is going back to Earthborn or trying Fromm grain free.

 

[Oscar'sMom]

If the issues were not food related and due to his thyroid issues, I would switch back to the Earthborne. It sounds like he was doing well on it before and the reason for the switch was because you thought it was food allergies. JMO but if the food worked before I would go on it and stick with what you know works.

 

[Wilsy]

We fed Wilson on a raw diet after we brought him home as that was what the breeder was feeding the pups. Although it was very good for his skin and coat he had two odd infections, one a very serious knee joint infection at 5 months old and the only thing we could possibly link it to was the raw diet. We then moved him on Taste of the Wild, Fish4Dogs and is now on Arden Grange (he prefers meat bases more than fish). Since Wilson has been on dry food he hasn't had anymore infections but we noticed his skin and coat wasn't looking so good and was dull and flakey. We now add some salmon oil to his morning meal and that made a huge difference in just a few weeks. Don't know if your dog is a fan of fish but the Fish4Dogs food is very good as it is salmon or white fish and potato based and has few ingredients so is good for dogs which are sensitive or have allergies.