Since I didn't want to hijack someone else's thread with Mayzee's skin problems, I'm digging this one up...
Well, it's been a few weeks since Mayzee has been off of raw chicken and on a grain free, fish based formula kibble (Nature's Domain - Salmon). Almost over night, we saw improvement with her bald spot. Her hair filled in pretty quickly, but the weird dark hair spots spread all down her back and legs, as if she was blowing her puppy fluff. She's still soft, but not fluffy, and slightly darker than before. The flakiness has also just about gone away.
Now, we're battling yeast ears and scabs/flaky chunks on the back of her head and down her neck. I spoke with my chiropractor (who knows a lot about health and nutrition for dogs), and she said that Mayzee's yeasty ears could be caused by unknown metals in the fish, canola oil, or the potatoes in the food. She recommended a food to me that has no questionable oils, is chicken based, and very friendly for a yeast free diet (it does have grains, but no corn gluten, corn, wheat, or soy). I was nervous, but since they were giving out free samples, I got some.
Mayzee really likes it. She didn't get excited about the fish flavored food, but she loves the new stuff. And she actually chews it. She pretty much just swallowed the fish food. It's been a few days, and her scabbiness has gone way down! Her ears seems to be improving, though they are still pink and crusty/weird looking, you know, like yeasty ears. She isn't getting more itchy or loosing any hair, so I am doubting that she has a chicken allergy.
Maybe it was fleas, like the vet said, and the medication that she reacted to took some time to wear out of her system.... She hasn't had any fleas on her in a long time, and no more symptoms....
I'm going to see how she handles the new food. If all is well and she goes through the 50 pound bag without issue, I'm going to give raw a try again. If it turns out that she can eat raw after all, that would be great!!
