2-year-old Black Labrador with Hair Loss/Itching

[ezzy333]

It takes a long time to see hair growth. And on the underside of a dog you may not notice it for weeks or even months.

Ezzy

[moneypit]

would hair still fall out while new hair is starting to grow?

[ezzy333]

Yes!!!!!!!!

Any animal including us lose hair everyday of our lives. Each strand of hair is a temporary thing and will be replaced no matter what we do to stop it. And with a Lab that has more hair than most dogs it explains why they have a major shedding problem. Always have and always will. Best way to reduce the hair loss that you see is buy carpet and furniture the same color as your dog.

Ezzy

[moneypit]

good news everyone! I think abby is starting to grow some hair on her bottom side still looks like she is losing some on her back legs . now what do I do? I know I will be keeping her on hills d/t food for another month per vet but then is there some other food I can try that I dont have to take a loan out for?

[mcbosco]

There are a variety of limited ingredient foods on the market made by Wellness, California Natural, Verus, "bleep" Van Patten's Natural Choice, etc. Wellness, California Natural and "bleep" Van Patten's food are easy to find and while more money than the average food are not near the price of a vet-sourced product.

If you have a Petco near you, Wellness and Van Patten are there, both high quality products.

[moneypit]

so would I try one of the brands for 2 months and watch her hair and if she would react switch her back to the vet food for two months and then try something else? anybody want to chime in on what brand . I do have a petco fairly close.

[mcbosco]

Personally, if it were my dog and there was a skin related problem, I would use one of the Van Patten formulas, this one looks like a safe choice because fish apparantly is very well tolerated. This line is easily available and the brand has a very good reputation. The quality is substantially higher and less money than the Hill's diets.

http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogfor ... PFish.html

Verus Opitcoat is a similar fish-based product that is about the same cost but hard to find outside metro areas. Annamaet Pet foods has a catfish formula that supposedly very good as well, but again harder to find.

See how it goes with the Van Patten food, its good and easy to get, plus there are several other single protein formulas in the VP line.

[moneypit]

update on abby. back from the vet today. she still has itchy skin not nearly as bad since she has been on the hills food . the vet wants to do the allergy test . I think we will do that . the vet said then she could get a desensatizing shot once a month. my question is how would that help curing her? I see where that would control the itching, but the test should tell what she would be allergic too right? also how much does the desensatizing shot cost and how long do you give them? any help on this is really welcome I hope I can get her off the hills d/t food thanks .

[postoakshorthairs]

I don't know what the tests or allergy shots costs...so can't help you there. The basics of the testing/shots are: you test to see what the dog is allergic to and then give small doses of that substance over time to desensitize the dog to the allergen. I don't know if it cures the dog, but in theory makes it have a lesser reaction to what it's allergic to.

[mcbosco]

I have a few questions:

1) Is the food you are giving the potato and duck formula?
2) Has your dog had fish-based products before?


If your dog has not been exposed to fish before you might want to try that route. I would try myself to isolate the issue but it is time consuming and frustrating. I would guess though there is a high probability that your dog has not had a fish based diet before and that might help.

The best ones like Verus Opticoat (herring) & Annamaet Option (catfish) are still cheaper than Hills. My vet uses both of these with stubborn cases, plus Nupro or fish oil. Catfish is supposedly very effective because it is the least likely to incite histamine.

Anyway good luck.

[moneypit]

I am feeding her the hills d/t food she has been on that for the last two months and that only

[naperdog]

moneypit, you and i are in a similar boat. my yellow has been on hill's z/d formula for 4 or 5 weeks now. He is mostly better but still scratches a little more than normal. Alot of his hair has grown back but his underside is still a little bare. i'm hoping another couple month on the hills' will clear up the rest of this and then trying some of the food mcbosco mentioned will know this out.

I felt terrible for him a month ago. He was ithcing pretty heavily at the time for problem #1. I took him out hunting one day and his paw got a little torn up in the snow causing him to limp around the house for a day for problem #2. that same day i gave him a bath with his medicated shampoo and accidently shot some right in his eye for problem #3. For the rest of the night i had a hairless, scrachting, limping lab walking around the house with one eye closed.

[mcbosco]

Blackwood also makes a catfish based food. It might be easier to get if you live down south.

[moneypit]

just an update on abby we got the allergy test results back it seems she is allergic to most meats. chicken.. the most she isnt allergic to lamb and rice so we will put her on a good food without any fillers any suggestions on a good lamb@rice food without fillers?

[1vizsla]

Just make sure you read the ingredients even on the Lamb and Rice. You would be suprised where chicken shows up. Our dog was also extremely allergic to chicken and we found out the hard way where you would find chicken ingredients. Good luck to you. PM me if you need any info.

carla

[mcbosco]

was she tested for fish?

The easiest good quality lamb & rice diet to find is Natural Balance. Petco has it and as well as many other independent shops. Califorina Natural is also a good brand as is Canidae.

California Natural is a very simple formula and a good choice if its not too hard to get. Any store that sells EVO or Innova will carry it.

[MikeB]

Money Pit,

Check into Solid Gold food and their Sea Meal Supplement. Here is their site for more info.

http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/

[moneypit]

she was tested for fish she can tolerate it ok it wasnt off the charts like chicken was. I was looking into the natural balance from petco it looks like good stuff does anybody use the lamb and rice? funny she is allergic to cats too!! I think she would like to eat a cat!!!!

[ezzy333]

Just check and make sure that chicken fat isn't being used and if not any lamb based feed should work for you. There are no fillers in any of our dog foods that I have ever seen. Not sure what you could use as a filler other than maybe sand. The rest of the ingredients are there for a purpose.

Ezzy

[mcbosco]

There are good choices out there for sure. Just keep in mind that sourcing quality lamb and lamb meal is harder than chicken meal for example, so prices are going to be higher. It also another reason that with lamb-based dog foods you go with higher end foods.

Natural Balance or California Natural are my picks but MikeB is right Solid Gold is good too and Petco has that.

[ezzy333]

Ol' Roy has a lamb based feed as has many of the companies that make more than one feed I believe.

[postoakshorthairs]

Ol' Roy has a lamb based feed as has many of the companies that make more than one feed I believe.

I couldn't find the dry food list, but the moist "lamb and rice" has chicken products listed before the lamb. I checked several other brands as well and many had chicken (of one form or another) listed. Kinda like "low fat"...your going to have to read labels and not trust the the name on the bag.

[mcbosco]

Ingredients:
Lamb Meal, Ground Brown Rice, Ground White Rice, Sunflower Oil, Taurine, Vitamins/Minerals, Beta Carotene.

Nutrition Facts:
Moisture..........9.5 %
Protein...........21.0 %
Fat.................11.0 %
Fiber................4.5 %
Calories........1814 Kcal/lb
Calories........3990 Kcal/Kg
Calories..........430 KCals/Cup



Thats essentially what you should be looking for.

[moneypit]

well wish me luck im going to start switching her over from the hills food to california natural lamb and rice food. they carry it local here in central wis. its still 45 dollars a bag but it is half of what hills is ive heard good things about this food time will tell!

[mcbosco]

thats a good food from a very good company, simple formula

[jlp8cornell]

Wellness has a whole line called Simple Solutions for dogs with food allergies. Or maybe a fish based from Taste of the Wild, Orijen, etc

[moneypit]

just an update.. abby is off her predazone now for a couple days, she itchs a little but nothing like before so time will tell I guess. lets hope for the best!

[moneypit]

update on abby. she was put back on predezone back in april, but this time she is being weened off it very slow, and he is on antihisamine pills and omega pills she is down to a half a pill every three days on the pred and others twice a day. so far little itching ,the pred will take about three weeks yet.

[MikeB]

Money Pit,

Check out this info....

http://therobertabadydogfoodcoltd.com/Itching.htm

http://therobertabadydogfoodcoltd.com/b ... cts%20.htm

http://therobertabadydogfoodcoltd.com/how_to_choose.htm