I have a cairn terrier – male- about 12 years old. He is frisky and in pretty good overall health except on occasion he gets terrible skin allergies and his whole body feels hot. When this happens I notice that his breath also gets really bad. I changed his food to an all natural vegetarian diet about 9 months ago and everything cleared up. He was happy and his coat looked better than it ever has and his breath was not bad. I thought I had solved the problem but then out of nowhere it happened again. I just wish I knew the source of this problem. Any suggestions? I don’t like to give him cortisone shots and prefer natural ways of dealing with problems if possible. I would really like to know how to prevent this in the future. He gets 1/2 can of food in the morning and 1 cup of dry food at night. No table food but he does get a little piece of cheese each morning to take a thyroid pill. AT night he gets a small natural treat at bedtime. He always acts hungry.
Thank You
If the problem is truly a food allergy, even a small amount of the offending food (i.e. the cheese or the treat if that’s the culprit) can set it off. The only way to test it is to start with feeding ONE FOOD ONLY. If the problem clears, then you can begin SLOWLY introducing new foods to see where the problem originates.
Kristan K. Hodges, DVM
Congratulations on not wanting to give your dog cortizone drugs etc.
Typically, allergies are an immune problem. I would suggest building his immune system up. Along with that, I would suggest to give him a
liver support of some kind. When their are allergies, the liver is
usually congested. Look and see what you are actually feeding. You
can give him table scrapes and raw grass fed organic meats veggies.
Please be very careful in giving your dog a vegetarian diet as this would not be normal in the wild. Dogs do need protein. Instead of removing the protein, I would suggest to you that you remove all grain. Standard Process makes an excellent immune and liver support.
Great Life makes the best grain free dog food.
Best,
Dyanna McCain DVetHom.
Holistic Animal Healing
Los Angeles, CA
We have two soft coated wheaten terriers and the youngest has had constant skin irritations, namely staph.
Vet had her on a Vegetarian Diet for quite some time to no avail.
Yesterday found a Fish based food with no grains.
“Natural Balance” “Fish & Sweet Potato formula.” Just mentioning that: “Dick Van Patten’s” name is on it.
Breezy had been on at least 10 different foods since she was a puppy. She’s now three yrs. old. She’s never been enthused about eating and I’ve had to put food in her mouth.
We’re trying this Fish formula and right now she is eating all by herself and licking the bowl clean!
There are fish treats also. “Wild Alaskan Salmon” Also another treat. “Sam’s Yams, big boys. (Cut them for little dogs) Both are natural and all mentioned here are made in the U.S.A. Our dogs love sweet potato. Microwaved from the grocery store or purchased as above. Plus .. it is easily digestible.
For specific information please contact: 1 800 829-4493 or
http://www.naturalbalance.net
P.S. I think what started this staph infection was the first time use of Revolution. (That was supposed to kill fleas and for heart worm.) Our Vet just told me yesterday .. it was found that did not kill the fleas. He doesn’t sell it anymore
Dogs can be allergic from the saliva bite of fleas.
Hope this helps. I’m going to call and ask about the amount of mercury in the food. It does include on the label “white fish” as well.
All the other advice is wise. If it’s a food allergy .. nothing else can be introduced into the diet. Nothing. It can take a long time.
Take care and good luck
Our dog has chronic allergy related problems also. She was on steroids and a series of antibiotics and we thought we’d lose her. She was miserable every waking moment, licking, biting, chewing, losing hair, getting red and black splotches on her skin. Finally I began feeding a species appropriate raw diet. For dogs, a vegetarian diet is NOT species appropriate. They need raw muscle meat, organ meat and either ground egg shell for minerals, or raw meaty bones, such as raw raw raw chicken backs and necks. She has cleared up well and when she gets small flareups as the seasons change she has less extreme reactions…I believe the longer we feed her this diet, the less she will exp these flareups. I learned what I know online at wholedog forums. (look carefully as there a couple called similar names) The moderator is Jeannie if that helps.
Our dog has chronic allergy related problems also. She was on steroids and a series of antibiotics and we thought we’d lose her. She was miserable every waking moment, licking, biting, chewing, losing hair, getting red and black splotches on her skin. Finally I began feeding a species appropriate raw diet. For dogs, a vegetarian diet is NOT species appropriate. They need raw muscle meat, organ meat and either ground egg shell for minerals, or raw meaty bones, such as raw raw raw chicken backs and necks. She has cleared up well and when she gets small flareups as the seasons change she has less extreme reactions…I believe the longer we feed her this diet, the less she will exp these flareups. I learned what I know online at wholedog forums. (look carefully as there a couple called similar names) The moderator is Jeannie if that helps.
You need to first make sure he truly is suffering from a food allergy. My 8 year old male Cairn Terrier started to scratch himself raw and his coat was becoming really coarse. I added 1/2 capful of Hollywood Safflower oil to his food and after 2 weeks his itching ceased and his coat dramatically improved.