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mdtoaz,
Glad you got a plan! Glad it's not mange, too! I've dealt with mange in the past since I always adopt rescues when I add to the family. Those dips are so caustic and no fun for humans or canines!
Did vet recommend this? Washing your dog 2x a week can possibly worsen the conditions, as you eliminating natural oils in dog's skin. I was my dogs 2x a year!
I've never heard of this spray, i need to do some reading on it, so should you!
Not a bad idea. I would start with 25
1000mg per 10lb of body weight. How much does your dog weigh?
Of course he would recommend Science Diet! He's selling it, doesn't he?
So, the vet not only recommended the shampoo, it's a prescription shampoo.
Same with the spray.
Fez now weighs 70 lbs (well, 69.4 as of yesterday).
I know that it's good to question, do research and not just take everything your vet says as law. I understand that they carry Science Diet, therefore they will try to sell it... I have a cat on prescription food (which, we mix to keep the benefit but make it more economical).
I simply said that he mentioned this food - really only because it contains omega-3 fatty acids (which is why we're giving him the fish oil). He didn't say, "we'll give this too him" or "he needs this". He was just talking about the fish oil and mentioned that some foods have it as an ingredient, etc.
So, your vet wants to treat the symptoms instead of isolate the cause? This would concern me. If it is in fact an allergy it is not going to go away. Food allergies can do damage to the dog on a cellular level.
Did your vet do any kind of allergy testing? Recommend a food trial? Anything to identify the cause of the problem, or did he just sell you a $25 bottle of shampoo and an expensive bottle of meds?
We're treating the skin irritation first. I go back in a couple weeks for follow up and that's when we're going to start on a different food. At this point, we probably wouldn't be able to isolate it to a food or inhalent until we get his skin under control. Once we do a food trial, if there are still problems then we'll go forward with allergy testing.
And I've got to say, I didn't think I would receive so many negative responses - from the get go, I've gotten grief for my dog having a condition to now how my vet is treating him. I know it is difficult to communicate tone through written communication, but some of the responses have seemed somewhat cold. I hope I'm just misinterpreting.
For my part I was not criticizing, just shocked by the course of action your vet chose to take.
Shadow has a laundry list of allergies, mostly food related. She has had skin issues from the day I got her at 8 weeks old. I know how hard they are to manage and I know how people react when they see the bald spots.
I also know that my former vet would happily have continued selling me expensive shampoo & meds. When I insisted that we identify the allergens so that they could be eliminated from her environment I discovered that my vet was not quite a competent as I wanted her to be. I switched vets and we started getting answers right away. As soon as we starting removing the things that were causing the problems the problems began to go away.
We ended up with 5 food allergens and a contact allergen. The food I can control, but it is very hard to eliminate grass from a dog's environment. Especially living in FL. This time of year is hard for my dog.
I tried the Malaseb, Chlorhexiderm, Hylyt and Micro Tek without any success. What works for Shadow is a coal tar shampoo, either Nusal T, Lytar, or Medi Tar. I also was told to do the Omega 3's which my vet happily sold me for $25/bottle. Also did not really help much. None of the topicals I ever tried helped either. Be aware that the Genesis is steroidal in nature and can be over dosed.
Switching the food was the key for my dog. Don't let your vet convince you to buy Science Diet unless you have convinced yourself it is the best thing for your dog. Those foods are not medicated. Read the ingredient panel and decide for yourself what the best choice is for you. I am feeding Solid Gold Wolfking, but had good results with Wellness and Solid Gold allergy formulas. Also be aware of the treats you feed.
I wish you luck in getting this figured out. Don't be afraid to seek out a different vet if you are not comfortable with what this one is doing.
And I've got to say, I didn't think I would receive so many negative responses - from the get go, I've gotten grief for my dog having a condition to now how my vet is treating him. I know it is difficult to communicate tone through written communication, but some of the responses have seemed somewhat cold. I hope I'm just misinterpreting.
I appologize if my post came through as cold, i sure didn't mean to do this.
We are all concerned about your dog and just trying to help you figure out possible causes. I've met some vets who are too quick to prescribe this and that without really knowing root of the problem.
Allergy test can be quiet expensive, but then again, spending money on shampoos/spray/food that not going to help, could be also a money waisting thing. I would suggest allergy test first to see what your dog is actually allergic too, it should not be the next best thing, it should be the first thing with any dog prone to allergies.
mdtoaz,
Go with what your vet recommends and work with him/her. They're the experts and have examined your dog; anything else is just opinion or conjecture, sight unseen!
The proof will be in the pudding. I hope your dog shows rapid improvement and, if not, I'm sure the vet will explore other avenues.
I might just be overly sensitive - I'm trying my best to do what's right for Fez.
I feel pretty good about his vet. He didn't give me the Benadryl or fish oil, just recommended we get them from a regular drug store.
I know that the spray is a steroidal spray. The vet even said that the spray and shampoo weren't long term solutions. He was very upfront about the steps he wants to take.
He wants to use the spray and shampoo just for a few weeks to try to get the symptoms under control. The food's the next step - and like I said before he mentioned the Science Diet as an example of some of the foods out there that contain omega-3's. He didn't seem like he was trying to push it on me... yet. I guess we'll see in a couple weeks.
If we switch food with no success, the other option is the allergy testing. He talked a lot about that yesterday - told me lots of success stories and some not so successful stories about going that route. Apparently if there are only a few or less allergens discovered, the treatment is quite easier. He even told me of a few dogs that were allergic to every single thing they tested for - 40 allergens in all.
If anything, I can sympathize... I went through the skin tests myself several years ago, and was even told by the nurse (as a joke) that I should live in a bubble I was so allergic to stuff. I guess it's true what they say about dogs and their owners being alike.
Please read RaceLady88 & ShepsMom's experiences? They have probably learned the hard way (as have we) regarding the bad stuff in that "diet", vets overzealous with pushing stuff, and not being thorough -- and veterinarians are not educated in regards to diet. This is a sad fact.
Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble (those "perscription "diets" are in the 1 star tier -- very thorough explainations regarding all listed ingredients as well -- and on many other fact-filled websites as well.)
Please google the ingredients they put in that stuff? It is THE cause for many many health issues. Good luck to you/
(Vets selling that stuff are merely influenced by the companies.)
Nobody's mad at you -- best wishes -- it just makes me angry that vets aren't always thorough and do have a conflict of interest with the stuff they shouldn't be selling in the first place (it's FAR from healthy).
Please just google it. You'll see what we're trying to say
I think the Vet is doing the right thing for the dog by trying to alleviate the symptoms. After all, the poor dog is itchy to the point of losing large patches of hair! The poor thing has got to be uncomfortable. If the scratching continues, the skin could become infected. Hyposensitization and food trials can take months to show results and are a great second step once the immediate discomfort is alleviated.
Sometimes the omega fatty acids and frequent shampooing completely address the issue.
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