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My older golden used to have HORRIBLE skin and allergy problems. He ALWAYS had a ton of hot spots and was an itchy mess. After alot of money....useless allergy testing, immuno-therapy I finally found a good vet who did thyroid testing and I changed him to a good high-quality diet (I feed Wellness) and his skin and coat are perfect now. He gets the Wellness Senior Mix which has glucosamine in it, but I don't believe any food has enough to make a real difference, so both my guys get a supplement.
Good luck with your guys issues. I know how frustrating it is, and I hope you can get it figured out.
Also, is he 98 pounds because that's just how he's built, or is he over weight? If there's weight for him to lose, that will probably make a huge difference in his mobility. 8 isn't that old for a golden, my old guy is 12 and he is still in good shape. Hopefully whatever is going on with your baby has an easy fix. Good luck.
I'd also talk with the breeder and see if any of their dogs have had problems. As already mentioned consider changing food. You didn't mention what your dog is on now. Sometimes you will have to treat systemically to get rid of the problem.
Agree! Corn, wheat, soy, and the other cheap fillers in the mainstream foods are the most common CAUSE of all these ailments. Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble has all the facts on all the foods, and they explain everything thoroughly in "Plain English" :>)
I babysat a Chi this past summer who was actually on Flea medicine when the poor little thing never even had a flea on her! Changed her from "vet recommended" food to Wellness and all the chronic itching/spots (along with the vomiting) disappeared!
We changed Dusty's food and he seems to be doing a little better. The doctor put him on antiflammatories and said that if he wasn't better, they would operate on him. But b/c he's walking a little better now, they aren't going to operate, which I'm glad about b/c I wouldn't want them to operate if not needed.
Dusty is a large dog, but I have to admit, he is a little overweight. Doc said he could lost about 10 lbs so we have him on a diet. We don't want to push him on too long of walks b/c of his hind legs, so we go on short walks which probably doesn't do much for his diet, but we are trying.
And in the summers (we live in Michigan), we bath him with medicated shampoo and we have topical ointment from the vet. I just feel so bad for him...
Thank you everyone for your input! I appreciated it very much! Sorry, I didn't respond sooner!
My 13 year old golden, Piper had similar problems due to severe allergies and I put him on a presciption Science Diet formula that has worked really well for his skin problems, but recently the ear wax has become a huge problem again. He is rubbing his ear on the oriental rug as I type and it is so cute, but I know it is uncomfortable. Piper had ear surgery years ago and while the infections he was prone to bit the dust after, the wax issue remains and seems to be getting worse. My dog takes duramaxx daily for arthritis and it is very helpful. I agree wholeheartedly that putting your dog on a simple diet would help him immeasurably. Every four pounds equals and additional 20 pound of pressure on the joints. You don't say specifically what the surgery is for, but those extra pounds will make it more difficult for your baby to heal, can cause complications with anasthetics, and puts so much stress on the heart muscle- the lungs- the liver- pancreas- you get the point. Your dog is still young and if you want to have him around for a long time...(I know you do!) the best thing you can do is control what he is eating. More than likely you will find it easier to sort out the allergy issues by eliminating whatever extraneous foods he is getting. Your dog and you will be so much happier for having done so. BTY- have his nails filed instead of clipped, or in addition, to help the slipping. I have had that same problem. You can also buy little doggie stick-on treads for the bottom of his feet. I've not tried them, but am considering it. Good Luck!
Hello Golden Owner,
This is another Golden owner. My boy is 8 too. He has many of the symptoms yours does, so I thought I'd share how we deal with his issues. The allergies I'm assuming are common since ours has had them for years. We use Banfield (Petsmart) as our vet for him, and them have prescribed him antihistamines for years. We learned you can get them over the counter much more affordably at your grocery stores. But please check with your vet or contact a Banfield. Ours scratches his ears too especially when he hasn't had his allergies and only in one of his two years. We were told to clean his ears at least once a week to keep them healthy. As for his weight, I know we've learned they tend to get heavy once they get older and nuetered. So excercise is important and watching his diet. We do two cups a day of Billjack and have been advised to change to Science Diet or Eucanebia for seniors and low fat. We'll be trying that in addition to reducing treats and giving healthy snacks if we must (which we like to do) like apples and carrots. We slice them and peal them just because he's our love bug. I know he must have to scratch and he probably can't reach due to being little heavy. I hope this information helps. I know it has helped us a lot.
Good luck, and great job on enjoying and caring for your Golden,
Vilma
Brinkley's Mom
Quote:
Originally Posted by keroppi78
Hello everyone~
I have a 8 year old golden. I was wondering, does anyone else have goldens that have lots of skin problems as well as other problems? Dusty, he's about 98 lbs, a huge golden! He's the sweestest dog ever but as he's getting older, he's been having a lot of problems. First, in the summer, he get's hot spots that are so unbearable for him. So we clean the spots for him all the time. For awhile, we had to clean his ears twice a day due to too much wax and dirt buildup. Now, he can barely use his hind legs. He gets really excited when people come home and I think he forgets that he's older now b/c he'll run in circles b/c he's so happy. He ends up hurting his hind legs by slipping. It's so sad! Our floors are wood so we bought carpet and made him a path all over the house so that he will be more comfortable when walking... We took him to the vet yesterday and they said he needs surgery. They gave us some medications and they are going to see him again on Monday and decide for sure if he is a good candidate for surgery.
Oh and his newest thing is that he is constantly licking himself. Vet said it's allergies. We already tried the allergy shots but after he gets the shot, Dusty throws up.
Anyways, if any of you have experiences like this, pls let me know what i can do to help him feel better. Thank you.
One more item of information. As for the hot spots in the summer, ours get them every year in the summer time. Goldens like the cold, and their long hair easily causes them to get the spots. We find them, and take them in to get treated and vet offices tend to give him his medicine to treat. Very common in Goldens. I hope this helps.
They just like to keep cool definitely keep in doors with AC.
Both Science Diet and Eucaneba are not a good quality dog food, and the majority of allergy, ear and skin problems dogs suffer can be directly related to the food they eat. Science Diet is particularly bad.
Buy a kibble on that list that is rated "A+" and you will see a noticeable improvement in your dog's coat and overall health within a few weeks.
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Thank you!
