Golden Retriever with recurring skin inflammation/outbreak/infection?

[dainerra]

with an older dog, my first thought would be thyroid since this is a sudden change. it's a common problem in goldens and many other breeds. If a basic panel shows nothing, you may need to have blood sent off for a more thorough analysis.

 

[dainerra]

Yeah, I noticed that you mentioned that and you were the one I mentioned when saying some dogs do really well on it, but I've also heard stories of dogs and cats doing poorly on it and developing those problems but I've heard other positive stories of it too so I guess it depends on the animal. i guess if someone tried it and decided they didn't like it they could always switch foods again

But yeah, that website has been very helpful for us and its nice too because you can look at in stores to see if there are good foods there

TOTW is simply too rich for some dogs. That is why they get the gas and runny stools.

if you don't want to check every food on the website or what you are looking at isn't listed there, here are the basic guidelines for finding a quality dog food (kibble).

- 1st ingredient should always be a named protein MEAL. avoid whole meat as a first ingredient. it must be processed into meal with the water removed before it can be used in kibble so this is a tactic used by some companies to make their food look better than it actually is. Once the water is removed, the protein will drop much farther down on the list.

- avoid foods that say things like "protein meal" Since there is no named meat source, every batch could be different since they are free to use whatever meat they can get cheapest at that time. One week it may be beef, another time chicken, another time ???

- avoid foods that include "by-product meal" that is the stuff that is left over after meat is processed for human consumption. Not all by-products are bad but you never know the quantities that may be there from batch to batch. One could be largely bone/offal/scraps while another could comprise almost entirely feet and feathers.

- avoid anything that has corn in the first 3 ingredients. first 5 is better. if you can avoid it entirely, even better

- perhaps most important of all, price isn't an indication of quality. Some of the worst foods out there are the most expensive. Science Diet, Iams, Eukanuba are among those that come to mind.


I feed this http://www.victordogfood.com/highpro.html $35 for a 40 lb bag. 5 star-rated food and 1 bag lasts an active GSD male over a month.

 

[ShrekDawg]

TOTW is simply too rich for some dogs.    That is why they get the gas and runny stools.

 
if you don't want to check every food on the website or what you are looking at isn't listed there, here are the basic guidelines for finding a quality dog food (kibble).

- 1st ingredient should always be a named protein MEAL.    avoid whole meat as a first ingredient.   it must be processed into meal with the water removed before it can be used in kibble so this is a tactic used by some companies to make their food look better than it actually is.   Once the water is removed, the protein will drop much farther down on the list.

- avoid foods that say things like "protein meal"     Since there is no named meat source, every batch could be different since they are free to use whatever meat they can get cheapest at that time.   One week it may be beef, another time chicken, another time ???

-   avoid foods that include "by-product meal"    that is the stuff that is left over after meat is processed for human consumption.    Not all by-products are bad but you never know the quantities that may be there from batch to batch.  One could be largely bone/offal/scraps while another could comprise almost entirely feet and feathers. 

-  avoid anything that has corn in the first 3 ingredients.   first 5 is better.    if you can avoid it entirely, even better

-  perhaps most important of all, price isn't an indication of quality.    Some of the worst foods out there are the most expensive.   Science Diet, Iams, Eukanuba are among those that come to mind.


I feed this  http://www.victordogfood.com/highpro.html       $35 for a 40 lb bag.     5 star-rated food and 1 bag lasts an active GSD male over a month.

Thats true about the richness thing. Thats probably it.

And I forgot about Victor, definitely a good food. And WHOA definitely a lot of meal!

Although I would like to say that I don't think it should be a hard fast rule to avoide whole meat as the first ingredient as almost every single dog food does that. I also think its kind of misleading as most 4 and 5 star dog foods have whole meat first. Sure not all but heck, even Orijen, Acana, Zignature, Wellness CORE, which are all excellent brands and the first 2 are the same company and Canadian (which has higher pet food standards than here) have whole meats first and I don't think it makes them bad. But I do think meal should be in there. I think as long as it's in the first 3-5 ingredients its fine. Zignature has it second for instance. Besides, even if it was really bad or something, its still a good food and better than Purina or some of the other ones.

I do agree with everything else though

 

[ShrekDawg]

Okay looking at Dog Food Advisor more brands use meal that I thought and even some varieties of the same brand do it while some dont but I still stand by my statement especially because some brands do on some flavors and don't on others.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I had a dog with skin problems too. She would scratch and chew and itch till she was raw. But she never got scabs like yours. Vet told us to switch to a grain free dog food because that's what allergies in dogs usually are (didn't even give us the option of testing, we've since switched vets) Tried many different types of prescription dog foods, one even looked like Kix Cereal Finally found Taste of the Wild food at my local Tractor Supply store and it was cheaper and faster to get it there than going through the vet for prescription dog food.

However, nothing seemed to help. So we finally got her tested and turns out that grains weren't the problem at all. It was mostly meats, beef, poultry, fish, venison, the list goes on. You know how hard it is to find a dog food that doesn't have beef or chicken in it? Very. But thankfully, Taste of the Wild had a Lamb variety that would work and it meant we wouldn't have to switch dog food brands again, just flavors.

Well, that still didn't help. So we started giving her allergy shots. Still nothing.

We came to the conclusion that it was a yeast infection of the skin, though it was never professionally diagnosed. She smelled gross and bathing her with an anti fungal shampoo helped but only for a few days. And sulfur and lard on her wounds helped too.

We never found out what was truly wrong with her. We lost her due to an unrelated problem.

Keep a very close eye on her, watch (or even document) what she eats and see if it causes flair ups. Good luck and I hope she feels better. It's no fun being itchy.

Sorry for your loss

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

with an older dog, my first thought would be thyroid since this is a sudden change.     it's a common problem in goldens and many other breeds.   If a basic panel shows nothing, you may need to have blood sent off for a more thorough analysis.

This is absolutely correct. Many times a normal blood test will not show thyroid dysfunction. You have to do more specific testing. I agree that it is a common problem in goldens, and worth ruling out I think!

ETA: If this is the cause of her skin problems, the treatment in dogs is cheap and easy to give. It usually consists of a daily pill called Synthroid (or something similar). Dogs usually present with hypothyroidism rather than hyper and its most commonly due to an autoimmune reaction to the thyroid gland.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I know this is a dog thread so dont mean to hijack but my vet keeps telling me cat is healthy but I'm not so convinced, constant eye goop and her ears look dirty to me and i thought i saw the third eyelid which i heard is stress or sickness but maybe im a hypochondriac lol maybe her problems are from the litter box not being cleaned enough? Last year she was coughing but the vet didn't hear anything. Although I will say since she's been on her new food and especially since she's been on mostly canned her eye goop has lessened and she hasnt had it shut her eyes. But do you think this is just from the ammonia or a possible food allergy? I'm going to make my own post i guess but you guys seemed like you could know

 

[ShrekDawg]

Althugh those seem more like minor problems cause she otherwise is healthy. But also never had any blood work so i worry

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sounds more like a chronic respiratory problem.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I know this is a dog thread so dont mean to hijack but my vet keeps telling me cat is healthy but I'm not so convinced, constant eye goop and her ears look dirty to me and i thought i saw the third eyelid which i heard is stress or sickness but maybe im a hypochondriac lol maybe her problems are from the litter box not being cleaned enough? Last year she was coughing but the vet didn't hear anything. Although I will say since she's been on her new food and especially since she's been on mostly canned her eye goop has lessened and she hasnt had it shut her eyes. But do you think this is just from the ammonia or a possible food allergy? I'm going to make my own post i guess but you guys seemed like you could know

How often is the litter box cleaned and how much of an ammonia issue are you noticing? The fact that you see that as a potential cause would seem to indicate that you may need to adjust your maintenance schedule even if the actual issue is stemming from another cause.