# Skin Allergies on 8 Month old Golden



## mirthril (Jun 23, 2010)

I'm by no means an expert, but it seems like so many of dog's allergies come from their food. Had you changed your boy's food shortly before his first attack? 

You might want to consider switching him over to a raw diet at least for a little bit. Raw meat food is the easiest, most natural thing for your puppy to digest. And I've read of numerous cases where making the switch cleared up long term, chronic allergies for other dogs. 

Feed him raw chicken wings, or breasts, lamb chops, whole fish, steak, etc with the bones. Organ meat is excellent as well. 3% of body weight is best. Even if it's not your miracle cure, it will be a treat for your poor pup, and will deffinitely make him happy.


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## iansgran (May 29, 2010)

Most skin allergies are environmental not from food, so have you cleaned anything he lies on, your carpet, floors, etc? Are you someplace that might have outside pollens? Here in the midwest pollens are mostly gone now. Get rid of any bedding or wash twice with hot hot water. There are some shampoos that are suppose to help, too. So sorry, I know you suffer when he does.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Allergies are uncommon in dogs under one year of age. I would absolutely rule out parasitic skin diseases before calling it an allergy in a puppy. Most of the time, sarcoptic mites which cause intense itching are not seen on a skin scraping. So most of the time, we treat empirically for sarcoptic mites. In fact, Revolution, also a heartworm preventative, is labelled to treat sarcoptic mange. Some of our clients' pets who have been allergy tested have shown to be allergic simply to grain mites. This is easily remedied by freezing the food. And if you truly want to do a food trial exclusion, that means no treats(bones, rawhide, biscuits) or table food etc for at least 2 months... hard to do with a dog especially if it's a Hoover golden.


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

In addition to looking into the above, I'd start bathing him every few days with Micro-tek shampoo. It will give him instant relief and aid in healing. Cody was literally on death's door fighting AIHA and a staph infection all over his body. The micro-tek baths every 3-4 days gave him such relief and really did help. You can read about it here www.eqyss.com


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

I agree with Betty. If it doesnt clear up after the washings, then he needs to see a vet. It could be a staph infection and will need antibiotics. If it is really bad right now on the sores he might need the antibiotics now. But still get the shampoo now. You can get it from places like tractor supply, where they sell horse supply stuff.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

I bathe my goldens in 4% chlorhexiderm shampoo. It is antibacterial, antifungal, and has emollients. Ironically if I use the "hypoallergenic" shampoo we sell, they get itchy.


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## Shilho (Nov 15, 2010)

Try getting in touch with thegreatdanelady.com she works with all types of allergies and nutrition. She helped my dane with pus filled soars between his pads and elbows. After hundreds of dollars at the vet. It was a simple powder called MSM. He went on it and in 3 days I say his paws healing. After a week I stopped for a day and they started to come back. He was on it the rest of his life and my 2 goldens after that even though they had nothing. MSM fights inflamation in the body. My husband and I both take it also and it is cheap. You can find it at the health food store or go on line and find it under Vita-Flex for small animals.
My new puppy golden will go on it as well.


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## bioteach (Nov 13, 2010)

All of my goldens have had skin issues as adults but none as puppies. (Arizona is not easy for goldens because the air is so dry. They need moisturizing shampoo to combat their dry skin caused by low humidity and constant dips in a pool that is chlorinated.)

Our last Golden, Brewer, was so miserable that he seemed to be mutilating himself. At that point our vet recommended a new product called Atopica. This product is $$$ but it is not a steriod. It is actually cyclosporin, an antirejection drug. The bottom line was that it was a miracle for him. His skin cleared up completely and his coat grew back beautifully. No more scratching, self-biting or rubbing. 

If your vet can't pinpoint the cause it might be worth investigating this product.


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## JaxonsMom (Dec 23, 2010)

We have tried Promeris to rule out the sarcoptic mange. The smell was awful and he seemed to be a little lethargic for 48 hours but has perked right back up!!!


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

Sally's Mom said:


> Allergies are uncommon in dogs under one year of age. I would absolutely rule out parasitic skin diseases before calling it an allergy in a puppy. Most of the time, sarcoptic mites which cause intense itching are not seen on a skin scraping. So most of the time, we treat empirically for sarcoptic mites. In fact, Revolution, also a heartworm preventative, is labelled to treat sarcoptic mange. Some of our clients' pets who have been allergy tested have shown to be allergic simply to grain mites. This is easily remedied by freezing the food. And if you truly want to do a food trial exclusion, that means no treats(bones, rawhide, biscuits) or table food etc for at least 2 months... hard to do with a dog especially if it's a Hoover golden.


I agree with the above-my first thought was either sarcoptic mange, or generalized demodectic mange. I almost lost 2 puppies several years ago because of misdiagnosed sarcoptic mange. Neither of the local vets were able to diagnose. After finding them sitting in pools of their own blood (mange is ITCHY), I took them to Foster & Smith (back when they were vets). They diagnosed them in less than 5 minutes, treated them, gave me the medicine for further treatment, and they were fine. I could not believe that neither of the other vets were able to diagnose this, or come up with any kind of a treatment that would work.


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