Anyone Else Goldens Are Prone to Skin Allergies or Problems?

[Rambo's Mum]

Who else here have to constantly battle with their Goldens skin allergies or problems? How do you guys help ease their discomfort? What do you guys give them to alleviate their pains? Care to share?

I give mine supplements; pre and probiotics, evening primrose oil, MSM, ACV and garlic powder. I won't say it completely eliminate his skin allergies but at least I see some improvement in his skin.

So, please share your experiences!

[kitten_penang]

did you try adding fresh garlic into the food.. my aunt did that for a mange ridden 15 year old chiwawa sized mongrel. she adopted it after it's owner passed. she also said the vet gave the dog an injection and he gets a medicated bath once a week or once every 2 weeks because he is too old and cant stand being bathed more then that

[Rambo's Mum]

Originally Posted by kitten_penang

did you try adding fresh garlic into the food.. my aunt did that for a mange ridden 15 year old chiwawa sized mongrel. she adopted it after it's owner passed. she also said the vet gave the dog an injection and he gets a medicated bath once a week or once every 2 weeks because he is too old and cant stand being bathed more then that

I saw your comment this afternoon and just this evening I added a slice of a clove of garlic into his food. Previously I was using store bought garlic powder. Hopefully fresh garlic might help him with his skin problem. I'll post again in a week time to update his progress. Wish me luck and thanks for the advice!

[kitten_penang]

store bought stuff sometimes are missing key ingredients since they are processed. for garlic fresh is best.good luck

[Rambo's Mum]

Hey kitten_penang!

Do you know any TCM in Malaysia that treat animals? I was talking to some forumners in another dog forum (USA) and they suggested why not I try TCM. It has never cross my mind until the suggestion. Know any?

[kitten_penang]

Traditional Chinese medicine can be found at herbal shops.i know a few in penang Eu Yan San is the largest but the stuff there are more expensive then the normal medical halls.
i don't think they treat dogs though.. holistic places for pets can be found in the US but i don't think it can be found here but theres no harm looking around as i could be wrong.

[Rayquaza17]

Hi,

I couldn't help but to comment after seeing your problem. Golden Retrievers are common with skin allergies and problems. My aunt have a GR which also have this problem.

She did use a few supplements and that include fish oil and several others ( She add in a lot. I'll need to ask her soon. )

Instead of giving dry food, kibbles, she will use raw food instead and that ease up the problem. She use medicated shampoo too plus shampoo which are soft to the skin. Garlic, yes. She add in too.

Best of luck to you GR!

[Rambo's Mum]

Originally Posted by Rayquaza17

Hi,

I couldn't help but to comment after seeing your problem. Golden Retrievers are common with skin allergies and problems. My aunt have a GR which also have this problem.

She did use a few supplements and that include fish oil and several others ( She add in a lot. I'll need to ask her soon. )

Instead of giving dry food, kibbles, she will use raw food instead and that ease up the problem. She use medicated shampoo too plus shampoo which are soft to the skin. Garlic, yes. She add in too.

Best of luck to you GR!

Hi Rayquaza17,

Thanks for the reply and comment. I know GR are very prone to skin allergies and problems but my boy is exceptionally problematic. Let me give you a brief history of his.

I took my boy home when he was 2 months old and he was fine eating kibbles. Then when he was 3 months old he almost died due to contracting Canine Distemper (that was according to the vet diagnosis). He pulled through though because his CT apparently was just starting up. But from then on his immune system went downhill all the way faster than the tram coming down from Penang Hill so to speak. It was like almost every other month we will be trotting off to the vet. Truthfully he goes to the vet more often than I visited the human doc not to mention the medical fee he chalked up. Never mind that, cos' I love my little fella to bits. When he was about 7 months old I fully switched him to raw and you would think he would do well. Nope! His skin problems and ear infections would still be there. So, I sort of start doing the raw food elimination. No chicken, no beef no pork. I gave him buffalo meat and mutton. Yeah, they told me beef and buffalo meat are totally diff. Maybe you can give me an insight to that. He seems to be doing ok. Ear infection gone but once in a while will still break out in rashes. And before he can turned them in hotspots due to constant licking and chewing I would be applying ACV on his rashes to soothe them. After every walk I would wash his feet with ACV diluted in water. Seems to be working! Then just this year in Feb I went home to my mum's place with my boy and since my mum don't have a big fridge whereby I can freeze his raw meat I have no choice but to cook for him. Bad move! After a week later we came back to Johor and then obviously I put him back on raw and then wham! his hotspots and ear infection sets in! Off we went to the vet. Previously when he got that medication will help him. This round it did not. So vet put him on steroids. Sigh! It take a while to clear up but then just in early April bam! he came down in ears infection and hotspots again. And again we were off to the vet. Steroids and meds didn't help much. If he was on them, it clears but once he is off the meds next day the infection and rashes/hotspots came down with a vengeance! Fed-up I did a blood test on him to determine what food he was allergic to. Turn out he is even allergic to buffalo meat and mutton. Apparently according to the report he can only take turkey! So I switched him to turkey. Can't find that in JB. Has to get it from Singapore. Seems to be doing ok after the switch and then his ear infections and skin problem subsided. Then somewhere in June, he came down with Malassezia in both his ears and once again he was on meds again - steroids and ketanozole for his Malassezia. Somehow or rather I have this feeling his system is starting to reject turkey as well! Really fed-up this time, I took him off all meds and trying to heal him the 'holistic' way. I'm now feeding him with extra virgin coconut oil, ACV, raw garlic (as suggested by kitten_penang) and kids pre & probiotics. Also I'm constantly dabbing his ears with diluted ACV or Listerine.

I mean seems like his system kept on rejecting new food almost every other 3 months or so. This cannot go on like that. Sooner or later I'll be running out of new protein to feed him. I read that a dog can be suffering from systemic yeast infection due to candida albican in his gut. So, I'm trying to heal his gut. It takes time and it can go up to 6 months to completely heal him.

This is all I can do for him. Other than that I'll just have to wait. Seriously I would not want to put him back on steroids and meds. It only suppress his infection. Once he is off the meds, the infections and skin problem comes back.

Overseas forum has suggested I take my boy to a TCM vet! I don't think I can find one here. Maybe I should just bring him in to a human TCM and beg them to take a look at my boy's problem. It could really be worth a try.

[kitten_penang]

my dog had to take a type of chemo shot once to clear an infection he got from another dog. try asking your vet whether it will work. btw i have a GR going up for adopting soon cant seem to locate the owner. great dog .. what a waste

[Rambo's Mum]

Originally Posted by kitten_penang

my dog had to take a type of chemo shot once to clear an infection he got from another dog. try asking your vet whether it will work. btw i have a GR going up for adopting soon cant seem to locate the owner. great dog .. what a waste

Seriously I dislike giving my boy all those steroids shots or orally. It does them no good in the long run as it kills the naturally flora in their guts hence that is why they are so susceptible to disease like yeast and bacteria infection. My boy has been on meds since he was 3 months old and the more he takes the worse his problems get. That is why I'm trying to use the holistic way to cure him -hopefully.

[kitten_penang]

well mine was perfectly healthy before his ahems started bleeding so the vet said it was the only way to clear it... buy yeah after taking meds for that long i think his immune system is getting weak or the bacteria is getting acustomed to the meds