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can any dog owners on here recomend any dog products to help build a dogs immune system......something like fish oil im guessing...one of our family dogs immune system keeps on becoming a problem with skin issues....trying to find a product that i can put in the food help to build the pups immune system ..hes nearly 11 months old now.
some of you may remember me talking about our
cocker spaniel that was riddled with mites from birth (ORIGINAL BREEDER IS KNOWN TO THE R,S,P.C.A. for bad breeding in the past yet the breeder still carries on breeding.......anyway our pup hes now 10 months old and has had a few months treatments at the vets by having special baths once a week for many months to try to calm the skin down.... all went well for the next few months until another outbreak a few weeks ago where out dogs fur suddenly started disapearing agin and had a huge lump to his neck where an infection had occured..antibiotics sorted that out but now requires special baths agin weekly... just wondering if theres anything else we could try to help support the pups immune system as he keeps getting attacks of skin problems.......its not fleas the vets say....its a dermadex mite problem from birth..... and periodically these mites rear their selves agin if the dog is feeling not well for some reason....can you get fish oil tablets for dogs or anything thats suitable for immune system building.. cheers in advance,,, 😉
Garlic or garlic oil will help. Royal Canin and Iams do specially formulated stuff.
Try and find out the ash content in any dry food and avoid high ash content. Plenty of protein with Amino acids like Lysine, Threonine and Methionine will help to. Vitamin D (D2 and D3) content will also help with skin issues.
I'll give a quick rundown on my experience with a dog with skin issues. The exact cause is unknown, but she has flare ups from time to time which she scratches/licks which makes things worse.
We had a generic allergy test done - allergens include dustmites, storage mites, chicken, pork etc etc.
After a couple of courses of antibiotics and using Fuciderm cream over a period of time, we then gave antihistamines (Piriton) and steroids (Medrone), and bathed her with Epismooth & Alermyl (both by Verbac). These worked to some degree, but she still got the occaisional flare-up.
We then tried a supplement called Phytopica to no effect.
We then had a more specialized allergen test - she was sedated and tested with various allergens (local pollens etc), and we had a vacine made up. This didn't work, and she would get worse after injections.
We have now reached the point of using Atopica which suppresses the immune system so that there is no reaction to the allergens - I suspect that your dog will be too young for this as the Atopica leaves them at a higher risk of tumors.
As well as the Atopica, we bath her as needed with Verbac Microbex, still use the steroids and antihistamines, and feed her a dermatological food (Eukanuba). She's been much better since (but not 100% "cured".)
I hope you can sort his issues, it can be a long drawn out process and there's no guaranteed outcome.
I've read that some peple have had success in using a raw diet.
All the best.
What you're talking about is Demodex - a mite that lives in the hair follicles and as you rightly say, become a problem when there is an immune problem. Stress is obviously a potential cause too so i would be watching out for what could be subtle triggers. I.e. those that may not be too obvious to us humans but extremely obvious and stressful to our pets! (noises, changes in visitors to the house, other pets etc etc)
I would strongly recommend a monthly application of a suitable, prescription only 'spot on' that your vet will be able to sell to you. It would be ALOT easier than the weekly shampoo but still effective against this type of mite! It's very unlikely, but if your vet says they don't have the 'spot on' that would kill that mite....I would be tempted to take my business elsewhere (but that's just IMO of course)
Good luck!
Long term use of products like Advocate or Promeris(Spot on)may help in some if these cases but are not always fully effective. Sometimes there is more than 1 skin issue, I have had cases of allergic skin problems which have also had Demodex problems and management is difficult.
One option would to be to ask for referral to a Dermatologist but that can be expensive as they may wish to run a lot of tests.
Good diet can be useful and for skin some people recommend omega3/6 oils in particular.
Ever looked into the BARF diet? Although our dog has ( thankfully ) no skin conditions his fur has come on leaps and bounds since going to this diet. Basically it's raw meat and bones (just as nature intended) with a little green veg thrown in.
http://www.barfworld.com/html/barf_diet/barfdiet_specific.shtml
You don't have to buy the meat from the link above ( we get blocks of prize choice from the local pet shop), it just gives you an idea of what's involed.
