In January we began our new column in the local newspaper "Ask the Vet" to open a door to our clients and the people of Emery and Carbon counties a forum where they can ask and have questions answered about their pets, large animals or herd management.
The Doggy Door is here for you to post comments, ask questions or just share a story or two about your four legged companion.
The Doggy Door is here for you to post comments, ask questions or just share a story or two about your four legged companion.
Question: Hi, I have a boxer-lab mix. She is around 10 years old. She is starting to get a wiry, unhealthy looking coat. What do I need to feed her or do to help her look and feel better?
ReplyDeleteShe is a little picky with food too. Her coat used to be soft and nice?
Answer: This type of hair coat concern may be from a number of conditions. Sometimes a poor hair coat can be from a lack of something in the diet, however with most good quality commercial pet foods this is not a problem. Many times if the diet is a very inexpensive brand there could be a low content of essential fatty acids (EFA), add EFA as a supplement may help or switching to a brand with high EFA in the food does have its benefits in general overall health and longevity of our pets.
But, I must caution you though, many of these conditions are associated with an illness, the first one that came to mind was hypothyroidism. Weak brittle hair may also be seen with other endocrine disorders often associated with growth or sex hormones and dermatophyte infections should also be considered. It would important to have a physical exam and a thyroid test; this should include T4 and free T4 as a minimum to diagnose hypothyroid disease. If these come back negative other endocrine problems need to be considered.
Glen Jensen, DVM
Question: I have a golden retriever that scratches constantly! I feel bad for her and I put fish oil in her food, I have sprays that I use on her coat, also when I have her groomed they use an oatmeal shampoo. My current vet put her on steroids and it seems to help, but i hate her having to be on them forever. Is there anything I can do for her or feed her to help?
ReplyDeleteAnswer: Itching and scratching is a fairly common concern of pet owners. Veterinarians refer to this as prutitus and it has many causes. It of course, is always best to try to get a diagnosis so we know the cause of the pruritus and enable to give the best treatment. Allergies are one of the common causes but other possibilities include: bacterial folliculitis, fungus infections, external parasites, drug eruption, seborrhea, pyoderma, and many others.
Atopy is a term used to describe environmental allergies affecting the skin and is common in golden retrievers. This type of hypersensitive skin reaction will often respond to steroid as you have suggested, and you are right we always want to use the smallest amount of steroid possible and none if we can. However, depending on the severity some steroids may be needed. Allergies can also come from the food they are eating and show up as itching and scratching. For this a food trial using a non-allergen food for 8-12 weeks can be done.
If other conditions have been eliminated as possibilities then allergy testing would be recommended. This can be done with a blood test that is sent to a specialty lab that handles these types of tests. This can identify possible food and environmental allergies. Once this is done the proper treatment of immunotherapy can be started.
Other treatments include essential fatty acids (EFA) - the fish oils, antihistamines, along with treating secondary infections like bacterial, yeast, or other secondary problems. EFA may not work if other problems exists and may take higher doses than often used. Some pet and prescriptions foods like Science Diet j/d is very high in EFA, these can decrease the need for as much steroid.
Glen Jensen, DVM