Howdy all,

I've been hearing the ads for this and wondered if any of you have any testimonials to add?

Anyone know the discount code when ordering on the dinovite site? My weimaraner is in a bad way with his skin. Severe flaking, itching, smell. Now he has a couple lesions on the lower leg?? about the size of a nickel. When squeezed the ooze blood out of the hair follicles/pores. The first one healed up after I put on corona ointment. Mites? fungus? I've got an appt with the vet.
Thanks,

How long has this been going on? What kind of food is he on?(Food low in fatty content can lead to dry skin) Is he kenneled outdoors or an inside pet?(If a kenneled dog is brought indoors in cold weather, the dryness of the heater can create skin problems) If his skin has been irritated and he has been licking himself the lesions on his legs may be lick granulomas.(Hope your vet appointment is soon)

He may be allergic to his food or something in his enviornment. He may need an oil supplement in his food to help his skin. I'm thinking a thyroid imbalance, which can cause the skin problems you described.

Good thing you have an appointment with the vet for if that is a lick granuloma, they can be a bugger to get under control if left too long.

Let us know what the vet diagnosis' is.

Kind Regards,
Mary

Hi Mary,

Just got back from the vet. Scraping showed no mites or ringworm, sounds like lick granuloma. Vet told me to keep him from licking. Tall order. He has been indoors this fall and winter as the climate has adjusted to the way winters used to be in WY, cold and windy!

She thinks food allergies are in play also. Suggested Nordic naturals cod liver oil and switching to a hypoallergenic food. I recently switched from Proplan performance to beneful original and salmon mix. Going to look at HA foods at Petco. He's been getting fish oil supplements as well.

Wish us luck.

Thank goodness it isn't thyroid. Hope the food change and oil supplements help get things under control. Surprised the vet didn't recommend an Elizabethan collar for your dog to prevent him from being able to get to the spots he's licking. You know as well as I without such help it will be impossible to get him to stop licking. If the vet doesn't have one for you to use, you can get them at pet shops or feed stores. It is a large plastic cone shaped collar(they come in different sizes so make sure you get one that will not allow him to reach that area). It will need to come on and off for eating and drinking, but it is the only effective way to accomplish what you need to. Licking can quickly turn into a nervous, obsessive habit that becomes more difficult to stop as time progresses.

If after following the vets advice and you are not seeing much improvement, get a second opinion. Was in veterinary medicine for 14 years prior to career change to taxidermy, so I know first hand sometimes a second opinion is necessary. The food changes will take a month or more to see any improvement, but I can't stress enough the licking that is resulting in granulated lesions, needs quick and constant, aggressive attention.

Hope all goes well for you and your pooch.

Kindest Regards,
Mary

FWIW, when I got my dog he was constantly getting ear infections. It seemed I'd get one cleared up and a couple of months later anonther one. Then he got ringworm. A few months after that I took him to different vet for another ear infection, the new vet was because I had moved. I had his records and she noticed the string of problems and said it could be a type of allergic reaction to his food. I was feeding him a premium brand that was chicken based, she suggested a lamb and rice formula. Since the switch my dog hasn't had an ear infection or skin problem in the last three years.

My first thought was to recommend a lamb and rice dog food, as that is what we did 20 years ago when I was working in the veterinary care field, but I figured I better do a little research first since things do tend to change in any medical field.

Here is what I found:

"Some food allergy cases have symptoms of gastrointestinal upset-diarrhea, vomiting or
increased bowel movements per day--but in many cases, the only sign is itching," explains
Dr. Kinga Gortel, veterinarian and resident at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary
Medicine Teaching Hospital. When your pet itches excessively, there may be a variety of
causes.

In humans, food allergies can be diagnosed via skin tests and blood tests, but unfortunately,
these tests are unreliable in pets. "Veterinarians prefer to do a restrictive diet trial," says Dr.Gortel. "This consists of taking away your pet's normal diet-including treats, chewables, and flavored vitamins-and switching your pet to a diet containing proteins and carbohydrates completely novel to your pet." When possible, Dr. Gortel has the owners home-cook for their pet during the diagnosis period. "Then we know for sure that the diet doesn't have additives or preservatives and hasn't gone through a feedmill or processing plant that might contaminate food with proteins your pet has been exposed to. It doesn't take much to set your pet off if he is allergic to something."

"Veterinarians used to recommend lamb and rice a lot for restrictive food trials because it
was a food source not found in normal mixes. Lamb and rice was recommended for food
allergy testing for so many years that the public got the impression that it was good for the skin. Companies started advertising their lamb and rice mixes as 'recommended by
dermatologists.' So now if you go to a pet store, you can find a fairly wide selection of lamb and rice foods, most of which also contain corn, beef, chicken, and other components.
These lamb and rice mixes do provide a complete diet; however, a lamb and rice diet is not
inherently better than a normal diet. The popularity of the mixes has made them undesirable for restrictive diet trials unless owners know that their pet has never eaten a lamb and rice mix and unless there are no other protein or carbohydrate sources in the lamb and rice mix,"clarifies Dr. Gortel.

By Sarah Probst
Information Specialist
University of Illinois
College of Veterinary Medicine



I saw great results with lamb and rice kibble diets in the past and I guess if you read the label and make sure it doen't have any unwanted ingredients, it sure wouldn't hurt.

Ihanson, your pet is a perfect example why second opinions can be benificial and also medical research, as that in the article above, doesn't hold true for every case. Good to hear you found a formula to make your pooch's life happy and healthy.

Kind Regards,
Mary