# dry skin, Constant scratching



## Durky (Jul 20, 2010)

Hey there,

My female American Staffordshire pitbull, Is 5 and is acting very werid, She wont stop scratching her skin is very very dry, Her back end has lost a lot of hair, I have changed her diet. I tried adding more oils in to her food. (eggs, cooking oils, etc) She just keep losing hair and wont stop scratching,1-10times in a day.

Its almost to the point where i am going to take her in to the vet...

I treat her with advantage for ticks, mites, and fleas. I bath her in just water with no Shampoo because I figured this was the cause of the dry skin.

I need some help, I am hoping I can get this fixed before I have no choice to take her to the vet.

She scratchs and bites her self, (when i am not looking) Once I put more advantage on her, She slowed down... Her scratch marks are all scabbed up. and she has lost a fair amount of hair.

She has no fleas, No mites that I can see... I need some ideas on how to fix her.

edit* 
My dogs mate is male and about 13 years old. He is perfectly fine other then his shoulders are starting to go.


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## aimee235 (Apr 29, 2007)

What do you feed her?


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## Durky (Jul 20, 2010)

Old Roy

I believe that is the name.


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## aimee235 (Apr 29, 2007)

http://www.gopitbull.com/health-nutrition/3749-pet-food-rating-comparison-chart.html
The dog could have allergies. Old Roy is a junky food. It's full of nothing but fillers. If you can afford it switch to something better. The link above has a dog food rating chart.


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## Aireal (Jul 2, 2010)

#1 old roy is one of the worst food you could give a dog, it's kinda like feeding a kid ice cream for breakfast lunch and dinner, I go with iam (I know people will disagree with me) but it is a good fixed formula and a good ratio of omega 2/6 fatty acids and has the studies to PROVE it is a good diet which is why veterinarians recommend it

# 2 I know you say she has no fleas but it sounds like a flea ALLERGY meaning all it takes is 1 bit to inflame the skin for 2-3 weeks. (Typically resulting in losing hair in the area directly above the tail) while advantage is a decent product the fleas get to bite several times before they die. I would recommend comfortis, it is a month long oral flea medication that work MUCH faster than any topical I have used or seen. I have an American bulldog allergic to fleas and since changing from frontline plus to comfortis I have not had another problem
Good luck and keep us updated


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## Durky (Jul 20, 2010)

Aireal said:


> #1 old roy is one of the worst food you could give a dog, it's kinda like feeding a kid ice cream for breakfast lunch and dinner, I go with iam (I know people will disagree with me) but it is a good fixed formula and a good ratio of omega 2/6 fatty acids and has the studies to PROVE it is a good diet which is why veterinarians recommend it
> 
> # 2 I know you say she has no fleas but it sounds like a flea ALLERGY meaning all it takes is 1 bit to inflame the skin for 2-3 weeks. (Typically resulting in losing hair in the area directly above the tail) while advantage is a decent product the fleas get to bite several times before they die. I would recommend comfortis, it is a month long oral flea medication that work MUCH faster than any topical I have used or seen. I have an American bulldog allergic to fleas and since changing from frontline plus to comfortis I have not had another problem
> Good luck and keep us updated


I love you atm,esp if it helps her.

I am thinking about switching to pedigree, Would you suggest that one to be a lot better? If not could you suggest a brand?

comfortis - I'll look for as well. And she lost a lot of hair right around her tail, and under her neck a bit.

I don't really know much about dogs, Other then they are amazing animals, and easy to train.

@aime I am going to your link to do some research.

i'll keep you guys updated.

*edit come to think of it one of our puppies that we gave away is having the same problems, I'll remember to pass on this information. 
hes a 125 pound meat head.


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## Aireal (Jul 2, 2010)

thank you, 
yes i would recommend iams over pedigree because of the fattie acids, expecally if your pup has dry skin


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## Pancake (Jun 11, 2010)

Aireal said:


> *I would recommend comfortis, it is a month long oral flea medication that work MUCH faster than any topical I have used or seen. *


Comfortis works great for my dogs too.:thumbsup:


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## Aireal (Jul 2, 2010)

WOOT WOOT i love that stuff, i was so happy when it came out, i recommend it for ANYBODY that a) baths alot or b) has flea allergy issues


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## Durky (Jul 20, 2010)

Comfortis4dogs.com - Home is a very good website for information, Esp on getting rid of fleas.

again, I thank you guys.


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## aimee235 (Apr 29, 2007)

I would pass on all those foods. If there is a Cosco near you there is good food for a good price. Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables. If you don't have one near you there are some good foods at Petco and Petsmart as well.

Kirkland Scores 110 A+
Purina scores are *horrible except for pro plan*
ProPlan Natural Turkey & Barley / Score 103 A+
Purina Beneful / Score 17 F
Purina Dog / Score 62 F
Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F

Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D

I have fed a vet recommended bag of Iams. Let me tell you yard cleanup was horror. She pooped like 10 times a day.


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## Ladyblue (Jul 29, 2010)

*I'm having the same issue!*

glad I read this thread! My 1 year old blue is having the same symptoms (dry skin, constant scratching, loss of hair on back legs etc..) She's been on Advantix for a couple of months now, and we feed her Wellness wet food and Canidae Dry. Do you think its her food? She also has small inflamed red spot on lower belly =( Any tips or suggestions would be great! She has a vet appointment next week


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## gamer (Feb 1, 2010)

I would try a grain free diet a lot of dogs have trouble with the grains maybe try Taste of the Wild or some other grain free diet.


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## rebeccayhb (Jul 23, 2010)

my girl has the same problem!! when we rescued her she was full of fleas! it took us almost two weeks to get rid of them. I should've found this site earlier but oh well..we treated our yard where she goes pee with Sevin granulate, and treated her with capstar and Adam's flea spray(which was a mistake! it was NOT good for her and I seriously wonder if she's still showing allergy from that), we also went to the local farm store to get a 5% something to rub on her. finally I didn't find any fleas left on her we took her in and bathed her well.
I've been giving her fish oil, eggs and chicken and canned fish besides dry food..it seems a little better but she's still scratching 100 times a day.(maybe 10 or 15) I'm just saying, that scratching sound makes me want to scratch!


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## Harley D (Mar 27, 2009)

I dont know if its true or not but I heard that old Roy gives dogs cancer...is that true?


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## jayandlacy (Sep 21, 2009)

@Harley D- I too have heard that same thing, although I don't remember where I heard it. My dogs get Pro Plan-sensitive skin and stomaches...I must say I am interested in the Kirkland food from Costco, but Kaos has had Pro Plan his entire life...


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## Durky (Jul 20, 2010)

Harley D said:


> I dont know if its true or not but I heard that old Roy gives dogs cancer...is that true?


I hope not.

Also, little update.

I have switched to purina pro plan for now 
until I can get down to Cosco for some better food.(have to hate small towns)

Also, I was clipping her nails the other night and found out she has a few boils in between her toes. The puss and other nasty stuff that came out of those where horrifying. The next morning I popped them again, and put peroxide on them. (I hope it has the same affect that it does for humans.)

She seems to be clearing up a bit, but only time will tell. I am going to be bringing her in to the vet soon to get her on Comfortis.


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## jayandlacy (Sep 21, 2009)

I think she has allergies. To what well your guess is as good as mine. I have been researching this and have found that she and my dog could have several different kinds. It could be the flea allergy and a food allergy, or a food allergy and an inhaled allergy. I'm taking Kaos to the vet on Monday, I just discovered an ear infection today while I was cuddling him, cleaned out the wax I could see, and I read that ear infections, this is his first, could come from the allergies. So as stated I'm going to the vet Monday to see about this ear infection, thank goodness he hasn't shown signs they're bothering him yet.


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## bella.the pitbull (Mar 4, 2014)

I have the same problem. Took her to the vet and gave over a $600 on antibiotics and anti scratching pills and she was great while taking them....the soonest she was done with the dose..she would go back to scratching and loosing hair. She does not have mites..and eats salmon and potatoe food by blue buffalo


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## ames (Jun 6, 2010)

bella.the pitbull said:


> I have the same problem. Took her to the vet and gave over a $600 on antibiotics and anti scratching pills and she was great while taking them....the soonest she was done with the dose..she would go back to scratching and loosing hair. She does not have mites..and eats salmon and potatoe food by blue buffalo


you may have better luck starting a new thread. But how old is your dog? Could be a grain allergy, or potato allergy, but depending on where you live the winter and dryness is hard on skin as well. I add bee pollen to help, but if its allergies you want to figure out what it is and then add any supplements at that time.


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## shadowcat (Nov 25, 2017)

Durky said:


> Hey there,
> 
> My female American Staffordshire pitbull, Is 5 and is acting very werid, She wont stop scratching her skin is very very dry, Her back end has lost a lot of hair, I have changed her diet. I tried adding more oils in to her food. (eggs, cooking oils, etc) She just keep losing hair and wont stop scratching,1-10times in a day.
> 
> ...


Get her off old roy asap I have mine on taste of the wild it is grain free and it is meat based. Mine is getting dry skin due to weather that why I am here not sure what to do can someone help me?
shadowcat


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## EckoMac (Aug 25, 2010)

shadowcat said:


> Get her off old roy asap I have mine on taste of the wild it is grain free and it is meat based. Mine is getting dry skin due to weather that why I am here not sure what to do can someone help me?
> shadowcat


This thread is 7 years old. Most if not all of these posters no longer visit GP.
As far as your pups dry skin goes, try rotating out fish oil and coconut oil a few times per week to your pups meals.


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