# Pit bull skin problems



## brandifw (Aug 6, 2013)

Hi guys so my 3 year pit bull has struggled with severe skin problems for years. ive taken him to numerous vets and no one seems to be able to help much.. seems like its just bandaged for a short while and always comes back.. hes on a bunch of medicines right now, which i hate doing to him but he was so miserable.. hes on prednisone, allerchlor, cephalexin, and he just finished ketoconazole. been using a medicated shampoo as well. hes doing better but not where id like. any opinions, suggestions, advice would greatly be appreciated  also i changed his food from nutro a year ago, to blue buffalo which didnt seem to tickle his fancy, and now hes on natural balance grain free as of a month ago. any type of advice on dog foods would also be helpful.. thank you

photo_zpsf7e64c3e.jpg Photo by brandifw | Photobucket


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## Cain's Mom (Oct 25, 2012)

Have you had him tested for allergies? My boy showed signs sand after reading on here I finally noticed them. He can't have chicken based kibble or grains. I personally feed 4Health grain free beef and potato. It is what has worked wonders and its in my price range. Raw is also a great way to go if you can do it. There are lots of threads on food and allergies/skin problems. If its food allergy it'll take a couple months to see a change in your dog. How long were you giving between switches? Is he itching the spot? I use cortisone cream to clear up any spots and relieve itchiness. Just applied it once a day-normally before bed- and it instantly helped my boy heal.

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## pookie! (Jun 20, 2011)

Have you tried switching the protein source of the food? Like instead of feeding a chicken based kibble maybe try one thats fish or something?

My blue mutt did very well on TOTW Pacific Stream, its a fish based kibble. I ended up going to raw and any issues he still had on the kibble have since stopped. 

It might be worth a shot at looking into the protein sources or even looking into raw feeding. Most dogs that are allergic to a protein in kibble will be fine eating that same protein if its raw..


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## brandifw (Aug 6, 2013)

no i have not had him allergy tested, that will be my next move. all 3 of the vets ive been too charge a arm and a leg but dont offer that. its been so rough. i had him on pedigree as a puppy, i didnt realize how horrible it was at the time. switched to nurto and did that for about a year. skin was getting worse and worse so tried Blue buffalo for 3 months, he wasnt fond of it and i didnt see anything at all whatsoever change. now onto natural balance grain free fish and sweet potato. just started it so cant tell yet


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## brandifw (Aug 6, 2013)

-dont know either if skin has accumulated this way from food or from fleas. the problem is as a puppy he alwasy seemed to have a little bald spot missing on the middle of his tail, i would treat it with creams and would go away. i then moved out and left my dog in my grandpas care for about a year and came home to a dog that looked 10 times worse than the picture i tagged in my original post.. so since have made alot of changes. its just not getting better yet, i know i need to be more patient and keep doing what im doing. i just feel hopeless since its been a battle for about 2 years. and i want him to be better i hate him being like this


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## brandifw (Aug 6, 2013)

image1_zps3e4d4ec2.jpeg Photo by brandifw | Photobucket

its not just a spot its his whole back end. it became so callused and bumpy.. about 3 months ago this picture would have been bleeding, open, raw. so ive gotten somewhere!!


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## JoKealoha (Mar 22, 2011)

allergies are tricky. and i know everyone will say it's an allergy. but there are other disorders that affect the skin.
just my opinion here, but that looks like canine psoriasis to me. which is an immune system issue. but funny enough could also be allergy related. rarely though.
in the case of psoriasis. BARF would be a good diet treatment. expensive though. not matter what you feed, you should definitely supplement with a small amount of zinc and omega 3s.


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## pookie! (Jun 20, 2011)

Feeding a species appropriate raw diet would be much better than BARF and without all the unneeded fruits/veggies and grains. Also much cheaper.

It might help boost his immune system or fix any allergies he may have, might be worth looking into 
PMR Articles - articles - Prey Model Raw


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## JoKealoha (Mar 22, 2011)

pookie! said:


> Feeding a species appropriate raw diet would be much better than BARF and without all the unneeded fruits/veggies and grains. Also much cheaper.
> 
> It might help boost his immune system or fix any allergies he may have, might be worth looking into
> PMR Articles - articles - Prey Model Raw


yes, for a dog without any health issues. but some of the oils, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals would help to combat the psoriasis (if indeed that is the condition).
grains... yah.
there is an argument that dogs cannot absorb any nutritients from plant matter. they do. depending on how well it's chewed or chopped. but in the case of a compromised immune system. every little bit helps.
or go raw and supplement everything else...


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## pookie! (Jun 20, 2011)

I feed oils.. and feed raw. Also when you switch to raw it will usually fix the majority of health issues the dogs have, and if you want to add in some oils you can. 

Dogs dont need veggies or grains when fed a balanced raw diet BUT you can blanch and blend up some of the dark greens or beets and they can be beneficial for working dogs and most see no point in adding dark greens or beets or any other plant matter to a non working dog. 
My dogs dont get any vegetable matter and my house dog hasnt for almost 3 years. They dont break them down when eaten and are useless unless done like what I said and broken down by cooking and blended. 

"3.) Internal anatomy and physiology

Dogs and cats have the internal anatomy and physiology of a carnivore (Feldhamer, G.A. 1999. Mammology: Adaptation, Diversity, and Ecology. McGraw-Hill. pg 260.). They have a highly elastic stomach designed to hold large quantities of meat, bone, organs, and hide. Their stomachs are simple, with an undeveloped caecum (Feldhamer, G.A. 1999. Mammology: Adaptation, Diversity, and Ecology. McGraw-Hill. pg 260.). They have a relatively short foregut and a short, smooth, unsacculated colon. This means food passes through quickly. Vegetable and plant matter, however, needs time to sit and ferment. This equates to longer, sacculated colons, larger and longer small intestines, and occasionally the presence of a caecum. Dogs have none of these, but have the shorter foregut and hindgut consistent with carnivorous animals. This explains why plant matter comes out the same way it came in; there was no time for it to be broken down and digested (among other things). People know this; this is why they tell you that vegetables and grains have to be preprocessed for your dog to get anything out of them. But even then, feeding vegetables and grains to a carnivorous animal is a questionable practice.

Dogs do not normally produce the necessary enzymes in their saliva (amylase, for example) to start the break-down of carbohydrates and starches; amylase in saliva is something omnivorous and herbivorous animals possess, but not carnivorous animals. This places the burden entirely on the pancreas, forcing it to produce large amounts of amylase to deal with the starch, cellulose, and carbohydrates in plant matter. Thus, feeding dogs as though they were omnivores taxes the pancreas and places extra strain on it, as it must work harder for the dog to digest the starchy, carbohydrate-filled food instead of just producing normal amounts of the enzymes needed to digest proteins and fats (which, when fed raw, begin to "self-digest" when the cells are crushed through chewing and tearing and their enzymes are released).

Nor do dogs have the kinds of friendly bacteria that break down cellulose and starch for them. As a result, most of the nutrients contained in plant matter—even preprocessed plant matter—are unavailable to dogs. This is why dog food manufacturers have to add such high amounts of synthetic vitamins and minerals (the fact that cooking destroys all the vitamins and minerals and thus creates the need for supplementation aside) to their dog foods. If a dog can only digest 40-60% of its grain-based food, then it will only be receiving 40-60% (ideally!) of the vitamins and minerals it needs. To compensate for this, the manufacturer must add a higher concentration of vitamins and minerals than the dog actually needs."


I suggest OP checks out the link I gave, even though its a PMR site they support feeding like I do as well as BARF if you choose to go that route.


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## brandifw (Aug 6, 2013)

i will look into the raw diet.. you guys dont think the natural balance is good? also the only reason i think it may be a result of pro longed flea allergies while i was moved out is because of the location of the break out. its only around the tail and back end.. if you research flea dermatitis alot of dogs look similar to mine with that diagnosis.. i dont know i wish i had answers.


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## brandifw (Aug 6, 2013)

JoKealoha said:


> allergies are tricky. and i know everyone will say it's an allergy. but there are other disorders that affect the skin.
> just my opinion here, but that looks like canine psoriasis to me. which is an immune system issue. but funny enough could also be allergy related. rarely though.
> in the case of psoriasis. BARF would be a good diet treatment. expensive though. not matter what you feed, you should definitely supplement with a small amount of zinc and omega 3s.


looked into the psoriasis.. i really dont think thats whats going on with my boy. totally different but thanks you


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## pookie! (Jun 20, 2011)

brandifw said:


> i will look into the raw diet.. you guys dont think the natural balance is good? also the only reason i think it may be a result of pro longed flea allergies while i was moved out is because of the location of the break out. its only around the tail and back end.. if you research flea dermatitis alot of dogs look similar to mine with that diagnosis.. i dont know i wish i had answers.


I am sure its a decent food, it has an awful lot of veggies in it for my liking but its not too terrible. Id give him a little longer on it, closer to 3 months to see if its going to improve the dogs issues. Might want to try adding in one whole raw egg in every other day and see if that doesnt help his skin as well. 
Yes raw eggs are fine and yes you can feed the shell. I have seen a lots of dogs skin issues and ichies be helped by a simple egg.

Thats very possible as well. I dont use any of that stuff so I dont know much about that or the issue it could cause.


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## ames (Jun 6, 2010)

Bee pollen is REALLY axing for my dogs skin issues he has never been softer. It's to help fight seasonal allergies from the inside out. Feeding veggies and raw are ok but not realistic for my lifestyle and I feed Acana regionals Pacifica. It's grain free and made with great natural ingredients.

My boy had allergies to grains as well as chicken based kibbles. He can eat chicken fine its just how thy break it down in the kibbles. Allergy testing is expensive. Around me it was $300 for food allergy testing and $300 for environmental allergy testing. Do you notice the change year round or just sometimes?

Personally I would skip the allergy testing and get him on some good quality kibbles. You can always do it later. Raw seems good and all but unless you are willing to put the effort in, Orijen and Acana are you best bet kibble wise, closets to raw without being raw. Like I said my boy has done amazing on Acana. He also get apple cider vinegar with with mother, honey, bee pollen and pumpkin. Took me 3 years to find out what worked for my boy and finally this year no Benadryl!! That is a way way to get your pup some relief BEFORE its bad enough to become infected and need the meds you described above. They can develop a resistance to Benadryl and if my boy ever has hives again i want the Benadryl to work.

Raw eggs caused issues for my dog. Made him a LOT more dried out and itchy. It depends on what works for your dog. It's trial and error and a pain until you find the right combo. Good luck!!

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