Mary & Dogs Posted March 10, 2003 Report Share Posted March 10, 2003 I know we had a thread on this a while back. What did we decide? Molly is starting to shed and her skin is really dry and flaking. I need to put some oil in her food. I just bought a bag of Science Diet for dry and flaky skin. She is also eating dirt? Does anyone have a clue why she might be doing that? I feed her Iams - that should be a pretty good food. All the other dogs' coats look good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UpNatEm Posted March 10, 2003 Report Share Posted March 10, 2003 I give my dogs 2000 mg SalmonOil and 400IU Vit.E daily.If you buy the Salmon Oil gel caps they only come in 1000mg and I know for 6 months I just gave one gel cap.But I have read you can double the dose too.So I found it more economical to order Nova Scotia Salmon Oil from http://store.yahoo.com/alpha-nutrition/purnovscotwil.html and you get Salmon oil in oil form at 4600mg per teaspoon so I give 1/2 teaspoon.The bottles were cheaper then buying gel caps at GNC or health food stores.I give the Vit.E also so the oil gets broke down and doesn't go rancid in the body.PLUS both are very very nutritious for your dogs in tons of ways.Especially if you feed kibble.Those of us who feed raw don't worry about or see immune problems,joint problems,skin problems and such.There are other oils some use but the best is a good fishy oil so I recommend this. Sue Barta BartasBorders www.bartasborders.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
concrete Posted March 11, 2003 Report Share Posted March 11, 2003 I feed ProPlan and I've always liked it a lot. I don't have to feed as much so I find the cost about the same. The Dogs that are working a lot and get ribby I suppliment with 1/2 to 1/4 cup Kroger brand vegatable oil. This puts the weight back on them. Maybe there is some kind of mineral deficiency if she is eating dirt. I might call and ask the vet what he thinks. Kevin Brannon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam Wolf Posted March 11, 2003 Report Share Posted March 11, 2003 Mary, didn't you just spay Molly about a month ago? Could be harmones causing the shedding. That's fairly normal after spaying. pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary & Dogs Posted March 11, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2003 Would that cause dry skin? It all seems to be on her back. I would brush her if she would let me - but she won't. She acts fine. Except she is gaining weight like crazy so I am trying to cut down on her food intake. Bandit is also blowing his coats like mad so I think that it is just the time of the year for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam Wolf Posted March 11, 2003 Report Share Posted March 11, 2003 Some dogs would get flakey and since Molly is flakey enough already Corn oil will help, but she may also need more exercise to keep the weight down. Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sea4th Posted March 11, 2003 Report Share Posted March 11, 2003 Iams USED to be a good food. Then they got bought out by Proctor & Gamble, and I've seen a lot of dogs get the "itches" when on Iams. I would also supplement with salmon oil capsules. However, how about just switching to another food? Vicki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sea4th Posted March 11, 2003 Report Share Posted March 11, 2003 Oh, one other thing. I just recently read somewhere where Iams had a recall on some of its products. Don't remember the particulars, but I can look them up when I get home. Vicki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana M Posted March 11, 2003 Report Share Posted March 11, 2003 My dad has had good luck with a product called Dream Coat. His dog (a mostly white BC with some skin sensitivity issues) was very itchy and had hotspots fairly often. Since starting the Dream Coat, her problems have pretty well disappeared. It's pricey (I think about $20 for about a 16 oz bottle), but you only add a small amount to the dog's food once a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaos Posted March 17, 2003 Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 My older girl has skin problems on and off through out the year.... and the vet suggested fish oil, unfortunately I am anaphylactic to all fish and seafood, and that would be a death sentence for me any one know of another benficial oil????? I read that corn oil is good in one of the posts (Is that Canola oil?) are there any others.. I was thinking of flazseed oil what do you all think? sara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastisclear Posted March 17, 2003 Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 COD LIVER OIL!!! Its great stuff!!! Cheap too.I give all my dogs a tablespoon a few times a week and they shine like the top of the Chrysler building!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted March 18, 2003 Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 Sara, I use sunflower or safflower oil at the advice of one of my vets (the holistic vet). It works well for my dogs, and you certainly wouldn't have to fear for your life when using it. As a side note, I feed a mix of ProPlan turkey&barley and Diamond to get a fat:protein ratio I can live with. I add oil to increase the fat content a bit. I used to use Diamond Premium (the green bag) but liked the ingredients in their lamb & rice formula and so switched out the premium for the lamb & rice. Later I noticed one of my dogs getting rather itchy to the point of developing something like hot spots just a month or two ago. Slow-reacting human that I am, it didn't occur to me right away that the culprit might be the change to lamb & rice (I mean, after all, lamb & rice is often recommended for allergies). Even my vet was trying to say it was flea allergy, but I happen to have the fleas under control, so I thought there must be something else. Since I have one dog who eats a different food, I started switching Boy to that food and voila, no more itching and no more flakiness, scabs, etc. If the oil doens't help with the flakiness, consider changing your dog's food. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted March 18, 2003 Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 Mrs. Allen's Shed Stop has a good mixture of essential oils. Works great! Available through www.kvvet.com or Petsmart carries it also for about $5-10 more dollars. You can also try adding some fish to their diet a couple days a week. I get canned salmon when it's on sale. -Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawna Posted March 18, 2003 Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 I bought a bottle of essential fatty acids from my vet when my husky was having skin problems. They worked pretty good but I found the flaking cleared up when I changed food. I also bathed him in tea tree shampoo and let it sit in his coat for about five minutes before rincing. This was more for hot spots while the fatty acids were for flaking. Between the two of them his skin problems were pretty much non-extistant. Sara, I believe the essential fatty acids had fish oil in them so they wouldn't be good for you to try. I used corn oil with some success on one of my dachshunds. I don't think I would use canola oil, I've heard some bad things about it and would really look into it before giving it to my dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airbear Posted March 18, 2003 Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 I believe the essential fatty acids had fish oil in them so they wouldn't be good for you to try. ..I don't think I would use canola oil, I've heard some bad things about it and would really look into it before giving it to my dog. I give my dogs a supplement called Arctic Vigor Marine Oil, which is made of, er, seal fat. Chose it because of the good Omega3/6 ratio. Maybe that would work for those with allergies to fish? My dog's physio said to stay away from plant-based oils, such as corn and canola, because of the high Omega 6 content (Omega-6, or linoleic acid, is a pro-inflamatory agent, whereas Omega-3, or a-linoleic acid is supposedly an anti-inflamatory agent). Kristi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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