Skin problems that won't go away

[Laila]

Dear List members,

I am writing to you in desperation.  We have been having a lot of problems with Laila's skin. She will be turning 3 in May. Laila is shedding a lot and her coat looks like dried mess. There are scabs all over her body and her skin has tuned darker.  We have  lost trust on our Vets. Initially, they suspected a Staph infection (Pyoderma) and put her on antibiotics for a month. However, it did nothing. Then, they did skin testing for parasites. Still, nothing. Now they made us go through all kinds of lab testing including thyroid panel. Again, nothing. I am really feeling hopeless. We feed her high quality food with salmon oil, which should not be causing allergies. In the interim, we did change her food, but it did not help so we put her back on Call of the Wild (Pacific stream). I am at my wits end and don't know what to do. This has been going for a year, but more so recently as Laila is developing bald patches. I am open to any suggestion?

[Colleen, Jake & Baxter]

Thanks Christine....I am looking forward to a life where I am not spending all my time researching and buying powders, lotions, sprays and pills to combat Jake's skin issues. 

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

I just had a friend who told me his dog had skin issues and he tried everything and his groomer said the dog had a skin yeast. Infection and to do regular treatments of apple cider vinegar and water, I can't remember the dilution but he said it worked.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We have been wrestling with this same problem with our Springer.  It began with bumps on his back, then he began losing fur there, then he got bursting abscesses.  Finally we went to a dermatologist who put him on a different antibiotic than had previously been prescribed by the regular vets.  He has been on it since the beginning of December and will finish it up tomorrow.  It is also suspected that he may have Cushings because he got the skin infection in the first place but it could also be a strong, strong bad reaction to the cortisone and incorrect antibiotic that he was first given for the skin infection.  The regular vet did the simple panel for thyroid which came back normal.  The dermotologist gave him a more complete Thyroid panel which also came back normal.  Because he  finally seems to be getting better, we are holding off on the Cushings test.  My recommendation is to find a dermatologist no matter how far you have to travel., but where you live I am sure you will find one less than 50 miles away.  I wish we had done it when he first got all the bumps.

[Enid Ferner]

When my Shepadoodle was younger he constantly had skin/ear/eye infections...I knew this was not normal and had to be an allergy reaction to something. Sure antibiotics would clear the infections up but I knew they weren't the answer. I did a lot of research and decided to switch him to a raw diet so I knew EXACTLY what he was eating. Once I put him on raw all of his infections cleared right up and he hasn't had an infection since.
Something to consider... I will never feed kibble again, my dogs are very healthy, have beautiful teeth and boy do they love their meals!!