Rescue Dog - Coat and Skin

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

Hi everyone.  Question for Karen and anyone else who might have some idea.

I recently adopted Colonel Esau.  I don't know much about him or how he ended up in county animal control.  As you can hopefully see in the photo below, he has a scruffy, wiry coat.  He is probably 4 to 5 months old.

When I brought him home, he had recently been treated twice for mange.  It's definitely not contagious and he doesn't seem to be itching too much - although his skin is very dry and flaky and the coat is patchy - both where the mange was and in general.  He also had Giardia and his GI was very inflamed.  Have treated that too with the standard course of med's and I expect it is under control.  Will know for sure after fecal test next week.  He is undernourished and very thin, but he's putting on weight now and definitely on the mend.

SO ... in addition to and I'm sure because of all of the above, his skin and coat are still quite dry and flakey, included a number of bare patches.

MY QUESTION IS, is there a particular food or diet or supplement that I can give him that would be optimal for helping grow back the bare patches and getting his skin and coat healthy?  I have been giving him salmon oil everyday.  That seems logical to me but you all probably know more than I do.  Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

I think I remember there being stories about machine parts winding up in the food - or perhaps it was the treats, as you say.  I also know that they have since overhauled their entire system.  In any case I've always checked every serving of food by hand and ever had a problem.

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

I suppose the question is, assuming he will eat it, do you think he needs to be on a specific puppy food?  I never really understood what puppy food is or why it is desirable.  By the time I get around to figuring it out they are old enough that it doesn't matter.  LOL.  Obviously the kibbles are smaller.  I've heard people say that puppy food has more calories and calcium for a growing puppy but I'm not sure if that is true.  I do know that Merrick says it is recommended for all life stages.  What do you think?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

ALS formulas are fine for puppies; most of the "puppy, senior, large breed, small breed" designations are marketing tools. All of the "puppy" formulas vary in nutritional content from one brand to another anyway; you can find "adult" formulas within one brand that have more calories, fat, etc than a "puppy"  formula in another line. 

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

Thanks!

[Samina, Snickers and Duke]

What a cutie pie!  Our Snickers had dry, itchy skin & our vet suggested that we give him a 1000mg capsule of fish oil every day (for his 60lbs).  It's made all the difference in the world & Snicky is just fine now.  I'm far from being an expert, but I expect that the fish oil you're giving him is doing the same thing.  I'd be cautious to hit him with too many supplements all at once.  Our vet made a point of saying that while X dosage was good for him, multiples of X aren't going to work that many times better.  They'd probably just upset his stomach at best.

 

It'll probably take a while for him to mend all around & as long as he's getting a good diet, I wouldn't go overboard with too many other things. 

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

Thank you Samina, and good advice.  It's easy to get carried away with products and cures.

[Deborah Brown]

Jay, Colonel Esau is just adorable.  I love those eyes and the perky ears!

The experts are giving you great advice.  I just want to note that the recovery can take awhile.  One of our neighbors adopted a dog with mange who was also undernourished.  She looked like a bald skeleton and it took several months for her to develop a healthy coat.  It sounds like you are doing everything right so don't be discouraged if it takes some time.

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

Thanks Deborah.  I am not discouraged - actually I am very much encouraged by the progress he has made so far.  Not to mention his temperament and training.  When I brought him home just over a week ago he seemed like a little wild animal.  He is very quickly picking everything up - house training, interacting with other dogs and people, basic obedience and leash skills, etc.  Of course he has an excellent teacher in his big sister Lola (even if I'm a bit biased). :)

[Camilla and Darwin]

We give Darwin EPO and it has really helped his skin.  Also, that is seriously one of the cutest pictures and dogs I've ever seen. Aw!

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

Aw, thanks Camilla.  He definitely likes the camera (much to Lola's relief).  I think I told him "show me Blue Steel", which produced that pose.

[Camilla and Darwin]

LOL!

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

UPDATE:  Was just looking at Esau's coat and thought about this post and decided to give a quick update.  He's been eating Orijen puppy food pretty much exclusively for the past few weeks - as much as he wants.  Obviously he gets a ton of exercise keeping up with me and Lola.  I'm happy to report that things are definitely going in the right direction.  He's put on 14 lbs and you can barely see the patches in his coat.  Even the ear that was mangy is almost completely healed.  He's still thin but not drastically underweight before where you can see his ribs.  Now he just looks like a gangly adolescent dog.  Adult teeth care coming in big and shiny and white.  Stools are a thing of beauty.