Can food help skin problems?

[wintour]

My 6 year old Robble has had bad skin for ages.
I met a vet called Joe Inglis (apparently he's been on TV) at the Wag & Bone show in Windsor.
Inglis has done a range of natural dog food and told me that it could help Bobble's skin problems.
I bought some and apart from my boys loving it Robble's skin does seem to ahve started getting beter in the last couple of weeks.

Is this the food or just the weather?

If you want ot have a look at the food the website is www.petskitchen.co.uk
I order it on-line so don't even have to carry it about with my shopping.

[joanna]

I recently bought the Quistel shampoo, conditioner and lotion for Twinkle because she was very scratchy all over and it has really made a difference for her. The literature supplied with it stated that food plays a big part in skin condition but also allergies and stress.

Joanna

[Kingofthehouse86]

When I (stupidly) had King on Beneful i noticed his fur was kinda flat and his skin was dry not like when he was on Solid Gold, so after switching him to Innova:Evo I noticed his fur was very fluffy and skin wasn't dry anymore

[judy]

i've heard people say that food makes a big difference. I don't know what kind of skin problem you're talking about, what kind of symptoms he has, but food can at least help with certain kinds of symptoms. Sometimes dogs are allergic to certain ingredients in some foods. Sometimes there aren't enough of certain nutrients a dog needs in certain foods. there's a product called Missing Link that is a high nutrient powder that you sprinkle on their food. I got some but i never tried it because i was trying to simplify things. I still have it in the fridge but am not sure if it's still good.

that's great that bobble is improving. skin can be a sign of general health condition.

i wasn't able to view the link you posted about the food.

[Nicki]

I'm sorry to hear about Robbie's skin problems.

I am convinced diet makes a huge difference to coat and skin...the skin is the largest "organ" of the body and generally the first one to show signs of dis-ease looking at it holistically.

I had a look at this website...the food seems very expensive, but the recipes look good!!

Other foods to maybe try are

http://www.naturaldogfoodcompany.com/ - mine are currently on this, it's the most "natural" dry food currently available. Although it looks expensive - on a par with the other two below, because you only feed about 10g per kg of body weight, it doesn't work out that expensive. And this one delivers free!!

http://www.burns-pet-nutrition.co.uk/

http://www.wellbeloved.co.uk/

Have a read through the websites...

[Charleen]

My Merry started itching at 3 months old and I don't think hers is SM. It is mostly around her hind legs.

I had tried all sorts of foods and couldn't find what she was allergic too. She scratched so much she would wake me up in the morning because she was shaking the bed. Her nails were shaving off the ends of her fur, so her hair remained short, even as an adult.

I finally admitted that my hit or miss approach wasn't working. So next I
talked to a vet who told me last November to give her 1 tablespoon of children's benedryl twice a day and that helped. She didn't scratch, but I didn't like the long term health implications. So next, I took her to a dermatology veterinarian this past May and she started her on an IVD dry dog food diet of rabbit and potato food and the scratching stopped.

Merry is now 2 years old and her hair is growing into a full coat for the first time ever. Now Merry is on a very strict food diet.

[luvzcavs]

Hell yeah food can make a massive difference to the skin be it natural commercial or other ??

One of my babies started with skin irritation/constant scratching at 6 months old and I have been on a 3 year plus journey to perfect his condition, I have now mastered it with a massive amount of commitment, cost, trial and error. His drugs however are very costly and I don't know if most could or would fund them ?

Anyway way back at the begining both the vet, holistic vet and dermatologist (consulted these all at different stages) all put Harry on an elimination diet which consisted of a noval source of protien and carbs only, Nothing else at all, no treats, no veg, fruit, nothing but these two foods he had never been exposed to before for a 12 week period, during this period if you see an improvement in the skin you have a indication that the cause or some of it could be food allergy.
In our case ours was/is not food allergy its atopic dermatitis which is much harder to treat (but there is hope with this costly wonder drug Harry is on) but the next process after this if there are some indications that certain foods are the cause is to gradually introduce one at a time new foods, so maybe give carrot for a week and see what happens then beef the next week and so on and it takes beepin ages and a lot of coomitment but well worth it if you can eliminate the source of your doggies bad skin thus making them a happier healthier mate.

Now if its found that in this time there is no change to the skin condition you can assume there is another cause and investigate this appropriately with your vet or dermatologist. Usually the next best step is intradermal testing.

Now without sounding like a bitch and a nag if your dog has had bad skin as you say for ages get it sorted properly. Obviously it depends on your defintion of bad and how much it bothers him and I do not wish to sound like I am having a go at you or assuming that you are not attempting to get it sorted but... it hurts so much to have bad skin and he can't tell you that and it can literally drive you insane to not feel comfy in your own skin because your itchy and or sore etc etc.

Please take this info with the love its intended and if I'm barking up the wrong tree disregard my dribble but I am trying to help.

Good luck with it all.

[luvzcavs]

Sorry I am back already, another thing I forgot to mention with regrads to diet and skin problems is fatty acid supplements such as fish oil are a massive help in the treatment and can be as easy as giving a few capsules a day (consult vet for quantity everyone is defferent).

[Charleen]

I concure - I give Merry one DermCap per day with her food.

[Molly's mom]

On slightly different note yet food related. When Molly was around 8 months old, her tear staining was attrocious. The vet didn't seem concerned but after doing some research online I read that there was a theory red dye may increase tear stains. I eliminated all treats that had red dye in them. I've always bought the premium dog foods, but on occassion bought the grocery store type treats because they looked so yummy. While her eyes still tend to tear somewhat, I don't have the problem of the terrible red/brown stains anymore.

The only treats she gets now are greenies, greenie biscuits (she loves them) and nutro treats, none of which have the red dye in them.