Aaron: I have actually tried those vita caps and they worked great for her coat! I'm using something similar that you sprinkle over the food that has a lot of the same ingredients!
Denise G.: I really do think the nzymes are working. If you would like to give it a try, the site is www.nzymes.com. The full kit is around $100, but it has lasted us 3 months. When we started the program, Gibson had the exact symptoms of a lot of the testimonials. She had started developing blackening of the skin, the flaking, biting, everything. If you read through their material, they talk about how dogs can go most of their lives on one type of food and be fine and then all the sudden they develop these symptoms which is how it happened with us. I guess the dogs digestive system kind of gets clogged up with yeast from all the wheat products in dog food which most vet usually don't diagnose.
The smell didn't start until a few weeks ago. According to the nzymes info, once the product starts working and cleaning out the dogs system, the yeast buildup is pushed out like toxins and that is what is producing the smell. Also, the flakes have now changed from white to yellowish brown so I can definitely tell it is working. It said it can take 6 - 8 months to see full results, so we are going to stick with it and after that time, if she is still having problems, I will take karlins advice and find a specialist.
In the meantime, i'm just looking for something that may aleviate so much dandruff (which I just may not be able to do since she is detoxing), or something good to soothe her itchy back. I can imagine that all that skin coming off is not very pleasant!!!
Karlin: Thank you for the advice on seeing a specialist, I think that is a wonderful idea. I think most vets tend to try and band-aid sometimes if they don't know what the exact cause is. I'm sure they see so many pets with allergies and it is so hard to diagnose each one individually, even with allergy tests!
We only started shaving her when the flakes started to get so bad. I would come home and her back from neck to tail would be solid white (she is all black).Her hair is very thick and would hold the flakes and brushing just made it worse. And this itchy problem started way before the trims did!
Also, we would only bathe her every 2 weeks and with the best medicated, oatmeal shampoos I could buy, but then when the smell came, well, I go as long as I can without bathing her, but when it gets bad, I just have to.
Last night my husband and I put her in the jaccuzi (sp?) and filled the tub with epsom salts and made a mixture of aveno colloidal oatmeal, baking soda and a touch or tea tree oil for an antiseptic and covered her back in it. Poor thing just looked pitiful!!! I actually climbed in with her while we let it sit on her skin. Then I gave her an apple cider rinse that I read is really great for dandruff. She smelled really bad with the vinegar (and Riley and Fletcher didn't want much to do with her), but this morning she looked much better! My dog thinks I am nuts, but I just want to help her not be so itchy! Oh the never ending quest to take care of our little angels!!!!
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Thanks to everyone for their advice! We really appreciate it!
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