I haven't heard of "walking dandruff", when I did AC picked up quite a few dogs with mange and she doesn't look anything like that. The dandruff she has is very small-down at the skin and really only noticeable when she's brushed, I was under the impression it was dry skin associated with allergies. I'll look up the mites right now.

Ok well I just looked it up online and she has ALL of the sx they list, and they said the newer pesticides don't get rid of it. I'm off to buy a magnifying glass... question though-this started when we moved into a small apt with carpet (its temporary) could she have gotten them from the carpet as this seems to have started well after we moved in?

Put some of the dandruff on a warm dark plate. See if it moves.
DON'T FREAK OUT if it does.
This one is pretty easy to fix!

 Quote: Betty Landercasp

Put some of the dandruff on a warm dark plate. See if it moves.
DON'T FREAK OUT if it does.
This one is pretty easy to fix!

This sounds like a perfect Halloween activity. I'd make it one of the "treats" for little kids in costume (getting to check dog dandruff on warm dark plates for movement).

LOL, I was kind of freaked just by the thought of her having a critter on her, but I checked and ... nothing.

Her dry skin even, with the magnifying glass wasn't even noticeable. BUT... I put her on the chlor-trimenton and she stopped bothering the hot spots, hasn't touched them since she's been on it and they are healing well. She also isn't itching before I take her out so possibly it was all allergy??? Thank you for the suggestion on that!!! She didn't even touch them when I was at work, which would have been perfect hot-spot making time.

Good!

I've always had better results for dogs with Chlor-Trimeton and, IMO, even more with Hydroxyzine, than with Benadryl (although it's strictly individual, so I think a ten-day trial of each is worthwhile even if the first one you try isn't helpful).

The dog is on fish oil and E, right?

You might also want to try a little raw coconut oil in the diet, too. It's kind of expensive, but a $10 jar can last a long time. (It's not a replacement for fish oil; it's "with" rather than "instead of.") Look carefully at the label; the word "raw" is often very small, and the fastest way to get to the raw version on the shelf beside the other coconut oils is usually via price tag.

I wonder why the vet didn't recommend something else?

Currently no, I had her on salmon oil a few months ago but her current food does contain fish oil, should I also supp. her with the capsules. I hadn't even thought of vit E.

Is the coconut oil available in regular groceries or health stores and how much should I give?

The hot spots have all pretty much healed just some flaking scab but no open areas, no more licking of them, my sister gave her some forbidden food when I asked her to check on her the other day and she's got some small hive bumps in her ear. I'm wondering if with this improvement I should still continue with the derm vet?

"I wonder why the vet didn't recommend something else?"

Something else? You mean the antihistamine?



"I had her on salmon oil a few months ago but her current food does contain fish oil .... I hadn't even thought of vit E."

What food is she on? A food based on fish? I don't think I know a commercial food with therapeutic amounts of fish oil added. ( might be concerned if I did, because fish oil is extremely volatile; it should not be subjected to heat, or even light.) I'd also want to know about the handling of it, purity of it, etc.

Dog foods that say "with Omega 3s added!" often mean canola or flax, neither of which has the long-chain 3s DHA and EPA that we give fish oil for. (Also, while many humans have a mechanism that can convert ALA from flax, etc., to long-chain 3s, it's inefficient and unreliable. In dogs, it's very close to non-existent. Dogs need long-chain 3s as long-chain 3s, not ALA.)

Raw coconut oil is readily available in health food stores ..... the closest I've seen in regular grocery stores is extra-virgin (not raw). (BTW, it looks like mayonnaise, both in the type of jar and even in the consistency at room temp. It does not look like an oil that you pour.)

If you get back to us with the fish oil info, we can go from there. Fish oil is #1; coconut oil is terrific but takes a back seat to the extremely important long-chain 3s in fish oil for derm issues.

Please always give E (preferably natural, meaning d-alpha, not dl-alpha, and preferably with mixed tocopherols) with oil supplements. In many (maybe most) dogs, oil supplements can use up enough E to deplete the body's stores. So we add E with the oil supplement (any kind of oil supplement).

A dog with derm issues, IMO, needs long-chain Omega 3s even more than a completely healthy dog. (IMO, there is about a 98% chance that a dog's diet does not supply anywhere near the long-chain 3s that the dog needs. We've detailed here several times what has happened in the past couple of centuries to the meat that dogs {and humans} eat, raw or commercial, canned or kibble, that makes virtually all of it very different in their balance of Omega 3s and 6s from what dogs {and humans} evolved to eat. I can find and link you if you are interested in those threads.)

What was the forbidden food your sister gave her?

Was that more than you were asking? lol

No, all the info is really helpful.

She is on Natural balance LID also gets the LID canned for interest, used to get Royal Canin GSD which had the fish oil but also had grain.

So now I have to remember my chemistry, lol. The D and DL are isomers if I remember correctly... So is the norwegian salmon oil I was giving her previously good or does she need another type.

My sis gave her a sample package of dog food that was not her normal brand, and probably wasn't grain free and something else that came in a container wrapped in aluminum foil. neither she nor Ambi are admitting anything though.

I've been working really long hours so will process this info.

How much E should she get?

Oh, and the little lump on her side is gone, I checked it and it looked soft and out came a little blob of tissue that looked like a small lipoma-its healed well and is now flat. She doesn't have anymore of these things-bizarre.