Get the beautiful baby to the doctor.

Randy

I am totally with Connie. Science diet is a piece of junk.

What do you think about a dog food names Exclusion? I had him on that before and he was doing great on it. I was feeding it to all the dogs and it got to be too much with all 4 eating it. But if only he was eating it, it wouldn't be so bad on my pocket book! It wouldn't go as fast as with 4 eating it. It was all natural food ingredients, no fillers from what I remember.

named rather, not names : -}

I found a Purina PMI Exclusive, is that it?
It looks like it's about 1/2 grain: barley, rice, oats (dogs don't need grain), that just means extra poop and more work for your dog to extract the highly processed nutrition from the cooked meat and meat meal. It's better than Science Diet (I had no idea it was so bad, what are those vets thinking?), but not nearly as good as raw.
I can see that you are very reluctant to feed something so foreign as raw meat to the carnivore in your charge. I can understand where you are, I just left that place recently, kibble had me under it's spell, but I managed to break free. I feel so much better now that I've switched, and my dogs LOVE it!
If you are worried about raw costing a bunch more it will probably be about the same as the PMI stuff, plus you will be saving a bunch of $ in trips to the vet, antibiotics, cremes, dental cleanings, etc, etc, etc....

Ok, I'm here at work and I talked to one of my med techs. She is going to set me up with a supply of Clavamox, Panalog, and Pred for his hot spots. She said the panalog like a few of you said will help him a lot. I am also going to go ahead and put him on the food that he did great on. Coat shinny, no problems with this food at all that I knew of. I really don't want to do the raw diet. I have never been for that at all. To each his/her own so please don't bash me for that. If this all doesn't help, I have next Monday off and I will get him in for allergy testing. I'll keep you all posted. Thanks for all of the advice. Anna and Chaos

Sorry if I came off sounding harsh .
If you also add the Omega 3 fish oil and Vit. E with the PMI it will help his skin.
There are also several grain-free kibble brands available if you decide to try them.

I suggest you to find a grain free kibble to feed your dog if you don't want to do raw. I believe your problem will disappear.

 Quote: anna hull

I really don't want to do the raw diet. I have never been for that at all. To each his/her own so please don't bash me for that.

Anna, you are on a forum where the members care about your dog, and your feelings come second.

Dogs are not designed to digest daily grain-heavy foods, and hot spots are only one of the external manifestations. Raw is best, but you can still do better than any of the crap-in-a-bag foods you named. DOGS NEED MEAT and they develop disease, allergies, skin pruritis, and more on grain-heavy foods.

I linked you with a whole list of varying-priced better kibbles. Purina (and the foods you mentioned) are NOT on it, and never will be.

"Allergy testing" is a long process involving skin tests and then hypersensitizing injections, and it does NOT work on food allergies, which require an elimination diet.

Pred, which someone is giving you without a prescription, I gather, is a short-term cycle-breaker. PLEASE read up on it. It is NOT a casual drug to be administering without vet supervision.

You are on a forum that's loaded with long-time experience and knowledge (and again, that doesn't gear the replies to whether they seem to be bashing the owner or not ). Stick around. Get a food with as little grain (and NO corn) as possible. Get those spots dried up and cared for. Get him off the Pred the first possible minute.

If "the food he did great on" does not have meat in first place on the package's ingredient list, don't buy it. You don't have to do raw if you are not ready -- but you owe it to the dog to give him what dogs need: Meat. Not cereal.


I strongly suggest that you start reading here and on Leerburg.com.

Oh..... and PLEASE get him on fish oil and Vitamin E.

If your med tech is a canine nutritionist, I will eat my keyboard. :>