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Dog with skin condition

My dog has been having a skin issue for over 5 years now. He's been taken to the vet and they put him on steroids, with no relief. Specifically, he is constantly licking all of his paws (he is licking so much that hair in these areas are not growing back), he constantly scratches his arm pit areas and ears, he is extremely red in his arm pit areas and groin area, he has bad dandruff all over his body, and he tends to shake a lot. He is licking and scratching so much that a foul smell eminates from him. He gets a bath once a week and will begin itching/biting/scratching right away and smells within 1 day after the bath. The dandruff also appears 1 day after the bath. We are not in the position to afford a full blood panel at the vet at this time. Can you give me your professional opinion for what we can do to help our dog with these skin issues? Thank you.

Symptoms: Itching & Scratching, Ears

•   Ashley Harris says:

  January 04th, 2009 at 03:13 PM

  Well we've got a few things here. Sounds like your poor dog has skin allergies. First Steroids are not the total answer to this. To much steroids can be bad in the long run and should be monitored by doing bloodwork every 6 months to a year depending on what your vet says.Is your dog on a medicated shampoo for the dandruff? If not you may want to ask for some the next time you go in. There are a few that may be given to you such as one to relieve the dandruff and the itching. There is a good shampoo and even a skin conditioner that I would recommend called Relief that you may ask about.Also try an omega 3 fatty acid such as fish oil as a supplement to help with the skin dryness. This actually works wonders.Ask your vet about this. When you are bathing your dog make sure to clean the affected areas really well and brush your dog afterwards. Brushing helps with the production of oils on your dogs skin so that also will relieve some of the dryness. You should do this every day .All this is said assuming your vet has done a test for mites, yeast, bacteria and such. If these havn't been looked at they may be of concern to rule out. Just to know, have they tried a Food Trial to make sure this isn't a food allergy? Sometimes we see this especially with the symptoms you are describing. I hope this is helpful to you.

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