Shiba puppy allergies and food
So I took Hiro to the vet today to get his last set of puppy shots and I've noticed that he has patches of hair missing. The place where I take Hiro to, is a vaccination clinic and the vet told me that make an appt with a clinic. But, I believe it's allergies that is causing this. I looked up mange, ringworm and it's not either of those... and Hiro does itch a lot.
We had him on Halo, Chicken Stew puppy formula and as I've been researching on the computer, many shibas seems to have chicken allergies. So, I went out today and bought Natural Balance LID, Sweet Potato and Fish. I bought a small bag and we'll see how he does! Have any of you tried this food?
We had him on Halo, Chicken Stew puppy formula and as I've been researching on the computer, many shibas seems to have chicken allergies. So, I went out today and bought Natural Balance LID, Sweet Potato and Fish. I bought a small bag and we'll see how he does! Have any of you tried this food?
Comments
If this food switch clears up the skin issues, then you should be all good.
I think once he is totally transitioned off the Halo and onto this food for approximately 3 weeks you can determine the next course in finding out the cause of his itchiness.
Hiro is a cream puppy right? For what its worth, our cream shiba seems to have a rough time with environmental allergies (like inhalants from pollen and the like). She is also highly allergic to corn and chicken, and sensitive to wheat, soy and beef.
Obuk -Hiro LOVES food too. Not a picky eater for sure!
1-We had her tested for mites, etc. Came back clean
2-We changed her diet to Solid Gold, which was before we took her to the vet for allergies, since I noticed she would always have diahrea midweek, every week, and her poop has been fine since then....However, per our vet, this does not mean she's in the clear...it takes 3 months to really know if the Solid Gold is working like we think it is. In the meantime, all she can have is the Solid Gold, and her carrots as treats. Don't mix milkbones, etc into her diet until you know for sure Hiro is good with his current food. We are also putting Salmon Fish oil in her food.
3-We are giving her antihistamines to alleviate the airborn allergies and to keep her hair from falling out further and minimize the little hives she would get.
So far she is doing ALOT better, her hair is growing again, and it's super soft like when we first got her...she's gaining good weight and as soon as this crazy wet moldy weather is over we will most likely be able to take her off the antihistamines.
Hope this helps.
My 1st Shiba had severe itching from day 1. I was offered some benadryl and topicals which helped, then steroids which I did not do because I wanted to see a specialist. Then she developed hair loss, puppy warts and some benign tumors and was found to have demodexx which we treated with goodwinol. I finally went to a dermatologist months later and she was diagnosed with an immune deficency and started on interferons. We also did intradermal allergy testing and she is now on bi-weekly allergy shots and antihistamines. I am waiting for the go-ahead for a diet trial to isolate some causes of possible IBD as well. In this case, treating her with prednisone would have WORSENED the condition.
So, hopefully it's just demodexx, I think every dog has some but pups with weaker immunities can be more prone to developing superinfections of it. I think it's just better to get it checked out right away rather than switch foods around because that can just hide the real symptoms making a proper diagnosis harder.
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=630
Again, if this is what's going on, it could be a lot worse!
I do think that switching his food to Natural Balance will help either way, its fish based and limited ingredients will no doubt help rather than hurt should it be a combination of skin infection and food allergy.
Don't be afraid to change vets either, this is our 3rd vet (my old vet from when I was a teenager). He is farthest, but the one I trust. The first two vets within walking distance either said it was fine that she was super scratchy and biting, and the other one prescribed anitbiotics, pain relievers plus a topical and called it a day, when clearly she was having allergies to something (since all tests came back clean).
So yeah, we ended up doing two rounds of scrapings/tests for mites, mange, etc, but at least we KNOW what she doesn't have.
Good luck at the Vet!
He's sleeping now. We bathed him in the medicated shampoo when he got home. He ate and now is sleeping. I'm glad he still has an appetite... poor guy! It's kinda of scary how much hair seems to be just falling off him...
So, does the vet have Hiro on anything? Are you giving him any meds?
I know you are feeding him Natural Balance now, which is great to rule out anything food related.
Are you frequently bathing him? If possible, I would refrain for a while, maybe give him a fish oil capsule every other day (human grade, not liver oil - just fish oil - check ingredients for JUST fish (salmon or sardine/mackerel/cod etc., oil and glycerin/gelatin) and maybe try to find Neem Oil?
Info on Neem : http://www.discoverneem.com/neem-oil-for-dogs.html