Oil/grease and dog question

[Inchworm]

Sooo... my Akita was getting raw spots in certain areas from digging at them constantly. A few years back the Vet prescribed Vit-E pills (I later started buying them OTC at drug store, cheaper) and they worked a little but not completely.

I also swapped his foods around looking for a possible food allergy. This helped a lot but again, not completely.

He goes on 2-4 long walks a day solo. He is only 4ish but walks like an old man, slow and aimless. Between walks...sleeeeep. Damn this boy can sleeeeep lol. I took to wrestling with him for about a hour a day so it wasn't pent up energy.

What seemed to work this summer (in addition to the food I settled on and exercise) was a splash of olive oil(and garlic powder for other reasons) each day on his food.

Questions are...
What about greases from my food (hamburger, chicken, pork), will they help anything or just clog up his arteries? He LOVES it when I give him a teaspoon of the grease from whatever I'm cooking that day.

Are other oils like canola, vegetable, etc good or bad for him? Olive oil is freaking expensive.

Woof!

Thanks for any responses :)

:hi:

[rug]

1. Hair plugs.

[xchrom]

2. lol -- that advice brought to you by rug. nt

[Inchworm]

4. I don't think insurance will cover

And I'm broke ;)

:hi:

[Kali]

3. they say corn oil for horses

and carnivores sure need a little animal fat, but I imagine there really is plenty in the manufactured food you are feeding.

I doubt a TEASPOON as a treat is going hurt anything.

[Inchworm]

5. Is the corn oil for the coat on horses?

Or something else?

:hi:

[Kali]

8. yes, but to be eaten (poured on grain or other feed), not rubbed on

just to be clear ;-)

[Inchworm]

9. Hehe

A local old-timer suggested used motor oil for rubbing on. Not happening, he'd mess up my bed since he often sleeps with me ;)

Wonder what is in the corn oil that works. It is cheaper than olive oil.

:hi:

[Kali]

15. oh I have no idea - that was advice from long before olive oil got "popular"

probably just the fats, if the vet said vit E caps, I would probably just stick with that
food allergies are the most common cause of coat/skin problems but a poster below mentioned low thyroid and that would cover both skin and lethargy for sure - might want to check that out, not too expensive of a test I think

good luck

[petronius]

6. I'm the complete opposite of an expert, and I know nothing of dogs, so take this with

a bushel of salt, but years ago my cat basically licked half of his fur off. We considered diet, but the vet told us it was due to stress and depression - there was a lot of turmoil (moving etc) at the time. Changing the environment for him eventually brought him back to his regular furry self...

[Inchworm]

7. Yea, I had been told similar stories when I first started trying to solve

My brother basically abandoned the dog on me and there were several rough months between then and now.

When I mentioned pent up energy in OP I guess I should have mentioned stress too.

Things are more stable and routine now. Hmmm, maybe that is a factor in what is helping keep it cleared up.

:hi:

[BarenakedLady]

10. I fry my dogs in peanut oil.

Less greasy that way.

:hi:

[Inchworm]

12. BNL!

Oh dear lol

That'd be a lot of peanuts!

:hi:

[BarenakedLady]

16. It gives the skin a good crunchy flavor

:bounce:

[elana i am]

11. i think i'd look into canine hypothyroidism

<<<Sooo... my Akita was getting raw spots in certain areas from digging at them constantly>>>
<<<He is only 4ish but walks like an old man, slow and aimless. Between walks...sleeeeep. Damn this boy can sleeeeep lol.>>>

these symptoms are identical to mine.

[Inchworm]

13. Yours, yours? or your dog's?

Hehe.

I have tried to outsleep my dogs. There is noooo possible way ;)

:hi:

[Kali]

14. good possibility

happened to the husband in the last year or so

had a ton of symptoms - all fixed after a cheap blood test and small inexpensive medication in just a few weeks

[sarge43]

22. I believe you're right. n/t

[undeterred]

17. Get him tested for thyroid-

if its too low they lose energy and their coats get sparse. Usually they gain some weight too. Its easy to diagnose and cheap to treat, although it can't be cured. My last dog was on a synthetic hormone for years. Hypothyroidism is fairly common in dogs.

[Inchworm]

18. If it is common, I hope Vet did this ages ago

I'll find out Monday.

I'm still curious about what is in oils that work and which ones have whatever it is. I guess grease is just a treat :)

:hi:

[undeterred]

19. Diagnosing it involves drawing blood and sending it to a lab

that tests for it- there aren't too many that process canine samples. It cost about $75 for that test maybe 8 years ago, and took a few weeks to get the results back. If your vet had done it, you'd probably remember it.

:hi:

[Redstone]

20. I suspect Lyme disease. Sorry about that.

Redstone

[MajorChode]

21. I don't think dogs have a problem with congestive heart failure

So as long as his weight stays normal, you should be able to give him all the fat in whatever form he'll take.

[Kali]

23. they sure can get diabetes, though

and other pancreatic disorders, although yes keeping the weight down should prevent most of that

[The Midway Rebel]

24. Try Fish Oil

http://www.springtimeinc.com/product/omega_3_6_9/dogs?r=G-fishoilfordogs&gclid=COHJ9Iy3pKQCFQpV5wodAWbZ3Q

[kristopher]

25. How often to you bathe him.

My problems with dog's coats ended when I stopped giving them baths with shampoo. I use a well moistened cloth with just a bit of soap on it and rub them down about once a week. Of course, some things they like to get into still require a good bath, but it is rare.

Good luck.

[TorchTheWitch]

26. Akitas shouldn't be bathed frequently

They have very thick coats that require much more skin oils than the average dog to maintain healthy skin and fur.

[TorchTheWitch]

27. Sorry to say, it may be SA

Sebbaceous Addenitis. My first Akita got it, it's permanent and rough to treat. The only way to diagnose for it is by doing a skin punch biopsy. However, if your vet hasn't mentioned anything about doing one, and you've seen some improvement with changing the diet and so forth that may not be it. Akitas are prone to all sorts of skin problems.

I think this is allergies though. My Akita has been having skin problems all season this year. He's better but not normal yet. I'm anxious to see what happens when fall is over and the pollens and molds that have been at an all time high this year go away. When I brought my Akita into the vet in June he thought that it was probably a food allergy of some sort but he already had been getting organic non-allergenic dog food, so if it was a food allergy it wasn't his dog food... but I did switch him to a different organic non-allergenic dog food (which he hated) and there was no change, so it wasn't his dog food. He's back to his original organic non-allergenic dog food that he likes and has had improvement, so I don't even think it's a food allergy at all but environmental. MY allergies have been ghastly since the beginning of March and haven't really stopped. I've never experienced anything like this before with my own allergies and I've heard everyone else saying the same thing.

If you think it's a food allergy, he has to have a diet of non-allergenic dog food like Newman's Own or Natural Balance Duck and Potato. My dog loves the Newman's Own but he hated the Natural Balance Duck and Potato. Natural balance makes a lot of other flavors, but for some reason my beast doesn't like dog food with any red meat of any kind. The most important thing is that he gets NO other food tidbits of any kind. The only way to find out if it's a food allergy and what food it is is to cut out ALL extra foods and switch to a different food and than gradually introduce those tidbits he used to get and see how he reacts. It's also rare that it would be a food allergy without some potty problems to go along with it which was the main reason that the vet wasn't sure that it was a food allergy my dog had since he makes such perfect poop every time like clockwork that I'm envious.

Olive oil is great to put ON the skin, but can trigger allergic reaction if the dog eats it. If you want to give him oils to ingest to help his coat, give him fish oil pills. He'll probably eat them right out of your hand since they smell fishy and probably the goo inside the capsules tastes fishy too.

The improvement you might be seeing is the lowering of the pollen/mold count which I'm pretty sure is what has been plaging my Akita this season.

Does your Akita have drippy or irritated eyes at all or has he sometime this season? Mine has and it coinsides with the skin problem, so that also makes me believe it's an environmental allergy rather than a food allergy.

Whatever sort of allergy your dog has, you probably want something from the vet to calm the itching because it's the scratching that is causing the sores and loss of hair. My Akita has thinned out his hair a lot with all his scratching, but he hasn't got any bald patches or broken the skin... the sores he had were small round crusts of skin flakes that were classic signs of bacterial infection from his scratchings. I had good luck with the topical stuff to get rid of the sores but the antibiotics didn't do a thing. He's only got a few little spots left now and only a little bit of skin flaking that's now more like dandruff than those showers of big flakes.

To heel the sores, this stuff is totally awesome...
http://store.vetericyn.com/index.php/wound-infection/vetericyn-wound-and-infection-16-oz-trigger-2.html
Got rid of most of his spots after just two sprayings.

Akitas are sensative to different foods, and it's not a good idea to be giving him any people-type foods at all. Stop giving him people-type oils to eat and give him the fish oil pills. You'll need to determine exactly what is causing his skin problem in order to treat it properly, and the vet needs to determine what exactly the problem is. It could be a food allergy, but you need to know which foods are the problem, and it could be and probably is this horrible allergy season we've had this year.

Did his sluggishness coincide with the skin problem? It may be nothing more than because he's feeling itchy and crappy and it's summertime (Akitas as you probably know dislike hot weather), but it might be something else. This is something only your vet can determine. My beast was always on the lazy side, and in the hot weather sleeps constantly and generally doesn't want to move, and if he has to does it grudgingly. During this time of year I only do his walks during the coolest part of the night, and he only goes out in the day to go to the bathroom and runs right back inside again. Now that it's getting cooler finally he's perked back up a lot, but this is all just how he is.

Get to the vet. You need to figure out just what the problem is and the best way to treat it.

[Inchworm]

28. Thanks!

I forgot all about this thread. I thought it sunk. My main reason for this thread was to see if I could figure out what was in the olive oil that is working and to see if I could find a cheaper alternative.

When I was searching for a food I did try the Natural Balance Duck and Potato and it didn't seem to make a difference. He will eat anything, and I did mix up his food a bit at first so it wasn't a big change all at once. I think we have found the food that works (combined with olive oil and garlic powder).

You may be on to something with the pollen/molds. It was during the HOT of summer when his digging was constant. He did go through a booger-eye stage. It wasn't runny or anything, just "sleepers." I'd wipe them out in morning and wouldn't see any sleep until the next morning. The only actual break in his skin from digging was at the base of his tail. The other spots were just hairless. It has mostly grown back in now. He gets dry skin during the winter and am going to watch him closely this Fall to see if what I'm doing now will work.

I will definitely look into the Fish Oil. Again, I wonder if Fish Oil has within it the same things that the olive oil is helping. As you know, Akitas can have sensitive skin and I don't want to change what is working without a confirmed guess :P

:hi:

[TorchTheWitch]

35. Olive oil has natural anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties

Which makes it so good for skin if you put it on. Might do the same thing if ingested. I used to use olive oil to coat my Akita that had the SA to treat his skin about every three weeks. I'd drench him good with it and then let it soak in for about an hour or two and then shampoo him with a mild shampoo. Got rid of all the sores and about 80% of his hair came back except on his tail. I would buy it in the big gallon drums which were perpetually on half price sale ($10) at my supermarket (probably because few people bought it in such quantity). You might want to look into buying it in bulk like that. I could have used baby oil or mineral oil or something like that but I liked the olive oil because of the anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties (and it was a lot cheaper than using the same quantity of baby oil or mineral oil). Just made him smell a bit like a pizza, but I could live with that.

He got the fish pills every day, too, which I think helped a lot and they were the only pills he'd eat like a treat rather than me having to stuff them down his throat. The fish pills have the Omega 3's that are what's so good for the skin... a lot of dog food companies are adding it to the dog foods these days (I think that duck and potato food did). I don't know if it's the same thing as what the olive oil does, but it does work.

My dog doesn't have too much trouble with the dry skin in winter because we don't have central heating/air here which really dries out the air in the house and I use a little cold water humidifier 24/7 during the cold and dry season... about $30 at the drug store and it uses very little electricity to run. Mostly I do this for myself since I get itchy dry eyes, lips and the inside of my nose in dry air as well as dry itchy skin and an irritating dry cough in winter otherwise. Once in awhile I'd run the shower with just the hot water with the bathroom door open till I ran out of hot water to get some moisture in the air. That would help a lot for the upstairs where the bathroom is. All this must help the dog too.

The eye boogers you describe was pretty much what I meant by drainage... clear dripping that doesn't get accumulated thickly in the corners of the eyes is an environmental allergy sign also, but when it gets thick and globs in the corners it's worse and might signal an infection or quickly turn into one. I had to do the same thing with cleaning out that eye gook every morning. This eye boogy thing makes me believe your Akita had been suffering from the environmental allergies of the season rather than a food allergy, too. This year has just been the worst ever and the first year I ever dealt with this crap with this dog.

During the winter you might consider getting a humidifier and maybe doing an olive oil soak once or twice like I used to do with my Akita that had the SA. It's quite a messy job to have to do in the bathroom and I'd only recommend it if your dog is ok with the bathtub ritual. Mine was ok with it though a bit grudging but the Akita I have now LOVES the tubby. The results are really great though, and though he may smell like a pizza for a few days afterward his skin and fur will be awesome.

What I did was put him in the tub and slop the oil all over him generously to make sure it got in good all over his skin. Then he came out of the tub and sit or lie down on newspapers I spread on the floor and I'd sit on the potty and read to him out loud for about an hour or two to distract him while it soaked in good and I could stop him from licking. Then it was back in the tub for a good shampoo to get most of the oil out. He'd still be a wee bit greasy afterward but it continues to soak into his skin during the next few days and it wasn't enough to worry about him greasing up the bed or the carpet. It gets out all the dead flakes of skin which causes itchiness and irritation plus it works to help him continue to shed off those skin flakes easier for awhile afterward.

[LynneSin]

29. I had a friend who put his dog on a 'raw food' diet - cleared up the skin

Dogs are natural meat-eaters and the diet is based on what dogs have been eating since before domestication.

http://www.vetinfo.com/raw-dog-food-diet.html

There are butchers that specialize in Raw Food for Dogs and my friend found it only slightly more expensive than the combination of expensive store bought food/suppliments/vet visits he was spending each year

[Inchworm]

30. I'd love to try something like this

It does sorta make sense. I still get a little worried when giving him certain bones. LoL, I wonder how the hec he passes some of the bones I've seen him eat :D

We don't have butchers here any more... we have Suckmart ;)

:hi:

[LynneSin]

31. I think there are websites where you can learn about putting together a raw food diet

and find a place that specializes in the food.

[struggle4progress]

32. Don't grease dogs unless they're squeaking. It's easy to overgrease them

[Inchworm]

33. The Akita has been overgreased in the past

He was stealing the butter off my kitchen table for a few weeks. It took me that long to realize I wasn't using that much butter.

An overgreased Akita can be quite messy :puke:

:)

[old mark]

34. You may want to check his teeth and gums, too - our dog was pretty

tired all the time - turned out he had an abcessed tooth that had to come out. He's still recovering from that experience, but he is very perky now...


mark