Westie puppy who is losing her hair

SadiesMommy · 03-04-2007, 10:00 PM

I need help!! I got a beautiful westie puppy for my wedding present from my husband in July. I dont know alot about dogs. I did get a book which told me they have a lot of skin allergies, but it wasnt real specific. She just isnt fluffy at all and the whole back half of her body gets thinner and thinner until finally there is no hair on her tail or back legs. I brought her to the vet who told me that she was allergic to fleas and we put her on advantage but she is still itching biting and has no hair still. Please help me....I loved this breed because of its fluffy white hair...I love my dog to death. But she just doesnt look healthy and its sad to me. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Curbside Prophet · 03-05-2007, 12:33 AM

Did your vet mention diet at all?

Dogsareme · 03-05-2007, 01:57 AM

Yes that is a good possibility.
What are you feeding her?
Sometimes if a dog is on a certain food for so long they can become allergic to some ingredients in that food. Other times the food is just not good enough.

What about stress? Is there any big changes that could be stressing her out? (moving, baby on the way, house guests staying for long period...)

skelaki · 03-05-2007, 03:43 AM

Westies have a lot of allergy problems of which fleas is just one. She could have food allergies, environmental allergies (fleas, plants, dust, mold, flea products, etc.) I have a feeling that your husband probably got her from either a pet store or some local backyard breeder.

See if you can find a holistic vet in your area and take her to him/her. A holistic vet will give you a different perspective and suggestions on how to at least control the problem.

BTW, I can empathize because before I knew better I bought a Keeshond at a pet store, and she was severely allergic both to fleas and to the flea products available at the time. To make matters worse we lived in San Diego, which has the perfect, ideal climate for fleas.

MagicToller · 03-05-2007, 09:02 AM

As mentioned above, also consider a food allergy.

Remember, if it is a flea allergy, it only takes one to create a problem. Generally it takes 4-6 weeks for a reaction to clear up, so keep up with treatments and maybe administer benadryl at the discrepancy of your vet. Frontline and similar products target a certain stage of the flea, so it will take a while to eliminate all stages. There are some holistic remedies you might also want to research:

http://www.earthclinic.com/Pets/fleas.html

SadiesMommy · 03-05-2007, 07:53 PM

I have to say thank you to everyone that took the time to reply to my worry. My husband did indeed buy Sadie from a woman breeder who he says in hindsight was a little shady. She had a big barn in her backyard with a very loud boombox sitting in front of it playing at 10pm...she also had Sadie in a little circle pen in the front yard and didnt offer to show him her parents. She did however have her papers and I registered her with the AKC and they sent me her family tree. I just wonder how easy it would be to falsify any of that information.
Anyway, I still love her way more than I thought I could!! And I am actually having a hard time finding a food that she likes. She will like it one day and then the never want to eat it again. I am a little frustrated. So is it possible that trying to find the right food may be contributing to her allergy problem. Right now she is eating Pedigree for small breeds. She does seem to like that, at least the light colored ones, she wont eat the red ones. She also has alot of hot spots in her joint areas so I bought a bottle of Sulfodene but after I put it on her she went out in the yard and a million fleas were on her in just those areas. I am going to look for a holistic vet for her, I was already thinkin of going to our health food store to see if he knew anything about animals.
Thanks again for all of your help!!

MagicToller · 03-05-2007, 10:04 PM

There is much debate about the quality and health factor of commercial dog food, but one thing holds true - we just want the best for our dogs. As you mentioned, try to get in contact with a better Vet.. this doesn't necessarily mean Holistic (Although this is more often than not), just one you can fully trust in to make the best decision for your dog.

Even though what your dog is suffering from is a Flea Allergy Dermatitis, a good diet will go a very long way in the battle against allergies and parasites. Pedigree, to say the least, is not the best food - particularly for a dog with sensative skin and allergies. You may want to look into brands like California Natural (Only 6 ingredients), Solid Gold (My personal favorite), Innova, and Eagle pack. There are several other foods, you can search around on this site:

http://search.onlynaturalpet.com/sea...archterms=food

Maybe you'll find something you like, or maybe even look into feeding raw?

http://www.rawlearning.com

It's really up to you - just do your homework!
Good luck, hope that helped.

skelaki · 03-06-2007, 03:15 AM

All an AKC registration means is that both parents and the litter are all registered with the AKC. It had nothing to do with the quality of the dog. Think of this pup as your way to become more educated about dogs and breeders. One thing you might want to do contact the National breed club for Westies (you can link to it from the AKC website, www.akc.org) and ask them for assistance on possible solutions. For my Kees, I used food grade diacotemeous (sp) earth as my primary flea prevention tool).

OC_Spirit · 03-06-2007, 10:44 PM

MY boyfriend''s American Bulldogs were on Pedigree after he moved out of the house (they stayed under his mum''s care) and his male suffered big time from it and part of it was hair loss. My bf switched them to Timber Wolf and almost immediately Tank was gorwing his fur back. He looks so good now and has gotten all his muscle tone back too!!! I got my dog nutritionist to look up Pedigree''s ingredient list and he told us that basically the food is such crap, it is the rquivelant to low-grade cattle feed and feeding it to your dog will essentially be killing it from the inside out.

Snowshoe · 03-06-2007, 11:30 PM

I would suggest going to your vet to get your pet allergy tested, and switching your dog's food.

Purina is corn based, and corn tends to cause nasty skin allergies in dogs. Foods such as Timberwolf Organics, Innova, and Solid Gold are not corn based, and will cause less allergies.

Potatos as a source of starch/ carbs are probably a better choice then anything else. I know that Fromm's Four Star Nutritionals carry food specifically for dogs with allergies.

Some breeds also get what is called Alopecia X- a genetic disease where they just randomly start loosing hair. I know that keeshonden often get it, and that many people confuse it for allergies.

SadiesMommy · 03-07-2007, 11:22 PM

Thank you so much for your help. I feel pretty stupid compared to all of the dog owners that have replied. I am forever grateful though to everyone that has taken the time to help me out. I am going to switch her food to an organic and also try the organic flea treatments, and I will see how she does.
Thanks again