A wesstie dog with skin problems

[arwyn]

Can anyone help me? my Wesstie scratches so much that her skin gets all sore. She does not have fleas, she gets a monthly pill for fleas and worms.

[horseshoes]

Not much help I know, but I do remember that my grandmother's westie used to have a problem. It used to get so bad that he used to lose all his hair exceot for his tail and around his head - he used to look awful bless him. He used to have some sort of liniment. That was years ago though. I think they can treat the problem these days with steroids although I don't know how long a dog is allowed to take steroids for. I honestly can't remember what the actual cause was though - sorry. I hope you get him sorted.

[mollykins]

She might be allergic to stuff like dust mites (mine is aswell as loads of other stuff) and might need steroids.

[ljdksa]

Most likely an intolerance to something in the food. Try weaning onto different diet. It worked for friend's dog.

[divegirl]

Hi, Westies are know for their bad skin! What are you feeding her and unless you live in a real bad area worming and treating for fleas once a month is a bit over the top, especially this time of year!

Lisa x

[woofgang]

Westies are known for skin problems, get advice from your vet!

[lankeela]

Sorry folks about to upset people here. Westie skin problems are inherited. If people bought their Westies from reputable breeders who only breed from dogs that don't have problems then there would be far fewer problems. Reputable breeders won't breed from dogs with problems because they have a reputation to maintain and most will be breeding to keep something. Get contact details from a Westie breed club if you are thinking of buying a Westie puppy. Same with Cavaliers, there was a couple in my vets last week with a lovely Cavalier puppy, I got into a conversation and they knew nothing about Syringomyelia, and couldn't even remember the name of the breeder they bought it from. You can't blame people for breeding dogs like this is people keep buying them without making any enquiries as to health problems. Its not as though there isn't enough information out there with the internet.

Soapbox rant over, for the poster I suggest you contact a Westie club secretary for help as they will lots of information

[josaphine32]

I have 2 westies, both with skin conditions, Its very common within the breed, What are you feeding her/him, most westies have skin allergies due to wheat/gluten, To start with if the dog was mine i would start on a hypoallergenic diet, as in james well beloved, it is a dry mix, but if your dog is not used to that pets at home do a tray of hypoallergenic wet food that you can mix the james wellbeloved with to wean them over (butchers is gluten and weat free but made mine sick) It does definately take up to 6 weeks for the itching to subside if this is the problem, but in my experience it has mainly been, You can help your dog with 1 piriton human tablet (cetrizine) 1 a day check with your vet, but it should be fine plus dog washing weekly in polytar shampoo...human for skin conditions and soriosis, buy at boots not cheap.....mind you non of it is when you have a westie.
good luck
jo.

[lankeela]

A very good article:

http://www.canadawest...b.ca/health/derm.html

[yelenots]

Hi I have a Westie and she has had terrible skin problems from being approx 6 months old. She used to chew her paws so much that they would bleed. Her ears and mouth were just full of scabs-it was awful. We had endless tests done by specialists and now she is on a desentizising vaccine which we have to give her twice a month. We are very fortunate that this treatment is working and if you saw her now you wouldnt think she had allergies-shes perfect! If she starts chewing we give her a piriton (not the one a day ones) and this helps. We also have a spray that the vet prescribed for her, and she had James Wellbeloved dried dog food. When she was really bad we used to put baby socks on her tied on with masking tape!! Hope you are insured coz we've spent thousands!! Good Luck x

[woofgang]

lankeela you are right except YES you can blame unscrupulous breeders for breeding dogs with inherited problems...that's like saying you can't blame muggers cos people carry money!

[yelenots]

By the way lankeela we bought our wesite from a reputable breeder advertised on the Kennel Club website, (she is also a manager of a vets) so I'm afraid I dont agree with you!

[woofgang]

if your pup's condition is an inherited one and the breeder knew that and still bred the puppies then i don't agree with the Kennel Club!!

[Jan1957]

My bichon had the same trouble arwyn and we were told to try tea tree oil so bought a shampoo and lotion containing this. This seemed to relieve the itching problem a lot and he didn't chew or scratch himself as much. Not saying it cleared it up completely but definitely made a difference. Unfortunately it does seem to be a problem that westies and bichons do have.

[jules77]

Yelenots - How do you know it was a reputable breeder just because they were on the KC website, I am afraid that means nothing. Most vets know very little about dog breeding and are not always up to speed on the appropriate health tests for each individual breed, and the Manager of a vets could have even less knowledge, they only employed to run the office, There are so called reputable breeders on the ABS that breed designer dogs with no health tests whatsoever. Best advice is to always contact a breed club before buying a puppy.

[arwyn]

Thank you everyone we are starting with her food (again) and taking it from there. She is four years old and the vets all contradict each other.