WHOA noticed this during her bath - please look

[MaggielSelah]

I give Maya a bath every two weeks, which I have discussed with the vet. (The vet actually said that dogs only need a bath every few months unless they are really dirty but that if I really wanted to give her a bath, that to not do it more than every two weeks - just to be clear.)

When we went in for our second appointment with Maya (way back in June) - the first real physical I had a whole slew of questions but my biggest one was this sudden hair loss she was experiencing in her "pits". (Right under her front legs.) Anyways, I attributed it to this dog backpack I had picked up from PetSmart, so I brought it and our "weight" to the vet visit with me, and showed the vet how Maya wore it. I asked if this was what was contributing to the hair loss.

The vet said it might be, but that they would run tests. They ran tests and nothing came up so they just dismissed it. But the hair never grew back and with few exceptions, we rarely wear that back pack anymore because we want the hair to grow back. I've been noticing some "skinned knees" (the hair is gone on her knees now too) and today during her back I noticed it was gone in whole patches in areas behind her ears. I started taking pictures (sorry they didn't come out well) but I was hoping you guys could take a look for me and give me some advice.

(Also - Maya has had some dandruff - I asked the vet if I could improve her diet, she is currently - please no flaming - on Benefit. I add one raw Egg to her meals one hour after her runs. When I asked the vet if I should change to a raw diet to improve her skin condition she said no, that Maya's coat was shiny and that she seemed to be doing just fine on the diet she was on. After a month and Maya's skin not improving, I began to add the egg. The dandruff has continued and so now I'm using dandruff shampoo.)

The vet we go to seems nice, but I'm wondering a few things - perhaps I should change vets? The vet ages Maya at a year but has never told me that biking with her could hurt her joints. She is fully aware that this puts Maya at a full run, that she runs on the treadmill, the whole nine yards - and I just read today that I should be weary of doing this until Maya is two years old.

Anyways . . . I'm wondering if there is something more serious going on and if so, what? What further signs should I be looking for and should I also be looking for a new vet? If so, how can I tell if a vet is any good? And does a good vet also equal an expensive vet?

Thanks guys!

She's wet from the bath here - but see how her coat is thinning out?


This is behind her ears - this isn't THE bald patch I found. I can't get a clear picture of that one. But this is one of the smaller ones.


More thinning hair and dandruff. I even bought some special dandruff hair - against my vet's advice. But she's had this dandruff for so long.


This is her dandruff and "skinned knees".


I was trying to get her lay on her back to get a shot of her "arm pits".


And this is a picture of her. See, she doesn't look like she has all these issues until you get up close.

[pitgrrl]

There's a whole lot of possibilities between Beneful and full on raw. Why not try a different, better quality food? Vets aren't always the best resource for nutritional info, even if they're great in every other regard, so it's probably going to fall onto you to do the research yourself on that one.

If you feel like something larger is going on with your dogs though, and the vet is not addressing it, than get a second opinion. It's not mean or disloyal to find out what someone else thinks of the situation, the more input the better in most cases.

[Maryellen]

i wouldnt bathe her as much... the more you bathe the more you strip the essential oils from her skin...

[msvette2u]

Beneful is, to put it nicely, crap.
Dogs are prone to overweight and bad skin and hair because of it.
If you have a Costco nearby get a bag of their Kirkland brand dog food.
It's terrific and the price is, well, even cheaper than what Purina considers Beneful to be.

[MaggielSelah]

There's a whole lot of possibilities between Beneful and full on raw. Why not try a different, better quality food? Vets aren't always the best resource for nutritional info, even if they're great in every other regard, so it's probably going to fall onto you to do the research yourself on that one.

If you feel like something larger is going on with your dogs though, and the vet is not addressing it, than get a second opinion. It's not mean or disloyal to find out what someone else thinks of the situation, the more input the better in most cases.

Just got off the phone with the SPCA vet and am seeing them tomorrow morning.

I'm open to feeding her something her better, but we do have to be economical about it as well. My husband would flip if I suddenly switched to a $50 bag of kibble. I know that sounds badly, but that's him.

[MaggielSelah]

i wouldnt bathe her as much... the more you bathe the more you strip the essential oils from her skin...

Could I add an oil to her food? I've been looking at the oils that some of the pet stores and the vet carries. I've noticed they really vary in price - from $7 to $30 and in size as well. I've been seeing a lot of people refer to Salmon Oil. What's best? Could this be of help to her?

[OlympianAB]

adding oil helps usually w coat..but not w the actuall skin oils that are on the skin to help protect it..

[MaggielSelah]

Beneful is, to put it nicely, crap.
Dogs are prone to overweight and bad skin and hair because of it.
If you have a Costco nearby get a bag of their Kirkland brand dog food.
It's terrific and the price is, well, even cheaper than what Purina considers Beneful to be.

I feel like an A.S.S.

HUGE HUGE HUGE

My husband was at Costco looking at both Kirkland brand and Beneful and asked, "Hey honey, which should I get?" And I was like, "Get the Beneful! I heard it was better!"

Me = total ass.

I feel really bad now. Beneful out the door. Heading to Costco this weekend when I get off work. I'll hit the thread about getting rid of the old food and in with the new food.

[msvette2u]

There's a whole lot of possibilities between Beneful and full on raw. Why not try a different, better quality food? Vets aren't always the best resource for nutritional info, even if they're great in every other regard, so it's probably going to fall onto you to do the research yourself on that one.

If you feel like something larger is going on with your dogs though, and the vet is not addressing it, than get a second opinion. It's not mean or disloyal to find out what someone else thinks of the situation, the more input the better in most cases.

Just got off the phone with the SPCA vet and am seeing them tomorrow morning.

I'm open to feeding her something her better, but we do have to be economical about it as well. My husband would flip if I suddenly switched to a $50 bag of kibble. I know that sounds badly, but that's him.

Beneful costs MORE than Kirkland.
Kirkland is roughly $22/40lbs.
I mean, which would be more healthy for a dog, designed to eat meat? Soybeans and sugar, or Chicken?

[MaggielSelah]

adding oil helps usually w coat..but not w the actuall skin oils that are on the skin to help protect it..

So how often should I bathe her? I know this will sound odd - but do dogs get fevers and how does one check for a fever? She was sleeping with us last night and I could have sworn last night she had one. She was laying on my side of the bed, panting all weird, and just looked odd. I don't know how to explain it. I'm just really worried about her.

[MaggielSelah]

There's a whole lot of possibilities between Beneful and full on raw. Why not try a different, better quality food? Vets aren't always the best resource for nutritional info, even if they're great in every other regard, so it's probably going to fall onto you to do the research yourself on that one.

If you feel like something larger is going on with your dogs though, and the vet is not addressing it, than get a second opinion. It's not mean or disloyal to find out what someone else thinks of the situation, the more input the better in most cases.

Just got off the phone with the SPCA vet and am seeing them tomorrow morning.

I'm open to feeding her something her better, but we do have to be economical about it as well. My husband would flip if I suddenly switched to a $50 bag of kibble. I know that sounds badly, but that's him.

Beneful costs MORE than Kirkland.
Kirkland is roughly $22/40lbs.
I mean, which would be more healthy for a dog, designed to eat meat? Soybeans and sugar, or Chicken?

I hadn't read your post about Kirkland yet. Totally going to pick up the new food - actually I can do it tomorrow after the vet apt (one car family here so I have to wait for the car or plan ahead kind of a deal). Sorry about that. I was thinking about some of the more expensive kind of kibbles.

[msvette2u]

Nooo sorry. I didn't see that last post.

Beneful has a PRETTY bag. I understand. It LOOKS healthy because of the advertising. Dang. I wish they'd spend half of what they spend on advertising, on quality ingredients!

My parents fed their dog Beneful before I enlightened them

[MaggielSelah]

Nooo sorry. I didn't see that last post.

Beneful has a PRETTY bag. I understand. It LOOKS healthy because of the advertising. Dang. I wish they'd spend half of what they spend on advertising, on quality ingredients!

My parents fed their dog Beneful before I enlightened them

When we adopted Maya, they sent home Science Diet, I didn't want to change her food but she wouldn't eat it. I shared this with a girlfriend of mine who had two little dogs and she raved about Beneful. She talked on and on about how she "researched" all the expensive brands and how they all were the same as Beneful and to be honest, I was too lazy to go research it myself. I took home a baggie of her food and Maya gobbled it up. I would rather have researched Maya's breed than her food honestly at that time - it was more interesting and fun for me. Food, was not.

(I know, that was bad and selfish. And now it's having an effect on her. I really do feel terrible for not doing my own homework.)

Anyways, I should have been smarter about it - I've never really known my friend to do research outside of anything trendy that should have said a lot right there. And Maya hadn't really eaten in a few days, she probably would have eaten anything I put in front of her, I should have just persisted with the Science Diet. I felt like because I added egg and occasionally chicken breasts or beef that I was being good with her diet and because I regularly exercise her that I didn't have to worry about weight.

I didn't count on the coat issues. Poor baby. But I'm really worried that perhaps it's more serious than just her diet.

[pitgrrl]

So how often should I bathe her? I know this will sound odd - but do dogs get fevers and how does one check for a fever? She was sleeping with us last night and I could have sworn last night she had one. She was laying on my side of the bed, panting all weird, and just looked odd. I don't know how to explain it. I'm just really worried about her.

Yes, dogs can get fevers, but I've also found that my dogs often feel really hot when in fact their temps are totally normal.

You can pick up a rectal thermometer at the drug store, it's a good thing to have on hand anyways. Normal temp. for a dog is somewhere in the
99-102F/37.2-39.2 C range, though just as a note, after taking my dog's temps for years, they both seem to have a normal resting temp. of about 36-36.5 C, which has been helpful to know at the vet a couple of times and makes me think there's maybe a greater "normal" range than is typically given as general info.

[The Teflon Don]

Nooo sorry. I didn't see that last post.

Beneful has a PRETTY bag. I understand. It LOOKS healthy because of the advertising. Dang. I wish they'd spend half of what they spend on advertising, on quality ingredients!

My parents fed their dog Beneful before I enlightened them

Before we knew which way was up, we used to feed beneful and had a few skin/coat issues as well.

We now feed Diamond Naturals (same people who make the kirkland food) and all is well...

I was talking to a co-worker today whose 8 month old APBT has been having some skin issues...........she feeds Beneful, too.