# Help! Very dry and flaky/scaly skin..



## ranniew (Sep 17, 2015)

Mia is 6 months and was switched to a grain free diet (Fromm 4 star) since coming home back in October. Over the past month or so, we have been noticing dry skin on her. Not sure if this is related, but she had a minor skin infection over Christmas, but has been fine since then (although we still have been keeping her on a cone overnight or when we are not home with her).

Today, I noticed that the skin on her belly is very dry and scaly looking... some dryness is also observed on her shoulders... :afraid: We live in a condo and we do feel dry overnight so we have a small humidifier in the bedroom. Mia unfortunately don't sleep with us, is it possible that this is just skin dryness? Or is it possible this is something related to her previous infection...?

Pictures of her belly and skin on her shoulder attached...


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Dry skin can be caused by allergies.........what kind of food are you feeding? Grain free, Chicken free, no wheat corn or soy? You might try putting her on a Limited Diet type food, or add a skin supplement to her diet, but if she is so itchy she has to wear a cone when unsupervised I think you should take her to a Animal Dermatologist to get an answer....
You can try adding coconut oil or fish oil to her diet, but if she has allergies it won't do much to stop the itching.....

Was her skin infection a yeast infection? That is a sign of allergies!


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## ranniew (Sep 17, 2015)

MollyMuiMa said:


> Dry skin can be caused by allergies.........what kind of food are you feeding? Grain free, Chicken free, no wheat corn or soy? You might try putting her on a Limited Diet type food, or add a skin supplement to her diet, but if she is so itchy she has to wear a cone when unsupervised I think you should take her to a Animal Dermatologist to get an answer....
> You can try adding coconut oil or fish oil to her diet, but if she has allergies it won't do much to stop the itching.....
> 
> Was her skin infection a yeast infection? That is a sign of allergies!


Thank you MollyMuiMa! She is on a grain free beef flavoured diet (Fromm Four Star Beef Frittata Veg), just came off the chicken flavoured (Game Bird) kibbles last week from the same Fromm grain free line. And she is taking daily fish oil supplement already. She does scratch here and there, but doesn't seem to be specifically at her belly or shoulders. We're not taking any chances so the cone goes on if we can't watch her...

Thank you for the suggestions! We do intend to follow up with her vet first - I'm guessing we will need an referral for a dermatologist... Are there easy tests that can be done at the vet to test for allergies?


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

I highly recommend Nizoral human dandruff shampoo. The Vet dermatologist recommended it years ago for my allergic poodle, and When Timi had dry flaky skin as A puppy I used it and it instantly cleared up. Had to use it for a few months, but eventually it did get better and we don't need it anymore. It is expensive, but so effective, I think it is really worthwhile. It smells nice, and leaves the hair soft and poufy too!


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## ranniew (Sep 17, 2015)

Tiny Poodles said:


> I highly recommend Nizoral human dandruff shampoo. The Vet dermatologist recommended it years ago for my allergic poodle, and When Timi had dry flaky skin as A puppy I used it and it instantly cleared up. Had to use it for a few months, but eventually it did get better and we don't need it anymore. It is expensive, but so effective, I think it is really worthwhile. It smells nice, and leaves the hair soft and poufy too!


Thank you Tiny Poodles!! I will check it out and see if it's possible to get it here in Canada.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

ranniew said:


> Thank you Tiny Poodles!! I will check it out and see if it's possible to get it here in Canada.



Do you have Amazon? I usually have bought it on amazon (and Petplan paid for it too).


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## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

I just quickly glanced at your current dog food.The problem I see is that within the first ten ingredients there are three protein sources...beef, pork and salmon (oil). This makes it difficult to ascertain, when looking at food allergies whether your dog is allergic to beef, pork or salmon. At least the previous food you were on (the gamebird) did stick to all bird protein in the first ten ingredients (duck, turkey and quail). While your dog may not have food allergies, I prefer to put my itchy dogs on a dog food with limited ingredients, preferably with one protein source. I have recently used Honest Kitchen Limited Ingredient Brave (fish and five other ingredients), and Acana Singles Duck and Bartlett Pear Formula. There are several dog food companies that are now making limited ingredient foods. Good luck with Mia!


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## ranniew (Sep 17, 2015)

Charmed said:


> I just quickly glanced at your current dog food.The problem I see is that within the first ten ingredients there are three protein sources...beef, pork and salmon (oil). This makes it difficult to ascertain, when looking at food allergies whether your dog is allergic to beef, pork or salmon. At least the previous food you were on (the gamebird) did stick to all bird protein in the first ten ingredients (duck, turkey and quail). While your dog may not have food allergies, I prefer to put my itchy dogs on a dog food with limited ingredients, preferably with one protein source. I have recently used Honest Kitchen Limited Ingredient Brave (fish and five other ingredients), and Acana Singles Duck and Bartlett Pear Formula. There are several dog food companies that are now making limited ingredient foods. Good luck with Mia!


Thank you Charmed! I didn't even notice that there was pork, beef, and salmon in there!! I think I will switch Mia back to Surf and Turf (salmon + chicken), which she had before Gamebird. Since I'm still giving her salmon oil, it would be difficult to reduce her diet to just chicken I'm thinking.. Thanks so much!!


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## ranniew (Sep 17, 2015)

Tiny Poodles said:


> Do you have Amazon? I usually have bought it on amazon (and Petplan paid for it too).


I looked online and think we may just have it in our local drug store.  Gonna check it out today! Thanks again!!


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

ranniew said:


> I looked online and think we may just have it in our local drug store.  Gonna check it out today! Thanks again!!



Awesome! Let me know how it works - my bet is that you will see immediate results!


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