Maltese x Shih Tzu - Terrible Allergies - Please help

[bec1981]

Hello,

I am posting for my parents who have a 12 year old male Maltese x Shih Tzu. He has had terrible skin allergies for the last god knows how long! Seems like forever.
He is fed Kangaroo Meat for dinner, and a small handfull of biscuits for breakfast. Breakfast biscuits are Purina One.
My parents have spend thousands on vet bills trying to help this poor little dog. He is currently on medication for thrush and an antibiotic for something else.
I am looking after him at the moment whilst my parents are on holidays. So I really need some help.

He licks his skin like crazy. Mainly his paws. At the moment they are to the point where they are red raw! He constantly has injections for antihystamines.

Can anyone recommed something we can do to help the poor thing?

Thanks

[LadyWolf69]

I agree with everything you posted. A dog's diet can have a tremendous impact on their overall health. My doxie/westie mix had terrible allergies for years & would bite her back until she was raw until I was finally told to change her to a different diet. Hills Ideal Balance dry food did wonders for her along with a high quality wet food such as Natures Recipie. She still has seasonal allergies & is on 1/2 tab of Benadryl but no more biting. Good luck!

[Misfits4Me]

Welcome to this forum....First, that is a horrible combination for nutrition.....Are we talking only fresh meat or is this a packaged Kangaroo dog food? If this is not an actual dogfood, then this dog is suffering from nutritional deficiencies...Throw the bisquits away! They can only aggravate the problem...There are many excellent quality biscuits available....Purina one is awful!!!!

Has he ever had a skin scrape done to determine if this is mites instead of just yeast & bacteria?? This is important & needs to be done FIRST!

He needs to be bathed in a medicated shampoo (From the Vet) for Yeast & bacteria....Once a week!!!!

If your parents have continued to vaccinate this dog on a yearly basis, this MUST STOP! They also need to find a Vet willing to work through this condition instead of continuing to pump medication into him & charge thousands of dollars....FIND A NEW VET!!!! The abundance of antihistamines is drying him up worse & creates more itching......Dogs need moisture to heal their skin!

Karla