Katdogs

Stevie lost about 3kg in the first few weeks of using the RC Lab stuff, we've been able to increase the volume she can eat, otherwise people were starting to comment on her being too skinny!

Our Stevie has only ever been on Royal Canin, large breed puppy food then we introduced Lab/Retriever when she was about 15 months. She's just over 18 months now. Everyone comments on her beautiful shiny coat and healthy weight. I'd love to do the raw food thing because it sounds so much healthier and cheaper, but I'm a bit worried I wouldn't get the balance/ratios right and would rather spend my time walking with the dogs than in the kitchen (though they do get carrot, apple, eggs, sardines now, just for fun). According to the RC/Iams/Eukanuba advertising, because you don't need as much it works out about the same as buying the cheaper foods, but I haven't done the maths to work this out for myself. One thing's for sure, with a lab you don't have any worries that they won't eat what's put in front of them!

Thanks Trifecta, but isn't sarcoptic mange one of the things controlled by the regular flea/mite squirts? The dogs had their regular dosings about a week before. Can it still happen? We still have some of the cortisone ointment left over. I know from my own exczema that it's not good to use it too much because it can have a permanent effect on the thickness of skin, but can it help with this scarring/dryness? It doesn't seem to irritate Stevie any more, I'm just concerned that if the skin isn't quite healed then it could be an entry point for further infection. Also I'm not too vain about her appearance (I hope) but she is a particularly beautiful dog and we love getting compliments on her behalf!

I forgot to add in previous post that the vet shook his head and said he'd never seen anything like it, which didn't give me a lot of confidence! Bump - can anyone help with repairing Stevie's skin after what seems likely to have been Hot Spot?

I don't know whether what Stevie had in January was 'hot spot' or not. She had little pimple type things on her nose one night, then next morning they were nasty running sores. Went to vet and he gave her antibiotics, but next day it was all a lot worse and spreading across her face and around her eyes, and she was starting to rub her face along walls and furniture, so I went back and asked for cortisone and anti-histamine jabs (we've changed vets since - I didn't have much confidence in this one, he asked for her to be muzzled and for me to kneel on her to keep her down while she was on the floor - he seems to be really scared of big dogs). We don't know what caused it, suggested causes were spider bite or Wandering Jew, but she hadn't been exposed to anything unusual that we were aware of. It all cleared up in a couple of weeks, using steroid cream and washing it with an antiseptic wash, but she still has a spot on the top of her nose in the middle, where the worst sore was. The fur seems to be growing ok but a bit thin, and the skin underneath is flaky and dry. Is there anything we can do to help that bit repair?