# up date on westie itch



## wendy230154 (Sep 6, 2008)

HI EVERYONE
l just felt that l wanted to share my dogs renewed skin , for about 4 years my westie sophie has suffered with the westie itch, so bad her tummy and various places would be red raw with a yellow crust. she had been put on atopica which l must say was brilliant .but l felt this is only masking the problem . which is how l came to look on this site wen l was reading allthe testomies that others had tried ,l kept noticeing burns any way we put sophie on this dried food ,anyone with a westie would know how fussy and how difficult this would be, somedays she went without hoovering the kitchen floor, she has a spoonful of protein in with lamb burns wetted done, with hot water, my dog is a different dog so much alive with no outbreaks of any sores at all hasnt been to the vets since feb. what was interesting the vets never said once what do you feed your dog on.
so try it is your dog is suffering
wendy


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## Guest (Nov 15, 2008)

Glad to hear your westie has recovered - often changing the main sourse of protien can help these types of problems. Also using a near to natural as possible has it's benifits. I swear by NatureDiet lamb.
regards
sue


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## sarahlou145 (Nov 15, 2008)

Hello

Our youngest westie (1 next week) started suddenly itching for no reason about 3 months ago, they had both been fed on james wellbeloved and they had both been fine, he went for skin scrapes which came back negative, and had a course of steriods. Someone then recommended burns, so I changed to burns a month ago, and now he hardly itches at all.
Except for last night, when he went in the garden and ate the bread I put out for the birds!! He was itching most of the night. So clearly a wheat allergy!!
Glad to hear you westie is all better now.

Sarah x


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## Westies2 (Oct 13, 2008)

Hi , i'm so pleased to hear Sophie is better now!

I have 2 westies Meg who is 2 in December and Maisie is 14 months. I feed both of mine on Burns mini bites, and neither of them have ever had any skin problems (touch wood!!) my sister recommended it to me about a year ago. 

Some days Meg won't eat much of it but Maisie always finishes all of hers off! I was thinking about moving over to RAW as I have not heard any bad reports on this, but still need to do some more reseach!:


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## wendy230154 (Sep 6, 2008)

hi thankyou all for that in respect of burns bites what are those, also sophie didnt have any itches until age 7 
wendy


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## Westies2 (Oct 13, 2008)

Hi Wendy,

I think that Mini Bites is classed as kibble, and its a complete dry food.

This is the description off the Burns site,

Burns Mini Bites contain controlled levels of protein, fat and minerals to ensure that requirements for energy, muscle and bone development are met but not exceeded. This can reduce the risk of adult related health problems such as hip dysplacia, skeletal disorders and obesity.

Here is the link for you for the Burns website, they also have a section on health issues - skin problems or itching.

Dogs Products

As my dogs are both under 2 years old I cannot be of any help as to why Sophies itch started at 7.

I hope this helps

Westies 2


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## Cathe (Mar 14, 2009)

Hi, 

I've read the comments regarding feeding a Westie on Burns. I have been doing this but my dog still goes through phases of feet licking and recently
has had to have anal glands cleaned out twice. 

Can anyone with a Westie tell me how much they feed their dog per day?

I wrote to Burns and they said no more that 70g a day for my dog. She is
just over 9Kg and 7yrs old. They said 70g due to the fact that she had the itch. I've kept her to about 75g with the odd bit of raw carrot which she loves. The only things I find is that she still seems to be hungry although
her weight isn't telling me she is starving! 

Any tips/advice from anyone on this. 

thanks, 

Cathe. 

P.S. Kit (my dog) is a rescue dog so I don't know that much about her history and whether this has always been an issue for her.


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## Ejay (Jan 9, 2009)

Hi Cathe,

which flavour burns are you using? our vet suggested putting Lily straight onto Pork & Potato burns as the most common reason for westie skin as she saw was grain alergies. Lily has had no trouble since. So if you are feeding a rice variety of the burns, maybe switch to pork and potato and see how she goes? maybe worth a try


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## Cathe (Mar 14, 2009)

Hi Ejay, 

Kit has been on fish & brown rice or the lamb and rice. Maybe the Pork and Potato would be worth a try next time around. 

She is not horrendous but something seems to bother her from time to time. 
She does have the odd treat (organic type tomato and herb) that I got
from Waitrose and the odd scrap so maybe this is what causes the problem. 

I did read on Burns website regarding the anal glands that it's all possibly down to over feeding and the waste that has not been expelled creates 
toxins in the body which then results in the itchy ears, feet etc. 

I do try and keep her to 75g for the whole day broken into 3 meals. I think she is just one of those dogs that will always try it on for food in between meals regardless of whether she is hungry or not - I've just got to be stricter on not giving in. Most of the time I do ignore her but sometimes will give her a few more Burns biscuits so maybe her 75g is getting nearer 90g by the end of the day. Apparently, even over feeding burns can cause these problems. 

Anyway, thanks for the suggestion and I will try that variety next time I purchase which won't be long. 

Cathe.


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## Ejay (Jan 9, 2009)

i think in total over 2 meals Lily prob gets rougly 100g (i don't usually measure, but have jst put the amount usually given in a measuring cup) she is 22 months old and this seems to be the right amount for her. 

as for treats, lily's favourite is carrot! now she has been fine for 17 months we sometimes give her a treat which may contain grains. when we started vet told us no treats at all as it can really slow the process down.

the other thing that we bought was Episoothe shampoo, we washed her every time she began to noticably itch a fair bit, this helped while the food was beginning to work. we still have the bottle o any baths she has which are now saved for when she is a mucky pup, and we use episoothe. we got the shampoo from the vets.


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