# staffy pup with skin problem?



## sarah1984 (Jul 19, 2008)

we have a staffy pup who has been with us now for a few weeks, he is 14 weeks old now and a couple of weeks ago we noticed him scratching his belly and there was some redness, when we took him to the vets we was given some cream which is normally used for dermititus. this cleared the skin up but now he has browny/orange patches appearing on his chest and elbows and is scratching at his tummy again. he seems to have very flaky skin too, his coat looks like he has lots of dandruff. does anyone have any clues? he is due back at the vets again next week, but i was just wondering if anyone else had experienced this before with their pup/dog?


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## PoppyLily (Jan 8, 2008)

we have a staffy called Naz that has exactly the same problem. He sometimes just gets bald patches which are really red (a bit like excema). We took him to the vets at first but now we just get Savlon spray and spray that on twice a day if he gets a flare up. He usually gets it on the side of his face or under his front legs. We try to avoid long grass as this seems to make it worse. 
Sudocreme also works but he doesnt like having this on so we stick to the spray. 

Our friend has a rottie that gets dematitus on his feet - the vet prescribed cream and antibotics costing £40. We told him about Savlon spray and he now uses this to clear it if he gets a flare up. 

Hope this helps. let us know how you get on.


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## Guest (Jul 27, 2008)

Have you changed his diet?
regards
DT


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## Guest (Jul 27, 2008)

coal tar shampoo is good for irritated skin


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## Jo P (Dec 10, 2007)

Have you used any shake 'n' vac or carpet shampoo that could have caused an outbreak?? What does your pup eat?? Have you just had him vaccinated??


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## jackson (May 22, 2008)

Puppies often get dry flakey skin, just like human babies get dry or spotty skin. They usually grow out of it. 

It could be diet related though, what food is he on? wheat and maize can cause this type of allergy. It coudl also be 'dandruff mite', has your vet checked for this?


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## sskmick (Feb 4, 2008)

I would agree with the advice forum members are suggesting it sounds like a skin allergy to something.

My STB has an allergy to certain plants, I dug them out carn't remember what they were either sorry. They were herbaceous perennials looked a bit like stock.

We had skin tests done but nothing was conclusive it was a question of washing his bedding in mild soap like fairy non-bio, I washed the floor with plain water, didn't use air freshners, the lists is endless.

I got there in the end, good luck.

Sue


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## momentofmadness (Jul 19, 2008)

We used to have staffies.. a brindle bitch and a white male.. The male when we got him had terrible skin.. I used a shampoo from my horse vet which was for skin fungus's etc.. Can't recall the name.. But it cleared his skin up a treat.. I was told staffs do suffer with there skin a bit..


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## sarah1984 (Jul 19, 2008)

Thanks for the advice guys, he has had his first vaccination and is due his second one this week which is rather late on for a pup but we didnt get him till he was nearly 11 weeks old.
I am used to long haired dogs mostly and so the staffy is a bit of a new one on me but i have read that they can seem to suffer with skin problems. I guess its just a bit of trial and error at first to find out whats causing it. The cream we got from the vets was very expensive and the savlon spray sounds like a good suggestion, we shall see what the vet says this week and take it from there.


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## Jo P (Dec 10, 2007)

Sarah it could be a reaction to the vaccination - it has been known


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## gillieworm (Jul 4, 2008)

What are you feeding him on Sarah? Food such as Bakers or Pedigree are full of junk and are notourious for causing skin problems.

I have a dalmatian who had terrible skin as a puppy, he was on Pedigree puppy and as soon as we switched to a better hypo-allergenic brand (James Wellbeloved in our case) we have not had any problems at all.


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## sarah1984 (Jul 19, 2008)

he has been eating hills science plan puppy food.


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## PoppyLily (Jan 8, 2008)

hows the skin 2day sarah?


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## RebeccaArmstrong (May 23, 2008)

Hi 
I have a 10 month old staffie who has skin problems as well, he started with a small bald patch which went flaky ... he also had irritation in his ears. 

We took him for scrapes and ruled mites etc. He doesnt seem to be bothered by it too much. The vet seems to think it is an allergy probably to pollen etc. 

We gave him a course of hayfever type tablets prescribed by the vet, which worked a treat however i dont want to give him too much medication especially as it will be for months over the summer if i can help it. 

The best advice i have been given is to find honey that is produced locally - this will have been made by the bees who pollenate the local flowers which he is allergic to (therefore by eating this you get kinda immune) and i have to say it has worked he has no irritation or flare up since.... works in humans as well, gave it to my husband who has really bad hayfever...

Hope that helps


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## gillieworm (Jul 4, 2008)

RebeccaArmstrong said:


> The best advice i have been given is to find honey that is produced locally - this will have been made by the bees who pollenate the local flowers which he is allergic to (therefore by eating this you get kinda immune) and i have to say it has worked he has no irritation or flare up since.... works in humans as well, gave it to my husband who has really bad hayfever...
> 
> Hope that helps


I have never heard of that before, but will give anything a try! This is for my hayfever and not my dogs as they are OK


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## RebeccaArmstrong (May 23, 2008)

I know, I only found out about it a few months ago from a friend who has a lab which had the same irritation and so far it has worked .... and much healthier than taking the drugs!!


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## Guest (Jul 28, 2008)

RebeccaArmstrong said:


> Hi
> I
> The best advice i have been given is to find honey that is produced locally - this will have been made by the bees who pollenate the local flowers which he is allergic to (therefore by eating this you get kinda immune) and i have to say it has worked he has no irritation or flare up since.... works in humans as well, gave it to my husband who has really bad hayfever...
> 
> Hope that helps


Great advise, I was actually recommended this for something else with my Misty, but cannot remember for the life of me what it was, it may have been for the swellings on her face.
regards
Sue


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## sarah1984 (Jul 19, 2008)

PoppyLily said:


> hows the skin 2day sarah?


Its pretty much the same, no worse and no better. its mainly on his chest area and then he has an area under his chin and on inside of one leg, its such a funny colour, like a rust colour is the best i can describe it.


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## skri19 (Jul 11, 2009)

hi, we have a ten year old female staff. we got her when she was twelve weeks old and even then she had severe skin problems. she has been having treatments ever since. 

six years ago we took her to a dermatologist who did some skin tests. the results came out that she had dermatitis due to dust mites, allergy to grass, sheep skin, pine, etc. a vaccine was developed and she'd been going for monthly injections up to recently. the scratching diminished, but never stopped completely. 

by chance we switched to a different vet who's closer to us, and he decided to give her a blood test to determine if she had any food intolerances... the results came and we finally we have found out what she's really, mostly allergic to... pretty much all foods, except turkey and white fish. 

we've removed all those foods from her diets and at last, at the age of ten, she has stopped scratching.

always showering her after she's been out in the park has also helped to keep her clean from grass spores. a mild shampoo is best, something with aloe for example.

we've never stopped trying with her... right now, she's obviously not happy about being denied of her favourite foods but, like a proper staffie, she's accepted the situation very rapidly and she's showing great maturity and courage.

such a good girl :thumbup:

i just wanted to share my story because, i believe, not many vets take into consideration food intolerances when dealing with skin problems. something that in hindsight would seem so obvious! 

best of luck


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## PoisonGirl (Oct 24, 2008)

Hi, my dad had a staff x and he was allergic to loads of foods. They changed him onto a hypoallergenic food, wheat and gluten free, with no dairy and no additives and he was fine 

I am also told (I might be wrong!) that staffies are prone to skin irritation? And that getting them allergy tested is a good idea if they start showing signs of irritation.

My pup's mum was allergic to something and it made the skin on her paws really red. She was fine when we fed her good quality food and Luckily none of the pup's have shown any signs of being allergic to anything.

x


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