Sponky the Yorkie is Itchy
Gloria, sent me an email asking for my advice because Sponky, her 11-year-old Yorkie, is itchy. Very itchy! Skin problems are common and the No. 1 reason that people take their pets to the vet. Unfortunately, this is often a poorly managed problem when the dog or cat is put on antibiotics and steroids to deal with the symptoms, rather than finding out and managing the underlying causes.
“Sponky is having hair and skin problems,” Gloria wrote. “I noticed her hair starting to break off from the neckline to mid-way down her back. She has been to the vet for a skin-scrapings [allergy] test. Everything is normal. The vet gave me an Aloe and oatmeal shampoo. I wash her when her hair starts to look oily. She has also been seen by a holistic vet who changed her to a raw diet, dark meats, veggies and coconut oil and a probiotic. Her hair has started to grow back, but she continues to scratch and she still has white and dark flakes at the skin level along her neck to her back area.”
Poor Sponky! I’m so sorry to hear this sweet girl is suffering, but I do have a great solution.
I am assuming the vet has ruled out flea bite dermatitis as the cause since even one flea bite can cause a cascade of skin reactions in some dogs. If that possibility has been eliminated, then in my opinion, it sounds like Sponky has allergies to something in her environment. I recommend that Gloria ask her vet to give Sponky a Spot Platinum allergy test, which is really the “gold standard” for determining the underlying cause of allergic reactions, more reliable than skin testing. The SPOT Platinum test requires the vet to draw a small blood sample, which is sent off to the company’s laboratory and evaluated according to the region in which the dog lives.
My dogs, Wanda and Maisie, both Weimaraners, have had SPOT Platinum blood tests because they were scratching themselves all the time when I first adopted each of them. As it turns out, they do have environmental allergies (as well as a couple of food items which cause reactions and which I now make sure to avoid in their diets). SPOT Platinum customizes treatment in an oral serum, which you give to your dog by drops in her mouth once a day. It was worked wonders for my dogs --- and over time they actually have less or no longer have the allergic reactions and might not even need to continue with the serum.
Gloria might also try giving Moxxor Omega-3 supplements to Sponky, rather than coconut oil, which really cannot have the profound effect on the skin’s inflammation on a cellular level in the way omega-3 fatty acids do. The concentrated high quality omega-3’s found in Moxxor enable the body to naturally absorb the anti-inflammatory action in fish oil. It usually takes a few weeks before people notice benefits of taking omega-3’s daily, but Sponky’s overall skin condition should gradually improve along with the oral serum from SPOT Platinum created precisely for what is making her so terribly itchy.
Gloria should start taking those little Moxxor omega-3 capsules, too, as Maisie, Wanda and I do twioce a day. She’ll be amazed how much better she and Sponky look and feel.
Full disclosure that both SPOT Platinum and Moxxor Omega-3 are sponsors of the Radio Pet Lady Network at my invitation, because I firmly believe in their health value and the integrity and dedication of the private owners of both companies.
---Tracie Hotchner
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