hot spot

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chowpups
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hot spot

Post by chowpups »

Okay it was a hotspot the vet said.. I never had a chow (and I've had 3) have a hotspot that was so raw and no fur at all on it.. I was worried it might be ringworm but the vet said no its definitely a hotspot. His comment was "tis the season ".....
Now to figure out whats causing it.. ??
She was just groomed
I just put her on herring /sweet potatoe food and treats
Spring has sprung in the neighborhood and shes been rolling in the grass
My rugs were just shampooed but with pet odor stuff so you'd think it would be pet safe??
This will be a tough one.. I don't know where to begin.....
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kiwani
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Re: hot spot

Post by kiwani »

Hot spot problems are most often rooted in diet. When the diet is unbalanced, having too many pro-inflammatory ingredients, just about *everything* becomes an itch trigger. Increased itching, allows the skin's staph and yeast an easier entrance. Anti-inflammatory ingredients dampen the itch response.
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Re: hot spot

Post by chowpups »

Kiwani
Thank you for your help
Is the California natural herring/sweet potatoe , bad or good???
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Re: hot spot

Post by kiwani »

How long ago has she been put on this new formula? Could you paste the detailed ingredients list of the formula she ate before, including all treats, any added fresh foods, etc? If she hasn't been on the new food for very long, her body, her immune system, is built from the old food. It takes time for the change-over to reach the skin.
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Re: hot spot

Post by chowpups »

We just started her on the new fish stuff last week.. we even did the treats with fish and pot. no scraps from the table .. just her food and her treats..
We had her on Van Pattens all vegetable food previously for about 5 months and we noticed her starting to itch alittle so we switched her off that. I don't have the bag anymore with ingred. on it .. I'll try to find out on line. I have been so careful about food cause I lost my other chow to the dog food recall stuff.
I did call my dog sitter and March 20th she did give our dog treats that had apple n beef so I am wondering if even for a week with treats if that could have started something.
I will continue the herring and sw.potatoe and hope it is okay..
Your help is greatly appreciated.
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Re: hot spot

Post by chowpups »

Here is the list of ingred. on the Vegetarian food I was talking about.
INGREDIENT LISTING
Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Cracked Pearled Barley, Peas, Potato Protein, Canola Oil, Potatoes, Tomato Pomace, Vegetable Flavoring, Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Natural Mixed Tocopherols, Spinach, Parsley Flakes, Cranberries, L-Lysine, L-Carnitine, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Kelp, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Manganese Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Riboflavin (Vitamin B-2), Vitamin D-2 Supplement, Folic Acid.

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
Crude Protein 18.0% minimum
Crude Fat 8.0% minimum
Crude Fiber 4.0% maximum
Moisture 10.0% maximum
Omega-3 Fatty Acids 0.3% minimum
Omega-6 Fatty Acids 2.0% minimum

Before this food she was on Duck and Oatmeal but lost interest in eating it..
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kiwani
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Re: hot spot

Post by kiwani »

chowpups wrote:Here is the list of ingred. on the Vegetarian food I was talking about....

...GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
Crude Protein 18.0% minimum
Crude Fat 8.0% minimum
Was this veggie formula only meant to be a *base*, to which you were meant to add your choice of fresh/canned meats, fish, etc? It's very low in protein/fat and the types of ingredients needed to build a strong immune system, healthy skin, etc. Some 'allergy formulas' are meant to be supplemented with an animal protein of your choice.
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Re: hot spot

Post by chowpups »

Its actually meant to be the only thing fed..

Natural Balance® Vegetarian Formula was designed for dogs with allergies caused by an intolerance to common food ingredients such as meat or dairy products. Our Vegetarian Formula provides adult dogs with the same essential nutrients found in diets with meat as the protein source. Natural Balance® Vegetarian Formula is for all breeds of adult dogs.

Some dogs may be highly sensitive to commonly used animal proteins, carbohydrates and food additives in their diet. Allergic reactions can lead to irritable bowel, upset stomach, and a number of skin problems. Natural Balance® has created Vegetarian Formula for dogs with these food allergies. Our Vegetarian Formula combines special non-meat proteins along with effective natural ingredients to help rebuild the dog's immune system.

A TRUE Vegan Formula Contains no dairy products or products derived from trace amounts of meat or dairy sources.


She was also on Eagle Pack Holistic duck/oatmeal at first but didn't seem to like it so we switched her to the vegan diet and she liked it... I had read that low protein was suppose to be good for allergy and skin problems?Thats how I came up with the vegan diet food.
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Re: hot spot

Post by kiwani »

chowpups wrote:I had read that low protein was suppose to be good for allergy and skin problems?Thats how I came up with the vegan diet food.
A low-protein vegan diet might be fine for a Chihuahua/Praying Mantis hybrid, : ) but Chows need high-quality animal protein in their diet. It takes a great amount of hormone power *just* to build a Chow's dense double coat.
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Re: hot spot

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Thats a good one Kiwani.. I will definitely up the protein.. cause shes no chihuahua.. :oops:
Is the herring/potatoe food have enough protein in it. . What is a good amount? You have been more helpful than my vet, my husband thinks I should be paying you.. :wink:
Okay here is the fish ingred and protein label

California Natural Herring & Sweet Potato Dry Dog Food
First Ten Ingredients
Herring
Barley
Oatmeal/Rolled Oats
Herring Meal
Herring Oil
Sweet Potatoes
Sunflower Oil
Dicalcium Phosphate
Natural Flavors
Calcium Carbonate

Remaining Ingredients
Vitamin E, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamins/Minerals, Potassium Chloride, Rosemary Extract
Guaranteed Analysis
Protein 21%
Fat 11%
Moisture 10%
Fiber 4 %
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Re: hot spot

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chowpups wrote:Thats a good one Kiwani.. I will definitely up the protein.. cause shes no chihuahua.. :oops:
Is the herring/potatoe food have enough protein in it. . What is a good amount? You have been more helpful than my vet, my husband thinks I should be paying you.. :wink:
I found info on the Natural Balance site mentioning that the vegan formula was specially designed for those dogs with meat protein intolerance. You don't really have evidence that your Chow is intolerant of meat protein. It could have been intolerance to anything in her previous Eagle Pack diet. I'm not a fan of Eagle Pack or Patten.

The "California Natural" streamlined formulas are the lower-end of the Natura product line, containing only one animal protein source per formula. They are about 21% protein. I mentioned the formula to the other site member, since it would have been a big step-up from the supermarket brand we were discussing at the time. It's also an improvement to what you were feeding, but you can step-up from here later on too. Let's see how she does by the time you've fed her one bag of California Natural.
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Re: hot spot

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Thank you again.. I will feed her this and see.. I've had a chow in the past have beef problems thats why I chose the duck but will get what ever for a healthy chow.. I am funny about food since my last chow died due to a change in food at the wrong time, for health reasons we switched.. (dog food recall)
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Re: hot spot

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chowpups wrote:Thank you again.. I will feed her this and see.. I've had a chow in the past have beef problems thats why I chose the duck but will get what ever for a healthy chow.. I am funny about food since my last chow died due to a change in food at the wrong time, for health reasons we switched.. (dog food recall)
Beef can be a problem for Chows because it's corn-fed. Same with chicken, it's usually corn-fed (itch trigger). The Eagle Pack formula included chicken fat (itch trigger) and ingredients such as carrots, peas, apples, berries, which might have contributed too many sugars (itch tigger). Not sure what their ducks were fed.

Free range bison is higher in anti-inflammatory fats than beef. Have you tried formulas like Solid Gold's "WolfKing" or "WolfCub" (bison/salmon formulas)? Solid Gold and Natura did well during the last round of melamine recalls. There now are melamine testing devices in place at food factory sites.

Condolences on your loss.
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Re: hot spot

Post by chowpups »

Solid Gold wolf king (salmon/bison) was the one I wanted to try Nikki on but they were sold out at the supply store. (guess there is a reason its sold out , must be good)..
Thank you for your condolences on my dog. It was a very sad thing to watch.. and I never want to see it again...Iam glad to hear they have more regulations. Nikki was just 11wks old and got into some of the food by pure accident and she started getting sick..along with my other dog. But Nikki didn't digest that much so she was okay.. (puppy pushing her way into older dogs food bowl and older dog letting her...)
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