http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
This is the one I use. If there's a better one, I'd love to know!
This is the one I use. If there's a better one, I'd love to know!
Please Help, Oily greasy coat, itching and smell
- Thread starter temmert
- Start date
Toffee's Mom
Forums Sage
Sounds awful, hope you get to the bottom of it.
I understand how frustrating such a problem can be! Toffee has allergies although I am not convinced against what... could be chicken, could be fleas, who knows...
But I do feed raw and I don't find it all that much more expensive... If nothing else it makes teeth white, small poop and and he looks good and lean again and fur in good condition ... Some friends have had success with Orijen and Blue Buffalo...
I understand how frustrating such a problem can be! Toffee has allergies although I am not convinced against what... could be chicken, could be fleas, who knows...
But I do feed raw and I don't find it all that much more expensive... If nothing else it makes teeth white, small poop and and he looks good and lean again and fur in good condition ... Some friends have had success with Orijen and Blue Buffalo...
New Diet
Well after the soccer game we ran to Petsmart. After looking at all the brands ect ect I settled on Natures Recipe Grain Free, Chicken, sweet potatoes. 50 bucks for the bag....WOW..Took all the Beneful I had left and put it in a garbage bag. How long will it take to see a difference?
Also Thanks to everyone for all your responses. And Kia thanks you also...
Well after the soccer game we ran to Petsmart. After looking at all the brands ect ect I settled on Natures Recipe Grain Free, Chicken, sweet potatoes. 50 bucks for the bag....WOW..Took all the Beneful I had left and put it in a garbage bag. How long will it take to see a difference?
Also Thanks to everyone for all your responses. And Kia thanks you also...
PreciousSheltie
Forums Enthusiast
If it's any help to you, Precious is on Wellness as well. 6star grain free food is out of my price range. If you were on beneful, anything better than beneful will definitely be out of your price range as well. I find wellness right in the middle and it does really well for us. My sheltie loves it (its her fav food out of all the rotational diets she's tried so far) and her fur looks great, poops small, energy level high, lean as a stick, teeth white, etc. I like their company over all with website, service, products, etc so I'm definitely a fan. Blue Buffalo is in the same boat as well in price range (that was my other choice when looking at brands for Precious). I've yet to buy one though so I don't have anything personal to say. Hope that helps. The one's you want to avoid if you were on Beneful are other brands like it like Kibbles & Bits, IAMS, etc. Basically the ones in grocery stores. Specialty stores are the places you want to go. You should find a better range in food for your dog if you go to somewhere even like Petsmart, if you have one near you. Should give you a sense of all the price ranges for your area.
As others have noted, it'll be worth your while both in money and your dog's health if you get your sheltie on a better start now. It should clear up a lot of the problems you are noticing now.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/ <- this too is a site I use, it's definitely very helpful to see all the popular brands all on one page to compare. Beneful is under 1 star, it'll explain why. Anyways, good luck!
As others have noted, it'll be worth your while both in money and your dog's health if you get your sheltie on a better start now. It should clear up a lot of the problems you are noticing now.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/ <- this too is a site I use, it's definitely very helpful to see all the popular brands all on one page to compare. Beneful is under 1 star, it'll explain why. Anyways, good luck!
Cindy
Premium Member
Oh...just a reminder about switching food gradually.
You might already know this, but just in case you don't it will save you from dealing with nasty diarrhea!
I always mix in the new food slowly over about a week or 2 (starting at 10% new food/90% old food) and increase gradually if the dog tolerates it and has solid stools. gavin has a sensitive tummy, so even that doesn't always work as well as I'd like
Hope the new food helps!
You might already know this, but just in case you don't it will save you from dealing with nasty diarrhea!
I always mix in the new food slowly over about a week or 2 (starting at 10% new food/90% old food) and increase gradually if the dog tolerates it and has solid stools. gavin has a sensitive tummy, so even that doesn't always work as well as I'd like
Hope the new food helps!
ClantyreSheltie
Forums Sage
Excellent!
I hate to use the word "detox", but that is kind of what the body has to do. It will probably be a month before you see a significant change, but it could be sooner. When I got laid off and went to Costco brand foods (not awful, but not great), I saw a negative change within two weeks. More fat, less muscle tone, icky coat. I think it takes longer to see positive change.
Don't forget that dogs, like people, do well on whole foods. So you can also feed her eggs (I just crack them into their bowls, some people bother to cook them) and meats (no salted or "enhanced" or deli meats), and cheese, and other animal based foods.
The Quahog
Forums Enthusiast
Forgive me if this is redundant, haven't really gone through all the replies as most were food related.
Putting the food issue aside for the moment, or leaving it to others, this does indeed sound like seborrhea.
As usual, i don't want to interfere with your veterinarians on your case in particular, but here's a quick 'what is seborrhea'.
Seborrhea literally means overproduction of hair oil (kind of like 'sebum diarrhea' - sebum is hair oil), but the term is misleading. It actually usually refers to an overly rapid turnover of skin replacement, and can be dry (sicca) where the flakes are skin, or oily (oleosa) where the flakes are hair oil.
There are two aims of treatment - control the seborrhea directly , with frequent anti-seborrheal shampoos, and try to eliminate the cause. The three main causes of seborrhea are chronic skin irritation, hypothyroidism, or idiopathic (no apparent reason), common, for example, in Cockers. This is one condition where the Omega-3s are also quite likely to be helpful. Hope that helps, Dr. Mac
Putting the food issue aside for the moment, or leaving it to others, this does indeed sound like seborrhea.
As usual, i don't want to interfere with your veterinarians on your case in particular, but here's a quick 'what is seborrhea'.
Seborrhea literally means overproduction of hair oil (kind of like 'sebum diarrhea' - sebum is hair oil), but the term is misleading. It actually usually refers to an overly rapid turnover of skin replacement, and can be dry (sicca) where the flakes are skin, or oily (oleosa) where the flakes are hair oil.
There are two aims of treatment - control the seborrhea directly , with frequent anti-seborrheal shampoos, and try to eliminate the cause. The three main causes of seborrhea are chronic skin irritation, hypothyroidism, or idiopathic (no apparent reason), common, for example, in Cockers. This is one condition where the Omega-3s are also quite likely to be helpful. Hope that helps, Dr. Mac
PreciousSheltie
Forums Enthusiast
Oh...just a reminder about switching food gradually.
You might already know this, but just in case you don't it will save you from dealing with nasty diarrhea!
I always mix in the new food slowly over about a week or 2 (starting at 10% new food/90% old food) and increase gradually if the dog tolerates it and has solid stools. gavin has a sensitive tummy, so even that doesn't always work as well as I'd like
Hope the new food helps!
Ah! Yes, very good point hahahaha Great chip in
Definitely don`t want the nasty diarrhea 
Cindy
Premium Member
I re-read this morning, and saw you trashed the old food.
in that case, rice and pumpkin (not canned pie filling, regular canned pumpkin) are good mix-ins to help with diarrhea.
for protein, you can use boiled chicken. Just add in the new food gradually
in that case, rice and pumpkin (not canned pie filling, regular canned pumpkin) are good mix-ins to help with diarrhea.
for protein, you can use boiled chicken. Just add in the new food gradually
Oh...just a reminder about switching food gradually.
You might already know this, but just in case you don't it will save you from dealing with nasty diarrhea!
I always mix in the new food slowly over about a week or 2 (starting at 10% new food/90% old food) and increase gradually if the dog tolerates it and has solid stools. gavin has a sensitive tummy, so even that doesn't always work as well as I'd like
Hope the new food helps!
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Update
Well she has been on the new food for ten days now. No issues with the change over at all. So far no difference in her coat. Yah I know its only been a short time but just giving an update. She does seem to have more spunk.....Guess have to give it time and see what happens. I bathed her Wednesday nite. By Thursday evening she was already loosing her fluffyness, then Friday she looked wet again....
Well she has been on the new food for ten days now. No issues with the change over at all. So far no difference in her coat. Yah I know its only been a short time but just giving an update. She does seem to have more spunk.....Guess have to give it time and see what happens. I bathed her Wednesday nite. By Thursday evening she was already loosing her fluffyness, then Friday she looked wet again....