Smelly Dog

Kurn

Hi all,

I though I would post this here, and see if anyone here has had an experience like this. My dog is 13 years old, a mixed breed and has a skin condition most of her life, she has been to the vet more times that I can remember for regular chekups since I had her, from a pup.

She has been on steorids for years on and off but full time for past year or so. The reason being she cannot stop scratching, and her skin is very dry and rough from scratching. I was advised to wash her every weekend, but actully do it every second weekend, as I live in Dublin and she with my family down the country.

My question is by the time I come back home she is stink, not a dog smell but a nasty strong smell, the vet says there is nothing else he can do, when I wash her the smell stays away for a while -4/5 days but as I say when I am home every second weekend she is rank.

She gets only the best food and care, and is well looked after, does anyone on here have any tips for controling the smell. I also clean her ears every second weekend because she suffers from the very badly since a pup, they get clogged up-

Our vet says its a genetic condition, and the steorids and antibacterial wash is the best we can do.

I cannot believe there is nothing we can do... by now my family is used to her smell, but I am wondering if anyone else has expereinced something like this...
Thanks in advance

Wisco

johnmryan wrote: »

She gets only the best food and care

Just curious- what food do you feed her?

Also, if she's with your family down the country, does she go to a vet that specializes in small animals? Some large/mixed practice vets aren't as good on small animal skin disease or may not be as up to date with current therapies. Has she had skin tests or anything like that?
Skin probs are nasty- nothing worse than watching your dog scratch away all day and not be able to do as much as you'd like to relieve the symptoms.

Kya1976

If possible maybe try to wash her and clean the ears more often ? I know when their ears get dirty they do tend to smell quite bad.....

What do you feed her? I dont think that would be related but you never know.:)

Kurn

Hi thanks for the response

She usually gets pedigree chum brand food. Any better suggestions, I read mixed views on it?

The vet specializes in small animals, yes, they have a pratice for small animals. He has taken blood and skin samples in the past and sent them off (cost me a weeks wages), she has nothing and says it's genetic. She also has a lot of little skin tags and lumps, but he said they are definitely not cancer and I can ignore them.

Yes you might be right about the ears, but she will not let anyone touch her ears (has a strange ear thing) except me, so I do them usually Saturday and Sunday every second week when i'm down.

I bought cod liver oil and my family put have been putting that in with her food (along with her arthritis medicine) into her food, which is starting to help.

But the smell, YE GODS!

mymo

Try to get her off the pedigree, I gave it to one of mine in an emergency once and my god the smell was awful and lasted for days!
Check ears as suggested and teeth too can cause bad smells.

Have look at some of the pet wesites, what type of budget are you talking for food and people can advise.
Burns is good, as is james wellbeloved, redmills do some good food, think its the leader range...there's others too but all depends on budget.
I feed Royal canin and it costs me about €10 a week for 2 dogs, although I do give veggies and stuff left over and raw meat on occasion.

Kurn

Yea I dont think her teeth are great TBH, suggestions re best food?

Bought her Brandy once, the smell was something else!

hadook

Short term you could try washing her in diluted apple cider vinegar. My Dane stunk after her last emergency trip to the vets (a mix of "vet" and "ill", it was horrific) and apple cider vinegar was the only thing that could get and keep the smell out of her coat while she recovered.

Long term, I'd suggest changing dog food. We had a foster dog who was fed pedigree and the smell off him was out of this world. The other dogs would get up and leave the room if he walked in it was that bad.

Toulouse

If you can get hold of it (DTI in Dublin stock it) I've heard excellent things about Robbies and Luath's holistic food http://www.landofholisticpets.co.uk/Pet_food_products.html from many people who have dogs with skin complaints. Pedigree or Brandy are not great foods and the additives in them will not be helping her skin condition.

andreac

Sorry to say but Pedigree is one of the worst foods you can feed your dog. Its full of artificial colours and flavours and hardly any good meat etc.

Take her off that food and start her on another good one. There are lots of good ones you can get from the pet shops/vets. Some are Arden Grange, Red Mill,s Burns, James Wellbeloved, Royal Canin, Hills and so on.

You should see a massive improvement on your dog after changimg to a better quality food.
I would stay clear of anything from the supermarket as they really arent good quality at all.

cjf

She is an older lady and its sad but they do tend to get a bit smelly when they getting on! If washing her everyweek is not an option could the people who mind her maybe give her a rub down with some babywipes every second day. They smell nice and are gentle to skin even sensitive skin and the dogs love it! Its kind of like the way their mothers used to clean them so they just sit so quietly and enjoy it! My chap just collapses on the ground and rolls over when he see a packet of baby wipes he loves it!!

Agree Pedigree is not the best food but it has gotten her to a great age and perhaps if she is not well you may not want to upset her by changing all of a sudden to something that will be very rich to her!!

Zapperzy

I agree with everyone else here in saying change her food, pedigree is very bad quality stuff and will not be helping her skin problem.
Has anyone checked her anal glands? Thankfully Iv never encountered blocked anal glands but from what Iv heard the smell can be horrendous.

Have you ever changed around her food to see if she's allergic to something in it? Id be surprised if your vet hasn't already suggested it. You could try putting her on a chicken and rice diet for a week or two and see is there any improvment.

To be honest Id be getting a second opinion from another vet, even just so a fresh set of eyes can look her over and see if your other vet has missed anything. Long term use of steroids will not be very good for her so you need to find something that will help her without pumping her full of medications. Maybe find a homeopathic (sp?) vet?

Kurn

Hi Zapperzy, yes the vet checks her glands all the time, she went on an expensive food diet before and it made no differnece, I will call into local pet shop on way and see what they have.

She eats anything and everything, and my family often give her home cooked meals when there is left overs, like beef and chicken, so its not all chum. Will deffo look into getting her off the pedigree.

Thanks for all the info...

adser53

I cant add much more about the food, PC is muck so defo try changing here. For a quick smell solution, you can buy spray on shampoo that you just brush into the coat and it smells great. Costs about 5 quid a bottle. Also, excessive washing can dry a dogs skin and coat something fierce so that may be a factor too? I presume your using at least a dog/puppy shampoo for sensitive skin?

Kurn

adser53 wrote: »

I cant add much more about the food, PC is muck so defo try changing here. For a quick smell solution, you can buy spray on shampoo that you just brush into the coat and it smells great. Costs about 5 quid a bottle. Also, excessive washing can dry a dogs skin and coat something fierce so that may be a factor too? I presume your using at least a dog/puppy shampoo for sensitive skin?

She is using a medicated antibacterial shampoo for her condition, so can't do much better than that. Not sure I want to spray her also, as you say excessive washing is not good, and would remove natural oils.

I rang home just now re PC was told no colurs no flavours or preseratives, but I assume the meat quantity/quality is bad?

Thanks for the info guys, I will look at that spray on shampoo, may help control the smell a bit.

Also I have taken her to a number of vets over the pas 13 years, so it really is more of a control issue, family don't like the smell but love the dog, so as long as dog is happy and scratching is kept to a normal level we are all happy

maringo

My dog had atopic dermatitis, I changed him from meat to chicken and vegetable dried dog food and after shampooing i rinse him well with water with some tea tree oil added - it seems to do the trick - he has stayed fairly clear and I have found it better than tea tree oil dog shampoo and seems to keep his coat in good condition.