My dog has dandruff, itchy skin, and cloudy eyes. Is it his diet?

Hi, thanks for using PetCoach! It definitely could be related to the food change or it is environmental allergies. The fall can cause allergies for sure. If you want to rule one thing at a time out, you can either do a course of antihistamines until the first frost and see if things with the eyes and skin improve as long as they aren’t miserable and itchy or change the diet first and wait to start the medication. Good luck! https://www.petcoach.co/canigive/dog/zyrtec/

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This could be due to an eye injury (which could be from him scratching) or conditions such as a corneal laceration, corneal ulcer, conjunctivitis, dry eye (also known as KCS), among many other conditions. I highly recommend that you have Bentley evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Further therapy would be based on the findings. Good luck and best wishes!

Dozer could be suffering from serve allergies but lesions like this could also be signs of an autoimmune condition. Also, a bland diet is not a food trial. To rule out food allergies a food trial must be completed. A food trial will last for 8-12 weeks and during that time, Dozer CANNOT eat ANYTHING other than the diet. That means no treats, chewies or even flavored pet toothpaste. Food allergy is best ruled out with a diet trial using a hydrolyzed protein because it can rule out all types of food allergy. If there is not a positive response to the food trial in 8-12 weeks, I recommend to have the lesion biopsied to look for autoimmune disease. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

The most common reason for change of skin color and itchy skin is fleas. I would recommend keeping up with a monthly flea prevention. Even if you are not seeing fleas on Rockey he could be bitten by fleas causing sensitivity of the skin. IF you are using flea prevention monthly than it is possible Rockey is having environmental allergies that need medication from a vet to resolve. I would recommend taking Rockey to a vet to make sure the skin is not infected and stronger medications are needed. hope that helps

This sounds like an environment or food allergy. The red is due to yeast proliferation from moistness in the hair. I would recommend a novel protein elimination diet for 40 days. Benadryl is a good anti-histamine but may not work as it only improves a certain type of allergy. Neosporin can be damaging to the kidneys so I would avoid using it. It also only contains antibiotics and so would not be helpful. Fish oils can also be very helpful at lowering inflammation in the body and improving skin and joint health.

Poor guy. It sounds like Bruce has skin allergies. Allergic dermatitis can be caused by something in his food or the environment, or both. THe top food allergens are chicken, beef, turkey and lamb, so these protein sources should be avoided. Its best to go with novel proteins such as rabbit, duck, kangaroo, etc. Here is a website link that talks about skin allergies more in detail. https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951973 I would then consider starting a food trial with him with prescription foods from your vet. However, since a food trial can take 2-3 months to show improvement its best to take him to your vet to start allergy medication (i.e. Apoquel, Cytopoint) to help calm his skin down immediately while we try to implement long term management treatments. My top hypoallergenic foods are Royal Canin Rabbit and Potato, Royal Canin ultamino and Hll's Z/D ultra. Best of luck with Bruce and his itchy skin and eyes! Take care.

It is difficult to say for sure but it looks like it could be a cholesterol deposit which is nothing to worry about. If he is squinting his eyes or having green or yellow discharge or any other abnormal behaviors then I would have your vet look at them to slensire he doesn’t have an ulcer or infection in his eyes. As far as his diet goes, if you can get him to eat some type of dog food (dry or canned), this would be better than just potatoes and cauliflower. If not, then I would consider adding some protein to his diet like boneless, skinless chicken breast and also some white rice. I would also add a dog multi-vitamin. Finally, you can look on www.Balanceit.com for recipes to help you make a balanced homemade diet for him. With him being a puppy, I worry about proper growth without the proper nutrients. Stay away from onions, grapes and raisins as these are toxic to dogs. I hope this helps!