Unfortunately Westie's are very prone to skin conditions, along with many small breeds such as Bichons Hopefully the vet can get to the bottom of the condition though and find an effective treatment.

With regards to the insurance, I'm assuming that your vets policy is to settle the bill with them, and then claim the money back for yourself? In which case, you will need to call your insurance company and request a claim form if you haven't already got it. Assuming the practice you go to works in the same way as us, complete your sections on the form and ensure that it is signed, then drop the form into your vets. A member of the veterinary team should then complete the remainder of the form and attach the relevant invoices, and send the form to the insurance company for you. We don't charge for completing insurance forms but I know some practices that do so make sure you find out. You will get charged an excess for your first claim, however if the condition is ongoing and you make a number of claims for the same condition, you will not get charged an excess again, as these will go through as continuations, unless a new policy year has been started.

xxx

Thanks Hayley, I will be on to the insurance in the morning! I dont have invoices from the vets...only receipts, would these be ok? x

The receipts will be for you to keep, I'm assuming you mean credit card receipts here?

You can request the invoices from the practice, they should have them all on file, although they should print them and send them away themselves, so that would be more for your records really which wouldn't be a bad idea.

Good luck with everything hun xxx

Thanks, Im going to call them tomorrow I think, and ask for a copy of the invoice from tonight, I think this will be my first pay out of many!!! She is more than worth it though.. xxxx

Hi Anna,

Sorry to hear Willow is having some issues with her skin just now. Try not to over worry just now until you get a diagnosis as to what it actually is, if it's anything at all.

Molly (my Westie) will be 5 in the summer and (touch wood) she's been fine.

Although a few years ago one spring she had a slight rash on her back. Now, I always knew Westies were notorious for their skin conditions so I was aware of that at the time. Turned out she had perhaps scraped the skin on her back (which is where the rash was) with a bush branch or something which triggered off a wee reaction. The scratch, or whatever caused it, upset the microbes on the skin which caused the slight rash. Antibiotics cleared this up within a few days and thankfully it has never returned.

I used to add Evening Promrose oil to her food then, which was fine but for the past couple of years I have added a small drizzle of extra virgin olive oil over her food every tea time. I also add a drizzle to my other dogs food too. It was actually the vet who suggested the olive oil to my friend when her dog had dry skin.

Dorwest Herbs do good supplements for dogs with skin conditions and other ailments, have a look on their website:

http://www.dorwest.com/

Also, try and make sure the food she eats is hypoallergenic, such as Burns:

http://www.burns-pet-nutrition.co.uk/

Try not to bathe her too often, and if you really must, try and just use plain warm water whenever possible. If you must use a shampoo, try Malaseb (you can get it online or from your vet, if they haven't already prescribed it already - I will be surprised if they haven't, actually).

I've already told you about the chalk powder I use, you could try and use that instead of an actual bath.

Give her a quick check over every day for any grass seeds, which are everywhere and can cause skin irritations, as can the salt and grit on the pavements and roads.

Please try and avoid steroids if you can - I think vets only provide them as a last resort though anyway.

Regarding insurance, I have PetPlan's lifetime cover and consider it to be very good. I just hope yours is lifetime cover as if it is an ongoing complaint she has, they will pay for the lifetime of the treatment necessary for the condition, whereas some insurers will just pay for a years worth of treatment. Check your policy over carefully.

Sometimes vet/vet nurses will fill in the insurance forms for you, and all you have to do is check it over and sign it. My vet does this and I trust them. I have only ever claimed a small amount once, though. I paid the bill in full and received my check for the rest of the claim, minus the excess, very quickly. Speak to your vet.

I wish you all the luck in the world with Willow and hope her skin irritation is nothing serious. Take care.

Extremely good advice. My sister owns a westie who has this all year round, westies seem prone to skin probs. She uses both of these and the difference is remarkable. They are added to her diet and she keeps away from chews etc., fed chicken rice that kind of stuff, which also helps. As for your insurance, look at how much your excess is if its say £100 then you pay the first £100 and they pay the rest. Your excess made only need to be paid once if it's ongoing. check the small print and make sure that after 12 months they do not exclude the skin probs. Some insurance's do, so will exclude an illness on renewal. You can ring your insurance helpline and they will talk you through it. The veterinary staff usually do the claims for you Good luck. and do try the items Carol has suggested you should notice an improvement.

My lot do this they are rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. If she isn't scratching excessively, doesn't have raw looking or black skin and her coat isn't scurffy then I think you may be being aken for a ride. I've heard several westie people having their dogs treated for 'westie skin' when they didn't have anything wrong.
I certainly wouldn't be putting my dogs on steriods if I hadn't actually gone to the vets for her skin.
What I would do if you do think she has skin problems is make sure she is on a good diet with the relevant oils in to maintain helath coat and skin.
Steriods can cause a lot of problems and she is only a baby and I certainly wouldn't be giving steroids to a puppy for no reason.
To be honest I think your vet has been very unprofessional. Westie pups can have very pink ears until their adult coat has developed.
Becky

Thanks Becky, she does have very pink skin, which you can see without parting her hair, and she is rather scruffy I must say! but I am deffineately not going to let this vet take me for a ride. Im going to go to the check up in 2 weeks, but in the meantime try the primrose and starflower oil see if this helps. She is being fed on a hypoallergenic diet. But Im going to ring the vets today to request an invoice for that visit, so I can get a claim form from my insurance if it does turn out she has a skin issue.

has he mentioned piriton...

china goes through itchy phases but piriton helps her with her allergy -

Alex
xx

Hope all's going well. Apart from the primrose and starflower, piriton is good too. Hope you get it sorted