Skin problem

we have a 10month old westie.when she was 5months she started scratching and licking her legs and paws.she has been hairless ever since on these parts.she was given low dose of steriods but made no difference and vets changed her unto Royal Canin sensitivity as she was being sick.she has had blood tests and biopsy done and all came back clear.she has just finished a higher dose of steriods and these worked while she was on them but now starting to scratch again.I have been giving her Yumega Plus for 4 days but havent noticed any change.
we dont like her on steriods as she is withdrawn when on them.can anyone give us some advice what to try next.

has anyone mentioned food allergies? as that causes skin iritation and baldness

the vet never mentioned anything about food allergies but all molly eats is royal canin sensitivity food which contains no cereals. she gets no treats until we try to sort this problem out.

i had a dog with food allergies there is a special type of food you can get from your vet it is dry food it comes in chicken/lamb turned out mine was allergic to the lamb flavour and could only eat the chicken so it would be worth mentioning this to your vet just in case

Our penny had exactly the same. I Remember her being prescribed steroids too. In the summer she had half an antihistamine a day ( I think it was half but it was that long ago)
We've since had another westie who we sadly lost recently. She was on nature diet sensitive all her life bless her. This kept her digestive problems at bay and she never had one skin complaint.
Its so common now in westies. From most people I speak to they believe it can be controlled by food... Here's hoping That's the case for ur little one xxxx

My Westie had similar problems this summer, just affected her two back paws, the vet put her on steroids which helped but I found out that steroids also could cause problems if used long term, she also put on weight very easy. I stopped the steroids and gave her piriton (asked the vet first tho') half twice a day and changed her onto Burns chicken /lamb with brown rice, no wheat products, and she has a teaspoon of Raw virgin coconut oil daily. Thankfully she has had no problems for well over a month to the extent I have now discontinued the Piriton. If you want to find out more about the Virgin Oil here is a link. Good luck with your little one.
http://www.ehow.com/about_5506644_co...fits-dogs.html

ETA, At her worst point I also used Malaseb shampoo from the vet, it was marvelous for giving relieving her itch.

One of my friends had a Pom with terrible itchy skin and hairloss. She used this and swears by it http://www.aromesse.com/skin-problem...og-canine.html

thanks everyone for your advice.i am going to try some of the things mentioned and hopefully we will have some success.

Westies are prone to skin problems but i expect you are already aware of that, as others have said, your pup could be intolerant to certain foods. You could try keeping a diary, giving one food at a time for a period of time and keep a note of how the pup reacts, eliminating each food until you find the culprit. It may not be cereals your pup is intolerant to, it could be a certain protein, i.e. chicken

Good luck i hope you resolve the problem

It would be a good idea to think about changing your food over to Salmon, and Fish4Dogs do a salmon and potato food with no other additives apart from the necessary.

I have a white gsd who has suffered with a similar condition since he was a small puppy, and he's now 12 years old, lived a life on steroids and ab's, it's quite heartbreaking to see the state he could get into sometimes

Food especially salmon, will definitely help matters, because the vet who had been treating my dog for his first 5 years, told me never to change his food, as salmon has a very special quality for skin problems that nothing else compares.

Have you asked the vet about Piriton tablets? They are also good for calming down the immune system, so that it doesn't over react to any allergies. Please speak to your vet first because your westie is so young, I couldn't say whether they will be ok.

Good luck, I really hope you don't have the life I've had with mine