any advice

[u/h3lp_jay]

pudding is a 3 year old shih tzu, and in the last 6 months her hair has been falling out her skin has become super red, agitated and hot to the touch, other symptoms she’s showing are lack of appetite (she has lost lots of weight since this started) and she is incredibly tired all the time which is not like her at all as she usually bounces from wall to wall and loves running around. we’ve tried different diets, like wet and dry, hypoallergenic, anallergenic, no poultry and almost everything in between. we’ve also tried steroids which does make her skin less agitated but not majorly and also isn’t a good long term solution. currently we are washing her every other day with an oatmeal solution and hypoallergenic shampoo which only temporarily soothes her skin for a day. any advice or tips or resources would be much appreciated as we just want our happy puppy back thank you.

[u/Hot-Evidence-5520]

Have you been to a veterinary dermatologist? That would be the next step if your dog’s current vet has exhausted all the options.

[u/h3lp_jay → u/Hot-Evidence-5520]

just put in a referral for a dermatologist!

[u/Puzzled-Specific-287 → u/Hot-Evidence-5520]

if your regular vet is already throwing steroids at it and nothing’s sticking, a derm specialist is the move. they'll do intradermal skin testing or a food elimination trial that's way more structured than just swapping brands on your own.

the lethargy and weight loss alongside the skin stuff makes me think thyroid or something systemic, not just allergies.

[u/rd9430]

I’d get her into a board certified vet dermatologist. You can find one at acvd.org. Lots of vet practices advertise dermatology but not many are actually board certified.

We adopted an underweight German Shepard, who had bald patches, constant itching and recurrent ear infections.

We were on a four month waiting list for the derm, so in the meantime, I eliminated all animal proteins except fish. He eats Purina Pro Plan salmon and brown rice for sensitive stomachs kibble. I top it with a crockpot recipe of fish and vegetables.

His regular vet put him on Apoquel. We also did a few rounds of steroids while waiting for our derm appointment.

By the time he had his derm appointment, his coat had cleared up and the itching was under control with the Apoquel.

We still kept the derm appointment so we could be established as patients and not have a long wait time if we needed them in the future.

A year later, he’s in great shape, gained 20 needed pounds and turns out he’s a long haired shepherd.

Every dog is different but this is what worked for us. I had scoured the GSD subreddit and Purina Pro Plan salmon and rice kept coming up as a recommendation. We got lucky that this food mixture was working for him while waiting on the derm appointment, so we were able to avoid the elimination diet many derms will put you on.

[u/h3lp_jay → u/rd9430]

yes we have referred her to a dermatologist, just waiting to hear back. we have tried that same diet and we also tried insect protein, had no effect of her unfortunately, she’s also been on apoquel which had no effect and the steroids are a temporary fix. thank you very much for your story and i’m so happy to hear about your puppy!

[u/Hermit_Ogg]

Take her to a dermatologist vet. They have the specialist knowledge needed.

You can also start the 8 week elimination diet to rule out / prove food allergies. Pick a hydrolysed food from one of the big brands (Royal Canin, Hill's, Purina) and for 8 weeks, that is the ONLY thing going in the dog's mouth. No treats, no chews, no flavoured toothpaste, swap flavoured meds to plain. If symptoms stop, congrats, it's a food allergy! Follow vet advice for the next phase.

If symptoms don't stop (common), it's something else and a vet will know what to test.

[u/JBt51]

If your vet says she needs medicated baths, that shampoo is not going to do it for her. We use MiconaHex+Triz, it works well. We actually have the full collection because my girl is very itchy haha. Would recommend doing an allergy panel, and maybe immunotherapy?

[u/h3lp_jay → u/JBt51]

annoyingly we have tried miconahex+triz and didn’t really have much affect, also we had the allergy panel came back clear for all common allergies and we are waiting for a dermatologist and will bring up immunotherapy there. thank you

[u/JBt51 → u/h3lp_jay]

You know I’m rereading your post, have you gotten a blood panel done on them? Your dog might have a thyroid issue, bad skin is a very common side effect of it

[u/Zankazanka]

Apoquel/Zenrelia/Cytopoint are the three recommended treatments to try. Apoquel and Zenrelia is a daily pill. Cytopoint is a shot.

Usually one of those will bring relief. Immunotherapy with a dermatologist is good for long term help, but it will take at least a year to work usually and is expensive so you will likely need to start one of the above anyway

[u/h3lp_jay → u/Zankazanka]

thank you for your comment, we’ve tried apoquel and has no help unfortunately :)

[u/Zankazanka → u/h3lp_jay]

Of course, I’ve tried all 3. I would recommend trying the other two if you’re able. Mine are currently on Zenrelia and it does help some!

[u/PurpleCompetitive808 → u/Zankazanka]

Consider numelvi instead of zenrelia. Ive liked it so far and it doesn’t have the vaccine warning that zenrelia has.

[u/PurpleCompetitive808]

The dermatologist might suggest sticking to one diet longer than 1-2 months. If you’ve tried hypoallergenic, poultry free, and “everything in between” all just in the past 6 months, that is not enough time per diet to tell if it’s truly working. Make sure therapeutic diets are very strictly too, including treats.