King's vet appointment not to good

Poor king had a vet appointment today he got the lipto shot today but got a shot before because of his reaction from the disptemperment shot. He gained almost a pound since the beginning of July pretty good yes. However King used to be very fluffy now he is losing his fur fast barely anything on his tummy and chest and losing at on his side by the neck so they put him on Predinisone to help with the scratching to see if he is pulling the hair out he dosen't have scabies because his skin isen't red inflamed and no scabs, they say he would be to young for allergies but they are not sure, have to go back in two weeks and they will do skin grafts or something like to see if they can find something only if he looks worse. Also his bottom teeth stick out farther then the top teeth but the canines are over the bottom but the top middle go into his gums on the bottom so need to keep eye out for that.

Am I wrong to worry about his fur falling out do puppies lose there puppy fur for other fur to come in? I am not worried about the lipto shot he had it this morning so far nothing but when he reacted from the distemperment it was always in the middle of the night.

Anyways cross your fingers that hopefully this is nothing and his fur will come back.......

no idea about the fur issue, not that experienced with doggy health problems but :goodvibes: for your dog.

good luck.

you should also ask the breeder (did you get him from a breeder??) if theres any skin conditions in the family line.

i dunno, someone will know more about doggy laws with being sick and having pre-existing conditions and whatnot.

when did you get him?

We got king early he was 6 weeks the mother stopped feeding the litter and they were eating food on there own I would have liked to have waited but we were all excited about getting him he is now 3.5 months so I don't talk to the people I got him from both parents were there when we went to view the puppies and they both looked fine (I guess looks arent' really everything) My friend said try switching his food and that I shouldn't be giving him wet food anymore. Which is what I am going to try to do hopefully it won't be hard on him he's pretty picky with his wet food as it is, she told me her sisters dog was going through the same thing and she switched foods and the dog is fine now so i have to try.........

well good luck with that issue.

keep communication with the vet open.

My friend said try switching his food and that I shouldn't be giving him wet food anymore.

Wet food is actually VERY healthy for any dog to eat. It usually has more meat in it than kibble, and it helps your dog stay hydrated (sometimes they don't drink as much as they should). The problem could be an ingredient in the wet food, but wet food itself is not bad.

May I ask what food he's eating now???

(This is not to say his losing fur is directly related to his food...but it's always possible. I'm really not sure how young dogs can develop allergies though.)

wet food is iams and dry food is ceaser's. I agree it could be anything that is why I wanted to see if switching his food would help him. Yet i am wondering what would happen if I did switch will he not eat it would he have diarreha (sorry not spelling it right) vomiting I don't know with the iams wet food he is pretty picky with that to only certian cans he will eat. I don't know but I do know I will work it out. I found the people I got him from there email and I emailed them asking if they had anyone else go through this or if the parents have any known problems that king could have picked up but honestly I don't think I will get a reply or a truthful answere. Its not like I will say give me my money back or anything I will get this resolved. Now I am blabbering on and on............

I have personally heard of dogs having skin and coat problems on Iams, and IMO Iam's and Cesar are not very good quality foods. Some brands I would recommend are Wellness, Innova, Orijen and Solid Gold. You won't find these at large chain stores, but rather smaller pet shops. If you Google them, they all have store locators on their websites.

Re: switching food, you can get some dhiarrhea (sp?), but vomiting is doubtful. To avoid problems, slowly start mixing in the new food over the course of 1-2 weeks, working your way to 50/50, and then over to the new food completely. I have found adding a spoonful of plain, unflavoured yogurt to the food once a day adds "friendly bacteria" and helps minimize stomach upset. It will likely take at least a month on a new food to see whether or not your dog is doing well on it and whether it is going to help clear up the problems with his coat. It can be frustrating and takes a lot of time, so try to be patient!

Some good websites regarding what to look for in a good dog food are:

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com

http://www.dogfoodproject.com

Hope this helps! :)

Thank you I will have to go out tonigt and get one I didn't know which brand to go with. I will have to introduce King to the new food slowly and watch for any changes in King.....

I would definately switch food.Both foods are crap and contain corn.Something many dogs are allergic to.

Also,what you are describing with the teeth is called an underbite.Pure shih tzu have a "slight" underbite.But yours may be worse.So you have a pic you can post to show?

Puppies do somewhat loose their puppy coat.But not in patches like you decribe.

Hope King will be ok...:fingerscr

So King never had a reaction from the injection which was very good. I purchased Innova today and mixed it with his wet food it was quit funny watching King eat it, he ate about 5 pieces sofar alittle uneasy about it but hopefully he gets used to it........

You could use a portion of his meal as training treats. Make a big deal about them being yummy and give him a task to do to work for them. It can take a few days for them to get over the strangeness of new food....not to mention, b/c of all the additives in crappy foods, they tend to taste better to dogs than the good quality stuff does. It's like taking away his hamburger and giving him a salad. It may take a bit of time, but he'll get used to it! :)

Glad he didn't have any reaction :thumbs up.

Innova is a great product. Keep a watch out for any loose poops, you can always mix in a bit of canned pumpkin if that is an issue. You might also need to monitor his volumn of food as well as he likely will need a bit less of the Innova then he did of the Iams.

Thank you all all the info is very helpful. I tried to post pictures but they are to big and I don't know how to shrink them I will figure it out sometime......