Danruff in Border Collie

[ec140466]

Hi everyone,

Hoping I can get some advice here. I have an 8 1/2 year old Border collie mix. We adopted her just about two years ago so I don't know much about her past except that she was on grocery store food when we got her.

She has LOTS of dandruff! She does not shed much at all, but is just loaded with the white stuff.

She has been eating raw food ever since we got her. I thought maybe it was a chicken allergy so I took her completely off of that and now switch between turkey, bison, duck, and tripe. I have also had her on a high grade salmon oil for the past three months. Other things I have tried is bathing her in a hypo-allergenic neem shampoo, an honest kitchen supplement called 'sparkle' that is supposed to improve skin and coat, and a couple of other vitamin and mineral supplements all with no avail.

I have been told that it could be her liver.

Any thoughts???

[Marty11]

Check her thyroid. I had a golden like that, turned out to be an allergy but never found out what. Does she chew her feet?

[ec140466]

I think I will get her thyroid checked. I thought it was an allergy too, but after taking her off all chicken and really trying the elimanation diet, it doesn't seem to be working. She does not chew her feet, but does go swimming alot so has had a few ear infections during the summer. I have used apple cider vinegar for that, and it has cleared it up.

[ec140466]

Thanks for mentioning the thyroid, Marty11. I think that is what it is. I just looked it up online and she seems to be showing quite a few of the symptoms of hyperthyroidism, heavy breathing, anxiety, weight loss, and excessive dandruff! I have made an appointment with my vet next Wednesday to run a blood panel.

Thanks again!

Cheers!

[ec140466]

So we went to the vet this past Wednesday and got the blood results back yesterday. Everything in the blood work is normal! The vet even did the extra test in order to determine if he thyroid was in working order and that was fine too. As for the dandruff and coat loss she is not sure. She says that there is no signs of allergies as there was no brown paws, obvious patch loss, etc.

I am still searching for an answer. Any other suggestions???

[MaxaLisa]

My old girl, required ground flaxseeds and a multivitamin in her diet to keep the dandruff away. It had to be flaxseeds. Because of her allergies, I would just grind some fresh each night in a small coffee grinder - I wasn't able to use any of the products like Missing Link or Nupro.

I used VetriScience's Canine Plus, but even when I started with cheapo vitamins it helped.

It was night and day difference once I started that.

I sometimes wonder if her dependency on the flaxseeds for her entire life wasn't because she was spayed at 8 weeks and flax contains good phytoestrogens. She did have a number of food allergies and sensitivities too though.

[MaxaLisa]

Originally Posted by ec140466

....I just looked it up online and she seems to be showing quite a few of the symptoms of hyperthyroidism, heavy breathing, anxiety, weight loss, and excessive dandruff! I have made an appointment with my vet next Wednesday to run a blood panel.....

Dogs are very rarely hyPERthyroid.

Are there any other indications of digestive distress? This sounds like gut issues, or maybe even a gut infection.

[ec140466]

We took her to the vet and had a complete panel done along with an extra thyroid test. It all came out clean so I do no that it is not that.

No signs of digestive distress at all. She always has good stools, doesn't vomit, and no tummy sounds. She is on the raw food as has been since we got her and tolerates it well.

I have her on missing link as well as grizzly salmon oil, but I could try switching to ground flax seed and another multi-vitamin to see what happens.

When the vet listened to her heart and did the complete checkup she said everything else seemed great. Other than suggesting a natural calming supplement she thought everything else was doing just fine.

[t.pettet]

A daily brush out (opposite way hair grows) with a long toothed pin brush followed by a slicker brush (the way hair grows) will reduce the flakes and help distribute dog's natural oils through the coat.

[Myka]

Just an fyi, Grizzly salmon oil isn't "high-grade". Anything in a plastic pump bottle is going to be rancid before you even buy it. Then everyday you're pumping air into the bottle as you pump the oil out making it even worse. Look for an oil in a tinted glass bottle that is refrigerated when you buy it or buy capsules. How much oil are you feeding? How much muscle meat/fat/bone/offal are you feeding percentage-wise?

[Sib.HuskyMom]

You mentioned that she goes swimming alot. This may be contributing to the problem.

I know when my family spends a lot of time at the cottage and in the water, it makes all of us have drier than usual skin (humans AND dogs).

I've noticed some light dandruff on my huskies when brushing them these past few days.
But with them, I know that a good bath, a couple weeks of extra vitamin e with their salmon oil, and some time away from the lake will clear it right up.

Swimming may not be the cause of your girls dry skin, but it may be a contributing factor.