[crazy4cats]

Wow! Thanks, Losul. Some of this information would be very helpful if it was on his website in which he sells the mix. I’m guessing it must not be on the bag either as it sounds like you use it occasionally. I think I am going to order some. I’d like to use it now and then also to take a break from kibble. Hang in there, Cyndi! We’ll figure out how to make Bailey better! You have a great team of “doctors” at your side. lol!

[Cyndi]

Hi Betsy, I expected the same thing from the vet. I had a feeling she was going to say a nutritional deficiency. I really like the vets there, but I so wish I could find a vet close that doesn’t object to raw feeding and actually helps me out with it. Yeah, I knew I’d keep worrying too, lol! That’s just how I am. I just can’t figure out how to shut my mind off when it starts over-thinking things. Thank you!

Losul, you’re awesome. Thanks for clearing all that up and emailing Steve Brown again. I really appreciate it. I don’t know the percentages of organs in that organ mix I get, but I highly doubt there is all that much liver in it and Bailey only gets a small portion of it with a meal. I mix the beef, organs and tripe together, then I portion it up into 6oz. portions, so she’s not getting anywhere near 10% of liver with a meal. So, that makes me feel better. I don’t give that to her every morning, just probably 4 maybe 5 mornings a week. I will though, possibly switch to just ground beef or ground turkey or something when I’m using the SSLL and when I use the mix with the tripe and organs, maybe just use the Dr. Harvey’s Whole Food Multi VItamin and Mineral supplement that I’ve used in the past. The ingredients in that are: Bee Pollen, Spirulina, Lecithin, Nutritional Yeast, Garlic, Flax Seed Meal, Alfalfa Leaf, Kelp, Bilberry Leaf, Chamomile Flowers, Oat Straw, Ginkgo Leaf, Dandelion, Burdock, Thyme, Papaya Leaf, Rosemary Leaf, Peppermint Leaf, Fennel Seed, Suma, Red Clover Blossoms, Milk Thistle, Rose Hips, Yellow Dock, Licorice Root, Ginger, Foti.

Thank you again losul!

& C4C, Thank YOU!! I have no idea what I’d do without this site. Well, on second thought, without this site, my Bailey would still be eating Purina One or Pedigree probably. I am so thankful for ALL you guys and your knowledge and help and expertise and your friendship! I have real friends that I can talk to in person about stuff, but then I have my awesome DFA family and friends that I am so very thankful for when it comes to stuff like this!!

I know I’ve said it before, but thank you to EVERYONE for keeping me sane and thinking clearly (for the most part, lol!)

[Cyndi]

Still waiting on test results. Hopefully will hear something tomorrow. Wondering if all this could be from switching laundry detergents? I completely forgot I did that recently, but I think it seems to coincide with Bailey’s hair loss. I’m going to get a bottle of the old stuff and rewash her bedding and mine and see if it helps…

[DogFoodie]

Could be Cyndi! She’s probably laying on things that have been washed with that detergent and I’m sure you’re wrapping her up like a baby with freshly laundered towels after her bath.

[Shawna]

Hi Cyndi,

I still haven’t had a chance to read through all the posts (and I’m not sure I’ll get a chance to at least for a few more days) so I’m giving some thoughts not knowing what all has been discussed. Hopefully I can come back soon to read through it all.

If you think it possibly could be a food intolerance than I would eliminate the treats (due to the wheat and barley etc) first as well as any extras that aren’t necessary to the diet —- even the supplements that aren’t necessary to creating a balance.

I also agree with Losul’s comments about excess thyroid hormone in the diet from trachea etc as a possible cause. If you agree, try eliminating this food for a few weeks.

[Cyndi]

Thanks Shawna, I appreciate it. I am going to do some more elimination (I’ve already eliminated most treats) after I find out her blood work results and get new laundry soap. I’m really hoping that’s all it is.

Betsy, thank you. I’m remembering, when I got the new laundry soap, lavender scented Gain, that I washed everything in it because I loved the smell. I washed all my bedding, and have been, towels, all her bedding, the cover to her mat in her cage, everything. I’m really hoping that’s what it is. & I do try to wrap her up like a baby after her bath, but she is way too wiggly after a bath and I’m lucky I can dry her a little bit, lol! She runs around like crazy when she’s wet.

Thanks guys!!

[Katy L]

This is my first post on this forum – I do a lot of lurking. Sophia is an Airedale mix rescue (10 yrs old this month). You really struck a chord when you mentioned the Gain with Lavender. Sophia broke out in what looked like hives – but she had been having other skin issues and eventually was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism. Well, in the mean while, my husband broke out in rashes that looked almost like psoriasis (a few months after). I thought my husband was breaking out because of the stress from Sophia as we weren’t sleeping at night and were trying to keep her from chewing herself to bits when we were awake. It was stressful. A friend had given me a bottle of All Free laundry detergent that she didn’t care for and I used it . Sophia and my husband BOTH cleared up! However, I still hadn’t put all the facts together because We had started Sophia on medication, raw diet, bathing twice a week, etc. Husband’s rash was cleared up with topical cream. About a month ago, I wanted to use up the rest of the Gain and guess what? Sophia is broken out in hives and losing her hair. I cannot believe I didn’t figure this out until now! I feel like an idiot! Let me go throw out the remainder of the Gain and head to the store for some All Free and White vinegar (rinse).
This is a very abbreviated version of events but would be really interested to see how Bailey does when you re-wash the laundry. It sounds like Bailey is in great hands 🙂

[Cyndi]

Wow! Thanks for sharing that Katy. I just bought new laundry soap tonight. I probably won’t get to washing everything til Monday at least because I work my second job on Sundays, but I’ll start with atleast one load of Bailey’s stuff tomorrow. She doesn’t have hives, but she has still been scratching alot & I’ve noticed a few more small bald spots. I’m wondering, if your dog’s fur looked dull as well. I’m not sure if that goes along with the scratching and hair loss or if it’s something different.

I’m very sorry I tried that new Gain too. I LOVED the smell of that, lol! I’d smell my clothes a few times thru out the day just because it smelled so good. Good bye Gain, hello Arm & Hammer again…

Thanks again Katy! 🙂 I’ll keep you posted!

[Katy L]

Please do keep me posted! I will keep you posted about Sophia’s progress. I loved the smell of the Gain, too 🙁

Sophia’s coat became very dull and extremely flaky (after this had been going on for a while). She had also gained weight – like most of us older gals. But, she had gotten back to 100% and her hair all grew back. Then, all of the sudden she began breaking out in hives again.

Give Bailey a belly rub from us…

[DogFoodie]

Wow, what a coincidence!

Glad you figured that out, Katy. Hope it works for you too, Cyndi. You might also try using white vinegar during the rinse cycle like Katy mentioned that she does also. That would help rinse everything better and get rid of the Gain residue more quickly.

[Cyndi]

I will use the vinegar as well, thanks Betsy. I’ll have to buy more of that before I start all the laundry.

Katy, it sounds like your Sophia had all the same symptoms Bailey has. Oh, I so hope this is all it is. What an easy fix! 🙂 I can’t wait to start washing all these loads of laundry!! Gee, I’ve NEVER said THAT before, lol! 😀

[LabsRawesome]

Hope that’s all it is, and Bailey feels better soon. Have fun doing all that laundry! The same thing happened to me once. I didn’t change detergents, just bought a new scent. We all got super itchy, and broke out in rashes. I had to rewash everything. Never again. LOL 😀

[Katy L]

Sorry for my absence. Up to my elbows in laundry. I am SO excited to think this may be the culprit. It makes perfect sense now. I cannot tell you how much Sophia has suffered – not to mention the amount of money we’ve spent, tests done, raw food shipped in and frustration.

I have run Sophia’s laundry though the wash twice now, with vinegar rinse and can still smell the Gain on them. One more time ought to do it 🙂

Cyndi, what a stroke of luck you mentioned the Gain!

Have a good rest everyone. I’m off to fold some clothes.

[Katy L]

I’m with you Cyndi. I never thought I’d say I can’t wait to do the laundry.

[Dori]

Hi Cyndi. Just checking in on Bailey. Any changes yet? I always use either Tide or All Free. No dyes, perfumes, etc. and clothes always come out really clean. Sometimes I use Seventh Generation also dye and fragrance free.

[Cyndi]

Hi Dori, no, I haven’t had a chance to start any laundry yet. I worked my second job yesterday and I also wasn’t feeling well, so I put the laundry off til today. Luckily, for my full time job, I work from home, so I’m going to start washing as soon as I get back from taking my son to work. & within the next day or two, I’m going to give Bailey a bath, so hopefully she’ll be scratching less right away… Fingers crossed! 🙂

[Katy L]

I am really encouraged! Sophia hasn’t broken out in any new hives/blisters and scratching has almost stopped. I’m keeping my fingers crossed ! I’ll keep you posted 🙂

[Cyndi]

Ok, 5 loads of laundry done. 1 more to go. Bailey bathed and rinsed in vinegar. & me tired of doing laundry, lol! Now, we wait! & pray for no more itching and scratching and hair falling out! Cross your fingers everyone! 🙂

Katy, hopefully no more itching and scratching for Sophia & your husband, lol! Luckily Bailey never had hives, but the scratching was driving me crazy & I kept finding new little bald patches on her. I sure hope we BOTH have this thing figured out! Keep me posted!

• This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by Cyndi.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by Cyndi.

[theBCnut]

Sort of off topic, but just wanted to mention that if you have men in the house, you should be avoiding lavender scented stuff all over anyways. They have linked some lavender products with some disruption of male hormones. I haven’t read of any problems with therapeutic grade lavender essential oils, but I’ve heard a bit about lavender scented products being estrogenic.

[Cyndi]

Good to know nut (that was tough to type cuz I started with pa, lol!), thank you! I did stop using it altogether, even though my son just moved in a few weeks ago, and he commented right away that he LOVED the smell of the lavender Gain, lol! I told him tonight if he wanted to keep using it, to move back out. He didn’t reply, lol!

[Katy L]

Cyndi-thanks. Sophia is doing much better today. I am really hopeful! I hope Bailey gets relief quickly, too.

BCnut- thanks so much for the information. I think that ship has already sailed here 🙂

[Dori]

Hi Cyndi. What shampoo are you using on Bailey?

[Cyndi]

Dori, I’ve been using Earthbath Mediterranean Magic for a while now.

Knock on wood (& all that superstitious stuff), Bailey hasn’t scratched ONCE today!! Yipee!!!! (knock on wood again!!) 🙂

[Dori]

Cyndi, that’s great happy for you but, of course, happier for Bailey. I’ve been using Vets-Best hypoallergenic shampoo. Think I’ll look into Earthbath Mediterranean Magic. Oddly enough I also have to switch shampoos for Katie periodically. She’s one challenging little girl.

Darn, just checked it out and it contains rosemary. Not good for Katie.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by Dori.

[Cyndi]

Another Update: The vet just called and all of Bailey’s bloodwork for her thyroid came back normal. I told her I think I had the problem figured out and told her about the laundry soap, she says “I doubt that’s it, I still think it’s something diet related”. Damn her anyway! Why can’t vets get on board with raw diets!?! My dog is obviously healthy other than the current problem! I pray to god her hair starts growing back now and all this problem was because of the laundry soap. I need to find a good vet!!

[Dori]

Cyndi, it sounds to me like it would have been the soap. I have terrible allergies myself and can’t use any detergent that has dyes, fragrance etc. Even my friends and family know that when I’m coming to visit they keep All or Tide Free on hand and wash towels and sheets for me for my stay. I think your vet, being put off on a raw diet, is just being a nay sayer. Obviously she herself does not suffer from allergies or she would know that it probably was the detergent. Gain is really fragrance driven and was probably (hopefully–fingers, eyes, and toes crossed) the culprit. It’ll take a little bit but I bet her hair does start to grow back pretty soon. :>)

Oh! Knock on wood too!

• This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by Dori.

[Cyndi]

Thanks Dori, I’m pretty sure, so far, that is was the laundry soap. My son, when he was little, was allergic to unscented Tide of all things. He broke out in hives real bad. So I switched back to Dreft and all was fine. My vet is a moron, lol! I do really like them there, they are all so good with Bailey and stuff, but they more or less look down on me for the way I choose to feed my dog. Heck, they even had me considering going back to KIBBLE! So happy I didn’t!

I’m going to stick with what I’m doing, although the vet did suggest to start using fish oil, so, if anyone can recommend something good I’d appreciate it so I don’t have to go thru all the forum posts to find what people recommend. Dr. Dennis can kiss my ass!!!! 😀

[Dori]

I use Nature’s Logic Sardine Oil. It comes in a pretty good size container. I keep it in the fridge and right after I prepare their food I just drizzle a little on it then put the oil right back in to the fridge. It should be the last thing you put in Bailey’s food. Fish oil can go rancid pretty quickly (reason to keep it in fridge). I like using sardine oil because sardines don’t live long enough to become toxic with whatever crap is in the waters. I know some use salmon oil but I don’t feed my dogs salmon (to much fear of the waters that they live in and possible contaminations) so I also don’t use salmon oil. Oh, on the days that I add some canned sardines to their meals I don’t use the sardine oil. If you buy Bailey sardines at the grocery store (they are pretty cheap) buy the ones in water, not oil. I buy the small cans and divide it between the three dogs. If you’re only giving it to Bailey then you can probably get three days worth. Only add sardine oil or sardines for one meal a day, not both.

If you find that he starts to get loose stools then back up a bit and give him the oil every other day or just 3 or 4 meals a week.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by Dori.

[Cyndi]

Thank you Dori! I already give Bailey sardines a couple times a week and she loves them. Do you think that’s good enough or should I still get some fish oil and give her that on days she doesn’t get sardines? I could even give her sardines 3 times a week, instead of 2, I just don’t want to give her too much.

[Dori]

If your already giving Bailey sardines twice a week then I would just add a third day and not waste money on the sardine oil. Three days a week should be plenty.

[Cyndi]

Ok great, thank you Dori! I hope you are doing well and I hope Hannah is still doing well also! 🙂

[DogFoodie]

Hey Cyndi,

Steve Brown recommends two – 3.75 ounce cans of sardines for a 50 pound dog weekly. How does that compares to what you offer Bailey?

[Cyndi]

Hi Betsy, that’s what I’ve been giving Bailey usually. Bailey is, or should I say ‘should be’ 50 lbs. She’s a little over that now and I’m trying to get her to trim down some. I usually give her a tin of sardines twice a week, but I’m going to try for 3 to see if it helps her coat any. She only scratched once yesterday and I yelled “No, what are you doing?!” I scared the crap out of her, lol! I think it was just a regular itch. I’m thinking it looks like it was in fact the Gain detergent. What a relief!

[Dori]

LOL Cyndi. You probably scared the crap out of Bailey and yourself. It took me awhile with Katie to realize that once in a while all dogs will scratch a regular old itch. I took would yell “Stop It” whenever I would see her scratch and would start checking her skin for any redness. I swear she used to look at me like I’d gone out of my friggin mind. So happy to hear that it WAS the detergent. Dumb vet would have continued to badger you about raw feeding. Glad to hear you got the help you needed here to prove the vet wrong before you did something drastic like go back to kibble. Vets can be awfully stubborn. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, my vets all know I feed raw and have been doing so for a couple of years of more so they can’t play the game of blaming anything on their diets. I feel bad for anyone who is knew to raw and their vets blame the raw food and so they go back to kibble when all along the poor dog’s issue had nothing to do with its diet. I wish vets to get with the raw program already and get over themselves. I mean what? So they took nutrition class for all of about two minutes? For that they expect us to go along with whatever they say just cause they’ve got Dr. in from of their name. Uh Oh! I fear I may be starting to go on a rant here so I’ll stop and just say Yey for Cyndi and Bailey. :>)

[DogFoodie]

Hey Cyndi,

How’s Bailey doing?

[Cyndi]

Hi Betsy,

Well, I’m not quite sure. She’s been scratching a bit, not always in one spot though & she’s got a few red marks on the inside of her back legs. She’s been playing with my boss’ dog quite a bit, and they do play rough, so, I’m not sure if that’s what it’s from or not. I’ve been checking her every time I see her scratch, which isn’t that often, but I don’t see anything. Also, I did go ahead and use the Sentry Natural Defense on her, because I do not want fleas and I want to make sure she is protected with that and the other stuff I use. USA had mentioned something in that could have been the culprit of her itching and scratching and losing her hair. I should have waited longer before I put that on her, but I didn’t. I’m still kind of in the “keeping an eye on her” phase. If the scratching gets worse, then I am kind of thinking it may, in fact, be that Sentry Natural Defense stuff. Still got my fingers crossed.

Thanks for asking! 🙂

[RescueDaneMom]

Hey Cyndi,

I’m checking back in too. I’m glad you may have identified the culprit. Max is allergic to Tide and/or Bounce. I’m not sure which and I didn’t feel like figuring it out so I switched to Tide Free and Bounce Free and his problems stopped. He actually got hives from it. It always happened after I gave him a bath and dried him off with a towel. I finally figured out it was what I was washing and drying the towel with that was doing it after I switched to a hypoallergenic shampoo too.

Good luck! And I hope Bailey continues to improve. Coconut oil really helped improve Max’s skin and coat.

[Katy L]

Hi Cyndi,
I hope Bailey is doing better. I am completely amazed at Sophia’s progress! I thought Sophia was headed in to another full blown skin infection. She broke out in blistery hives. They almost looked like infected flea bites, the blistery hive things then turned in to scabby flaky places and her skin had flakes all over it. I think I’ll only have to bathe her once this I was bathing her every other day. She is still itching occassionally but nothing like she was. I agree with RescueDaneMom – I give Sophia Coconut Oil every day and it really seems to help.
I hope you are having a great week!

[Author]

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