West Highland White Skin Problems

[Raffles]

I have a West Highland Terrier who has a skin problem that flares up every few weeks. Scaly patches appear on his back which then become flaky.His whole skin seems very sensitive when this occurs. I have visited the vet on several occasions. He gives a steroid injection which helps the problem for a short while but then it erupts again. It is not a flea allegy problem as I treat him with Frontline every few weeks. Has anyone with this breed of dog had a similar problem please?

[Allgone]

He is now on evening primrose oil only. (I decided to try the natural remedy first, before giving him any generic piriton.) His skin problem has now improved to the point where we will reduce his bathing to only once a week. So far, so good. I also took him off the famotidine, and his stomach has been fine. I'm not sure if anyone's listening, but I may post one more update if there's aught to tell.

[Allgone]

I am delighted to report that our Westie's eczema has been cleared by adding 3-4cc of evening primrose oil to his meals once daily. He never needed the generic Piriton (antihistamine) we bought.
His bilious vomiting also never recurred, even after we took him off the famotidine acid-reducer pills.
Success without drugs or vets' bills -- simply by adjusting his diet and adding a natural supplement.

[Unite1801]

Hi AllGone - I'm listening! My 15 week beautiful Westie pup has just started nibbling her side so it looks like she had the clippers on her! I can feel one tiny rough patch which could either be a bite or the start of an eczema outbreak (my daughter had it when she was young so know how frustrating it can be!) Anyway if it's a bite or eczema I think having read the facts about Westies risk I will start her on the evening primrose oil now as a prevtative measure. When you say 3-4 cc what do you actually mean please? Thanks for your help Karen - oh and my little sweetie Bella :-) x

[Allgone]

Hello Unite1801. Our lad is still OK, so fingers crossed that we've cracked it and the problem's over. 3-4cc (cubic centimetres) is the measure I give him. It's the equivalent of 3-4 millilitres or slightly less than a teaspoon. If you want to convert it to something else, try www.onlineconversion.com. You could check eBay for your evening primrose oil, but I got ours from www.naturesriches.co.in.
Point of note: This eczema usually starts along the dog's back. Are you sure your pup does not have some other affliction such as parasites or a fungal/bacterial infection? We use Frontline for the former and a shampoo with tea tree oil/cedarwood oil for the latter. We bathe him and clean his ears once a week. But if the problem cannot be easily identified, your vet will need to take a look at her.
Good luck with getting it fixed.

[Karen66]

Hi, we have a 4 yr old Westie who had developed skin irritations about a year ago and was obviously very uncomfortable, biting her skin in patches until it bled. At first we thought it could be due to mites as we were inexperienced Westie owners and were unaware that skin conditions were a common trait. On the advice of the vet we began to give her an antihistamine twice daily. After further research we bought tea tree oil ointment and applied it directly onto the affected areas. This softened the skin and, I don't know if it is soothing or that she doesn't like the taste but the biting stopped almost immediately which gave it chance to heal and she seemed immediately more comfortable. Perhaps naively, we felt we were managing the episodes but wanted to try to get to the cause which seems to be almost impossible. Still, we have now also changed her diet so she only has complete dry dog food, we were advised Wainwrights salmon and potato but we add poached fish or chicken which we mash with a teaspoon of cod liver oil twice a day and she loves it. We trim her coat and brush her regularly and (against a lot of advice) bath her every two weeks with animology flea and tick shampoo which seems to really suit her. After he baths we spray her with a tea tree oil spray and brush her. It sounds like a lot of hassle but it actually isn't. We realise this could flare up again especially in warmer weather but she is now relaxed and comfortable, her skin and coat is soft and glossy and although she's not the sharpest tool in the box and is extremely mischievious which is surely how life should be for a westie

[Allgone]

Westies are highly prone to skin and ear troubles, especially as they get older. I believe it is dermatitis/eczema.
Our guy is nine years old now. A couple of years ago, he started to get the problem you described mainly along his spine, neck and tail areas. He always had trouble with ear infections/discharge, and that got worse, too.
We all but cured the skin problem by taking him off processed food completely and making his food ourselves. There was an occasion recently when we did not have time to make the food, so we bought him a good-quality kibbled food for sensitive skin. The skin problem came back, and was cured again within days of putting him back on our home-made food. The evidence points strongly to processed food being the cause of our westie's skin problem. Our home-made food is ground meat, rice, carrots, horseradish, green veg, wheat bran, yeast extract, agar jelly, and water. I can give you a document with the recipe if you give me an email address, Skype, or something.
We also bathe him at least once a week with a shampoo containing tea tree oil and a little olive oil. We mix that ourselves, too. About 250ml Cooper's all-purpose animal shampoo to 700ml water, 30ml of tea tree oil, and 10ml of olive oil.
He does still have a little eczema between his toes and pads. That is controlled by applying a smear of petroleum jelly (Vaseline) mixed with tea tree oil once or twice a week.
Our vet has prescribed every kind of medication you could name to treat his ears. Nothing works. I now control that by cleaning his ears thoroughly at least once a week after bathing. I use Nolvasan ear cleaning lotion, applying it three times then wiping with a twist of tissue to clean out all the discharge and any water that got in there during bathing. I always finish by drying the ear with a cotton bud (MUST BE DONE VERY CAREFULLY). The result is minimal ear irritation that should last for a about a week before they need cleaning again.

[PoorSoul]

My Vet put our 18 Month old Westie on Norbet, BE AWARE of side affects as although the itching seems to have stopped he has lost all his personality, he is frightened and will not leave the house, is starving all the time and just lays around (Not the dog pre tablets) I have flushed them and hope he goes back to the way he was. I will try the suggestions on here.

[snaffu]

Frontline does not protect against demodex mite. Demodex (and its similar sarcoptic mite) burrows under the hair follicle and causes irritation (mange). There are several ways for the vet to treat demodex infestation. Once clear, use of Bayer Advocat instead of Frontline protects against reinfestation.

[Allgone]

Our lad is nearly 12 now, and I'm happy to report his skin and ear problems have all ceased. When he was still having constant ear trouble, one particular ointment did the trick. I don't recall its name now, but if anyone does want to know, please ask, and then I'll look it up. Re skin: The treatments I mentioned here earlier did help, but I think ultimately it was just getting older that fixed it. He's back on kibbled food again, too. Royal Canin veterinary low fat.