Dog Help

Question
QUESTION: What is the ideal DIET for A 12 YEAR OLD COCKER SPANIEL?DO inferior food s contribute to smell and skin problems as mine has?I feed her Purina ONE

ANSWER: Purina is probably one of the worst foods out there.  And yes, it contributes to skin problems.

I need to know what the problem is with her skin.  How is her health in general and when was the last time she had a full Wellness Check?

Have her skin issues been diagnosed, and, if so - what have you been doing about it in the way of meds, topical approaches, etc.?

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QUESTION: Her health has been well generally except for the skin problems that seem to occur yearly. She developed a form of dandruff that I haven't seen. I have taken her to two vets that just diagnosed her with seborrhea and recommended two medicated shampoos that have worked temporarily but the problem reoccurs. The type of dandruff is of the dark, sticky kind and even though it alleviates it short term it just persists. Oddly enough, she's in good spirits and still is up for her daily walks.

ANSWER: Is she itchy?  Any ear problems?  Is the skin condition localized?
How did the vets diagnose this?  What should have happened was looking at her skin with a Wood's Light to see the extent of any infection...then using either tape or a light scrape they should have gone away for 5 minutes and come back and told you whether this was yeast or bacteria.  If they didn't do that, they're guessing.
Was she put on antibiotics?  Which one?  Dosage and length of treatment?

What medicated shampoo and how often did you use it weekly?
Twice a week would be the minimum and then you taper off 'till you find what she needs for maintenace.

When you say this occurs "yearly" - does that mean this is seasonal?
If it is, I'd strongly recommend trying antihistimine therapy and I can advise product & dosage.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: This started about two years ago with her losing some hair on the triangular area behind her neck and extending towards her back. Along with that was that sticky, black tar like dandruff. Its' generally been relegated to the area from neck to tail, along the top. They never did that scrape test that you mentioned and never prescribed antiobiotics just the shampoo that contains chlorohexidine (? -- not sure =it was spelled like that)-- and glucosamine treatment. The vet rec ommended that I bathed her about 3x a week with the shampoo until the dandruff lessened and then use it 2x a week for maintenance. With that shampoo it did clear some of it up and her hair did grow back but now, even with her full hair back, that dandruff is still there. She never itches and seems content except for around her ears, which especially for cockers, I have to really wash and fully dry her ears by tying them back with a sock. All in all, like I said, she's happy and never really scratches herself.

Answer
What do you mean by "washing" her ears?  Hopefully you're talking only about the actual ear flaps and aren't putting shampoo & water down the ear canal?

Are you continuing to use the medicated shampoo?  And I did ask "is this seasonal"?  

And "Glucosamine"? for a skin condition?  At her age being on Cosequin is certainly a good idea but that's for signs of arthritis, not for skin.

I'd strongly advise changing her diet drastically.  Purina is truly garbage and isn't helping this situation or her general health.