2015. Feb 4th
This is about last summer. I’ve been wanting to write this, but I was too busy. I’m glad that I finally am able to post this.
Last year, Big Steve had a lot of skin problems. Whenever he gets hives, we give him Benadryl which is an antihistamine, and it works every time for his skin rash. You can read more about his skin rash here.
As you can see on the photo above, he had some rumps and bumps under his armpit and around his hind leg (inner thighs).
My husband and I went to Pet Food Express and talked to some of the staff there. The staff at Pet Food Express is pretty informative and always helpful.
We were trying to find why Big Steve gets skin problems now. Come to think about it, he didn’t have so much skin problems like hives before we lived in California. We can’t say for sure, but it might be something to do with the environment. Big Steve might have some kind of allergy. He’s been going through many medical issues since we moved to California, and he also had to change his diet. His stool has gotten softer than before. His hives broke out around that time he had to change his diet due to his pancreatitis.
Probiotics
The staff had some recommendation for Big Steve. She recommended us to give Big Steve “Probiotics.” He may have some digestive problems, and probiotics might help with his allergy and may solve his skin problem also. We can’t say what is causing him the skin problems, but we could at least try. There are some choices, but I chose “Microflora” because it is made of herbs. (Microflora : $22.99)
I’m not sure if this is helping his skin problems, but since then he is not getting hives. (Just a little note: One day, he was taking antibiotics when he had inflammation in his mouth. He had soft stool at that time, but didn’t get hives. )
Fish oil
That day, we also got fish oil for his coat treatment at the Pet Food Express. We immediately found big differences since we gave him fish oil. Big Steve’s coat became so very soft, and on top of that, he is more energetic than ever!! 🙂 When we took Big Steve to the dog park, someone who knows Big Steve was surprised to see how energetic he was! I also met some veterinary nurse at the same park and she was also very impressed considering that Big Steve is 10 years old and yet he is very energetic!! I really believe that this is because of this fish oil we gave to him. Big Steve loves the taste of fish oil!! 🙂 (Salmon oil : $17.99~$24.99)
Flora_probiotics
Flora_probiotics
Fish oil
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