Not sure whether I should be posting this on health or feeding, but here goes! 

I've got a friend with a West Highland White Terrier, about a year old, he's a sweet little thing but I strongly suspect came from a very dubious souce, I'm thinking puppy farm.  He's got continual skin problems, dermodex I believe.  He's been on various pills and potions from the vet, and she has been feeding him rice and chicken, and 'normal' dog food seems to make the condition flare up.  He's been on the chicken and rice for some months now, and the vet suggested trying a complete meal as the dermodex had calmed down, saying that if it flared up again they would know that the complete feed agravated it.  It's flared up, so complete feed is being ruled out and it's back to the rice and chicken (vet has given supplements to ensure he's getting all the nutrients he needs).  I know she's been giving him cows milk and cheese - I suggested this wasn't a good idea, and gave goats milk as a better option. 

I know nowt about Westies, and I've never had dogs with skin problems and I know nowt about raw feeding, but I did wonder if this might be a route to take.  The poor little chap has chomped the end of his tail with the return to the complete feed - no fluff for the end 3"!!  He also has little bumps on his skin like an eczma rash.  The vet is pleased that it hasn't returned to the same level as previously, and she's getting a spray from the vet to discourage the westie from chomping his tail (sounds like bitter apple to me).

Any suggestions from Westie owners re the feeding route?  Thanks

I'm not a Westie owner, although we did have them throughout my childhood, but I wouldn't necessarily rule out a complete food, it would very much depend on THE complete - there are so many different makes that vary considerably in quality of ingredients. Do you know what she was feeding?

I currently feed my lot a combination of raw and Orijen, which IMO is one of the best complete's around. Raw may be the way to go and I would definitely stop the cow's milk and cheese. It may be worth giving the poor little might a bath in a neem-based shampoo to hopefully soothe his skin a little.

Ive owned westies for 30 years. My last westie i lost when she was 15 had skin problems. I fed wafcol chicken and corn. It was usually worst in spring and summer. She used to get cortisone injections. Then eventually when Atopica  came out she was put on them she got 1 every other night. Will say the Atopica were not cheap but worth every penny i spent on them.
Jean

I would take the dog off the rice diet right away. Try Wafcol Salmon and potato puppy preferably as it has more oil in it.   You can add tins of fish to this also if you like. 

The bumps on the skin sound like sensitivity to something, has it been scrapped/tested?  demodectic mange comes to mind.

Process of elimation is generally the best method but your freind needs to stick to one thing and not chop and change this till the root cause is found.

He's got continual skin problems, dermodex I believe

If it is demodex, then that is a type of mite, and not something that can be controlled by the feeding. Maybe you should double check with the vet?

I'd ask for a referral to a Dermatologist tbh.

A customer of mine had a Westie as a pup, and he started with immediate skin problems as soon as he'd had his first injections.

For years the dog put up with this problem.  Her vet said he was 'just allergic to everything' and he rubbed his skin raw and he cried through the night with the pain, and after numerous attempts, she finally agreed to see one of our vets who specialises in skin.

Immediately he did skin scrapes and firstly he was found to have a very bad bacterial infection, probably caused by the scratching.  Then he was found to have sarcoptic mange so he was started on a special shampoo wash and had antibiotics and injections to sort the bacterial infection and the mange.

He also did a full blood count and allergy tests and it turns out that he was allergic to house dust mites, storage mites, eggs (which would have been in his innoculations, hence why the problems started then) chicken, beef, rice and gluten.  He strangely, wasn't allergic to anything like pollen and grass etc too. They stopped all his food, and biscuits etc and started him on just plain jacket potato and salmon.

He was supposed to have come from a reputable breeder but she spent thousands on him.  It was a shame because once he was sorted out and his fur grew back, and he was on a good food that suited him, he was looking unrecognisable as the same dog, he was taken ill and he was found to be diabetic.  Unfortunately our vet couldn't stabalise him as he was also allergic to some of the insulins and she subsequently had to have him PTS :( He was only 5.

So, if he were my dog, I would be asking my Vet for a York allergy test and probably skin scrape. 

If it definately is skin problems I'd try vitalin sensitive. No experience with westies but my DDB gets bad ears with certain food and is fine with the vitalin sensitive. I'd rule anything else out first though.

I had a yorkie that had the same skin problems as you describe, she went to a skin specialist and had all the skin scrapes etc but she could not find out what was causing it, bathing her in malasab dog shampoo helped a lot and the skin specialist put her on steroids which stated in the paperwork with them that they could cause pancreas problems, and they did help her skin slightly, she was on them for around 9 months and she had to be pts as the vet opened her up to find out why she was ill and found a massive cancer in her pancreas, he phoned me and told me that he should let her go under the anaesthic as there was no point bringing her around, as he could not do anything for her. I got another yorkie soon after and she started to get the same skin problems after I gave her the same treats as my other one had liked and the only treats she would eat, pedigree smacko's and on checking ingredients in them they have yeast, stopped giving them and skin problem cleared up, and I check everything I buy now to make sure there is no yeast in the ingredients. I have found that a lot of dried all in one dog foods have yeast in them, so its worth a try as that could be the cause, I hope your friend manages to get her westie back to good health.

Many thanks for your comments, I will pass these onto my pal.  Her dog is a sweet little chap, so is a shame he's got these problems at a tender age.  I don't know for sure where he came from, but I have a very good idea, sadly, reputable doesn't come into it!  Still she's got him, and loves him, so he's in good hands.
I know she's working with the vet so isn't chopping and changing.  I know she has tried the Burns and JWB complete and one of the vet ones, probably Hills or Science.  Will raise the rice thing with her, could be an allergy to that.  I too thought demodex was a mite thing, but am pretty sure that's what she'd said.  Thanks again.