Hello, my westie, 4 years old, male has had skin allergies for as long as I can remember. He is pink all over, and always has been (I believe westies are supposed to be black?) He keeps on having outbreaks of small, red, scab-like sores all over his back, it starts with 3 or 4 than multiplies into 10 or 12. Before, we kept taking him to the vet, whom gave him steriod tablets, and a special shampoo which mustn't be inhaled or come in contact with human skin. Needless to say, the steroids worked, for about a year to start with, but they're coming back every 2 months or so now. I don't want to keep giving him steroids for obvious reasons, plus the bills are starting to pile up. I feed him on wainrights (as did his breeder) and change his towel daily. Recently, I've rubbed sudocrem on his back (following advice previously seen on this forum) and a few of the sores disappeared, but others appeared around it. They seem to be sore, and he now doesn't settle at night. I just dont know what to do - help!

Are you feeding a hypoallergenic food? If not try one - i always recommend Skinners Duck and Rice or the Salmon and Rice. Different people will recommend others. These are wheat/gluten free. But even if it is an allergy, it may not be gluten that he is allergic to. The vet can do a test to show exactly what he could be allergic to, if anything.

Does he scratch them?

Yep, the food is hypoallergenic - he does scratch them, or tries too, but we put a cone on him because it stops him scratching, and stops him licking his paws

http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/cgi-bin/board/topic_show.pl?pid=1265451;hl=licking%20paws#pid1265451

Try looking at this topic, it involves a westie and licking sores, it may help you. I'm sure some others will come up with some ideas for you!

Thank you! I just dont know what to do, I don't want to keep pumping him full of steriods as they only work short-term. I'm going to the pet store (pets at home) today and im going to ask there...

Hayley - what is the name of the shampoo? it sounds very strong -with you mentioning the no inhaling and no contact with human skin.
I would suggest malaseb shampoo from vet or malacetic shampoo. Also a course of antibiotics from the vet - often given for 2 weeks and if that doesn't clear the problem then given for a month. If the sores/scabs reappear then the another course of antibiotics is needed.

Maybe try a totally different food. Could be something in the food itself that is bothering him.

I no when I had Junior on Nutro natural Choice his skin was very flaky and he was itchy. Since switched to Wysong, Taste of The Wild, Logic (just some I use)
his coat is now nice and shinny no more flakes.

I have great success with Golden Eagle Duck and Potato. There is also a lot of useful information on the website.

http://www.croftonline.co.uk/mcp/Natural_and_Holistic_Dog_Food.html

Meant to add that we went down the antibiotic and various prescription shampoo route, but the more we seemed to use the worse the problem was getting. We spoke to the chief nutritionist from Golden Eagle who developed the food and he went into great detail about how what is going on on the inside, affects what we see on the outside. He started Jade on both pro and prebiotics and told us that it might take up to 6 months before the gut had totally recovered from repeated antibiotic courses and he was pretty bang on but now her skin is great.

Hayley have you ever had your dog blood tested to identify exactly what he might be allergic to?  Look up 'York Test'

There are a number of options with regard to appropriate treatment and or management, which may include a change of diet, but I wouldn't want to be suggesting anything until you know what you're dealing with...

Hello guys, thanks again for all your help.
Just a recent update, beans (my dog) has now got a clear back! The mass sudocrem worked! Gave him a bath afterwards with the shampoo (malaseb) from the vets, and the sudocrem has left his back greasy, but I'd much rather that than him being in pain!
I've also changed his food to veterinary approved advanced nutrition by pets at home for sensitive coats and stomachs in salmon, only fed it to him twice so far, but no problem as of yet.
So, for now, I'm just hoping that it doesn't come back, as the steriods and antibiotics couldn't of been good for him, and they didn't really work either!

I'm glad you've got a good result but you do need to be thinking of this as a long term condition if, as you say, he's had it for 4 years and has an outbreak every two months.

I have a dog with allergies and I know how distressing it can be, for you and your dog.  It's well worth spending the money on a blood test to identify exactly what is most likely to be causing his flare ups.  Once you correctly identify the allergens you can implement a management regime to minimise the problem and hopefully prevent it from ever getting so bad that steroids become necessary.