Hi, I trust with the help of the combined knowledge of you all we will win this battle!

We inherited a 13 year old Westie named Rosie and she is in a bit of a state really.

*  She's overweight,
*  has a cataract in her left eye with only 45% vision in her right,
*  she had a haematoma in her right ear with an infection in her left,
*  had a 1950's Basin haircut,
*  she chewes her paws constantly, that much they discoloured and are orange due to the saliva,
*  scratches and rubs herself on the bottom of furniture causing bald patches which then end up bleeding.
*  Noticed yesterday that there were two small pustules on the bald patch on her side, put Sudocreme on them last night (that's all I had) and it seems to have helped.

When we got her a month ago, she went straight to our local vet, (which we use for our two other rescued dogs), and they did the £300 blood tests, which came back fine.  They injected the haematoma with steroids to break it down as it had solidified.  They gave us ointment for her infected ear along with two weeks supply of antibiotics.  She has also been to the groomer and is being washed with Maloseb shampoo, recommended by the Vet.  The Vet also recommended Simpsons dry dog food.

Ok so over the past month, the haematoma has dissopated and has left her ear thick and limp.
The other ear still seems sticky and the opening seems small...??  Vet said it was fine on the last checkup.
She is still chewing her paws and scratching constantly,
She still has a 'smell' about her, so strong you smell it as soon as you enter the house.
I have limited her food intake and encouraged her into the garden, so she has lost some weight...some still to go though.

My concern is that I don't know too much about Westies and they seem to need special attention.  My situation is that I have 3 year old twins and am finding it a challenge to balance child care, home care and three dogs, one with 'special needs'.  So short from sending Rosie to a dog home, I would gladly welcome any advice on offer.

If you have managed to get to this part of my message, thank you for your patience!

Kind regards,
Amanda.

Hi Amanda

I don't have time to put all the links on just yet but if you use the search function at the bottom of the page have a look for the poster Hamish75 who has received a lot of similar advice for her westie Robbie.  I've also replied to some of her queries as I have an allergic dog who needs similar care...

I can be back on later but I hope this is useful in the meantime :)

Hi 'dogs a babe', many thanks for your feedback. 

I have since managed to find and read the pages you mentioned and have made a few notes.

I have also bought some Burns Dog Food, Hibiscrub, Coatex Shampoo and Efavet to try.

I've also fitted her basket with a few old cotton towels for better ventilation.

Hopefully this will make a start on Rosie's recovery.

Any other advice most welcome.

Kind regards,
Amanda.

Yes I would be asking the vet to do a York Blood Test.  This will rule out any allergies (indoor/outdoor) that Rosie may have for starters.

Bless, she does seem to be in a pickle. Hopefully she'll be more comfortable soon.
I know you've already had to spend a fair bit of money but with the shampoo can I recommend 'Sebolytic'. My dog (not a Westie) has suffered from a skin allergy for years (had York Test etc) but nothing much helped. For a long time I used 'Malaseb' on him as prescribed by his vet but he never seemed happy and his skin didn't get better - in fact I think it irritated him more. It actually seems quite harsh on already sore skin. Anyway, last summer the vet gave me some 'Sebolytic' for him and what a difference it made. It's got tea tree in it and is so calming and soothing - he actually stands still in the bath as I gently massage him back and goes into a sort of trance !. After he is bathed and dried I use 'Allerderm Spot On'. I did this once a week for a month and the improvement was amazing. I don't use the 'Allerderm' every time he has a bath now because his skin is good (fingers crossed), actually he now only has a bath if he really needs one because I don't see the point in upsetting the balance if that makes sense.
Another thing maybe you could try is 'Aller G-3'. It's an Omega supplement in liquid form that goes onto his food that the vet recommended - didn't cost much, just one little drop a day. I started it last October and there is still some left !. Between these three things something is working and he's a much happier dog.

Good luck.

> Yes I would be asking the vet to do a York Blood Test. 

Sounds like those were done as the OP mentions having the £300 blood tests.

Someone might say not to, but as for the chewing the feet and ears etc, I find on my Am cocker I always use Thornit.
A pinc into ears every day for 2 weeks and then once a week after that stops my cocker have ear infections (had a constant one for 2 years of vet treatment and was sorted with Thornit) and chewing his paws.
Worth a go at his age.
Hope that helps
Lea :) :)

I would try thornit too, but not just in the ears - I had months and months of trouble with probably years-old chronic ear and chin infections with Tia, and chewing her feet which I eventually worked out were all the same thing - she was scratching her infected ears, licking her back feet clean, then chewing her front feet which she then used to scratch her chin.

So I thornited her ears, rubbed a little on her chin, and put some in a sandwich bag which I put over each foot and gave a good shake to treat them too.

She is now infection-free.

The common things for helping Westie skin problems are...a beef free diet and anti fungal medications/skin preparations.
In bad cases and in this old persons case a course of steroids if the vet agrees.

Worth trying the Thornit for a very short period but if she keeps licking it off Id stop. The Iodoform in the mixture wont do her much good if she ingests too much.

Hi Amanda -- I have pm'd you

Amanda - don't change too many things at once otherwise you won't know what helps and what doesn't.