Our Westie seems to have dry skin around his mouth, what can we do/apply to help it?

Anyone?

Hi Laura,  Nzymes and Antioxidant Treats are marvellous for skin conditions.  They are from a UK company called
First4Pets and you can order online or call them.  Website is http://www.first4pets.co.uk  I have used these for skin conditions
suffered by my 8.5 year old boxer and he no longer suffers skin irritations and scratching.  Somebody else in this forum tried it on my
recommendation and said they had a 90% improvement.  Look out for the topic.  Hope this helps.
Best Regards, Dave Swan.

Hello Laura10. Does you westie have the all too typical westie skin problems? Or is it just dry skin around the mouth. I wouldnt hesitate about taking her to her vet as it must feel uncomfortable for the little one. I personally havent encountered this with my westie, and wouldnt like to recommend anything I would normally use as it is close to her mouth. Good luck!

"Does you westie have the all too typical westie skin problems?" Gillie :-) please please :-) we have been down this route just a few days ago.   Yes there are some westies with skin trouble but the majority do not. It is only a small percentage that does.

I sympathise with people when they have problems with a breed, but doesn't honestly mean they all have problems.

When you say the " all too typical" it sounds like it is very common or in most of them. This is just not the case. :-))

Hope you are getting your dogs problems under control and I do as I say sympathise.

BFN Pam

I think the problem is Westies are a great favourite of the puppy farmer and consequently I feel that there are all too many of them with skin problems certainly not the majority but significant enough to give them this reputation.  I am sure it is not typical of a well bred one where breeders have carefully excluded any such tendancy from their lines. Rather than brush aside the possibility that Westies suffer this it might be better to take the opportunity to stress the need to select your breeder carefully :)

Hi Isabel I am hardly brushing anything aside. :-) This post is not an enquiry for a puppy so I do not have to go through the selecting a puppy advice this wouldn't be suitable for this thread would it ?? ;-)

I carefully alway tell be to be careful where they buy from and always ensure they are member of the breed club etc. I pass numbers on weekly through here. To be honest that very reason is the reason I became a paid up member of champdogs so that I could pass on numbers of decent people and advice the breed club through the loads of enquiries I get.  I don't breed alot so I can honestly say I have never sold a puppy to any of my champdog enquires but am always happy to help steer then in the right directions because I am passionate about the breed.

However I pointed out that I think it is wrong to use general statements.

Blue - I was going to leave this matter alone but your further post of today's date has forced me to reply. Your first post annoyed me considerably. Please do not tell me what not to say on this forum. It is very important for every westie owner to be aware of the problems they MAY face. EVERY westie I know, and I know of alot, ALL have the typical westie skin problem. In one westie it took until she was 8 years old for the skin problem to appear, with Mack it was less than 18 months. Given that I personally spent over £2000.00 in vets fees, notwithstanding the money I have spent on homeopathic remedies/creams since, I think that there IS a big problem. Why do you thinnk there are so many rescued westies? I know plenty of people who have rescued westies from the various westie rescue organisations and the very reason they had were given away in the first place was because they previous owners could not afford the high vets fees. Before it is said, I do not begrudge my westie the money spent on him because he is more than worth it. He is the first westie I have ever owned and it is a truly wonderful dog. His nature is fantastic, he is beautiful, and all-in-all a wonderful dog! May I point out that I have seen 3 vets, who all sigh when they see him. They all said, without exception,  "another westie with the skin problem". Yes I am sure that there are westies who do not have skin allergies and I am sure that Mack and all other affected westies would love to be one of those!

I dont know why you took particular exception to my post but I have to say that I am entitled to say what I want, like you are. I have not been offensive to you or anyone else. I was not attacking breeders because, despite the high vets fees I have paid, they did not diagnose anything. It is not known to be hereditary problem, a pollen allergy, or anything to do with the conditions in which any given dog lives in.

Your attitude has made me reach the decision not to bother with champdogs anymore. I come on here to relax after a stressful day at work! There are some wonderful people on here, all of whom I am glad to have "met".

Gillie, My post annoyed you because I pointed out it was wrong to generalise.  I stand to that. I didn't not attack you personally and I do honestly feel for your with your dog I can imagine it is a nightmare. On the whole westies do not have problems.

You have taken the post so personally , I can appoliges for my defence of the breed as it is my breed. I have not ment to offend you but can you see how I could have taken offence when I have westies and don't have any problems, I dont want them all tarred.

Can you see it from my side also?

If you like I have happy to send you links to some groups where there are some people in similar situations to see if they can help you..

Gillie, BTW if you re read my post you can see I use the smilies :-) etc so that you can see I am not being personally mean. I did mearly point out that I didn't think the use of the " so typical" was fair to my breed or any..

Again I am sorry for your dog but we cannot slate every breed. I use labradors as an example all the time as I have one .. they have a high percent of the dogs with Hip problems but we cannot slate them all. :-)

again see my use of smilies :-)

It is silly in a nice way to say you are leaving the board because someone has corrected or diagreed with you..Hell I would have left 4-5 years ago..   We all clash at times that is life.

Take care

Hi Gillie
Im not going to get into an arguement with you or anyone else, but, I have owned westies for round about 15yrs now, and have never seen skin problems, if you really think about it, of course vets will say another westie with skin problems, they only see the ones that have these problems, they dont see the healthy ones.  Another point you say that there are  various westie rescue centres, I disagree, there is only 1 official westie rescue and its run by westie folk from the North of Scotland to the South of England, these wesite lovers take the dogs into their own homes to resocialise them (if the dog needs this) then they get re-homed to pre-approved homes, not all westies in westie rescue go there because of skin problems, a lot are from owners who have died, marriages breaking up, being mistreated, etc,and the reason I know of this is, I used to be what is called "A Friend of Westie Rescue" anyone can join and support this worthwhile cause. they have an excellent web site full of information about westies. As far as im aware none of the westies that I have bred over the years have had any skin problems either. I am sure a new owner would let me know if there had been problems.

Gillie, my experience in the grooming parlour was that it was the badly bred Westies were the ones with skin trouble.  Those who bore little resemblance to a Westie other than they were white and had a head, tail and 4 legs! :( 
Westies bred by knowledgable breeders, and were 'typical' Westies with course coats and blue/black skin had no problems.

Perhaps you could apply some Aloe vera gel on the area around his mouth because it shouldn't harm him if it gets in his mouth.  I know our dog has licked some when I have put some on his skin and he come to no harm.  You can get it from Health shops like Holland and Barrett.

Sorry we missed your post :-)

Hopefully you have it sorted now but these type of things are best to let the vet see first especially around the mouth area.

Don't really want to suggest too much with it being in a sensitive area.

I was told by my vet. that it was an allergy to something, when the hairy skin meets bare skin, it sets up a reaction. You may need antihistimines to clear it up. You need to find out what the possible allergic reaction is to, also.
Anne

Hi Laura :

This website has alot of great info on westies,including skin problems,it is well worth a look even if you dont have a westie.

http://www.westiegram.com/hints.htm

Thanx Frodo.  Checked out website and it is excellent!!!!

Checked out website and it is excellent!!!!

I know :) I reference it all the time and i dont even have a westie :D

I can truly say that the msm the site recommends really does work! I was already giving vitC prior,but once i added the msm to the regime my dogs itchies mostly disapeared :)

Hi frodo,

Just wondering if the MSM that the westie website recommends is available in health shops over here because I noticed it was an American site.  Is there anywhere that sells it on the net?

Thanks

Anna

hi there, i have a westie with skin problems too im doing an elimination process at the moment, im almost certain its topical allergy or allergic dermatitis. has anyone seen skin that looks like loads of little blisters and some blood blisters that pop and leave little pin holes in the skin, ive treated my casper for mange, etc with stronghold, it went away then came back, i think he got it when he went under some bushes, and help would be appreciated.

go to this site it has MSM and they ship to the UK (the shipping is dead cheap). you can use the currency converter at www.xe.com/ucc

http://www.petmed.com/acatalog/Online_Catalog_Nutriceuticals___Alternative_Medicine_2.html

hope this helps, faye x

Hi there you can buy MSM along with all vits & mins from here Zip Vit they are based in the UK and are very realiable, delivery is pretty fast to.

Here is some information for those of you that do have westies with skin problems, do you know that some plants in your garden can cause these? they can rub themselves up agains bushes i.e. hydranga, in the garden and cut the skin this will result in sores, with westies having such harsh and long coats you do not notice this until the sore has become infected. Also a lot of plants in your garden are poisionous as well if you visit www.aspca.org this site will give you a list of plants to be aware of, I got this site from here a few years ago, very interesting.

Anna i dont use the brand the site reccomends,sorry i should worded my post a little better :o

I think H&B sell it,i get mine from the health food shop :)

Make sure you get only pure msm without any fillers.Some brands(human grade) come with artificial sweetners,orange flavour etc, they add these because msm has a very bitter taste.My dogs wont eat it mixed in their food,i bought some empty capsules in which i put their daily dose,1000mg which is 1/2 tsp. and dose them that way :)

Hi frodo,

I answered your post on the Zinc deficiency one, don't know if you have seen it or not.

I will get some MSM from Holland and Barratts at the weekend.  Will my Bichon have to have 1000 mg a day as well.  Do you give the vitamin C as well?  Why can't they have the ones which mask the bitter taste, are they harmful or something?  How long do you think it might be before I notice a difference (thats if it works, I won't pin all my hopes on it just in case it doesn't) Sorry for so many questions but I just wish I could stop him scratching so much.  What breed of dog do you have?

Thanks again for replying.:-)

Anna