Hi! Wondered if anyone could offer some advice!  I have a 12 and a half year old Working-type Lakeland Terrier bitch who looks really well except she has developed a really bad scurfy coat.  Her diet hasn't been changed recently but I wondered if there was a shampoo that was good for this or whether she may be lacking something in her diet now she is a golden oldie??!!  Many thanks in anticipation of your replies!!

Kate

You could try Vitamin E. That usually helps to nourish the skin.

Tohme should be able to confidently advise you on this question.....if she sees it :)

Thanks!  I hope Tohme does see it then!!  Shaynlola- in which form would I give her Vitamin E??  Thanks!!

Kate

Try some oily fish like a tin of sardines in olive oil once a week.  Or a cod liver oil capsule in her food daily.

Fish Body Oils (FBO) are preferable to Cod Liver Oil, (CLO) the latter also has Vitamins A and D which you can OD on.  You cannot really OD on FBO or Vitamin E.

Vitamins A & D are fat soluble and excess can build up in the liver and prove toxic to the dog, especially if you are also feeding a complete food that contains Vitamin A and/or are feeding liver regularly, and should not be given to pregnant bitches.

You can give her the capsules that are intended for human use. Most dogs will take thes okay.

Thanks guys so much!!  It's great having like-minded people to call on when you've got a dog prob!  Will try these out! Cheers!!

Kate!

You really need to understand what is causing the scurf.

Firstly  I would look at diet and see if she is getting any "yeast/sugar", and remove those.

I would then look at giving her a very high quality FBO supplement from a good supplier such as Healthspan which has a high level of EPA/DHA.
If you do this you must also give Vitamin E, preferably natural form as it is more potent (d-alpha-tocopherol) again a lot of supplements are synthetic or do not tell you the source.  400iu per day.

I would also consider giving Evening Primrose Oil or Borage/Starflower Oil.

HTH

Thanks so much Tohme, makes real sense, I did supplement my dogs diets at one point with fish oils and have never encountered this before.  That really does help, I shall give it a go!

Thank you..

Kate