My sister has an EBT (Black/white), 14 months neutered male, which has a bit of a skin problem - not very severe, but a little bit itchy and a bit of hair thinning on the stomach and round one eye with a few reddish spots.  Tests, biopsy, skin scrapes etc have revealed nothing, and no treatments (antibiotics, antihistamines, steroids, anti-inflammatories and insecticidal washes etc) have made any significant improvement so far - except perhpas a little improvement with the antihistamines.  the vet is still 'on the case'.

I repeat, this dog isn't very bad, but my sister is determined to get him 'cured' if possible.

Can anyone tell me if EBT's in general have a tendency towards allergic skin problems.

Hi -My Sister has an EBT -she has an allergy to house dust mites , which is kept at bay with anti-histamines and the odd steroid -but there are hoemeopathic remedies out that alot of people swear by -I think one is called ''ditch the itch ''

Hi MB

Has your sister considered her bully's diet as a possible cause?  I ask this because my hubby had an EBT which he rescued from an appalling owner and this poor dog had skin trouble all of its life, as well as being completely deaf.  He and the vet fought an ongoing battle against the condition until the day he had to be pts at the age of 10. We were actually talking the other day about this dog, and we wondered if knowing what we do now about both raw feeding and the more natural commercial foods, eg Burns and Naturediet, whether the dog's skin condition could have been helped by diet.   Also, vets may recommend a different food, but often they will recommend the food they sell, which might not be the most effective choice!!!! 

Goodness, writing this has brought back memories - Oscar was a gem of a dog, the sweetest natured boy you could hope to meet, despite his problems in life :)

Lesley

Hi, and thanks for the reply.  Yes, we are considering food allergy and I have suggested that she should try James Wellbeloved Lamb & rice as a next possible step. 

I had a corgi many years ago who had a slight allergy to something all his life (so I'm used to the allergy problem)  - never got to the bottom of it, but he didn't have the hair thinning or rash that my sister's dog did, he was just very itchy. In the end he was on a very low dose of Piriton almost permanently - which was a pain as I used to work obedience with him and it could sometimes make him a bit sleepy.  Mind you, I never let him drive or operate machinery whilst he was on them.....!! 

I also wonder now if it the corgi had a food allergy, but in the early 70's that sort of thing wasn't generally considered. In those days antihistamines weren't normally used either (the norm was cortisone injections which lasted c. 2 weeks) - my vet at the time thought he was being very adventurous using antihistamine!

Good luck, I hope your sister gets to the root of it and nips it in the bud :)  I'm pretty sure now that hubby's bully probably had a food allergy, but as you say, years ago that wasn't given much thought as a cause. 

Lesley