I posted a while ago about Rosie's skin infection , nail loss and hair loss. She first lost some hair on right side due to a skin infection - vet didnt know what caused that , and lost a whole nail leaving the quick exposed. All seemed to heal till she had a sting / bite and then she started to lose hair on left side , we thought it was a reaction to bite to begin with but all hair along side and most of back fell out. She had a blood test which revealed an under active thyroid , has had tablets and within a month almost all hair has grown back - YIPPEE!! But.... just as we thought all was ok now she lost another nail , they just seem to fall off , no splits , cracks etc on them and this morning noticed skin on iside of leg has flared up and gone red and raw! Cant understand what keeps causing this and dont want her to have another course of anti-biotics ( has had six already) if they dont actually clear it up!! Any ideas of what it could be , am worried it is something more serious underlying - has anyone experienced this with their dog before? I really dont know what to do for the best now - please please can someone help?

Thank you so very much in advance!
Kate , Sean and of course Rosie.

I can't help with any ideas about the skin complaint but for the cracking splitting & loss of nails it could be a Keratin problem

You could try giving her a powder actually used by equine people for hoof supplement called Biotin it can be bought mail order from [linkhttp://www.goldlabeluk.com/nutrionalhealth.htm]here[/link] & is on the equine nutritional health page

I level teaspoon a day for 60 days then 30 days off & then repeat could help

Your dog would benefit from a B complex supplement; biotin, choline, folic acid and inositol are related compounds and may be found with a good B complex from a health food shop.

It may also be worth thinking about sulphur as this is necessary for good naisl and skin.  This would be found in meat, liver and eggs but a supplement may be indicated in this particular case; speak to your vet.

Zinc and silicone can often be helpful too; Zinc is found in poultry, meat, fish and liver, too much of other minerals can intgerfere with zinc absorption however you don't want too much of it either.  Silicon is often used as a nutritional supplement for dogs with weak or cracked nails.

HTH

Thanks to both for replying. After Rosie's first skin infection and loss of first nail a friend reccomended rock sulphur which i put in her drinking water and have done ever since - do you think she needs more than just this? Im just worried because shes been completely healthy for seven years and then this strikes all of a sudden for no apparent reason , and its not just one isolated incident - its one thing after another. We're now always wondering what we are going to find next!

Another thing to consider is perhaps consulting a homoeopathic vet?  Sometimes you need to get at the underlying cause rather than treating the symptoms.  You can find a list here:

http://www.bahvs.com/vetmfhom.htm

HTH

Thank you so much for the link - have seen one about an hour away from me and will ring them on Monday! Hopefully this will work , and like you say it is the underlying cause that i want to get sorted. Have you yourself ever had any experience with homoeopathic vets?

Yes, with a dog that I rehomed who had multiple behaviour problems; the homeopathic treatment was brilliant and did not pose the risks that putting him on conventional drugs would have had.

Homoeopathy can be absolutely brilliant.  I recommend it.  I use homoeopathy wherever possible either instead of or as well as allopathic medecines.

IT says in the link that my vet has to pass on all my dogs medical history. He is a really good vet and is excellent with Rosie but im a little worried that i may offend him if i say that im going to try another vet

why?

You don't have to ask him anyway, you just inform him.

My vets have never raised an eyebrow when I have told them I wanted to use chiropractic, homoeopath etc, they are generally interested as they do not have expertise in that area.

It is not a case of offending them it is just you want an opinion from a field of medecine that your vet has no experience in; just as most vets would refer you on to a specialist for certain conditions or equipment like MRI etc.

AT the end of the day you are the customer and the most important person in this equation is your dog.

Have rung homeopathic vets and have had Rosie's history faxed over by my vets. Just waiting to hear from them now....