Dear all
My westie is now nearly 3 years old and so far has had very minor skin problems but this last week he has developed small scabs all over his back, hes not scratching at all but he does seem very sad, not his usual bouncy cheery little self.  I am taking him to the vets today, but if anyone has any ideas as to why this should have started all of a sudden, the only thing I have done lately that is different is that I had to bath him because he got really filthy in the fields where we always go for a walk and I had to use a tee tree dog shampoo (supposed to be very good for westies) becuse I had run out of his usual Malaseb.  He only has chicken, carrots and broccolli and sometimes some tripe sticks as a treat and I put a teaspoon of cod liver oil on his dinner at night.  Does anyone know of anything else I could do or any advice as to why this should happen all of a sudden.

He could have had a reaction to the detergent ingredient in the shampoo you used - Tea Tree shampoos are not made of that alone ;) 

The fact that his skin has broken out suddenly but particularly that he is obviously very down / depressed, personally I'd visit the vet rather than try and second guess what's wrong.  Take the shampoo with you in case there is anything on the ingredient list which helps the vet identify whether it's the most likely cause.  Have a think about if you've changed any household cleaners, detergents, fabrics etc recently too.

Skin conditions can be food based - I see you offer him a very restricted ingredient intake which is presumably because you've discovered he has intolerances to several things.  If that's the case I'm not sue about the tripe sticks - they're usually beef tripe I think and beef is often on the list of dietary no-go foods for allergy prone dogs.  As an aside, rather than adding CLO to his diet I would change that to fish body oil.

HTH, regards Teri

Hi Teri

Many thanks for your reply, I am taking Hamish to the vets today and will do as you suggested and take the shampoo bottle with me.  I have always fed Hamish chicken, carrots and broccolli because I know that Westies can be intolerant to certain dog foods, I will stop the tripe sticks, do you recommend any other sort of treat for him.  I have not used any new detergents and I wash his bedding every week in the same detergent and rinse it very thoroughly, also nothing in his enviroment has changed.  Yes you are right he does seem very depressed at the moment I hate to see him this way he is normally such a happy little chap I wish there was something more I could do for him.  The cod liver oil I use also has starflower oil in it, what sort fish body oil should I get for him.

Hi again Jenny,

FBO is readily available at Health food stores or possibly try Holland & Barratt :)

Regards, Teri

repeat post sorry

Stick with the Malaseb.  Some of these shampoos you can buy are awful. I personally wouldn't use them on my won dogs even with good skin.

Many thanks to you all for your replies, I will let you know how we get on at the vets today.  By the way where do I get fish body oil ??