[miyo]

Hi there,
We have adopted Miyo a couple of months ago... Poor girl has already had two previous owners! She was adopted as she was too bouncy for her previous owners who kept her in their apartment  for 8 to 10 hours a day.
She has settled in very well with us, but we are having a few health issues with her. She has just turned a year, and was spayed at about 10.5 months...Now, she is getting a yellowy discharge, it isn't smelly, but there does seem to be a lot of it. I have spoken to the vet regarding this and they say it is normal, and i have read a few post, and am now giving her some natural yogurt, but it is still present..any comments on this??
She also was left at a kennels for a weekend as I had to go away, and when my boyfriend went to check on her she had swellings on her neck and bumps down her back, she was immediately taken to the vet, and he confirmed that she had a chicken allergy.... She was put on a course of antihistamines and cream for this and it has cleared up...but she does regularly get, what I now know as hives, shown as bumps on her back and round her neck. We have cut out all poultry and eggs from her diet...could this be environmental? We do live in Singapore which is a hot climate, and she does have to be hosed down to keep cool... and I have come to realize that even the dermo shampoo makes her come up in hives... as well as possibility rolling in the grass. She is a beautiful girl, but her skin is giving us constant trouble. It seems to be a big problem with dogs here in Singapore...does anyone out there have any experience in keeping boxers in warm climates. The vets here all say it is normal, and skin complaints are common in dogs here, but I am sure that there is something we can do or some supplement that could help this condition...Suggestions please...
Asides from her health problems she is a beautiful addition to our household, and has already made tonnes of doggy friends here in Singapore. She has proven to be an accomplished swimmer and loves playing on the beach. She is so well behaved and is obedient and willing to train..she is truly a great dog, so i feel we owe it to her to make her comfortable in her own skin!

 

[Donya]

im sorry i dont have any real solutions to your problem but i know that oatmeal shampoos for baths can be soothing for skin problems. just dont wash her too much as the oils in her skin will dry out and it can be more irritating.

 

[Skyboxers]

I really don't have any suggestions for you but I do think that you should consider getting a vet that will hear you out and care about your concerns not saying yours don't but it just doesn't seem as if what you are asking help with is being treated the way it should. It could of just been the way I read it but only you know how your vet acts but if you have any reason to think he is not paying attention to what you have to say I would go else where.
Samantha

 

[miyo]

The recommendations from regarding her skin problems have come from 2 separate vets and also from friends who have similar problems. The first vet did a skin scrape to see if it was a mite, and gave the all clear. The second vet confirmed that it was an allergic reaction to chicken, and prescribed antihistamines..which do work, but she does seem to be getting allergic reactions to other environmental factors, that aren't as severe as the chicken allergy, but are displayed as hives.

 

[Zhanna]

Maybe a change of shampoo, like stated earlier.  Also, the products you clean your house with could be causing some problems.

 

[Ky_IsisnOnyxsMama]

well.. Isis has that same thing..bumps all over..under neck on cheeks and up back...happens every so often has them right now actually..i never have heard the chicken allergy thing ..we use benedryl and genesis spray and it works great..but ill have to look into the chicken although she has it alot...and the bumps are only every so often...we have fresh cut grass issues..lol issue being isis sees it and rolls all around in it..lol

we just deal with the symptoms..it never gets worse...happend once...we cook chicken. rice, and veggies and add it to their dry nutro natural lamb ..i might cut the chicken out just to see..

you might try the genesis spray or cream...vet sells it..it works !!..we also only use baby shampoo and awapui shampoo on her..others bother her skin

 

[ZOESPOP]

Zoe had "issues" with her hive situation.....found that a benedryl or other over the counter allergy relief remedy does wonders for the hives which are essentially their skin reaction to an outside stimulus that is irritating them. Check with your vet 1st to get his input, but 1 or 2 capsules a day worked for me. 1 capsule in the morning (slipped strategically inside about a 1" piece of hot dog) when she gets up and 1 later in the afternoon  

You mentioned rolling in the grass......don't know about Singapore plants, but there MAY possibly be something in the grass ( a weed possibly) that excretes juices when broken that is irritating her skin

When Zoe REALLY got bad allergies (coughing, wheezing, scratching) this fall for the 1st time (even tho she is about 4 years old now), the vet we have, suggested 1mg per pound 3 times a day, so Zoe, being about 45 lbs, got 2 25mg capsules (again, slipped inside a piece of hot dog, that REALLY is the easiest, she gulped it right down) 3 times a day for total of 6 capsules....within a couple days no coughing, wheezing and very little scratching. YAY!

Would suggest that with the hot dogs (if you can get them, if not any good quality meat will do) that you  put out a couple "placebos" that don't have any medicine in them......have found (via Zoe) that Boxers have a keen sense of smell even for their short snouts and she would sometimes balk at just one piece, (of course it was the one with the 2 capsules inside it)......but when we set 2 OTHER pieces down with the medicated one, apparently the sheer quantity (3 as opposed to 1) made all the difference in the world!

As far as the discharge, the ONLY guess I could possibly fathom is a yeast infection which the yogurt cultures should clear up in a couple days.

Hope this helps with Miyo and good luck!

 

[samsonsmom]

First off, welcome to the forum....Singapore? That's a very humid & hot climate and it could be the the heat is causing a reaction...You can buy these cooling mats for your boxer to lay on that are great...There are so many things that could be causing her reaction, you almost have to start from scratch and rule one out at a time...Rolling in grass, like was previously stated very well could be causing the bumps. I'm assuming that all chicken has been removed from her diet now? Check your cleaning products, shampoo, everything..Sometimes it takes a bit to figure it out, but to be honest I can't believe it's simply the heat & humidity causing it....Here in the south, it's bad, but probably not as bad as there...As far as the discharge, it's not normal to have any discharge, the yogurt should help, but if it doesn't start to clear up I would be asking the vet to check her out again.....Hope this has been some help and let us know how she does  

 

[Kate]

Funny thing about allergies, in my experience if someone (person I mean) is allergic to part of an animal, i.e. beef, they can be allergic to everything associated with the beef, such as milk, cheese, etc.  So if she is allergic to chickens - then it makes sense to me that she would also not be able to tolerate eggs which come from chickens.  You might have to try a raw diet, and completely eliminate fowl of any kind. Do an elimination diet where you feed a food with beef, bison, fish or salmon as the only protein source.  It will probably take you some time to determine what foods are available to you and what their ingredients are.  I would guess that fish would be readily available in singapore, but that beef, bison, etc. may be hard to come by.

In the meantime, welcome to the forum and keep us posted as to what you find out.  It could be that it is the grain fillers in her food that are giving her problems (like corn, barley, oats etc.) and if so - eliminating them completely may help.  Other than that I don't have any suggestions.  Good luck!!!

 

[miyo]

Thanks for all the advice!!! The discharge business has improved with the yogurt...so I think she'll be having that daily to keep it at bay. She had some antihistamine to sort out the bumps which have gone down for now, but are bound to flare up again. I will try changing her shampoo again, and watch her when she rolls. I don't think that it is the heat causing, as it often happens after she has bathed or been swimming, but also can happen randomly. She actually deals with the heat really well, which surprises me.
I will keep my eye out for genesis spray...fingers crossed they have it out here
She is now on Timberwolf food, elk or something like that with no chicken products...we have cut out all poultry from her diet. It is strange as it seems to be a common allergy over here. ...
It is so nice to have this forum, as there are very few boxers over here...mainly 'toy' dogs.  It is just nice to hear good advice from other boxer owners, and to see so many lovely boxer dogs.
Thnks again!!