[tootsie]

I brought Maddie in for her annual vet visit yesterday. She is almost 2 1/2 now, she weighed in at 65.5 pounds, which is great. She was 62 pounds when we got her last September and kind of skinny, so the 3 1/2 pounds really looks good on her, barely can see her ribs anymore.
She is still having an issue with the skin on her chin, has been ever since I got her. When I first got her I thought the previous owners had been feeding her from a plastic bowl, because of the scratching and soreness on her chin. Well, needless to say I do not use plastic bowls. It didn't get any better with the bowl switch or food switch. She was eating Iams when I first got her. I thought it could be a food allergy. I immediately got her off of that and started her on Solid Gold. 3 months on the Solid Gold, and nothing but runny and mushy stool, so I tried Natural Balance Organic. Still problems with stool and chin scratching. I switched her to Canidae ALS and have no more stool issues, but the itchy red skin on her chin is still there. All the vet had to offer was the plastic bowl advice. I told her I am not using plastic bowls, and she kind of changed the subject. I brought it up again, she said she didn't know and shrugged it off. Needless to say we won't be visiting that vet anymore.  :x  I have been using extra virgin coconut oil on it because it's suppose to be a natural anti-fungal and anti-bacterial oil. It really does work, but as soon as I stop using it, the rash or whatever it is comes back. Does anyone have any ideas what could be causing this or how to get rid of it? I guess I should buy some stock in coconut oil if I can't find anything else to cure this!  

 

[tootsie]

The whole thing with plastic bowls is that plastic can harbor bacteria. I know that you shouldn't even store food (kibble) in plastic storage bins because the oils in the food can go rancid and by just pouring food into the bins you can contaminate the new food this way. I use to store my food that way. I never even thought of the oil in food becoming rancid.
Maddie's chin was the way you are decribing Guido's, real rough and scabby. If you are using plastic bowls to feed, I would change to ceramic or stainless bowls. See if that makes a difference.
Maddie has done real well on the Canidae. When I switched her over from the Natural Balance, she was picking around and spitting out the Natural Balance, only eating the Canidae. So, I didn't even bother mixing the two anymore and her stool issues were gone almost immediately. I think Canidae is one of the best human grade foods you can buy,and very reasonably priced as well.  

 

[tootsie]

I may have to check into a Dermatologist for animals, or have some allergy testing done on her.  :roll:
I never thought of trying the vinegar. I'll give that a shot. Boy....apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, poor girl is starting to sound like a new kind of salad dressing!  :winkle:

 

[tootsie]

Absolutely!! Thanks Sharon. I'll try and get a close up of her chin tomorrow.