Well were back form the Vet.

My vet is also a skeptic about the Thyroid test, especially for his age. Usually a thyroid is something that they wouldnt do yet, but she was not opposed to doing such. Blood was drawn and will be send in for a thyrid test, She also recommended a CBC/Chemistry test at the same time. Both are headed to Dodds.

We then talked about getting a NutriScan done also. She believes its more likely a food problem. We talked about switching to a Grain Free food (of which she listed a few options) OR a Raw diet. The change should happen as soon as i can, and them remain for 60 days to monitor any changes.

Options she listed are:
Grain Free Foods with Limited Ingredients. (No Corn, Wheat, Soy, Or Rice)
- California Naturals
- Natural Balance (Limited Ingredient)
- Taste of the Wild - Blue
- Fromms

Store Raw options are:
- Stella & Chewy's Frozen or Dehydrated
- Honest Kitchen
- Natures Variety
- Or developing a cook at home food option.

Also recommended continuing the wild Alaskan salmon oil.

So for the time being, He's back on 10 day treatment of antibiotics as well as some Vetericyn VF for the hot spots 2 times a day.

I can't help but think this sounds like an allergy problem. Either dust mites or a food issue. A friend with a Golden with pretty much exactly the same symptoms as this has completely cured the problem by putting the dog onto a raw diet.

do they have frozen raw complete choices where you live? This kind of food takes the guesswork out of it.

Good luck, I hope you manage to get on top of this quickly, it's very distressing thing to cope with.

As a side note I've heard that ACV is brilliant although haven't used it myself.

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Food allergies are not common. 10% of allergies found in dogs are food related. Nutriscan does not test for actual food allergies, it tests for sensitivity. Sensitivity is different then a true allergy. Look for Annamaet grain free. So far, im having wonderful results on that food

Thanks everyone for the help. I'll see what the thyroid results are, and then decide what to do next.

Switching to a grain free sounds much easier and more affordable than a raw diet....especially without much freezer space. I'll have to do some research on what might work best for us, as well for him.

On a hopeful note, switching to grain-free made a tremendous difference in a good way for Chance. Mostly cleared up the ear problems and in-between paws. Virtually no problems in these 2 areas since he switched to grain-free Wellness Core.

He still occasionally gets hot spots but I can usually pinpoint the cause

Sounds like you have a plan going forward which is great. Keep us posted.

p.s. Having the vet perform the thyroid test even though she is skeptical is a good move. Chance was not a candidate for a skin problem he had. When I asked his breeder to look at his skin problem spot one night at agility, without hesitation she told me what she thought it was and to have my vet do a skin scraping. Even though skeptical, my vet did it and confirmed my breeder's diagnosis. (She knows her Goldens!) My vet said she would not have considered this because Chance is such an unlikely candidate. But there you go! There are always exceptions. So we treated it successfully once we had a correct diagnosis.

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..... have a Golden day

Hello again everyone. Back with an update.

The thyoid test came back just fine, showing no problems. Same with the blood chemistry test. I'll get the actual numbers later today.

I've got some Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar and i've been treating itchy areas and hot spots.

About a week ago, He had an alergy issue where his face swelled up pretty rapidly. It was later at night and the vet was closed. A dose of Benadryl seemed to take care of things over night and the next day we just watched him closely. It's since gone away, but the only thing i think it could have been was the ACV we used. keeping an eye on him each day now.

I've since been transitioning him to Earthborn Holistic Grain Free, only 2 days in. I've read about the high calorie content, so i'll be watching how much he gets. He's still VERY itchy, although the antibiotics are clearing up his hot spots and problem areas. He only has 2 days left on the antibiotics, but i'm interested in extending his dose a while.

At this point whats my next step? Should i do a Nutriscan test and get results on both panels of his food allergy's.

I'll post back with his Tyroid test numbers once i get them.

All the test numbers are about in the middle of the range...Nothing out of the norm.

He's been given an additional 2 weeks of antibiotics. I'll switch him over to the new food and keep an eye on him....then possibly do the food allergy test.

the thyroid was in the middle range for t3, t4, free t3, free t4 and TgAA? Id love to see the numbers. Did you sent them to Hemopet? Did Doc Jean Dodds send an Opinion? She responds to email questions quickly. Good luck with the food switch.

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Yeah, if you sent the thyroid panel to Dr Dodds and she said the thyroid was fine then its fine. However, if your vet ran the panel and said it was fine I would totally be looking into that.

Again, food allergies are not very common. I suspected mine to be allergic to chicken for a number of years, but on a well balanced appropriate diet hes doing fine (so far) on a chicken based diet.

I did the nutrispec saliva test...panel 1...Tailer was sensitive to chicken & corn, so I have removed them from his diet. His skin is 99% better...100% most of the time. I also pour a bit of olive oil, Braggs Organic apple cider vinegar & herbs (no rosemary) on each meal. Each dog n home n environment are different, this works for us.

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