What to Add to Dog Food for Dry Skin?

Are you noticing signs of dry skin in your beloved pup? Say they’ve been itching a lot more often than usual or have developed a dry skin rash of sorts, what could possibly help remedy these conditions?

Well, fortunately, there are many ingredients and vitamins out there that can significantly impact the condition of your dog’s skin. Introducing these into their diet can most assuredly breed results. Oils like flaxseed, salmon, and coconut can help in promoting great skin health. Vitamin E, Omega-3, and various amino acids within proteins are also beneficial.

THE INGREDIENTS:

Vitamins like omega-3 and omega 6 are great moisturizers that improve your dog’s skin and fur coat. They can even lower high cholesterol levels too. These so-called good fats” are crucial for the development and maintaining of healthy skin. All this is to say that fatty acids are important to implement in the diet of a dry-skinned dog.

Foods like sweet potatoes, avocados, salmon, and the various oils listed earlier are not only rich in omega-3 but also are rich in antioxidants. Chicken is also a good source of these fatty acids. In fact, it might be worth the investment of finding natural dog treats to supplement the new diet for your dog.

To reward them for enduring this dry skin process, Platinum Pet Treats is a good example of a company that provides 100% natural dog treats that are single ingredients and promote general health. Their chicken bites for instance would be a great supplement for this diet process as the chicken is just chicken. Nothing more and nothing less, so the benefit of getting the most out of those rich fatty acids for your dog will definitely improve their skin health.

A VET PERSPECTIVE:

It also never hurts to seek a veterinarian’s opinion on the matter. They might prescribe your dog medication or ointments to treat your dog’s dry skin condition depending on the severity.

Their professional assessment of your dog’s overall health can go a very long way. That way, together, you and your vet can come up with a dietary plan to help supplement their drying skin with nutritious foods that can benefit your dog.

TRACK THE PROGRESS:

Having made some dietary changes to better address your dog’s drying skin, tracking the progress can be an encouraging venture. Taking notes and photos is a great way to keep track of the process. Paying attention to the skin changes and coat changes as well.

 What is the best food to feed a dog with pancreatitis?

Multiple causes of pancreatitis in dogs typically have to do in some part with diet. And more specifically, a fatty diet. In fact, Dogs fed fatty foods, with at least 15-20% of their energy coming from fatty foods are actually more at risk for contracting pancreatitis.

These dogs develop what is known as “hyperlipidemia”, which is essentially an increase in fatty content, or lipids, within their blood. This would lead to obesity and thus pancreatitis which results in pancreatic juice activity dogs would have to endure in its excess.

DISEASE MANAGEMENT:

A common symptom of pancreatitis is vomiting. And these instances of regurgitation can happen multiple times a day and leave a dog relatively dehydrated very quickly. The solution to preventing this excessive pancreatic vomiting is to put your dog on a strict fast that can be up to 24 hours. With the fast lasting anywhere between 3 days to 2 weeks.

During this fasting process, a number of antibiotics, antiemetics (which prevents vomiting), tons of fluids, and electrolytes should be regularly administered to your dog either by IV or SC. Which are both common forms of injection but one delivers straight into the bloodstream and the other just beneath the skin. Seek a vet for guidance through the process and knowing which type of injection might be best.

Once your pet has stopped vomiting, the diet should largely consist of fluids. About 90% of their diet is fluid moving forward. Additionally, carbohydrates can also be a good alternative to liquid-based diets as carbs typically don’t affect the pancreas as much as fats do. There are homogenized liquid diets available to purchase commercially and they can be administered by syringe by injecting the contents either into your dog’s cheek or head in a lowered position.

Administering in these areas helps reduce risks of aspiration and promotes normal swallowing.

Once your dog has tolerated this liquid diet for a couple of days, you can introduce fiber and some moderately fatty content to their food. And in very small proportions at that. Each of these smaller means should only be given 3 times a day.

Over long-term management, your dog would require a more carb-based diet than one that is fattier.

Also Read: How do You Get your Dog to Eat Food?

FOOD TYPES:

Homemade rice, boiled chicken, beef, egg whites, yogurt, various grains, and various cooked vegetables can be used in introducing foods that your dog can begin to eat again safely.

Pineapples and Papayas are also good for your dog to eat as they help improve digestion and pancreatic function.

Additionally, it might also be worth investing in all-natural dog treats moving forward. Once your dog has shown significant improvement, processed dog treats may not be a healthy option. For

For example, Platinum Pet Treats is a company that regularly provides 100% natural dog treats that are single-ingredient and contain no processed additives and preservatives. It might be good to provide your dog with only natural treats so that they wouldn’t rub so harshly on their digestive system.

Also Read: What to look for in Dog Food?