Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 5/8/2011

Question
I have a 7 year old Wire fox terrier with skin allergies and I read that the Nuvet Plus vitamin dog supplement was helpful for this.Do you think this supplement might be helpful for this and is it a good supplement?I have the dog on a grain free diet called Now which is supposed to help but he is constantly iching.We have tried putting him on many different diets.I also add cod liver oil to his diet but it doesn,t seem to help.

Answer
Certain vitamins, minerals, and fish oils (not cod liver oil) are helpful for the skin, but if the food change has not helped, then I would advise having the dog checked by your vet.  There may be an infection, mites, or inflammation causing the itching.  Often these itchy allergic dogs need some type of anti-itching medication, like a steroid or cyclosporine.