ZRD (zinc responsive dermatosis)

[Malene S. Hansen]

Hello fellow husky owners

I have written earlier about my husky girl with ZRD. Zinc supplements helps her a lot, but the disease still shows up every other month.

she can have five weeks free of soars, being on top, and then bam.. Filled with soars again. It comes around eyes, mouth, in the ears very bad and on her paws. A long with the soars she becomes more depressed. Maybe it hurts. She scratches a lot when it is bad.

The zinc dosis cannot be any higher.

Our vet, who is from USA and is well known in this disease, tells us that ZRD has a trigger. It often follows shedding season and stressfull periods. But this time nothing is changed here. Our dog has the same zinc as usual, the same rhythm, training and so on.

Have any of you tried this?

Best regards from Malene, Denmark

[Stranger]

we've found that Parker reacts to something in his diet, and treats along with certain things he picks up on walks.

although he has the symtoms of ZDR and quite possible is ZRD, he is always on the verge of it breaking out, all it takes it one wrong treat, or too much/little of something to kick it off.

the vet said its an allergy to something or ZRD. he is fine at the moment, but still pink around the mussle, and thin hair around his left eye.

[Stranger]

ours eat, burns, the fish one and have only been tried on the fish 4 dogs treats, we are going to try intoducing him to others once it clears up more.

[Malene S. Hansen]

Lua has bene given the same treats as usual.

it is so difficult for us. How long is it fair for the dog to leave it be? She is not the same during periods with soars. She is sad and not active. I feel so bad. She is our first husky. We will never find one like her again.

we have her daughter as well.

[stormchaser09]

what do you feed her on? I am asking because one of mine showed signs of this around her mouth around the time we took on our second husky so we don't know if it was a stress thing, we have since changed her diet to a cereal free one from a duck and rice based food and all her symptoms have completely gone I started her on zinc as recommended by our vet but I only give her one every few days now as she is totally clear.

[Mollys_mum]

I have a Mally that I think might have Zinc deficiency and I have just started including 2 fresh Mackerel/sardines each morning.

Mall's and Sibes both started off with a mainly fish diet originally owing to their environment so Zinc coming from fresh oily fish as a starting point makes sense to me if there are signs of skin problems. Perhaps try it for a few weeks? I've only had Timber on it for 2 days so can't post any results as yet. That said, I'm hopeful.

[Malene S. Hansen]

Lua is fed with Wolfsblut Cold River. We always feed our dogs with grain free diet, because their stummacks cannot digest grain, corn and other things.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with her diet. And she is also not stressed this time. Earlier outbreaks came a long with shedding, heat and last time we babysat a husky male.

Lua is now spayed, so the hormonal cycle is totally stable. But still the soars come. We dont know what to do anymore :-(

[Vlad]

When are you giving her the zinc suppliment .I read somewhere not to give them with meals but to wait until about 4 hours after they eat ,if you give them with a meal most of the suppliment is absorbed by the meal.As its not a problem with amount of zinc in the food its more a problem of the dogs being unable to absorb the zinc from the food.

[Emma]

I've heard that you shouldn't give zinc too close to meals as well. I think this is because calcium prevents zinc from being absorbed into the body properly, so if the meal has calcium in it (presumably it will) then it will trigger the above mentioned to happen.

[Malene S. Hansen]

That is brand new information for me! Thank you so much.

we feed her zinc together with evening meal. We will instantly change this.

We make ice cubes from liver and water mixed with zinc tablets. Every other day the cubes contain copper and vitamin B as well. This secures maximum intake from the intestines. Vitamin B helps the body absorb zinc. These high zinc dosages can give lack of copper, and therefore we give copper supplements as well.

Thank you again. I am so glad to have this forum when the Danes are so badly enlighten about ZRD.

[stormchaser09]

I guess you just have to keep trying, frustrating although it is. I only posted my experiences and what worked for mine. I hope you find out the cause soon.

[Emma]

"In the long term, a great way to improve your dogs zinc levels is to regularly provide fresh fish or fish oil supplements as part of their diet. Another alternative is to include kelp in your dog's diet. This is a very effective way to provide additional zinc, as well as a host of other beneficial nutrients. Half to one teaspoon a couple of times a week should be enough for most adult Siberians, and is an effective preventative measure in most cases, acting to 'top-up' zinc levels in the dog's diet before problems occur, or to prevent relapse."

Just found this on a sled dog website, thought it useful as I'd never even considered kelp to be perfectly honest with you. (Isn't it a bit like seaweed?)

Edit: The link on the word Kelp is from Amazon trying to flog you some kelp powder.

Edited September 11, 2012 by emma1979

[26nikita]

My rescue Aspen just got diagnosed with ZRD. I give her human grade zinc supplements. I crush the pill and put it in her evening meal. I read crushing the pill helps but i cant find the article on it. If i find it again, i will post it. She is also on a Salmon kibble. This seems to be working so far. I found a website that tells you the min. & max. amount of zinc to give a dog. It also tells you that plant based diets and diets high in calcium bind Zinc, preventing absorbtion. So food is a trigger. The article below also mentions that zinc combined with a fatty acid supplement is beneficial.

ZRD article

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1659+1662&aid=718

Fatty acid article

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2&aid=666

[Malene S. Hansen]

Thanks again to everybody. Both of our dogs are fed with dry food based on fish. They are given fish oil as well.

I have read about kelp before, but it is very hard to find in Denmark, and therefore we decided to give fish and zinc supplement instead.

Our kitchen is filled with supplements for the dogs: zinc, copper, vitamin B, fish oil, plaque off. When the soars are bad, we give Lupoderm Oil as well. It helps the skin heal. It almost like a pharmacy, and its not fun at all. But we will keep trying until the day where Lua has more bad days than good. Then we will say goodbye. It is not fair to her to live like this.

[mikeeholder]

Mine has a zinc deficiency, its given him

very itchy skin under his eyes, muzzle and on top of his head. It’s driving him
nuts, and I have to stop him scratching or he makes himself bleed.

Does anyone know if there are any creams
for the dermatitis and has anyone used NUTRAZINC. I found it on a mushing
website for sale, its quite expensive. does any one think it will be more
effective than the zinc tablets from the general health store?

I have changed his diet to a sensitive fish
based kibble, I just want to make him more comfortable. Seems to be a bit of a
grey area ZRD, are there any foods which can help with the exception of the supplement
you can buy over the counter?

[Liz Jones]

Have a check of this one Came as a recommend to me from someone who has two dogs with ZRD and she then only supplements occasionally giving it a go to see if it works on indi she only started on it on Wednesday but no upset Tim so far and that's good for her:)

[mikeeholder]

Have a check of this one ImageUploadedByTapatalk1361632546.072167.jpg Came as a recommend to me from someone who has two dogs with ZRD and she then only supplements occasionally giving it a go to see if it works on indi she only started on it on Wednesday but no upset Tim so far and that's good for her:)

How is indi getting on with this food? bandits getting supplimented 45g zinc but its have little or no effect. taste of the wild seems to have a similar make up to this food (zinc wise).

[Liz Jones]

Hi mike Indi has been on 40 mg of zinc supplements for a month and been fed CSJ and salmon oil for a week and a half and we are only just starting to see some improvement!!! The hair is starting to grow back and the skin has now gone black rather than red. See pic below Taking a long time how long has he been on the supplements??

[mikeeholder]

about 2 months now for the supplements, I have just ordered the food you have recommended, looks good.

Seems to have flared up during the coat blowing period. He is at the vets tomorrow, if his heads no better they will be shaving it   and possibly a cone of shame. His eye and nose now have large patches similar to indi's eye.

[Liz Jones]

Oh Mike I hope he's ok and didn't need to have his head shaved here's a pic of Indi 7 weeks in and she still scratches but getting less.. Hope he gets on with the food our girls love it and have had no upset tums

[mikeeholder]

he managed to avoid the head shaving, not 100% convinced by the vet who we inherited from the previous owner. Unfortunatly our vet who we have used for the past 20 odd years and was just around the corner past away a few years back so on the look out for an experienced siberian husky vet. Harder than you whould think since we live on a 20mile across island, but there are husky breeders and racers on the island so just need to do a bit of research.

 

Glad indi is getting a little bit better, she look very sorry for herself in those most recent photos, she is an incredibly pretty girl and SO fluffy. Dont envy you during coat blowing season.

 

Cant wait to get the new food underway, I hope it works. Just trail and error at the moment.

good luck and keep me updated on whats workig and whats not etc.