Shepsky5 Posted December 8, 2018 Report Share Posted December 8, 2018 I tried switching my dog to a salmon-based kibble, thinking it is healthy and that huskies traditionally ate a lot of fish, so it should agree with him. He was fine - active, great poop, fur looked great, etc. But after a week or two, I noticed he had a horrible sour smell - I sniffed him carefully all over and it was not his ears, not his paws, not his back end...the smell is strongest actually on his back! It is a strong sour pungent smell almost like cider vinegar, but worse! ( I knew it was bad because when we boarded him for Thanksgiving, they offered to give him a free bath...:-) We switched him back to his usual lamb&rice kibble and the smell is slowly fading... Was relieved it was not some kind of skin infection or health condition. But I don't know how a different kind of kibble could make him smell so bad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulG Posted December 8, 2018 Report Share Posted December 8, 2018 I would not blame the fish, remember that huskys etc for many years lived on a fish diet (rivers were full of them and it was easy to catch and dry/smoke) I personaly feed raw food, monday it might be chicken tuesday beef wednesday tripe, thursday chicken and beef My supplier does full range of plain meats and mixes, so every day they get something different, added to the meals can be lumps of liver heart tripe even frozen fish. along with every couple days a squirt of cod or salmon oil along with raw eggs every few days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelseafan Posted December 11, 2018 Report Share Posted December 11, 2018 Mine are raw fed but they get a different mix every day, when they eat salmon or tuna they have a fishy smell for about an hour but nothing long lasting.Sent from my iPhone using Husky Owners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shepsky5 Posted December 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2018 Well...actually we realized the smell is not really fading...our noses might just be getting used to it. 😞 After a few hours away from him, if we sniff along his back fur(along spine), it's a horrible sour rancid strong smell still! His head / neck area has the smell too, but much fainter. Paws and tummy, can't smell much. Hmm, hard to tell. Going to bring him into the vet...he may have some kind of skin infection? At boarding, they did say that he got wet every day (it rained a lot that week, and it's the kind of boarding kennel where they go out for a few hours every day in a big yard with other dogs). But I'm a little puzzled because he is not scratching, not scooting his butt, no headshaking, no head tilt, no ear scratching...in fact he acts like his usual calm comfortable self. Somebody said maybe he rolled in something smelly...but with a foot of snow on the ground here, I would definitely know/see it on his fur if he was rolling, and he is not. Anyway I'll update on his terrible smell. Maybe it wasn't the salmon kibble to blame! (PS He was always eating kibble since we got him, and has been pretty much odorless until these past few weeks! I might change to feeding raw...need to research how it can be done around here.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shepsky5 Posted December 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2018 Too bad we can't post Smells on the internet. So I could say, "What is this terrible Smell!" Then again, maybe a bad idea.😄 There are already enough pics of dog poop... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shepsky5 Posted December 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2018 Well, just an update - his bad sour odor wasn't because of the change to salmon-based kibble! It was from spending 4-5 days at boarding and being wet a lot of the time. The dogs went out in the big yards as usual, and played in the warm rainy weather - when we picked him up, they did mention that he had been wet a lot. For a double-coated dog with thick fur, once he gets really wet, it is hard to get him really dry again. So apparently those warm moist dark conditions under his fur made the perfect climate for some kind of yeast or bacteria to grow... Although he was not acting itchy, the vet prescribed a shampoo which is antifungal/antibacterial and told us to wash him and let the shampoo foam on him for 10 minutes before rinsing it off. This worked great to rid of the funky smell. There is just a faint whiff of it left. So we may repeat again this weekend, and hopefully we can get rid of it for good! I'm also going to try using a vinegar/water spray every once in a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted December 27, 2018 Report Share Posted December 27, 2018 Aww poor boy they should have made sure he was nice and warm and dry , at least you know what it is now and can get him nice and fresh again Sent from my [device_name] using http://Husky Owners mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Huskyfun Posted December 27, 2018 Report Share Posted December 27, 2018 Good to hear that you found the cause. My male smells like burnt rubber some times. When he has boughts of diarrhea. I use the Apple Cider and water 50/50 and it helps a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.