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Dogs look and feel their best gorgeous when they have healthy skin and glossy fur. Everyone loves a smooth and shiny coat, and this is also an indication that your pet is enjoying good health. Getting to touch the soft and silky coat of your pet is not only enjoyable; it’s a scientifically-proven stress reliever both for you and your pet after a long day. But more than that, a rich and healthy coat and well-hydrated skin is a wonderful indicator of your dog’s overall health and nutrition.
But what if the skin and coat of your dog are unhealthy? If you’re seeing persistent rashes, hair loss, thinning, and recurring hot spots, what does it mean and how do you help a dog with bad skin or a damaged coat?
The skin and coat of our dogs play an important role in keeping them in a good state of health, conserving body heat, and keeping bacteria and viruses away. So as a dog owner, it’s wise to pay close attention to the health status of skin and coat, and take whatever steps you can to preserve your dog’s coat and skin health.
How Does Nutrition Affect Dog’s Skin and Coat?
Skin is the largest organ of the body, where cells turn over quickly as they meet with all the stressors of the outside environment. The skin of almost all dogs (of nearly all breeds) is covered by a thick coat of hairs. New hairs grow, and old hairs are shed regularly, sometimes to the disdain of their owners.
To maintain healthy skin and coat, it is important to offer your dogs a high-quality food that not only fulfills their body requirements but also contains the essential nutrients that are necessary for maintaining healthy skin and coat. If the feed is deficient in such nutrients, the skin and coat will be rough, dull, dry, and will shed hairs more than normal.
One example of this is my newest addition, Milo, who came in with a sparse coat and even a few patches where his coat was getting too thin for comfort. He had frequent rashes, and his coloring looked very light due to the thinness of his coat.
After switching Milo to a higher-quality food, Ketona’s chicken recipe, Milo’s coat started filling out, darkening up, and his skin became less and less prone to rashes and hot spots. You can read about the entire process and the changes we saw just from switching our kibble in my article, Review: We Tried Ketona Dog Food for 30 Days.
To fulfill the nutrient requirement of your dog (especially for healthy skin and coat), making sure your dog is on a high-quality food is paramount. However, if your dog is eating great food and still experiencing skin and coat problems, it is important to supplement the dog’s food with some best skin and coat supplements for dogs.
But what exactly are those supplements? What makes a healthy, shiny coat so healthy and shiny, anyway? Your dog needs to get the optimum level of the following nutrients to ensure skin and coat good health; if they aren’t getting enough from their food, you can go with a supplement to help them along. A good skin and coat supplement for dogs should have a good combination of most of these nutrients (if not all).
Protein
The skin is the largest organ of the body, and is made largely of proteins collagen and elastin. In addition, roughly 95% of fur is made up of keratinized protein. Protein is simply the stuff that healthy skin and coats are made of.
Studies have shown that out of total amount of protein ingested by any dog, about 25-30% is used to maintain skin and coat health alone. So a dog food must have at least 21% protein on a dry matter basis.
This is likely why Milo saw such drastic skin and coat improvement during our Ketona experiment, as Ketona is specifically a low-carb kibble with double the amount of protein compared to other high-quality kibbles.
For dogs, it’s also better if this protein mostly comes from an animal source (like chicken, lamb, eggs, etc.), as the amino acid profile of these ingredients matches more closely with the dog’s natural requirements (though dogs can also grow well on a carefully-formulated diet from a mix of animal and plant sources).
If your dog is not taking in enough protein, the first indication will be poor coat appearance leading to dry, rough, brittle skin and coat and rapid hair loss.
Omega 3 and 6 Fatty Acids
A good dog foodd should have 12-18% fat on a dry matter basis. Fat is essential for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and many other metabolic functions.
The outer layer of skin cells (cell membrane) is comprised of firmly-packed fat cells with tough protein. This compact structure retains moisture and prevents entry of potentially-harmful germs into the body.
Without adequate amounts of these nutrients, cell membranes can deteriorate, allowing water to escape and bacteria and viruses to enter more easily.
The building units of fats are called fatty acids. There are certain fatty acids, called essential fatty acids (EFA), that body can’t make on its own, so these must be supplied directly from the diet.
Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids are the most important essential fatty acids. Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids are crucial for maintaining healthy skin and play an important role in improving the immune and circulatory system. These fatty acids are also helpful in reducing skin allergies and inflammation.
Most fats and oils contain omega 6. Commonly-supplemented fish oil, as well as flaxseeds and linseed oil are rich in omega 3 fatty acids.
But dogs need to receive in a particular ratio. The recommended Omega-6 to Omega-3 ratio for dogs is 26:1 with a maximum of 30:1.
Vitamins and Minerals
To maintain shiny skin and a healthy coat, certain vitamins and minerals are also necessary. These nutrients are ideally supplied by feeding a well-balanced diet.
However, if the diet is deficient in some vitamins or minerals, supplements can be used to ensure healthy skin and coat.
Some important vitamins and minerals for the skin and coat are discussed below.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is vital for skin growth, repair, and keratin formation. Deficiency can lead to hair loss, poor coat condition, scaling skin, dandruff, and increased susceptibility to skin conditions.
Vitamin E and C
Both are very good antioxidants and play an imperative role in maintaining skin smoothness and functionality. Vitamin E protects the skin from oxidative damage, and vitamin C is required for tissue growth and repairs, wound healing, and collagen synthesis. These also help to reduce skin inflammation and allergy.
Biotin
Biotin (also called Vitamin H) is the most vital vitamin for skin and coat health. It is responsible for good hair quality, skin shine, smoothness and reduces dandruff.
Zinc
Zinc is important for skin integrity and many other metabolic functions in the body. As skin cells are reproducing rapidly, this mineral is required in a high amount. Zinc deficiency can lead to red, irritated, and scaly skin.
Copper
Copper is used in the production of pigments that give color to the hairs. Pigment loss in the dog’s coat is a sign of copper deficiency.
What is the Very Best Skin and Coat Supplement for Dogs?
The best skin and coat supplement for dogs is, by far, a good core diet. If a dog is eating well, they should be getting more than enough of the necessary vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients from their food.
As we saw with Milo, a change in food quality was more than enough to turn his coat from dry, sparse, and patchy to rich, full, and healthy. Food was also enough to ease his skin irritation and made considerable improvements in his body composition.
Poor quality feed or deficiency of one or more of the above nutrients can cause many skins and fur-related issues (like dandruff, itchiness, dull hair, dry, scaly skin, etc.).
However, the problem can be solved very easily by offering well balanced, high-quality diet such as Ketona or through making food from home, like I do. At that point, and only if needed, the skin and coat can be improved further by then selecting the right skin and coat supplements for dogs.
