Hi Everyone,

I have an 8 1/2 year old GSD. She is raw fed (commercial product so I'm not dealing with figuring out the balance of nutrients) and receives an excellent omega 3 supplement every day.

About a month ago, she started scratching and chewing at her back and hind legs (where she couldn't reach to scratch). I figured it was fall allergies kicking in. She hasn't improved at all. Her coat isn't horrible, just not as beautiful as it usually is. Her hair is thinner in some areas (probably from scratching there). And her skin seems dry. It does not look like a skin-bacteria thing. It seems she's simply not processing her fatty acids properly.

She's quite happy to eat her food - quickly. Probably more so than usual lately. Then she stalks around the other dogs with her nose wiggling like she wants more. But in the past 2 months, she's actually lost 4 lbs. No increase in activity level, no decrease in food intake.

We started looking at EPI as a possibility, but her stools are perfect. Any other suggestions to look at? I'm trying to get a better idea of possibilities before I go to the vet. We simply can't afford the battery of tests she'll want to run. I'm hoping someone here might have had something similar and can maybe trigger something that we haven't noticed or looked for yet. Then when I go to her, I'll have even more info to zero in on specific tests to start with. We're currently dealing with a cat who has cancer too so medical bills are quite high. This may very well not be anything, and I'm sure I'm slightly hyper-sensitive due to the cat's cancer, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Thanks.