Jump to content

Omg! My Westie Has Crustie Bits On Her Back! Please Help.


 Share

Recommended Posts

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!

I washed her on the weekend.

I didn't notice anytihng!

I saw Punpun (my kelpie) licking Jindi's back.

Now that is unusual.

I went to look at Jindi's back and sure enough - it was all crustie!!!

OMG!!!!!

I have been so careful. I know Wesities are prone to skin problems.

I shampoo her with Aloveen Oatmeal shampoo.

Its never been a problem.

OMG!

I washed her immediately.

The crustie bits are gone.

Its a little red, but not much at all.

The crusty bits spanned 3/4 of her back in a width of about 8 cm.

Come to think of it, I have noticed her rubbing her back... like she goes under the coffee table and rubs her back that way lately - stupid me. I should have taken her to the vet for a checkup!

CRAP!.

What is it?

I'll take her the vet tomorrow of course.

Is it bad?

Oh noooooooooo - I am so sad :rofl: and worried :rofl:

Edited to add: One thing is that this winter she has been wearing some jammies. Could that cause it?

Edited by Sky
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could be. Could be allergic to the material. Could be rubbing on the skin. Could be over heating the skin. You can take your jumper off when you get hot....can your dog?

Did you rinse rinse rinse the shampoo and then rinse again on the weekend?

Dont stress. See how it looks in the morning. Hopefully it will clear up as quickly as it came on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks. I don't know what to do. I wonder if I should put new jammies on her to stop any rubbing that might aggravate her back between now and seeing the vet.

I think I'll leave it off.

I was wondering if its an infection...like ringworm or something.

No,its not ringworm.

Ewee. I just wish I knew more.

Thanks for your reply.

Yes I do rinse heaps... I will do it even more from now on though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Sky,

Oh you poor thing - you must be very worried. Our fur-kids health is paramount, and they can't tell us what's wrong like our skin-kids can.

I can't imagine what is wrong, but I use the alloveen shampoo too - and I have a breed that is prone to skins allergies and conditions too. I'm almost certain its not the shampoo - its very gentle and a good brand. The conditioner is one that can actually be left in the coat and not rinsed out. The crusties might have been there for a little while to be a patch that big, but if the crusties were white, and her fur is white, and she was all wet, you could have missed the crusties, cause they would have been sloppy not dry.

Could be she's allergic to a new plant, or the jammies, or even a food allergy. Its not something thats come on overnight, so it'll be OK for tonight till you can get her to the vet tomorrow. I wouldn't be putting anything on her tonight though.

Let us know what happens with her.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Start her on 25mg zinc every day to alleviate the irritation and boost the immune system. Give her fish oil capsules 2 or 3 times a day until the skin looks better, then once or twice a day will do - this has an anti inflammatory effect and improves the overall health of the skin.

Cut out anything that could cause an allergic reaction, but these two supplements will reduce reactions anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

dont wash her jammies or blankets in anything that has enzymes in it (like a lot of washing powders do now) as it can easily cause skin irritation.

Episoothe is a better product for dogs that have skin problems - you can get it from vets usually.

Make sure you dry her off well after a bath and dont put her jammies on if she is still damp.

Hope this helps.

Gail

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you so much for all your replies. It felt so good to log in and see people replied. I will take on all your advice. We head of the vet shortly. They will take a sample and put it under slide.

No jammies went on last night.

I will think carefully about what to wash her jammies in.

Her skin is good - its hard to notice anything wrong with it unless you look real hard. But you can feel little crusty bits in places. But its nothing like it was last night.

Sometimes I change her dry food. Usually she has innova but sometimes I mix it with something from the supermarket to help the innova go a bit further. I don't always do that. I think I will stop that and stick to innova.

With the fish oil capsules - do I open them and pour them onto her food?

Are they just from a chemist?

Where do I get zinc from? In what form should I give it?

I'll post again when I'm back from the vet.

Thanks again

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ari, no she doesn't need jammies. She sleeps in a central heated house, either in her her den or on my bed. I have already decided not to put them on her for extended period anymore.

Just back from the vet.

Not sure what it is.

I had run out of Revolution and though there is no sign of fleas, I bought more.

Something flared the skin up.

Jindi aggravated it by rubbing her back and scratching it.

She got a shot of cortisone to help calm it.

Have ordered some 'metaderm'. Apparently its a combined dose of Omega 3 and Omega 6 in the right balance to help skin prone to problems. Does anyone here use or know of Metaderm?

I'm still worried.

But I'll be extra careful

I'll be extra careful with her diet (are schmakos and similar ok or can they spark off allergies?)

I'll rinse her super well

I'll not use jammies for any extended periods of time.

She'll stay on revolution.

Anything else?

I'm very open to advice and suggestions.

Thanks again for your help :confused:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes many dogs are allergic to schmackos.

Glad you are cutting down on the jammie wearing. I really do think a lot of dogs get skin problems over winter due to overheating. The central heating would already be drying the skin out a bit. They look cute in their jammies but imagine wearing a fur coat and then jammies on in a centrally heated house. I'd die!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm so sorry about this Sky but your first couple of posts had me in stitches :( you sound exactly like me when Cibo gets a skin problem although I have learnt now what to do etc but the first couple of times I absolutely freaked out.

All the advice everyone has given sounds great :confused:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Zinc tablets can be found in the vitamin section of any supermarket, as can the fish oil.

Some people feed the fish oil capsules whole in the food, but I have read that the capsule is designed for human digestion, not a dog's which is much quicker. I always snip the end, squeeze some oil over the dinner and put the capsule in with it, as mine love the taste.

A friend's shar pei always has hers whole and her skin problems are a thing of the past, so it probably doesn't matter.

Re the zinc - I have seen people use the Curash baby powder in an emergency for an inflamed rash on a dog. As this also contains zinc it soothes it quite quickly, until the tablets can be obtained.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When you washed her, did you give her a good, thorough brushing? It could just be brush burn, especially if you didn't notice anything while washing her on the weekend.

If you brush repeatedly with a hard brush, it can cause "brush burn" which results in crusty, scabby sores where the skin has been grazed by the hair brush.

Hope your dog is okay :laugh:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shizoo I'm so glad I made you laugh! LOL Hey if we can't laugh, we're pretty much stuffed. Now I can laugh too, but yeah - I freaked out!

Morgan, you are WONDERFUL! Thanks.

Faolmor - I'm really gentle with her in terms of brushing. It won't be that because her top coat is very short, mostly I comb through her 'skirt' and her legs.

Thanks everyone!

She is doing much better but still not all fixed.

Edited by Sky
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry for the questions (Thanks for your patience and answers)

- I hope you're here Morgan.... :cry:

I have zinc 220mg equiv to 'elemental zinc 22mg' - its in a round tablet (not capsule) -

Is this the right one - If yes, Just one tablet?

Can I crush that in her food?

I have Natures Own Fishoil 1000mg

contains omega 3 marine triglycerides, eicosapentaenoic 180mg & docosahexaenoic 120mg

Does not contain added yeast, starch, gluten, lactose, sugar, artificial flvours/sweeteners/colours/preservatives or dairy.

Can all three capsules be given at once?

Jst the insides of the capsule (if she will eat it when mixed with her food) or does she have to ingest the capsule outside as well?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, just one zinc tablet a day - more is not better! I always used to just pop it down the throat as it doesn't taste great, or put it in the food whole and see if she just swallows it along with the rest.

Squeeze some of the oil out and put the capsule with the rest in the food. If she doesn't eat the capsule (mine do) then you will have to squeeze all the oil out first. Try to give the fish oil at least twice a day to start off with, preferably three times. I sometimes just squeeze it onto a chicken neck if I'm in a hurry. Once it all settles down just give the oil once or twice a day. Most do ok with once a day just for maintenance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used the "Megaderm" Omega stuff from the vets but discontinued after 6 months as the response was no better than I had achieved with fish oil capsules. Good luck with your crusty demon :mad Sorry, couldn't resist

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...