Ongoing Skin Issues

[Winterpaws]

I'm tearing my hair out here trying to work out what is going on with Charlies skin

It started a few months ago when he was chewing at his coat. We went to the vet who saw one flea and we were told it was a flea issue and to treat with comfortis and it should resolve. He also went on some cortisone for about two weeks

But he still kept chewing at his coat. I also noticed that his coat was really thinning from the shoulders back and he has these large dry scabby type sores all over his skin.

Went to a different vet who thought thyroid and we did a blood test. That came back negative and so we were told to put him back on steroids and it was an allergy. I did the steroids for about two weeks but it made him manic so weened him off them. Whilst he was on the steroids he was still chewing anyway

He has stopped chewinh his skin but I just went to groom him and was horrified. The whole top of his tail was a dry scabby sore. When I started grooming through his coat I found more large patches of dry scabby sores. He gets brushed through every other day and I do a big grooming session once a week

I am at a loss as to what is going on. Prior to this he was on a raw diet. They're now eating some eaglepack and I introduced the Bruce Symes omerga oil supplement for skin.

It's not an allergy and it is not fleas (they are all on regular comfortis). Something is causing this scabby dry skin but what??? The vet is going to tell me to put him on steroids but that doesn't fix the problem

Has anyone else come across this???

[sas]

In my boy that condition you have explained has been a type of Staph infection and also secondary skin infections cause a problem.

From memory a long course of Anti-biotics was neeed i.e. 30 days.

I'll find some photos of my boys condition at his worst when he was dry and scabby, however we still and always will get small areas that scab and loose hair.

[sas]

Here some scaly type of staph problem we had at one point, it was actually like scales of skin flaking off:

Is your boy anything like this or just random small patches?

[Winterpaws]

I just took some photos

Edited November 18, 2010 by Winterpaws

[Winterpaws]

The first one is his tail and that is after I washed it with some vetadine - the whole top of his tail was a black scabby mess.

The second photo is on his body - he has patches like that all over him. His coat is neat, no matts but it is a lot thinner than he normally has???

[sas]

Yep we've had that before but we just have a short coat.

Looks like Staph infection (Pyoderma?) to me?

I def don't think Cortisone would be any use.

Any chance of going to a different Vet?

This one looks like yours? http://www.link.vet.ed.ac.uk/clive/cal/dia...collarettes.htm

Info on the condition here: http://www.ehow.com/list_6615501_treatment...ttes-dogs_.html

Pyohex is a shampoo for the condition.

I reckon see a different Vet to get a more accurate diagnosis. Not that I'm saying the above is what the dog has but clearly the Cortisone is not working.

Edited November 18, 2010 by sas

[espinay2]

Is Charlie a Husky? Has Zinc Responsive Dermitosis been considered? If it is ZRD then a Zinc supplement should help so talk to the vet about that.

Perhaps get a skin scraping done if you suspect a staph infection. Maybe try regular rinses of the skin with vinegar which can help with both bacterial and fungal infections. If the scraping comes up positive for staph, antibiotics may do more good than cortisone which wont actually fix the problem, only mask it (or as you say, not really work at all in your case).

[Winterpaws]

I think you might be on to something Sas. It makes sense that it is all over and seems to be getting worse rather than better.

I'm tempted to just give him some cephalexin and see if it helps. I have a heap left over from when Tina was sick...... but probably best to get vet to dispense some more

Espinay - he is a malamute, well that is what he was chipped as. So that might be worth doing more tests as well. I know the vet did the thyroid but I don't think he looked at anything else

[dogbesotted]

One of my maremma has yeast problems. For a while he had anal gland problems which took ages to clear up .. we think his licking and chewing spread teh yeats spores to his skin.. he would get thick crusty sores on his tail, base of the tail and his back end. the scabs were balck and crusty looking and when washed off the skin underneath was red and weeping . He constantly chewed and scratched himself. His tail was eventually almost without hair as were his himnd quarters. tried everything until I thought of yeast.. bingo!!! sorted

helen

[stormie]

First thought would be staph/yeast infection too. He may have had some sort of skin irritation which made him itchy and all the scratching and chewing has irritated the skin and upset the normal barrier allowing the staph to take hold.

But in saying that, could also be other things. I'd be wanting a second opinion and have him scraped or even a biopsy.

[Nekhbet]

I would get a proper scraping done and get it sent off to see exactly what it is. Looks like what Skoota used to get as a pup and Cephalexin cleared it up. His hair would fall out and it would be in patches.

RC Maxi was the food that solved it too ... Eagle Pack giant pup was OK but others in the range made it worst. I know EP helps so many dogs but I have 2 that are really bad on it skin wise

[Winterpaws]

Stormies post reminded me that when he went in before the vet had take a sample of tissue in case we needed to do a biopsy in the future. I've just gotten off the phone from him and we will head back down tomorrow morning as he wants to have another look at what is going on and possibly take another sample

I'm going to ask for a course of AB's - it won't hurt him

[Danois]

Go on - you know you want a trip to SV

[espinay2]

Espinay - he is a malamute, well that is what he was chipped as. So that might be worth doing more tests as well. I know the vet did the thyroid but I don't think he looked at anything else

Malamutes can be prone to ZRD too so may be worth ruling out.

Glad you plan to do a scraping as it really is the best way to see what is going on - it should at least tell you if and what bacteria is present.

[Winterpaws]

Go on - you know you want a trip to SV

SV????

Espinay - he is a malamute, well that is what he was chipped as. So that might be worth doing more tests as well. I know the vet did the thyroid but I don't think he looked at anything else

Malamutes can be prone to ZRD too so may be worth ruling out.

Glad you plan to do a scraping as it really is the best way to see what is going on - it should at least tell you if and what bacteria is present.

I will ask for that test as well

In the meantime he has attacked his tail and it is red raw and he is in obvious discomfort Not sure what I could put on it tonight to soothe it?

[sezling]

I just took some photos

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c52/winterpaws/P1010135.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c52/winterpaws/P1010137.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c52/winterpaws/P1010138.jpg

those are exactly what my dog has. We have managed to minimise them through diet, regular baths (currently using Groomers Evening Primrose shampoo every 2-3weeks - at the beginning it was weekly) and robert mcdowell's herbal treatment which had the most significant results (conditioning mix in high doses.. we changed to blood poisoning now at a lower dose but he's getting the infection again so I might try up-ing it again) I've also found Apex antibiotic lotion from the vet helped with the itching but we are trialling a Neem oil wash now and that seems to work just as well but with the added benefit of being natural and an insect repellant (fleas included apparently)

[stormie]

Go on - you know you want a trip to SV

SV????

Espinay - he is a malamute, well that is what he was chipped as. So that might be worth doing more tests as well. I know the vet did the thyroid but I don't think he looked at anything else

Malamutes can be prone to ZRD too so may be worth ruling out.

Glad you plan to do a scraping as it really is the best way to see what is going on - it should at least tell you if and what bacteria is present.

I will ask for that test as well

In the meantime he has attacked his tail and it is red raw and he is in obvious discomfort :D Not sure what I could put on it tonight to soothe it?

SV = super vet :D

Do you have any Neocort or Neo Topic or any other cream with some cortisone in it? It's really the only thing that's going to be strong enough to provide relief.

Sounds like his itching is a definite possible cause. But whether or not that is primary or secondary is the question.

Biopsies are awesome and should give you an idea whether its an allergy, hormonal etc.

[Winterpaws]

Go on - you know you want a trip to SV

SV????

Espinay - he is a malamute, well that is what he was chipped as. So that might be worth doing more tests as well. I know the vet did the thyroid but I don't think he looked at anything else

Malamutes can be prone to ZRD too so may be worth ruling out.

Glad you plan to do a scraping as it really is the best way to see what is going on - it should at least tell you if and what bacteria is present.

I will ask for that test as well

In the meantime he has attacked his tail and it is red raw and he is in obvious discomfort :p Not sure what I could put on it tonight to soothe it?

SV = super vet

Do you have any Neocort or Neo Topic or any other cream with some cortisone in it? It's really the only thing that's going to be strong enough to provide relief.

Sounds like his itching is a definite possible cause. But whether or not that is primary or secondary is the question.

Biopsies are awesome and should give you an idea whether its an allergy, hormonal etc.

I should have known that

He's been at the vet and we have some neocort for the tail and some AB's to trial for 2 weeks. If no improvement then he will do the bunch biopsy. Nothing really came up on the skin scrape

Frustrating!!!!

[baker_girl]

To the OP, it looks a lot like what my 11month old Lab is going through now too! He literally woke up one day and had all these sores down his back which now have turned into scabby, flaky skin patches like in your pic. It's horrible. Only thing though is my dog is not scratching or seems irritated by it??

Originally I tried to apply Neocorte and that didn't seem to have any great results. I read on here and other sites to try apple cidar vinegar as a diluted spray on the coat or dab it on the areas. I tried this but I didn't know if it was making it worse or better. I didn't want to keep self medicating him so took him off to the vet who as I suspected suggested I put him on a course of steroids and anitbiotics. I'm trying this for this time but I don't think I'll do the steroids again if it doesn't heal or comes back.

I've also now decided to wash him twice a week with Malaseb to try and treat if it is a yeast/fungal infection and then also use Aloveen conditioner on his skin and coat after to try and get some oils back in.

I'm getting desperate too. I just had him clipped and now he looks like a cute mini great dane..haha.

[Winterpaws]

To the OP, it looks a lot like what my 11month old Lab is going through now too! He literally woke up one day and had all these sores down his back which now have turned into scabby, flaky skin patches like in your pic. It's horrible. Only thing though is my dog is not scratching or seems irritated by it??

Originally I tried to apply Neocorte and that didn't seem to have any great results. I read on here and other sites to try apple cidar vinegar as a diluted spray on the coat or dab it on the areas. I tried this but I didn't know if it was making it worse or better. I didn't want to keep self medicating him so took him off to the vet who as I suspected suggested I put him on a course of steroids and anitbiotics. I'm trying this for this time but I don't think I'll do the steroids again if it doesn't heal or comes back.

I've also now decided to wash him twice a week with Malaseb to try and treat if it is a yeast/fungal infection and then also use Aloveen conditioner on his skin and coat after to try and get some oils back in.

I'm getting desperate too. I just had him clipped and now he looks like a cute mini great dane..haha.

Yeh Charlie is not scratching either. He only seems irritated when the patches get really big

Cortisone did absolutely nothing for him and only seemed to mask the issues. He just drank a lot of water and gained about 4kgs

I'm thinking of trying Pyhoex shampoo but washing a double coated dog is hard when this weather keeps chopping and changing Hopefully Sunday will be warm and I will give him a bath