For the Vets in the neighborhood, Dogs and skin issues

Pete McMiller

Pete McMiller

Well-known member
Looking for a little help here. Otto has been having skin issues for a number of years. We thought they might be related to allergies and staff infections. Symptoms include very flaky skin, loss of hair and sometimes they turn raw though I'm not sure if he is causing that himself with the biting/scratching.

He's been on Cepheloxen for two years 500 mg twice a day or even double that when a breakout occurs. At a recent outbreak my vet took a sticky tape sample and found no unusual bacteria but a little fungus. In addition to the Cepheloxen he was put on a course of Prednezone, Hydroxyzine Pamoate-50mg, 2xtwice a day, and Ketoconazole 200mg, 1xtwice a day. Hardly any improvement while on the meds and now that they are gone it's back. It appears as though the hair folicals are being attacked.

He's an inside dog that rarely gets in the field this time of year. I have heard anecdotal reports of more of this type of thing in the area though nobody seems to have figured out how to cure it. Wondered if anyone has any info to share that might help.
 
No, but that is a possibility. The vet is suggesting a biopsy of the skin to look for abnormalities or ?. I'd have to have him put under for that though.
 
Pete-

Doesn't sound exactly like I had with my mutt, but Kenzie had some very severe itching (itched enough that it would bleed he would scratch at it so badly sometimes), some hair loss where he was constantly chewing (above his tail and all over his belly and groin area, down the inside of his back legs), rashes and eventually it would get infected (little pustules scattered all over the affected area). While he was on antibiotics the infection would disappear but the itching would not stop. Soon after the antibiotics were done the infection would come back. Benadryl helped, but mostly because it put him to sleep.

The vet said "fleas" some dogs are just very allergic to fleas.

I was lamenting about that to a friend of mine, cuz he was always itching and it was horrible...and in the middle of the night would wake me up sometimes. I made sure he had constant flea meds, giving him flea baths every two weeks, kept everything washed and vaccumed and it didn't help one bit. Although, I never saw fleas on him. And using Benadryl occassionally so he could sleep.

My friend asked me what kind of toys he has and what he chews on and what he is fed out of. She went on to explain that many dogs are allergic, sometimes severely so, to plastics. I took away his plastic toys, keep him out of the recycle container (he LOVES plastic bottles) and all that fun stuff. NO plastic for him. Within two weeks the rash began clearing up, the infection was gone and I've not had to deal with itching like that since then (been about three years now probably).

If you're having issues with fungus, wash Otto in Apple Cider Vinegar. That's VERY GOOD for killing fungus. Scrub it into his skin very thoroughly.

Like I said, my experience isn't exactly like yours, but it turned out to be allergies that was causing the problem.

Dani
 
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Have you tried plain old antihistamins? Make sure there are no chemicals for sleeping or staying awake.
It should just be straight antihistamins.

Alergy testing they do get put under.

They shave the fur and get a bunch of needles with seperate alergens then the vet studies the reactions
and formulates a serum targeting the worst reactions which is administered via a needle
on a weekly to monthly basis etc depending on the degree of alergies.

We had to do our pup because she had a severe reaction to the steriods in Prednezone.
 
Wow, isn't that interesting. Never would have thought that plastic would be a problem but it's easy enough to fix. Otto doesn't have plastic toys (just a pile of old bones) but he does have a plastic bowl and a plastic water bucket that I can change out. Thanks, I'll try it.
 
Greg,

I have used Benedryl in the past - no affect. The Hydroxyzine Pamoate is the antihistamine from the vet - again, no affect.
 
Our allergy vet said that all antihistamines are not created equal. Yes they may not work but you have
to try a bunch of different manufactures before you can truely say they don't work.

What works for one may not work for another. I'm not sure I buy into this.

I'm just regurgitating what he told us.

The plastic thing is very interesting. Our 5 month old pup has the same issue.

She's got small pimples and itchy, the drugs slowed it down but as soon as she was done it came back.
I'm going to try the apple cider vinager.

:)
 
Pete,

The symptoms you describe are very similar to what my golden had experienced. He was on Ceph 3x a day up until I had to have him put down (for other reasons). Ceph was the only thing that would make him comfortable, although it never really made all the symptoms disappear. As soon as I stopped the ceph it all came back full force. I did have numerous blood work tests done that were sent to labs for allergy tests and nothing conclusive was found.

One thing you might also try is hypoallergenic dog food. It might be that he has developed an allergy to something in his food. Hypoallergenic dog food is not cheap but it might be worth a bag to see if his symptoms clear at all.

Good luck.

Ryan
 
Pete, Funny you should bring this up, Booker has developed hot spots on the side of his head that have been really tough to cure. He is on the mend now but they came on in a rush and are very hard to get rid of. As soon as one healed another one would pop up.
Dani, That is VERY INTERESTING about the plastic, will keep that one in mind. Maybe switch out the water bucket.
 
My male lab runs into the same type of problems, this last time which was the begining of August the vet gave me a shampoo to try on top of the usual prescriptions of antibiotic and the prednizone. It's not cheap but I figured it was worth a shot its called KetoChlor by Virbac animal health. So far it's working pretty good. The vet had reccomended washing atlot more than I had actually done, I do it once a week. It's worth a shot theres nothing worse than a dog waking you up scratching. The next step is an allergy test. Good luck. Chris
 
Pete,

We have been having a skin issue with one of our female chessy for a couple of years and have tried several different things from changing food to Benadryl and have had no luck the vet has thrown in the towel and wants to send us to the university to see the specialist.

so if you come up with something let me know it sounds as we have the same problem.
 
Craig,

Any chance your dog is out of Sport - from Sandy Dollar's Kennel. Otto is and I've heard from at least one other person about skin problems associated with Sport.
 
Atopic dermatitis. Google it. Very common and becoming more common. See it every day. You dont cure it- you manage it.

Good luck! Ira
 
Thanks Ira, I got the same suggestion in a PM. I looked it up and it could very well be what this is. Any special tricks to managing it?
 
Listen to your vet. If you want to try to do better with management, get a second opinion or ask for a referral to a dermatologist. THere is no secret trick and they are all different. It is a frustrating and expensive problem. Pretty miserable for the dog at times too.
 
Thanks Ira, I always listen to my vet and do my own investigation too. I hadn't realized until this week how widespread the problem is. I've had dogs my whole life and until 10 years ago had never heard of an ACL tear either. Times are changing.

Thanks for yours and all the other responses.
 
Cinder is out of Hope Springs Hush Hush and Hope Springs Rufsail. A half bother and sister cross, an accident, out of this litter 2 females were ash color and both have skin problems.
 
Well, it's been 5 months and the improvement has been nothing short of dramatic. I did talk to a vet from here on the phone and a bunch of others but the person who seemed to have nailed it is my Lady, who has been a nurse. She postulated that he might be allergic to his own dander and that I should give him regular baths with Johnson Baby Shampoo as it is an anti-bacterial soap. She wasn't the only one, of course, who suggested shampooing and I thank all that did.

The second week of October I took him off of all the meds and started with the Baby Shampoo baths. It wasn't so bad the first month or two because we could do it outside but since then the battle to get a 100 lb. chessie in the tub has, at times, strained our relationship :) Suffice it to say that Peanut Butter is my friend!!

Otto just recently turned 10 and I will say his coat and skin haven't looked this good in 7-8 years. He still has a cell phone sized spot on his left hip and his tail fur is 'thin' but all in all he looks great. A huge plus is that he isn't licking his feet or body all the time anymore.
 
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