sas Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 (edited) Dante has had this appearance for a while, went on anti-biotics because the Vets felt it was a secondary skin infection as he has allergies. Sometimes it's not so noticeable and at other times it's really noticeable. The skin in those spots turns scabby and then the scab can come off with the hair and we end up with bald patches. They seem to be pustuals. He does have the odd random patch of these on other parts of his body by his neck is the worst. He doesn't seem to itch them but doesn't appreciate me poking around with them. Tried all sorts on it and can't seem to budge it. I read about a condition in Dalmatians called Bronzed neck or something like that and I wondered if this was similar? The condition seems common in Harlequin Great Danes, Breeders feel it is a fungal thing brought on by humidity, however Dante has flared up during the recent cold weather we're having in Sydney, Malaseb and Pyohex isn't working, neither is Listerine or White Vinegar. We've tried a whole range of miracle cures for skin problems and haven't found one yet. He's currently on an anti-inflam. dose of cortisone and has been for about 4 months. Edited April 4, 2008 by sas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruthless Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Chopper has had scabs that turn to bald patches before too. I think it's seasonal. Sorry, I'm not much help, I don't know what causes it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 has he been on antibiotics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 has he been on antibiotics? Yep, unfortunately they didn't assist. He's had skin scrapings and tape tests done too without anything interesting appearing on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peigirl Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Sas I am intriguied. Particularly so as Dante has been on a long dose of cortisone and is still having a problem. He's only a young boy isn't he? Does he have to be on cortisone full time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CavsRcute Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 I had a similar problem about 5 years ago. The vet gave me chlorhexidine to wash the dog in twice a week. It's the stuff that surgeons used to wash their hands with before operating. It's pink in colour and worked a treat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janba Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 (edited) It looks very like dalmatian bronzing and as the colour patterns are similar could be the same. I have known some dally owners who have had success in treating it by zinc supplement and curash http://www.thedca.org/derm.html Edited April 4, 2008 by Janba Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danois Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 I'd be really interested too as Angs has these on his legs. They are worse on the bottom half of his other leg - I just happened to already have this photo! They seem to have come about in the last few months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlygirl Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Have you and your vet thought/talked about the possibility of doing a biopsy/biopsies and having them looked at by a laboratory (eg vetpath is the one here in W.A.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2tollers Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Years ago my ex partner had an English Pointer with what looks like the same thing. He seemed to be allergic to loads of things. The back yard ended up being dirt (4 dogs) so there wasn't a problem with vegetation. We only ever used cotton bedding, just in case the woolen blankets irritated him and we went through challenging his diet. At that time he was only 18 mths old. He lived until he was about 13 and had skin problems his entire life. He was such a handsome, lovable boy and it was heart breaking not being able to help him in some way. I always used to say he wasn't designed for the climate in Sydney, but who knows, he could have been just as bad in a cooler place. The only thing I might have done differently, but hadn't heard much about back then, would be looking into vaccinations re. immune systems and possibly feeding a diet to assist his immune system. I hope you have some success and I'd love to know how things go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 (edited) Sas I am intriguied. Particularly so as Dante has been on a long dose of cortisone and is still having a problem. He's only a young boy isn't he? Does he have to be on cortisone full time? The cortisone is only at an anti-inflam dose, he's on 1.5 tablets every 2 days, for a 65 kg dog that is a very low dose, (safe dose), there is no other option at this stage, off the Cortisone, he rips open nipples and so forth from having a go at himself. He's 13 months old and the whole allergy issue started last year when the weather started to heat up. Edited April 4, 2008 by sas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 (edited) Have you and your vet thought/talked about the possibility of doing a biopsy/biopsies and having them looked at by a laboratory (eg vetpath is the one here in W.A.) Vets only see it as a secondary skin infection at this stage, however it's something I can enquire about. Edited April 4, 2008 by sas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 (edited) Years ago my ex partner had an English Pointer with what looks like the same thing. He seemed to be allergic to loads of things. The back yard ended up being dirt (4 dogs) so there wasn't a problem with vegetation. We only ever used cotton bedding, just in case the woolen blankets irritated him and we went through challenging his diet. At that time he was only 18 mths old.He lived until he was about 13 and had skin problems his entire life. He was such a handsome, lovable boy and it was heart breaking not being able to help him in some way. I always used to say he wasn't designed for the climate in Sydney, but who knows, he could have been just as bad in a cooler place. The only thing I might have done differently, but hadn't heard much about back then, would be looking into vaccinations re. immune systems and possibly feeding a diet to assist his immune system. I hope you have some success and I'd love to know how things go. We changed all his bedding to 100% cotton, unfortunately it made no difference. We've done as much as we can to boost his immune system, tried a range of different foods. Once we hit Winter properly and there is no change we'll do the new allergy blood test, it's not necc. going to give us the information we need but it's a step I guess. Dogs in cooler climates such as in NZ don't seem to have the major allergy issues we do in Aust. Apprantly around 80% of Vet visits these days are for Skin related issues. The only vaccinations he has had are his puppy ones, I'm not sure at this stage if I'll give him the booster, will probably just do the tire testing. Edited April 4, 2008 by sas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zayda_asher Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Have you been to a dermatologist and had the testing done yet to see if he is actually allergic and what it is that he is allergic to? Its much easier to control once you know exactly what they are reacting to... Are Danes prone to zinc deficiencies? As I think that is what is connected to the bronzing in other breeds... It sounds like staph infection, but that would've come up in the tests... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 We have just been through the same thing with one of our bitches and a friends bitch who lives in the same area ( different breed). The use of ani-biotics had little impact on the condition and neither did anti inflamatories. In the end we got the best results with good old salt and water and the use of malaseb ( 3mls per 100 of water ) applied straight onto the area and not rinsed. has been a strange one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Do you use any spot ons?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiffanyAmber Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Are you feeding dry food? What else are you feeding. Is it worse when you feed a particular food? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted April 5, 2008 Author Share Posted April 5, 2008 It looks very like dalmatian bronzing and as the colour patterns are similar could be the same. I have known some dally owners who have had success in treating it by zinc supplement and curashhttp://www.thedca.org/derm.html Yep, we used the Zinc / curash, it just made the area moist which allwowed it to spread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted April 5, 2008 Author Share Posted April 5, 2008 Have you been to a dermatologist and had the testing done yet to see if he is actually allergic and what it is that he is allergic to? Its much easier to control once you know exactly what they are reacting to... Are Danes prone to zinc deficiencies? As I think that is what is connected to the bronzing in other breeds... It sounds like staph infection, but that would've come up in the tests... He can't have the intra-dermal testing as they need to be off Cortisone to do so which he can't manage at this stage. No, I don't believe there is a Zinc issue. Once thought to be Staph Infection but Anti-biotics didn't clear it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted April 5, 2008 Author Share Posted April 5, 2008 (edited) We have just been through the same thing with one of our bitches and a friends bitch who lives in the same area ( different breed). The use of ani-biotics had little impact on the condition and neither did anti inflamatories.In the end we got the best results with good old salt and water and the use of malaseb ( 3mls per 100 of water ) applied straight onto the area and not rinsed. has been a strange one I may try Salt and Water then. I had heard Mineral Salts given to Horses may also be good, but it only comes in a cream so would only be able to treat the affected areas rather than the dog itself. I have been leaving Malaseb on recently, it seems to yeild a better result, I'll try your suggested ratio. Edited April 5, 2008 by sas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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 accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now