erinonthefarm Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 My 1 year old brown dobe has hair loss and flaky skin with some insect bite type bumps every 10cm or so in an area about the size of an A4 piece of paper on his back. It has been slowly getting worse since July when it was about palm size a few weeks after he got desexed. It is not totally bald just slight hair thining and lots of dandruff. He has seen a vet who tested for mites but came back negative (although I thought I heard it is not possible to test for all mites) and also had a fungal culture from skin which came back positive. While waiting for the fungal test to show a result he was treated with frontline, after which he was treated with sporinox for 45 days. The initial anti fungal was to be griseofulvin but I asked for a second opinion on treatment and was advised sporinox was more effective and less side effects and my normal vet was happy to prescribe it. I have since had yet another vet who came through treating camp dogs (I live a few km away from an aboriginal community in the NT) who said it did not look like ringworm, maybe something else fungal and that maybe he needed a skin supplement (megaderm). He suggested I stop feeding so much fish (I add fish oil capsules to raw food and also give sardines or canned salmon twice a week and change to just veg oil. I'm pretty confused, I was sure if it was fungal that a 45 day systematic antifungal would fix the problem, but now I am thinking that it is a food allergy. The regular vets have said that possibly the next step is a skin biopsy which sounds extreme. Just wondering if any dolers have some advice..... The first photo is from july and the second photo is from last week Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fordogs Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 It doesn't look like Ringworm to me. Did your vet look at it with a blue light -- Ringworm usually shows up fluorescent under a blue light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erinonthefarm Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 No they don't use the uv light anymore only fungal cultures, and the fungal culture came back positive in three weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erinonthefarm Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 In the first photo he is quite bleached from sunning himself during winter so the color difference was what I noticed not any itching or flaky skin. I initially thought he was just getting new coat through Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirty Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 A black light will only make some types of ringworm glow. It is the most common form so if it does glow, you can be sure it is ringworm. But if it doesn't glow, that doesn't mean it's NOT ringworm. Anyway, I would have thought that if the fungal culture came back positive, there is definitely a fungal component. But it could be that his immune system or skin is compromised by something else, hence the persistent fungal infection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erinonthefarm Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 So would a skin biopsy be the next step, or blood work or something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becks Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 This maybe a silly question, but couldn't they tell from growing the fungus what type it is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erinonthefarm Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 Apparently not, although they said it "probably" was ringworm. Breeder has seen him and said not to worry as the browns have sensitive skin and that it may take time to grow back but I certainly don't want it getting worse. I have also heard that thyroid problems can lead to hair loss, hence I was wondering if there was fungal spores present but the hair loss is actually caused by something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjazld Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I had a young dog once with dry flaking patchy area's on his back and down his rear, not bad, wasnt causing an itch and it wasnt inflammed or weeping but definately he lost hair in the affected area's. he had a skin scraping and a ringworm test which came back negative...the vet said it was probably mites but I was washing him in malesab shampoo as directed by the vet before the skin scraping so perhaps thats why it was negative. I used 'advocate' topical treatment and within 2-3 months it disapeared and never returned and hair grew back...he was a puppy at the time so possible his immune system wasnt fully developed. I know advocate treats mites and mange. I dont use advocate on my dogs normally but if i thought any of them looked to have a similar skin problem it would be the first thing i would try. i do also recall the vet saying if it didnt clear up with the advocate/malesab he would need blood tests etc, and i was also offered to try the ringworm medication but I declined as i also read up on the side effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirty Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Advocate treats sarcoptic mange, not demodex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisovar Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Advocate will treat Demodex, takes a few treatments but it does work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotts4ever Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Advocate will treat Demodex, takes a few treatments but it does work. Yep and put it on every 2 weeks instead of every 4 weeks until the hair has started to grow back and then back to once a month Cheers Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Just another unprofessional thought to get myself in trouble... I have read that lots of fish oil supplements can deplete vitamin E in dogs, so maybe a vitamin E supplement would help. It's supposed to help with doggy skin problems too - as long as nothing else is causing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trifecta Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Just another unprofessional thought to get myself in trouble... I have read that lots of fish oil supplements can deplete vitamin E in dogs, so maybe a vitamin E supplement would help. It's supposed to help with doggy skin problems too - as long as nothing else is causing it. And in people too, Mrs RB! If you take fish oil or administer fish oil to your dogs, you should be taking Vitamin E too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I thought people were more likely to get vitamin E from cereals, nuts and vegies in their diet that might not be as common in a doggy diet. I'm not taking fish oil supplements - I prefer to eat fish occasionally, and I have walnuts (omega3) on my breakfast. And I eat a fair bit of whole grain bread. My dog gets a couple of sardines on kibble about once a week. Pretty sure the kibble and the promite on wholemeal toast - contain a fair bit of vitamin E from the cereals. And she also gets some sweet potato in the casserole I make for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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