Auto Immune Disease

[Ben and Jerry]

My boy is going to the vets tomorrow for a Biopsy so we can get a better idea at what is causing his skin irritations. We thought it may have been an allergy of some kind to start with but after trying a few things my vet thinks it may now be an auto immune disease (I think that's what she said ). I didn't ask much about it at the time but I did a little reading online and some of the symptons I read seemed to match what he is experiencing. He is scratching for a good 20-30seconds every 10-15minutes around his front legs, rubs his mouth along the carpet which has caused it to become bloody and scabbing, over the last week he has lost a little fur around his eyes and has been scratching at his right eye so much he is now getting scabby there as well, he licks his front paws and his belly far more then any dog I've ever met and his belly seems to be quite pink in colour.

It was first thought a toy could be causing the issues since the only area at the time causing him problems was around the mouth. He was then put on some medication to help prevent further infection and relieve the itching, this worked and he returned to normal for awhile. Then the mouth issues came back but this time there was also body scratching and body licking, at this stage it was thought to be an allergy of some kind. We tried change in diets from Holostic Select to Vets all Natural with roo mince, and went back on the meds to help with infections again. Again this helped but then it came back a month or two later so we went on the Hills perscription, ZD Ultra, we stayed on this diet for about two months with nothing else and found it to do absolutly nothing for him. We then yet again returned to the vets on Saturday and she reccomended doing a Biopsy to give us a better idea of what we are dealing with so we can try more specific treatments.

I guess once the vet has a look at the biopsy results and it rules out possible autto immune disease we will start to look into the environment and see if anything there is casuing him issues.

This is his belly.

http://imgur.com/SWnjE,zdxEU

And this is his face, well the worst side of his face apart from his mouth.

http://imgur.com/SWnjE,zdxEU#1

This was his mouth a couple months ago, but it's pretty much how it looks now.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x139/Clevland_2007/11122011182.jpg

Here's hoping the Biopsy can bring back some kind of results so we can start working on getting him better as at the moment I can't stand seeing him this uncomfortable .

I realised photos didn't come out to clear as they were taken with an ipod .

Edited May 9, 2012 by Ben and Jerry

[mish13]

I have a dog with Sebaceous Adenitis which is an auto immune disease and it affects each dog differently. My boy has it mainly on his head and face and what it does is kills the hair follicle and makes sores. It can only be diagnosed with a biopsy maybe you could check to see if your dog has this as well

http://www.upei.ca/~cidd/Diseases/dermatology/sebaceous%20adenitis.htm

[trifecta]

I have a Kelpie with pemphigus, which is akin to lupus. While it is an auto-immune condition it is exacerbated by 'things' in the environment.

I am able to manage the condition very well through diet. If you are in Canberra I thoroughly recommend a consultation with Dr Kate Millhouse, a holistic vet in Kambah.

[Ben and Jerry]

Interesting reads, thanks guys :). I also had a look at Dr Kate's site and have kept it bookmarked as something to look into once we get results back .