fainty_girl Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 (edited) Hi everyone, I'm after a bit of advice...quite a long time ago, my brother's dog (Kelpie, 8 years old, intact) developed a missing patch of fur on his back. We kept an eye on it, but when it wasn't clearing up, I took him to the vet (my brother was overseas at the time). The vet did a skin scraping and checked that he didn't have mites and she thought he had a flea allergy and recommended a flea treatment (eg. advantix). Rusty hasn't had any fleas for a long while and getting treated with advantix, frontline or flea powder has not helped the patch of fur. Now if he was my dog, I wouldn't hesitate to take him to the vet (a different one), but if I do that I will just be footing the bill again and won't be paid back, so I have been nagging my brother to take him to the vet. When I was ordering some supplies for my dogs online, I came across 'Vetex skin lotion' and I ordered some to treat Rusty with. After about a week of being treated with the skin lotion, I thought the patches were looking a bit better. But after washing Rusty the other day and treating him once with the skin lotion later on in the evening, the next day Rusty had patches of flaky skin that had fallen off of his patches. This afternoon I gently brushed away the flaky bits of skin that were hanging off his coat and put some curash powder on him. So obviously the powder in the photos is the curash powder and you can still see quite a lot of flaky skin left behind. Has anybody got any idea how I should be treating this? Or what it could be? Initially Rusty just had one patch on his back near his tail, but a few weeks ago he developed a small patch near his front shoulder-blade and you can also see it has spread to his tail too . I would really appreciate any advice/suggestions that anyone may have! Edited December 26, 2012 by fainty_girl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Oh gosh..... mites, thyroid, ringworm ...... a vet visit is the only way unfortunately. Curash will only help if the spot is wet & mucky ... That 'lotion' may also be useful for wet excema/hot spots ..being Tea tree oil and Boric acid ..but it will not be useful in dry skin., hair loss, AFAIK. What diet is this dog on? Skin things are so difficult .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everythings Shiny Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 I'd be bathing in something like Aloveen to help rehydrate the skin and look into the diet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fainty_girl Posted December 26, 2012 Author Share Posted December 26, 2012 Thanks for your replies... He's on the same diet as my other two dogs... Natures gift canned food sardines in oil (1 tin every night) In addition to that... Chicken drumsticks (once a week) Raw beef mince (once a week) Raw grated vegies a couple times a week (carrot/zucchini) Meaty bones 1-2 times a week. Occasionally he will get a handful of dry food with his dinner. He has fish oil capsules, seaweed extract and glucosamine every-night with his dinner. Rusty's coat was very dull when my brother first had him (he was given Rusty a couple of years ago), but when I started feeding him his coat actually improved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tralee Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Well, its not hot spots, so that can be eliminated. Although, the treatment may be similar, I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 If his coat has been dul/brittle, maybe a thyroid test? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leema Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Thyroid testing would be my first response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tara8430 Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Maybe a bacterial infection also, my girl had this except it was brown flaky not white like normal dandruff. Maybe try a wash only in affected areas with malesab medicated wash. Also what's the dogs diet? I changed my girl off kibble and her skins soooooo much better now, she's now on raw diet only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 (edited) Thyroid test is what I'd first opt for as well. And I'm inclined to arrange these through Dr Jean Dodds in the USA (not that difficult nor expensive than running them here, but more thorough and IMO a more accurate analysis). The point of the test would be to rule it in or rule it out. You could spend a lot of time and expense, not to mention a lot of drug/chemical-based trials trying to check other things, but if the thyroid is the culprit, you wouldn't get far unless that is targeted. If it is thyroid, it is generally pretty easy to treat and although usually life-long medication, is usually successful and not terribly expensive. A wash/rinse with Calendula Tea could prove beneficial but if there is a persisting cause it will only help, not cure. Edited December 26, 2012 by Erny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fainty_girl Posted December 26, 2012 Author Share Posted December 26, 2012 Thanks everyone :) I should mention too, there wasn't any skin flaking off before, the flakiness was there the day after he had a bath. I did use shampoo & conditioner that is meant for dogs with sensitive skin, and it was a brand that I had used on Rusty a while ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimax Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 I'd probably also ditch the canned food and increase the raw food He's getting to every night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fainty_girl Posted December 26, 2012 Author Share Posted December 26, 2012 I'd probably also ditch the canned food and increase the raw food He's getting to every night. When increasing the amount of raw food, should that only be done gradually? And how do you know that you're giving them enough nutrients, etc ??? Years ago when I only had one dog, I increased the amount of raw food that she was having (eg. more raw beef mince or roo mince along with her canned food), but it gave her an upset stomach, so when I reduced the raw food again she was back to normal. Rusty is a big dog (was 29.5kg when I took him to the vet) and like any dog he absolutely loves raw meat and meaty bones, he has always been less enthusiastic about eating canned or dry food, in comparison to my other two dogs who will inhale any food that is put in their bowls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Nature's gift isn't really a bad food ... maybe also add a whole egg every couple of days and give him fresh meaty bones like chicken carcasses 3 X a week instead of canned/dry ? I really do think Thyroid test is essential here... as well as a ringworm check (do NOT bath or apply anything for a few days beforehand )then you will at least know ..and can plan accordingly. Much better to treat according to the problem, than waste money on lotions/shampoos etc which are doing nothing , and may be aggravating it . :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fainty_girl Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 Nature's gift isn't really a bad food ... maybe also add a whole egg every couple of days and give him fresh meaty bones like chicken carcasses 3 X a week instead of canned/dry ? I really do think Thyroid test is essential here... as well as a ringworm check (do NOT bath or apply anything for a few days beforehand )then you will at least know ..and can plan accordingly. Much better to treat according to the problem, than waste money on lotions/shampoos etc which are doing nothing , and may be aggravating it . :) Thanks persephone :) I give Rusty a raw egg with his dinner about once a week too, forgot to mention that, but I can increase that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebanne Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Nature's gift isn't really a bad food ... maybe also add a whole egg every couple of days and give him fresh meaty bones like chicken carcasses 3 X a week instead of canned/dry ? I really do think Thyroid test is essential here... as well as a ringworm check (do NOT bath or apply anything for a few days beforehand )then you will at least know ..and can plan accordingly. Much better to treat according to the problem, than waste money on lotions/shampoos etc which are doing nothing , and may be aggravating it . :) x 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9angel Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 You said you've tried advantix and frontline, but have you tried advocate? I had 2 little kelpie girls come into care a couple of years ago who had similiar patches of missing fur. The vet took a skin scraping but couldn't see any mites. He told me to treat them with advocate. I did and within weeks their fur started to grow back. It didn't take long for the patches to dissapear altogether. Aswell as the advocate I'd also be bathing him in malaseb shampoo or at the very least, pantene head and shoulders anti dandruff shampoo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Aswell as the advocate I'd also be bathing him in malaseb shampoo or at the very least, pantene head and shoulders anti dandruff shampoo. You possibly know better..but to me, his coat/skin look a bit dry , and I would be inclined to hold well off on any chemicals which may dry out remaining oils ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbesotted Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 (edited) another opting for a full thyroid blood panel to be carried out.. not just the T4. H ed spelling Edited December 27, 2012 by dogbesotted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fainty_girl Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 You said you've tried advantix and frontline, but have you tried advocate? I had 2 little kelpie girls come into care a couple of years ago who had similiar patches of missing fur. The vet took a skin scraping but couldn't see any mites. He told me to treat them with advocate. I did and within weeks their fur started to grow back. It didn't take long for the patches to dissapear altogether. That's interesting, nope I haven't actually tried Advocate on him. Have tried Advantix and most recently, Frontline, both of those get seem to work on Rusty, but don't seem to help with the patches. I thought advantix didn't seem to be lasting all that long one of my dogs, so I bought Frontline instead to try and it didn't work at all for her, yet it worked on Rusty. Trying Advocate is a good suggestion, thank you :) . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimax Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 You said you've tried advantix and frontline, but have you tried advocate? I had 2 little kelpie girls come into care a couple of years ago who had similiar patches of missing fur. The vet took a skin scraping but couldn't see any mites. He told me to treat them with advocate. I did and within weeks their fur started to grow back. It didn't take long for the patches to dissapear altogether. That's interesting, nope I haven't actually tried Advocate on him. Have tried Advantix and most recently, Frontline, both of those get seem to work on Rusty, but don't seem to help with the patches. I thought advantix didn't seem to be lasting all that long one of my dogs, so I bought Frontline instead to try and it didn't work at all for her, yet it worked on Rusty. Trying Advocate is a good suggestion, thank you :) . Although if the skin scraping the vet did a while back confirmed he did not have mites, the advocate might not help. I hope you can convince your brother to take him to a vet though, he seems to need some professional care and tests. Poor little tyke! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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