Tara8430 Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Hi All, I'm after some feedback as I'm not sure which way to go with Abbey's skin issues. Last year around April Abbey had the itches and biting isolated to her back basically from her shoulders (basically where a dogs back leg will scratch their back), the hair went dull stopped growing and just generally looked not brittle and yuck. We thought it was kibble that she was allergic to (or at least something in kibble) as I changed her kibble in February. After a long long few months I finally convinced my vet that she needed a good dose of cephalexin to treat the bacterial infection she spread on herself and changed to raw diet with zinc, vitamin E and a probiotic he fur started to grow back and she eventually came good. Unfortunately....very unfortunately April has just pasted and Abbey's skin issues have returned and she is itching and biting just like before, which is making me think it is some type of environmental allergy. What puzzles me is that again it is isolated to the same spots the skin is again very dry red and sore, she has hard little like pimply bumps in the area. Her hair on the rest of her body is beautiful and thick and shinny. She is still on raw diet, with zinc, vitamin E and coconut oil plus sardines a couple of times a week. My question is should I get her allergy tested for environmental allergy irritants and what does that involve? Also can that be done without having done a food elimination diet? Im to the point where ill take her back to the vets today but not sure what to do... Did I mention I hate skin allergies oh my god so frustrating... and I hate getting angry at her for scratching as I know its annoying her but its doing my head in and im sick to death of having hair everywhere. Abbeys a 18 month old black lab too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 With it being so localised to one very unusual spot, it sounds more like a bacterial infection than an allergy. I would get the vet to do a skin scraping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tara8430 Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 Yeah forgot to mention, tested last year thyroid, full bloods and skin scraping. No redness on feet, around eyes or on tummy only on her back - and yes the vet also thinks its strange but that hasn't helped.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trinabean Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Allergies are frustrating. So no redness on her feet, but do you see her chewing/licking her paws or legs at all? I found that I was going in circles seeing our regular vet regarding skin issues. I started to get definitive answers once we saw a dermatologist. Maybe ask for a referral? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 You said that you were feeding a probiotic but aren't now. Is that right? If you aren't try feeding it again and see what happens. If you have any anti fungal cream in the house stick some of that on and see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2boxer Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 I think testing only involved a blood test these days! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trinabean Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 I think testing only involved a blood test these days! Good luck! Not quite unfortunately. For environmental allergies there's a skin prick test and a blood (serum) test. For food allergies you still need to put the dog on an elimination diet. I don't think there is a blood test available to test for food allergies yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tara8430 Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 1368000310[/url]' post='6196618']Allergies are frustrating. So no redness on her feet, but do you see her chewing/licking her paws or legs at all? I found that I was going in circles seeing our regular vet regarding skin issues. I started to get definitive answers once we saw a dermatologist. Maybe ask for a referral? No, no chewing at legs or feet. Honestly appart from this area on her back again there is no other problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tara8430 Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 1368000942[/url]' post='6196625']You said that you were feeding a probiotic but aren't now. Is that right? If you aren't try feeding it again and see what happens. If you have any anti fungal cream in the house stick some of that on and see what happens. Only stopped pro biotic last week cause I ran out, didn't think that would affect the skin issue.... Tried some dermaid cream on the spots today seems to have eased it off a bit and taken out some of the redness. Any recommendations on anti fungal cream? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trinabean Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 JulesP might have a better suggestion, but the dermatologist had us using Lamasil on a suspected fungal outbreak (it turned out not to be fungal in Bruno's case!). I think Lamasil is a tinea cream, available from pharmacies. Again, I'm no expert, but my allergy dog has redness and itching in totally different areas to what you've described. I think he is a fairly classic allergy dog from what the dermatologist has said. His itchy areas are his paws (chews them), belly and underside, axillary/'armpit' areas, ears, muzzle and to an extent his rear flanks. The fact that your dog had the itchy symptoms at the same time last year is interesting though. That could be a coincidence but it could suggest some sort of environmental allergen (eg. a plant that releases pollen in autumn). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 How old is she ? Could there be some pain which starts to niggle in the cooler weather /change of season? It doesn't really sound like an allergy ... Is there anything different which happens at home in April? Anything ... like putting pool covers on .... turning on ducted heating ..moving the BBQ .... anything! I am also thinking of my old old terrier X ..if she had a flea or two on her rump ..she would rub and rub her back on a chair rung/low lying branch etc ... until the hair on her back was broken & brittle, and her skin was sore .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Are you using any sort of spot on treatment on her that she could be reacting to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimax Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 1368000942[/url]' post='6196625']You said that you were feeding a probiotic but aren't now. Is that right? If you aren't try feeding it again and see what happens. If you have any anti fungal cream in the house stick some of that on and see what happens. Only stopped pro biotic last week cause I ran out, didn't think that would affect the skin issue.... Tried some dermaid cream on the spots today seems to have eased it off a bit and taken out some of the redness. Any recommendations on anti fungal cream? I use canesten anti-fungal cream on my pups Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 1368000942[/url]' post='6196625']You said that you were feeding a probiotic but aren't now. Is that right? If you aren't try feeding it again and see what happens. If you have any anti fungal cream in the house stick some of that on and see what happens. Only stopped pro biotic last week cause I ran out, didn't think that would affect the skin issue.... Tried some dermaid cream on the spots today seems to have eased it off a bit and taken out some of the redness. Any recommendations on anti fungal cream? I use canesten anti-fungal cream on my pups I was thinking anything like this. It normally acts pretty quickly so you could rule out a fungal issue quite quickly. Sometimes how the spot reacts to creams can help you work out what the problem is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 You said that you were feeding a probiotic but aren't now. Is that right? If you aren't try feeding it again and see what happens. If you have any anti fungal cream in the house stick some of that on and see what happens. Only stopped pro biotic last week cause I ran out, didn't think that would affect the skin issue.... Tried some dermaid cream on the spots today seems to have eased it off a bit and taken out some of the redness. Any recommendations on anti fungal cream? Skin issues are largely an immune problem....70% of the dogs immune system is intestine/digestion related. I'd recommend you use a product like: http://www.greenpet.com.au/products/DR-GOODPET-DIGESTIVE-POWDER-CANINE.html and a referral to a Dermatologist :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tara8430 Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 Ok so Pers she is 18 months no its not a pain thing the vet checked her out for any signs of pain. There's lots of pollens and things that blow around in autumn that's why I was leaning towards an environmental irritant, I know my car was covered the past few weeks. daninbcs - only treatments she has had in past few months was frontline before we went on holidays. Putting dermaid on the affected area's twice yesterday seemed to take the redness out of her skin from what I could see this morning and she wasn't too itchy, ill see how she is when I sit her in the sun at lunch to be able to see properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 she is 18 months no its not a pain thing the vet checked her out for any signs of pain. Young dogs may still have pain ;) It is so localised!! Can you post a photo on here ? Guess you are tearing out your own hair trying to find a way to help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 ;) there are definitely many possibilities when it comes to skin ... LINK to list . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tara8430 Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 Just over it Pers had the same problem last year vet just kept pushing food allergy and elimination diet, I switched her to raw and gave supplements previously mentioned and it all came good, im so devastated that its happened again, but at least this time the hair looks like its still growing last time it just looked dead and it needed to fall out. Oh I know young dogs can still have pain, she is sensitive in the spot but only when you move the hair you can run your hand down her back and she's fine, and she runs around jumps about like any normal dog, my vet said she wouldn't be jumping up etc.. if it was a pain thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Bruce Syme Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 Hope you find out the cause of the irritant. Have you tried a high level omega 3 supplement along with the probiotic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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