"Hot Spots"?/Staph

[reeves]

Mary Lou - I'm due to talk to the vet tomorrow on the plan going forward - what else can we test for, what else can we do besides continue dosing them with medicines that are obviously not getting the job done. I plan to ask why we haven't done a skin scraping and will mention your experience with mites. Thank you for the info!

We've switched the pups over to a non-grain, fish-based food as a starting point in trying to rule out a food allergy. I'm going to post over in the 'food' area of the forums to get everyone's input on a raw diet - how much/of what, etc.

 

[MLZ]

I'm sorry that I have not replied to you before you went to your Vet but I'm just seeing this now. There are Vets who may not be as familiar to symtoms of Skin Mites as our Vet was. It depends on how many cases they have actually seen. Our Vet explained that Skin Mites are in the body of every dog and even us humans and it normally lies dormant and only appears positive when the immune system is triggered by something to cause the skin mites to become active.
Skin Mites is difficult to treat because every dog or person reacts differently to different treatment. What worked for our Newfie Boy Cash may not work for you dog. Your Vet and You have to be able to work together and develop a treatment that will work for you & your dog. After several rounds of the Flea Treatment plus antibiotics working but coming back in a few weeks or months we finally decided to take the next step and treated with the Ivermectin. Most Vets hesitate to go that route because if you do not treat with the proper daily amount either too small of a dose or too large of a dose it could be harmful to your dog. Since we are experienced Newfie Breeders who are more than capable of treating our dogs with the proper medications/treatments our Vet rusted that we would be able to treat Cash with his daily treatments of Ivermectin to clear up his skin mites. If your Vet agrees that your Dog has Sin Mites when he does a skin scraping and you request to go the route of treating your dog with Ivermectin be aware that it can take up to one year for the skin mites to disappear. Even though our Cash has been cleared for over 2 years we continue to have a skin scraping done to test for skin mites every time Cash goes for a wellness checkup just to be on the safe side. I am happy to report that Cash has been negative for Skin Mites at every wellness exam. I wish you luck in your treatments of your dog and that you discover what the ailment is.

 

[AngusMcDubhsMom]

I'm just seeing this thread too. Gracie went through 11 months of on and off skin issues. I strongly encourage a skin scraping. When they did they found she not only had bacteria but yeast. Voila. Cleared up much better after we knew Exactly what it was rather than second guessing all the time. I was furious with myself for not insisting on a skin scraping sooner. Good luck. Skin problems just drive you nuts.

 

[reeves]

We have Rufus scheduled for a skin biopsy and culture, finally. I really don't understand why the vets (this is our second one in dealing w/ this issue) hadn't suggested this when we were begging for things we could do to figure out the source of the issue. We're also going to have an allergy panel done at the same time, so hopefully one of these things will help us to help our poor pooch. He's lost so much hair (from licking but also just thinning out) that it only took 15 minutes to dry him after a bath this weekend. Previously it was a solid hour process! :-(

Please cross your fingers for us. We have a frustrating week long wait ahead to get the medicines out of his system prior to doing the testing.

 

[MLZ]

I know it is very frustrating to see your Newfie Boy having these skin issues and not knowing if it is a Food Allergy or Skin Mites or whatever is causing this. We were very fortunate that our Vet suspected Skin Mites the first time we took our Newfie Boy Cash o determine what was the problem..I just got all of Cash's Vet Records from his file and I will tell you how long it took until all of Cash's Skin Problems cleared up and he has been Negative.
We took Cash to our Vet after my husband Joe noticed that what he thought were Hot Spots were not clearing up, that they appeared to be getting worst and Cash was losing more hair at this time. This was in May, 2011. Our Vet did a skin scraping and she determined immediately by looking at the scraping on a slide under a microscope that it was positive for skin mites. She started Cash on a Treatment of Mitaban which is a very stron treatment for Mites, Fleas, etc. plus she gave us Benzoil Peroxide 3 % Shampoo to bathe Cash in between his treatments with Mitaban. She also gave us Neopredef which is a Powder used to treat Skin Ailments such as Hot Spots, etc. Cash's skin mites were around his face, his chest and it had spread to between his toes on his paws from him rubbing his face and neck. WE also got Gentocin Topical Spray which is used for skin conditions. This treatment helped for a few months and then it came back. The next time we took Cash to our Vet she gave us Antibiotics - Cephalexin to use along with all the other treatments. Cash would have skin scraping in between his treatments and they would be negative and then they would be positive. It was getting frustrating that the combination of the treatments and the antibiotics were working and then they stopped working.We continued these Treatments and the Antibiotics for 1 1/2 Years with it clearing up for a few months and then coming back. Finally our Vet decided she was going to put Cash on the Ivermectin taken orally. This was in December, 2012. WE had to give Cash a certain amoutn of Ivermectin which we purchased at Tractor Supply - it is used for heartworm treatment for Cattle and it is in Heartworm Preventative Medication for Dogs that you give each month. I had to measure the Ivermectin with a syringe as you would do if you were giving a vaccine. I had to start with a low daily dose for 3 days and then gradually increase it daily until Cash was getting the maximum amount. Cash also took Antibiotics during the entire time he was treated with Ivermectin. Ivermectin is very bitter so rather than add it to Cash's food i put it in 2 Tablespoons of Pumpkin and sweetened it with some hour honey. We continued this Treatment of Daily Doses of Ivermectin and Antibiotics from December 31, 2011 thru May, 2013 when Cash was Negative and he has been negative ever since. Cash has not had any Antibiotics or Ivermectin since May, 2013. Cash gets a skin scraping when he goes for his yearly wellness exam and he has been negative every time. We supplement Cash with Dogzymes Immuno Guard which is a Natural Supplement to build up the Immune System. We order it from Natures Farmacy and it costs $75.00 for 2 llbs. It is in a powder form and we give Cash 2 1/2 Teaspoons with 2 Tablespoons of Pumpkin daily
It took us almost 2 ears to completely clear up Cash's Skin Mites so you know you must have lots of patience. Skin Mites take a long time to get out of a Dogs's system, they do not disappear overnight.
Feel Free to print this to show your Vet when you take your boy back.I wish you lots of luck and hopefully your Vet will get to the bottom of this..

 

[reeves]

OK, so, it's been a while but we've finally gotten all of the test results back. And my poor pup is allergic to *grass*!! And trees, and weeds, and dust mites. There are, of course, specific varieties of grass and weeds, etc, but they are very common in our area. :-( So, as soon as they get the meds mixed up, Mr. Rufus will be getting allergy drops for forever.

Also, they found that he had 3 different bacteria on his skin, only 1 of which the previous antibiotic was fighting. Now he's on the right meds for that and is having some pretty good improvement so far.

Thank you guys for all of your insights and support while we worked to figure this out. I'll keep you posted on his progress!

 

[Angela]

So glad you got it sorted out and hope he will be feeling better now.

 

[mcme]

I'm glad to hear you got some answers and he's doing better.

 

[victoria1140]

Local honey may help with the environmental allergies and l sieve the last bit if my bag of dried food to minimise mites.

Keep going as they are worth it.

 

[reeves]

Ooh! Good idea with the local honey, Victoria. I hadn't thought about that. Do you have any suggestions as to how much/how frequently to give him honey to be effective?

I'm not sure what you mean when you say you sieve the last bit of dog food. Do you mean you don't feed them the 'dust' at the bottom?

 

[cbrown]

Skin Issues really do SUCK!

I have a 6 year old Newf and we have been battling her skin issues for over a year now. Finally we have figured out that she can't have gluten and I mean all types of gluten (Rice, potatoes, grain, yeast) which it is very hard to find kibble that doesn't use yeast as a binding agent. Munckin was fine with any food until about 2-3 years and developed all of these different allergies. Finally I broke down and got her shaved this week. I know you are sooo not supposed to that but she has lost about 65% of her hair so there is not much there any more. The reason I did that is because the now the anti fungal shampoo I use can get to her skin in stead of just cleaning her Hair. I am washing and drying her every day and it is finally helping! She is not scratching as much and she smells a lot better. Her spots are finally starting to scab over and heal. Its a very long road but there is an end! I hope this helps!

 

[reeves]

Colleen - I am so sorry you're going through this with your pup! Rufus lost a lot of hair while we were trying to figure it all out. Even now he's fairly sparse. I'm sure your girl's hair will grow back once you've got her on a good food regimen. Did you do an allergy test or trial and error? All glutens is a tough one! Our second pup, Riley, is now starting to develop behaviors (scratching, licking/gnawing paws) that indicate she may be allergic to something as well. We had gone off of the single-protein, gluten free food we were trying out, but now we'll be going back on it again to see if it helps her.

Good luck with your pup! Please let me know what kind of food you ended up finding.