question for a groomer

[misamala00]

I have a problem with Misha's skin. Last summer she developed hot-spots (I delive that's what it was) on her body. On the same spot she lost a lot of hair and it grew bigger and bigger. We went to see the vet. We changed the diet and it didn't help. She was given antibiotics and I had to wash her with an antiseptic shampoo every day. The hair slowly grew back, but it was strange, it got broken easily and it had no shine like the hair on the rest of her body.
It also looked like she had a dandroof, but only on her behind. A vet gave as something for the hair aswell and by the end of the summer things got better. In the winter time, she was beautiful, her skin was healthy and her coat long and shiny.

But now the spring is here and again I notice small red spots on her body, she's biting her legs (there's nothing there), and I can already see some change on the hair on her behind. It looks like everithing is repeating.

Can somebody hepl me?

Misha loves to go to the stream on our walks, but she didn't go in winter. Could this be a problem (with the polution and everithing?)? And if so would a shower after every walk do any changes or would I have to bath her every day? Could it be that she's always wet?

I really thing this is the only place I could get some help, as two of the vets I visited only guess about this.

Mirjam & Misha

 

[mollysmom]

No pro here, but it sounds like an allergy to me. Paw chewing is a sign of allergies and the spots too. First, any fleas? Check carefully. Some dogs are allergic to flea bites.

I've heard that some dogs have allergies to grass, which is a big problem. And this is the time of year it's starting up again. Did your vet try putting Misha on an antihistamine? They do this for humans, and I'd think it would work on dogs too.

I'm definately not well versed in this area, so these are just suggestions I've heard from others.

 

[sarnewfie]

First off this sounds classic.
most dogs have bacteria on their skin, sometimes if they scratch they can into the bacteria into the skin and wahhh lahhh infection flares up.
what you should do instead of brushing or combing, is blow her off with a high velocity dryer, that way you do not chance maybe knicking her, or bruising her with tools.
the dryer will help you tremendously.
second, talk to your vet about the bacteria thang.
find out precautions you can take, maybe dilute lysterine spray and use that on her, it is an antiseptic, but be careful not to overuse as you can take the oil out of her coat.
i would put her on a diet that is natural, wysong synorgen is great, there are other natural chicken based foods out there.
good luck

 

[misamala00]

Thank you for your answers. I'm affraid our choice of food is much smaller here, all we are getting is food like Hills, Eucanuba, Nutro, and similar. I only hear about Wysong Synergy here on this board.
I'm sure Misha does not have fleas, I use Frontline regulary and it controls fleas, unfortunatelly it doesn't control ticks 100%, but still the best so far.
I will try the dryer, the vet was also saying something about wounds and bacterias, so I'll be very carefull not to cause more problems. And I will talk to the vet about it.
Do you have any idea why this is not a problem during the winter?

Thanks again for your help.

Mirjam & Misha