[somebodysme]

I’d like to know if this sounds familiar to anyone…I’m pulling my hair out trying to figure out dog allergies. Back history story. My dog had all the classic allergy symptoms of watering eyes, gunky ears, scratching her ribs, gnawing the knees, inflamed elbows and of course infected paws, and this odd rash on her back at the approximate spot of the Frontline application . We had our vet visit and was given an antibiotic shot and cortisone shot and then pills to follow up with and the infected feet healed up and the scratching went away etc…but the odd rash on her back pretty much stayed the same. In the mean time, we were told to change her diet so I researched and ended up with Nature’s Variety LID Turkey and all seemed well…the rash started going away and all of her allergy symptoms are now gone except for that back rash. All of a sudden, the rash has begun to come back. Let me describe it…It is in anywhere from dime to quarter sized bald spots with red skin..the red skin will then go away and the skin will turn gray with no apparent irritation…the hair doesn’t seem to want to grow back in those gray rash spots. When she was at the vet, the vet had just lumped the rash in with allergies. He even did a scraping for demodex which none was found. At first I thought it was from an application of Frontline as that is when it all started…but it has been over two months since she’s had frontline(MANY baths later) and the rash is still there and now is popping back up, yesterday she had two new rash spot pop up! She has been on NV food for about three weeks and rash just started back a few days ago. She is on nothing but NV and a probiotic. I have taken her off of everything trying to make sure it’s not a supplement or vitamin. What I can’t figure out is all the other allergy symptoms have vanished but this back rash is now coming back with a vengeance! Does this sound familiar to anyone? Maybe ringworm or some other non-food allergy related rash? HELP!!!! Would it make sense that all the other symptoms went away but this other symptom of food allergies came back? To me it doesn’t!

[theBCnut]

Ringworm doesn’t usually look raw, red, or irritated, but it is usually a bit scaly looking and it usually gets bigger with the hair growing back on the inside of the circle. I don’t know if this is an allergy but it sounds too localized to me, so I don’t think so. Does it get weepy like it has drops of serum oozing out of it? Does it get hot? Does it have pustules? Does your local feed store sell Vetericyn?

[Mom2Cavs]

Could it be staph?

[somebodysme]

It erupts with red sores all around in the bald spot, then in a couple days it is like it’s healed up and turns grey with no pustules but remains bald. Could it be an allergic reaction to some plant, like a cedar or juniper plant or a yew that she’s going into/under? Nowhere else but just that area though, nothing on her face or head etc. It does not appear to itch either, she’s not trying to scratch it. There were a few of these when she was at the vet and he didn’t seem too concerned by it. Like I’ve said, he connected it to food allergies and said it could also be environmental allergies too. We are starting with food. He did say that if it doesn’t improve that we may consider taking her to a dermatologist and have allergy tests run.

Patty, I have some Vetericyn, you think I should try that huh…

• This reply was modified 11 years, 10 months ago by somebodysme.

[theBCnut]

It can’t hurt, it might help.

[dogmom]

I am new to this thread, but thought I would offer some notes on this allergy thread….

I have 3 GSDs that started itching and scratching like crazy – they were pretty miserable. Took them to vet. Diagnosed as allergies, and we went through months of trying this or that and spent a small fortune. Finally after probably 6 months of frustration, with our dogs not improving, and starting to get red patches, scaly patches, and fur falling out, and we started to wonder about scabies mites. Normally these don’t appear on Healthy dogs (our dogs are pampered, well fed, therapy-trained, and well-groomed) so we asked the vet, and he said “maybe”, and we asked about trying a treatment for that before doing expensive allergy testing on the dogs. It turns out that most places require a course of mite treatment before they want to do allergy testing anyway.

Long story short – we put our dogs on Revolution, and they got much better – tho it takes some time before the mite bodies under the skin stop causing the itching. Now 3 months later, our dogs don’t itch, their fur has grown back from the bald patches, all the redness is gone, and life is good.

So you could look into that for the problem. As it turns out, scabies is almost always first diagnosed as allergies. It is almost impossible to find with skin scrapings because they are microscopic.

Quite the learning experience.

[somebodysme]

Isn’t that sarcoptic mange? It didn’t spread to you? I kind to thought that if she had that, then I’d have it too? I suppose it could be. The patches that pop up are red and inflamed looking, go away in a couple days…she is then left with a gray skin patch but there isn’t irritation on the skin anymore. Is that the sort of rash it would cause? Also, her back doesn’t itch. That’s one reason I thought maybe it was demodex because supposedly demodex doesn’t itch but sarcoptic mange does itch.

I’m really beginning to think that it was something that she had eaten that caused that to come up and get inflamed. It is all fading away now and she is on nothing but her food (NV LID Turkey) and a probiotic. All treats are just her kibble and no other supposedly LID treats anymore. No other supplements. There was a treat I’d bought that sounded like she shouldn’t have any problems with it..sweet potatoes and turkey and very little else but I do believe that was what she was allergic to. I think she’s allergic to sweet potatoes and white potatoes. I won’t know until I can add one new thing at a time though.

Thanks for that suggestion though, if it doesn’t go away I’ll ask the vet about that for sure!

• This reply was modified 11 years, 10 months ago by somebodysme.

[dogmom]

No – we didn’t get it at all – which may be why it took so long to diagnose. Yes it is sarcoptic mange. And we tried everything – changed food, washed everything, special medicated shampoo, cortisone shots, fish oil, cortisone spray, anti-itch sprays, and on and on. It turns out that cortisone makes scabies worse tho – so that is one reason nothing got better.

Their backs never did itch or lose fur – just belly at first, then elbows, then whole legs at the end. My beautiful long coated shepherds were starting to look like sheep with fur on just their backs! It got bad before we figured out what it was because the circumstances were so out of the norm for it, and we have no idea where they picked it up at all.

Good luck with your doggie!!!!

[dogmom]

Fortunately I have a great vet – very collaborative – we were both doing research and he even did some treatments for free. We worked together on it until we found the problem.

[theBCnut]

With sarcoptic mange, owners usually only get it if the dog spends a LOT of time in close contact i.e. lap puppy. Then you get a few of them in places like skin folds or under waistbands or straps and they are usually self limiting on humans unless you are immune compromised. It would be a very rare case of sarcoptic mange that had the disappearring and reappearring pustules, but the original problem could have been.

Demodex is usually first noticed in the eyebrow area and around the mouth as a thinning of the hair and usually pops up during times of stress either emotional or physical, puberty is a common time for demodex to appear. It does not usually cause the skin to become inflamed or reddened in any way.

[InkedMarie]

Somebodysme: Chewy dot com is having a sale, til the 14th, on the NV LID diets. I just got a bag of the turkey, large bag, for $52.49, free shipping!

[somebodysme]

Hey thanks for the heads up!!!!! It really does seem to be doing the trick if I can just keep from giving her ANYTHING ELSE which also includes her eating something in the yard faster than the speed of light! HAHA! I had put some coffee grounds on my plants and before I knew it she’d eaten a mouthful…UGH!

[InkedMarie]

You’re welcome. I signed up for emails from every dog food seller out there, one never knows!

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