health questions...please help - Page 1

 i'll try to make this as short as possible...i would appreciate any advice or opinions.  i have a 15 month old male, i feed him an all raw diet and supplements, he is in good shape except for a few things that i've noticed.  he's a house dog, no outside kennel.  i'm going to try to take him to the vet in a few days, but would like some input from you guys first.

1.  he's been itching like crazy lately, i noticed it a little into winter.  i'm trying to do an elimination diet because i think it may have something to do with too much chicken or beef.  i took him to the dermatologist, big waste of time and money.  did not get a skin allergy test, but the vet said he may have scabies...didn't find anything from the skin scrape, but told me to put him on revolution.  i do not want to put him on a chemical cocktail.  background info:  the fur on the outside perimeters of his ears looks a little thin, was red before, now just dry and fur seems to be coming in again.  2 or 3 tiny spots with no fur on the edges.  also has a bare spot on the outside corner of one eye.

2.  he had a dark scab on his head (between eye and ear), i though he may have gotten scratched when playing with the puppy.  i tried peroxide, neosporine, otomax, and biocane...scab was there for a while, but i just noticed that it's not really there anymore.  instead, where the scab was, there is now a black patch of skin.  it seems a little thicker or raised, but i can't tell.  really small spot, and he can't sit still.

3.  i noticed he has a black patch of skin on his ...ehhem...family jewels, i don't want to embarrass him too much.   i remember he had it a while ago, but then it almost disappeared, and now it's back.  the skin seems to be thicker there, black and a little wrinkly.  

sorry for the long post.  i would greatly appreciate any advice.  i was trying to do some research, but it seems like every damn disease has the same set of symptoms.  so i don't know if any of this is normal, or will go away on it's own, or if it's something i should start worrying about, or if i'm just a hypochondriac now.

thanks again 

I guess my first question to you would be why do you doubt the vet is correct?

What you describe is certainly like scabies and the treatment is appropriate. There may be other things to do later as well. If this is the problem, all the elimination diets and other things you might do will do absolutely nothing to help the dog. Trying Revolution is a reasonable first start. If it does not help, then try other things. 

There are dogs who can have allergies to food, but it is not as common as most people think. Most allergies in dogs, just as in humans, are to inhaled allergens. Winter can dry skin out more easily if you do not live in a humid area. You don't say whether you bathe him or not, but often people bathe their dog way too often. The skin pH of a GSD is much more alkaline than other breeds and if one is not careful, in a lot of ways one can change the pH and allow bacteria on the skin who are normally held in check to proliferate. This is also true of setting up good conditions for parasites.

In any case, the dermatologist vet you saw had an opportunity to look at the dog closely. My advice would be to try his suggestions. If you change or don't follow them, then you will have a dog who may get much worse.

 thank you hodie, i appreciate your post.  i guess i just want to be sure before i start pouring pesticides all over my dog.  scabies is supposed to be highly contagious, correct?  no one else in the house is itching, and the other dog is totally fine.  i also have doubts because this woman was trying to sell me everything she had in her office, all types of shampoos, pills, creams, etc.  she would sell her mother for a dollar if given the chance.

would scabies cause the dark spots on the skin?

Maybe he has the other form of Mange, demodex!  But the itching and scabbing on the ears sounds very much like scabies and sometimes it takes a "team" of medications to clear it up!  You should really listen to your vet.....I know she was trying to PRESCRIBE, not sell, you several things and it is ok!  You are treating this problem short term....it isn't a treatment that the dog is going to have to have for the rest of it's life so the chemicals that your dog is exposed is only temporary.

Vickie

www.PowerHausKennels.com

 uvw,

Canine scabies is highly contagious and can affect humans as well as dogs. Since your other dog seems fine, I would wonder about that as well. But there are other kinds of mites and perhaps you misunderstood her or she called it that when she meant another type of mite might be present.

It sounds as if you have no faith in this vet. My suggestion would be to find one in whom you do have some faith. Skin problems are very difficult to solve. On this board, normally someone will jump in and suggest it is an allergen in the kibble being fed and try to convince one to feed raw. I am not one of those people. But since you are already feeding raw, then people will have to come up with something else. What are the supplements you give, for example? 

In the meantime, you could try giving the dog some sort of allergy medicine like benadryl, but that will make the dog sleepy initially and usually people and dogs get used to one dose so one must use higher doses. You seem opposed to medicines but I might even try a course of antibiotics and some anti-inflammatory over a short period if it is really bad.

Again, there is really not enough information here to help you. We don't know where you live. Carpet and laundry soaps can cause itching. The black patches could be important, maybe not. How often do you bathe the dog? Does he ever get wet? What type of coat does he have?

Other inhalants in the house could be the culprit.  He may be getting to warm, sweating and that provides an optimum breeding ground for the wrong bacteria which results in itching and perhaps a skin infection etc. etc. etc.

Without looking at the dog, there is not much any of us can do. What I can tell you is that if you start changing things, do so one at a time and let that change stay for at least 3-4 weeks. Generally people start changing things and many things at a time and next thing one knows, it can be almost impossible to figure out what the real problem is.

I would listen to your vet I had 2 puppies aged 9 months that had hair loss after a camping trip to the bush. My vet thought Demodectic mange  even though he found nothing on the skin scraping. We tried the usual shampoos and washes to no avail so I bought Revolution as a last resort. It should have been the first as their skin cleared up within weeks, hair growth after second application. I believe that this product is worth trying first if no demodex mites are found on scrapings, Sarcoptic mites are very difficult to find on skin scrapings.

 thanks guys for your posts.  just to answer a few of your questions hodie...we are in northern nj.  he has a crate with no bedding, just a plastic pan that i've always rubbed down with alcohol every few days.  he's on carpet, which i vacuum about twice a week.  there's a forced hot air vent on the ceiling not too far from him, but we usually keep the room a little cool (65ish).  he has a regular coat with longer hair on his belly.  i haven't given him a bath in a while because he was supposed to be dirty going to the dermatologist.  i washed him 4 or 5 times last year, usually when he gets muddy or starts to stink.

as for supplements, he takes digestive enzymes, cranberry powder, salmon oil, cod liver oil, and a garlic/kelp/alfalfa/etc mix (herbal tick repelent).  and i just started him on colostrum.  these are not all given at the same time...i rotate the supplements.

i'm going to take him to our regular vet this coming week, but i find your guys' input very helpful.

thanks again

uvw I sympathize with you. My old girl was an itchy bitchy all the time on dog food and quit after I switched to RAW. She never had any black skin areas though. You mentioned you just started him on the colostrum, was he already itching prior to this? Is he by any chance shedding? I have noticed whenever my dogs blow coat they seem to itch, a good brushing with a rake seems to relieve them until more loosens up. They all for some weird reason were shedding like crazy too. Well one is due to come in heat. I hope you find your answer. Let us know what happens down the road if you use the Revolution or get it figured out. Good luck.

 he's been itchy for a few months now, before i started him on the colostrum.  he's been shedding like crazy.  i'm going to try to give him a bath and some benadryl, maybe it will work a little. 

has anyone heard of neem oil, almond oil, or tea tree oil treating scabies? 

This may sound strange, but sometimes a dog is allergic to certain household dust,
I have a dog that was having hot spots & itching alot I changed her diet to Canidae, &
I let her run around outside in the yard alot more than staying indoors, and I have seen
a remarkable change in her fur, even the texture of her fur has gotten softer and thicker
it's like she is an entirely different dog, while actually, she looks like her mom & grand-mom
healthy, not like before, before she was even chewing on her feet, anyway that's what I have
noticed, if she's indoors to much she seems uncomfortable.

Good luck, and by the way I started her out in the beginning with a shampoo using
sulfadine medicated shampoo,then changed to Canidae,

 you've got to start somewhere.