SkIn Disorders - Page 1

Anybody know a good reference book on skin disorders in the GSD? My girl had a cyst on her tail which cleared up with antibiotics, but now it's back... & there are more popping up everywhere. And she has a growth on her right wrist which just appeared, she's going to the vets this week, but I want to be prepared BEFORE I see the vet, so I can tell if I'm getting anywhere with this. Thanks, & thanks for any good thoughts you care to send, I'm a little afraid of that mass on her wrist, I believe that's a common primary site for osteosarcoma. jackie harris

the natural balance is not helping i bet it is making it worse at least my vet thought so


vet said it is food alergy related my dog gets them also on her face spots of missing hair this really sucks my dog was doing very good for a while also


how old is your dog?

My girl is 8 years old. Yep, she's got a cyst in the middle of her forehead now. I went back to Orijen from Canidae when this first started & her cyst (she only had 1 then) cleared up. Of course, she was on antibiotics, too. But she was still on Orijen when all this started again, & the vet said we might try limiting ingredients, so we switched to the NB. And she actually seemed better for a while, then this thing on her wrist started to grow. It's not a cyst, either. It's hard & boney feeling, & it hurts her, I can tell. She keeps holding her paw up to me like, "Fix it, please." But when I take it in my hand, no matter how gently, she pulls it away.That's what it looks like, nothing like the cysts at all. My biggest fear is that she has cancer, & it's got her immune system out of wack, so the sebatious cysts are going crazy....geez, I wish I could get her into the vets tomorrow; but I want to wait for our regular vet, who's very good. Her pastern on that side has gotten quite soft, & she stands east-west  all the time now....& she seems sad all the time. THAT scares me more than anything.
She was always bright, happy, & bouncy. ***sigh*** Wish us luck. I hope it's just an infection of some kind! jackie harris

destiny4u- how did it start on your dog? And how is it going now? jackie harris

Find a veterinary dermatologist. GP vets are not generally very good with skin problems. I forget where you live, Jackie? Is it MD? There is an excellent derm vet in the Baltimore ares.

No, I'm in northeast Pa, quite near where Shelley used to live. If my vet can't treat it, she will refer me, she's very good about that. Probably to the U of Pa, they have an excellent veterinary hospital near Chester, Pa. But I'm more worried about that ankle. I just don't want her to have an old age of suffering. Her dam lived to be almost 15, & her sire until he was 12. Her doc will see her tomorrow. I guess we can sweat it out 'til then. jackie harris

jackie i thought i had control over it with natural balance i tried orjen also but the whole time she had issues that i just did not see or notice or see so it was like i kinda tricked myself and gave false hope with natural balance it might not have been any better than orjen like u it stopped for a bit but i had steriod creams and stuff to help out at the sametime but then the allergy popped its ugly head up again :(

destiny, it's not food. Have her skin tested.

Well, we went to the vets & she aspirated some cells & fluid from Kali's wrist & a couple of the other nodules. Turns out, Kali was not having sebaceous cysts, her 'cysts' are areas of calcified skin that is rupturing open & got infected, so they LOOK like pustular cysts. The vet said Kali was hypercalcemic, but when we got the blood work back today, her values were within normal limits. Actually, that's not a good thing. Our differential diagnosis were metabolic hypercalcemia vs hypercalemia due to tumor destruction of bone. Since the blood work was normal, that pretty much rules out metabolic causes. Crap. F***ing double crap. Anyone have any other insights? Our vet thinks we are an interesting case .....as a nurse I know enough to never want to be the 'interesting' case. My poor sweet girl. jackie harris

Jacki what about calcinosis circumscripta