Scars on Hind Legs - Page 1

My 3 1/2 year old male has developed numerous "scars" on his lower hind legs. I assumed, initially, that my very dominant female had been "herding" him or he had scratched them running through the woods after squirrels. At his last vet visit, she agreed that was likely the case. They have not cleared up and there appear to be more of them, so I am now wondering if it may be something else. They resemble long scratches with no hair on the skin. On occasion, they have bled and scabbed over. The skin now looks dark, much like the caloused area on his elbows. Has anyone seen anything like this? I might add, that Xanto suffers from severe inflammatory bowel disease, and as a result has been on several meds for more than a year, including prednisone, Tylan, and azathiaprine (Imuran) which is a immuno-suppressant given to transplant and cancer patients. I am wondering if the drugs may be contributing to the lack of healing. I would appreciate any input that you can offer. He looks a bit like something has been chewing on his back legs, and it's not a good look. Thanks.

Immunosuppressive drugs, especially steroids like prednisone do impede healing. They also leave your dog wide open to infections. If there is some way you can stop your female from doing this to him, PLEASE find it, or you are most likely going to be facing a big fat vet bill at some point down the road!

Believe me with an IBD dog, I already have big fat vet bills and don't need to add to them. We discipline our female, and she is not aggressive. She only does it on occasion when we exercise and play with them in the pasture. She is very high energy and has been very frustrated that he will not run with her due to the meds. She is "mouthy" by nature and is corrected for that as well. We are watching the scratches and apply antibiotic cream as needed. I have just been concerned that it is some additional illness that we need to address.

I am sure that your vet thought of this but are you sure that it is not a skin parasite like hookworm or ringworm? I had hookworm myself when I was a kid and it looks just like what you describe. It is passed through stepping in feces. just an off the wall thought.

Well, that's an interesting thought. We pointed them out to our vet on his last visit several weeks ago, and she thought it was the nipping or brush scratches as well. However, we do live out in the country and something is always passing through and leaving deposits behind. Our daughter and her husband recently visited and went home with a stray lab puppy one of our neighbors had found and was looking to find a home for. She is a wonderful dog and healthy except for a minor case of hookwork. It's worth bringing up again with our vet. Thanks.

Hookworms make no skin infection in dogs. The skin infestation is only seen in humans, because we are the wrong hosts for the larvae. In tropical beaches it is called "beachworm", because the local dogs defecate at the beach and people get infested by walking through the sand. The larvae penetrate into the skin and make very itching skin lesions. DoubleX: when did you realize the scars and how did they progress?

My feelings are this is entirely due to the drugs and the female trying to herd him. I strongly suggest putting a muzzle on her to prevent this. I had a good friend who was a kidney transplant patient. She tended to scar really badly, too. (She eventually died due to complications from her diabetes.) The prednisone will eventually thin the bones, too, and cause ostepoporosis. It has all sorts of nasty long-term side effects.

Scars started about six to eight weeks ago. We had reduced his meds until he had a very bad IBD flareup after his rabies vaccination. We had to resume a higher dose to try to control the flare. We see the vet every few weeks and Xanto's blood is monitored for liver values as well as cobalamin and folate levels since he has chronic SIBO in addition to the IBD. We administer a B12 shot weekly to help improve that. A couple of scars appeared and we applied neosporin per the vet. Since then a couple of more have appeared. The vet has monitored them. They look very like his elbow calouses, dark with no hair. We recently reduced his azathiaprine and pred again, and the scars seem to be slowly healing. We have nasty thorn bushes on the property and that is a likely cause. He is never out alone, but sometimes can't resist a dash through the woods after a squirrel. Xanto takes daily Tylan for the SIBO, but it is a "gut" antibiotic, so it is not effective elsewhere. He is very sensitive to any additional drugs, including Heartguard which causes diarrhea for a short while. We must be very careful in giving him anything but the minimum of meds, including vaccinations. He is such a wonderful dog that it is a real shame he has such a bad gut and immune system.

DoubleX Please email pjdogs@yahoo.com DoubleX as subject I have serious personal experience to relate and discuss--- NOT for board! PJ

Hi,does your dog have any food allergies,or intolorance?If not,have you ever ruled out scabies(mange)cause the scars sound like something that happened due to his POSSIBLE biting at the itchy area.Just a thought