Scabs

[bogeythe dog]

Our sheltie Bogey will be 4 in July. He has dry scabs on his underbelly and a few spots on his back in one area. He does not smell but when you smell him down in the area where the scabs are it smells real bad. Any ideas?

[mellie]

Hi !! Sorry to hear that Bogey has scabs. It would be best to see the vet . Might be infection or yeast causing the smell and so might need a prescribed drug to clear up and you need to figure out what is causing it too. Good luck.

[dawns2shelties]

Originally Posted by bogeythe dog

Our sheltie Bogey will be 4 in July. He has dry scabs on his underbelly and a few spots on his back in one area. He does not smell but when you smell him down in the area where the scabs are it smells real bad. Any ideas?

It could be a thyroid issues so you may want to have your vet do a thyroid test. It could also be a yeast or staph type infection. You could have your vet do a skin scraping and culture to diagnose the exact skin issue.

If you are given meds for the skin and it doesn't clear up I would see a Dermatologist. I would have saved a lot of money in vet bills with my Gypsy if I had seen a Derm. sooner but my vet kept saying he didn't feel I needed to. A Dermatologist may seem expensive but in the long run if you have to see a vet several times those bills add up.

Hope you can find the cause quickly. I'm including a link to Central Illinois Sheltie Rescue. They have some great info on thyroid disease.

http://www.illinoissheltierescue.com/thyroid.html

[BarbV]

Originally Posted by dawns2shelties

It could be a thyroid issues so you may want to have your vet do a thyroid test. It could also be a yeast or staph type infection. You could have your vet do a skin scraping and culture to diagnose the exact skin issue.

If you are given meds for the skin and it doesn't clear up I would see a Dermatologist. I would have saved a lot of money in vet bills with my Gypsy if I had seen a Derm. sooner but my vet kept saying he didn't feel I needed to. A Dermatologist may seem expensive but in the long run if you have to see a vet several times those bills add up.

Hope you can find the cause quickly. I'm including a link to Central Illinois Sheltie Rescue. They have some great info on thyroid disease.

http://www.illinoissheltierescue.com/thyroid.html

I agree that this is worth checking out further.

My Bacca is hypothyroid and potential liver shunt. This fall his skin went to total funk. He has almost no undercoat on his back and middle area. It flakes off.

I would get him tested asap for hypo. Its quite common in shelties and the skin condition is one of the first manifestations.

It's possible that thyroid meds will solve the problem without seeing a dermatologist, so I would say its time to go to the vet and and ask for a full T5 panel.

Best of luck! It's not a pleasant disease, but it is treatable.