Itchy Skin

[Elei]

Poor Kip has an itchy skin problem. It started almost 3 weeks ago. It’s mainly on his chest between his front legs, arm pits, and some on his tummy. He is super itchy and his skin is slightly reddened and irritated in areas, with some flaking and hair loss. Not much. The rest of his coat and skin still looks great. I gave him a few oatmeal baths, and when that didn’t help took him to the vet last week.

Unfortunately the vet didn’t know what was wrong. She said that it was mild enough that a skin scraping would probably be negative, so didn’t do one. She thought it could be allergies or could be skin mites. He’s getting Benadryl for 10 days to see if that helps, but so far it’s not helping. We also switched to a different flea and tick product in case it’s mites.

I’m going to get some medicated shampoo from the vet next week. I wish I knew what was wrong so we could treat it effectively. He hasn’t had any diet change, and he gets salmon oil everyday. The only environmental change is the eucalyptus trees and guinea grass are blooming, and the guinea grass is really tall. Guinea grass is really irritating (it gives me a very short lived rash), but I’m not sure it would cause so much itching.

I’m wondering if this warrants testing for hypothyroidism? I’ve never had a Sheltie with that condition, so I should research it. He’s also been swimming a lot, and I’ve read that can cause a skin infection from too much moisture

I have a feeling that I’m going to be back at the vet soon for further diagnosis. Sigh...

 

[Diana Mccly]

I have a feeling that I’m going to be back at the vet soon for further diagnosis. Sigh...

poor Kip. I hope he feels better soon and you get some answers

 

[Sandy in CT]

Poor Kip!!!! Does he have hot spots by chance? I know our first sheltie got them ages ago. They may have a medical term but my mom always called them hot spots. She would bathe our pupper in Calgon bath powder. Now, this was over 40 years ago, lots of things have changed, but who knows. I always tend to try the natural route.

If you do get some sort of diagnosis so you know what you are dealing with, check out Nature's Farmacy. I feed the puppers their Complete supplement daily in their dinner meal. Sometimes I add a bit of water, low sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth to mix but not every time. It is a mix of their Ultimate, which covers skin and coat, and their Dogzymes, covers internal gut health, and Phyto-Flex, covers joint health. They make some REALLY good products. This one happens to be my favorite because they get a full dose of all 3 products with only 1 jar in my cabinet. I also starting using their Kidney support with Kooper 6 months ago when he started showing signs of beginner kidney failure. Blood tests will be done next week to see if he leveled off, got worse, or hopefully shows improvement.

Please post back with what you try and what works. And feel better Kip!!!!

 

[Ann]

This sounds like just what I went through with Flurry starting before she was a year old. The same itching, red, flaky skin etc. My vet tested her for everything under the sun, with skin scrapings and other tests. Everything was negative, it kept coming up as a staph infection. We tried cytopoint injections, antibiotics, medications, medicated baths, restricted diet...nothing worked. It is beyond frustrating.

It took a year until I finally took her to a canine dermatologist. Flurry is basically allergic to herself. She has an allergy to the staph her own body produces. The derm doc prescribed an allergy serum and I inject her with a shot once a week. Been doing that for more than a year now. She still gets flareups in between, and I treat her with medicated baths and benadryl. I make all her food from scratch; it's a special diet for skin issues. This has at least helped.

The best advice I can give you is to find a canine dermatologist. The tests mainstream vets do aren't specific enough. I wasted a year trying to find out what was going on. A dermatologist can pinpoint it in one or two visits. Thankfully, I have Flurry insured with Trupanion and 90 percent of all her expenses are covered. That's been a godsend. The allergy serum alone costs $260 a month.

As a stopgap if the Benadryl isn't working, get some Clorhexidine shampoo and spray and bathe him with it, then treat the irritated spots with the spray daily. It's what my vet prescribed but you can get it on Amazon and it's cheaper too. It really helps give them some relief.

I wish you luck, I can so relate to what you're going through. Stick with it until you get answers. Skin issues are the worst, and the hardest to diagnose. Give your boy a pat for me!

 

[Ann]

If you do get some sort of diagnosis so you know what you are dealing with, check out Nature's Farmacy. I feed the puppers their Complete supplement daily in their dinner meal. Sometimes I add a bit of water, low sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth to mix but not every time. It is a mix of their Ultimate, which covers skin and coat, and their Dogzymes, covers internal gut health, and Phyto-Flex, covers joint health. They make some REALLY good products. This one happens to be my favorite because they get a full dose of all 3 products with only 1 jar in my cabinet. I also starting using their Kidney support with Kooper 6 months ago when he started showing signs of beginner kidney failure. Blood tests will be done next week to see if he leveled off, got worse, or hopefully shows improvement.

Please post back with what you try and what works. And feel better Kip!!!!

I second Sandy's suggestion about Natures Farmacy. It's their nutritionist who gave me the homemade diet recipes for Flurry's skin and she is wonderful. They consult for no charge if you have questions and will suggest supplements for your dog's needs. I use all their supplements for my gang! In fact, if you get on their website you'll see our story there.

 

[Caro]

Swimming can definitely cause issues.

Deska had skin issues and I saw a dermotolgist, she didn't help. All I knew was none of the skin supplements or fish oils helped, but using a multivitamin did.

Now I'm working with a vet nutritionist to developed diet for Tully and I think I know why Deska had issues - it was linoleic acid (Omega-6) that is the issue, not Omega-3s (which are fish oil). This is what the nutritionist said "
Linoleic acid deficiency (an essential fatty acid in dogs) typically produces signs of skin disease, like a dull coat and scaling" (she mentioned dull coat and scaling because that's what Tully has). Tully gets 1/4 teaspoon of Safflower oil and half a boiled egg added to her diet to help with her coat. We've just started on the new diet so I can't tell you yet if her skin is looking better.

 

[Elei]

If you do get some sort of diagnosis so you know what you are dealing with, check out Nature's Farmacy.

Thanks! I looked it up and will see which supplement they recommend. It can’t hurt to try!

Swimming can definitely cause issues.

I’m wondering if that started it. He’s been swimming twice a week at a dog swimming pool, plus he loves to wade in the cow troughs, and we go the beach and rivers. He’s a real water dog. I read about some of the skin infections swimming can cause and it sounds similar.

As a stopgap if the Benadryl isn't working, get some Clorhexidine shampoo and spray and bathe him with it, then treat the irritated spots with the spray daily. It's what my vet prescribed but you can get it on Amazon and it's cheaper too. It really helps give them some relief

I’m going to order some tomorrow, and hopefully get some from the vet in the meantime since it will take awhile for the order to come. Poor Kip hates baths!

 

[Elei]

I don’t know if we have a canine dermatologist here. I’ll have to find out. I wish his skin would just clear up quickly, but this is 2020 so that’ll never happen!!

 

[Piper's mom]

Have you considered changing his diet Elei?
My last dog had uber allergies...wish I knew then what I know now! Both mine are on raw (and an occasional dehydrated raw meal) and perhaps I'm just lucky but they've never been itchy.

 

[Sandy in CT]

I read about some of the skin infections swimming can cause and it sounds similar.

Hope he is feeling better now! Swimming - ugh - sooooo many issues can arise. And you always hear 'no standing water' yet many years ago my husband and oldest went tubing in a moving river with a well reviewed company in Lake George, NY and ended up with some sort of parasite under their skin - totally gross.....

Keep track of his symptoms, change a thing at a time and see what effect, go back to 'norm' and change something else and see the effect. It may be environmental, it may be an allergy, it may be the diet. Best of luck and hope Kip is doing better! Sometimes you as momma who can see and do and notice affects can be more effective than anyone, if not, reach out for help and keep reaching till you get answers.