Please tell me this is not Mange?

Surprise, it's got worse :(

It got better with the medication but is back now, but doesn't look too bad, yet there is LESS hair than at the beginning now.
He has been on the prescribed diet and has not had anything else, either... SO I really think it is environmental... etc I THINK maybe it is fleas???!?

I noticed some fleas recently, even though Toffee is on Sentinel, but the roomie's dog Misty is not.. she got over the counter flea stuff, but either it isn't strong enough or whatever... the cats are on Revolution and have no signs of fleas (boss kitteh is also kinda llergic to fleas, so I'd know if they were bugging him)
Now new vet appointment and hope more medication... better flea treatments... and that at least I can start Toffee back on raw, too...
 

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I have a friend and one of her shelties has food allergies and has problems with his paws. I must email her and ask her if they have gotten raw like this in the past. I am trying to get her to join the forum. I know her guy has a real allergy to wheat and she dips his feet in vinegar and water ( I think) when he comes in from the yard. Does Toffee chew on them?
 
Hi: I am Susan's friend with the allergic guy. Our Shelby has many food allergies including wheat, corn and chicken, which can cause him skin problems and great discomfort. When we rescued him he was 50% bald. He now is on an hypoallergenic diet and only has major problems in the summer. Shelby has several neurosis from his abusive early life, when he gets upset (like during a thunderstorm) he chews his feet, which in humid weather causes a yeast infection and/or staph infection and the cycle begins. The DVM's have cleared him up completely a few times but it requires keeping him sedated, that is no way to live. So we regularly dip his paws in vinegar to acidify his paws which stifles the yeast as well as other skin infections. Oral Benedryl is a mainstay and we also try to shampoo his feet at least once a week, keeping the hair between the toes/pads trimmed is also important. He always has a few pink spots but basically is pretty comfortable most of the time. Though living in SW Florida we will always have summer thunder and a lot of humidity.
 
Sumac3890 said:
I have a friend and one of her shelties has food allergies and has problems with his paws. I must email her and ask her if they have gotten raw like this in the past. I am trying to get her to join the forum. I know her guy has a real allergy to wheat and she dips his feet in vinegar and water ( I think) when he comes in from the yard. Does Toffee chew on them?
Click to expand...

That would be terrific if you could find out more. I've got a problem with Bacca as well. While not as bad as the photos posted above, his feet were starting to lose hair and you could see the skin underneath was red and dry.

It's starting to get better on its own (no meds), but I do wipe his feet when he comes inside. I'd not changed anything in his food, though, so its probably something outside.
 
Barb my friend did join us and post her name is Therapymom- hopefully soon she will do an intro on herself and her 4 shelties.
 
Therapy mom, your story about Shelby sounds identical to ours, right down to the feet chewing and finding him/her half bald. Lucy was the same way. Humidity or not, Lucy still gets the redness on her paws from time to time - even here in AZ where the humidity is like 8% most of the year! I put ResiCORT on her paws sometimes when they are really bad and it helps a ton. I got it from the vet. She is on a very strict diet for her allergies as well. I don't even let her near grass as it makes her paws worse.

Hugs to the little guy. We deal wih Lucy's paws daily.
 
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THANKS GUYS!
and wow, that would explain why Toffee hates to go on the grass, but ONLY in MY yard... when we go for walk or the dog park he is fine?? :confused2:
Toffee licks occasionally but not really chewing on it

I have him on salmon and potato prescription dog food... but I find it has got worse, not better... So I thought it was environmental... but would you guys who have experience recommend an allergy TEST?
 
dawns2shelties said:
I am sending you a link to the allergy test info page for the dermatologist I will need to take Gypsy to if this new med does not clear up her skin. I think this explains all the testing pretty clearly.

http://www.vderm.com/allergytest.html
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I have had several dog patients that have doen skin allergy testing. It has been very benefitical for those dogs with severe allergies. I have also had some clients do it just because they wanted to know what the dog was allergic to.

The benefit is you get an idea of what the dog is allergric to and if it is soemthing you can remove from the environment that can go along way into resolving the problem. I had one patient allergic to cats, one to wool(remove the wool blanket from the kennel and cured), and one to people dander. Most often you find mold, pollen and dust are the issues. So allergy shots are the next step.

Like the web site states ,some of my patients responded to allergy treatment within months, the majority took 6-9 months and quite a few of them 1 yr or more. Some never really responded. I think the success rate I hear was about 70%.

However a good tool to help sort out of issues. Skin testing worked better than serologic testing. As blood tests can have a higher false negative if what they are allergic to is not active at the moment. Go with intradermal skin testing over blood test if you have a choice.:smile2:
 
Our Katie had enviromental allergies and had long list of things she was allergic too. Mostly dust, pollen, fungus, molds and tons outside stuff. She was on allergy shots and it did help. She was worse some months and the months she was not so bad I did not give her the shots as often. I vacummed the house more and washed her bed more.
I even got rid of a few things she was allergic to in the garden...could not get rid of the neighbors mango tree though.
 
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