Stumped - Bumps leading to Flaky Skin
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Hi, I've been reading through the posts and while most recommend going to the vet, I thought I would double-check if anyone has had similar experience or feedback as so far I don't feel satified with answers from vets.
Our 1 1/2 yr old Basenji/Italian Greyhound mix got a few pink round bumps on his back in July which went away. Then in August they came back and went from maybe 6 to about 30 of them almost overnight. They were itchy but not extremely so and only along his back and upper side. We took him to the vet and they did a fungal test which came back negative and gave us a oatmeal/medicated shampoo, benadryl and antibiotics and later a treatment of ivermectin. The bumps eventually came to a head and then became little dry patchy circles but his entire back and sides are still extremely dry and flaky. We've been to our vet 3x's and a dermatologist once. He has tested negative for mites but the dermatologist found some bateria infection on his skin and he's been on clavamox for a month now. While the bumps have not come back and he is otherwise completely normal in appetite, activity, personality etc, his skin is still really bad. We are currently on a food allergy trial for the past month as well with an Eukanuba cod and potato blend but I cannot tell any difference. He's never had dry skin before except for in the dead of winter and that was more his legs and inner thigh areas than his back.
I've been told tons of things it could be from house mites allergy to food allergy to just seasonal weather but I just don't know how patient I should be or if I should do more to get answers. Any advice would be appreciated!
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This skin looks a lot like Tyler's skin did before he was diagnosed and treated for ringworm. Sometimes a ringworm test can come back negative or indeterminate. Tyler's condition had two vets and a dermatologist stumped for almost two months. Ringworm isn't real common in healthy adult dogs (more common in cats). Ringworm often leads to secondary bacterial infections. Tyler was getting bumps overnight also. And because we were using a steroid spray thinking it might be allergies–that was making it worse. Topical antibiotics seemed to make it worse, too.
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Looks like Cooper's reaction to his allergens (dust mites, storage mites, and flea saliva). After they go flaky, does he lose hair in that spot? Does he have thinning hair in general?
Does this coincide with any cleaning, moving, or going over to someone else's house? Cooper can't deal with any major dust disturbance, and I have to vacuum at least twice a week to keep his symptoms at bay. When we moved, he erupted in bumps for weeks.
We went through the same food trials and tests for months before finally getting him properly tested for allergens. I don't want to know how much we spent on cultures, antibiotics, steroids, mite medicines, anti-fungals, and prescription foods before getting him tested. I highly recommend it! Turns out that he had NO food allergies, and that's what we'd been primarily treating for! He's currently on his maintenance dose of allergy serum shots and getting fewer bumps at every breakout. We still use Benadryl and very low doses of prednisone.
Once you determine if he has any food allergies, get a high quality food and supplement with extra omega fatty acids until the flaky skin clears up.
Cooper's definitely getting fewer bumps now, but we're still waiting for all the hair to grow back… :(
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The allergy testing is pretty simple–they usually start with just testing a blood sample--but it is a little pricy. I went through this with Tyler and Zoey before they were diagnosed with ringworm. But Tyler tested negative on everything--and Zoey tested positive for a lot of things--but she responded well to the ringworm treatment.
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Thanks for the info. We went thorugh when the bumps first appeared and tried to take away anything that had changed recently to make sure wasn't allergic to something new in his enviroment and he's not had any changes in routine since then. At this point, if it is an allergy in the house, it probably is to dust but he hasn't had that same huge breakout in bumps just a few here and there. I'll try some supplements and maybe change shampoos to something that says no soap as saw that on some other posts. He doesn't seem to be bothered much, just a little itchy and the hair might be somewhat more thin but he doesn't have bare spots. It's really hard to be patient though when I just want to know what is causing it! Thanks again!
