Ginger's skin

[TherapyGolden]

Ginger is having some really bad skin issues...poor thing... She is covered with itchy red bumps and her hair is falling out. It started with patches of dry flaky skin, and then she developed these red bumps a few months ago. She's been on several antibiotics and corticosteroids. It seemed to improve for a while but then in came right back, and now most of her hair is gone from her sides... My vet can't figure out what's wrong with her, she even checked the veterinary dermatology books and none of the skin conditions listed match. She consulted a dermatologist from U of I and he was not sure either. We went back in on Thursday and my vet did a skin culture so we're waiting for the results of that.

[Louisa]

Poor Ginger.... I'm sorry to hear this!!  My mothers dog is aging and she has some skin problems too, that she hasnt got a clear answer on what it is...and just recently, has just gone deaf.  It can be tough, I'm sorry to hear about your challenges.  I really wouldnt be any help in that area.. dont know much about that at all, but Ginger will be in my thoughts... keep the updates coming if you find out what's wrong.

[saucyaussies]

Out of curiosity, what food is she on and has anything changed, food, treats etc?  This exact same thing happened to Argus and Gambol when they were on Wellness and the formula changed.  They dumped their coat, and developed little red bumps that were like mini hotspots.  You could see Gambol's skin he was so naked.  It happened again to Gambol this spring when my mom tried him on the Go Salmon.  He does NOT do well on it apparently!  He was shedding, so I bathed him, trying to get some of the hair out and as I was zoom grooming him, his back just started bleeding.  He was one big messy scab all down his back, you could easily pull the hair out to complete baldness.  I put him back on reg Chicken Go and he cleared up as fast as could be expected.  By the tiem they got back from Greece, he was nearly back to normal.  He apparently developed a sensitivity towards food as my mom also tried him on Kirkland and he got the welts all over his tummy and down his legs.  He licked himself raw.

In each case, they were cleared up by changing back to Go (it just works for all my dogs, so it always our fall back food), so I never took them to the vet.  I'd rather them not be on pred, and I know that's what would be tried....we waited to see if it cleared up, if not we would have taken them in.

Also, my first aussie had a zinc deficiency which manifested itself as red itchy flakey sores around her eyebrows, muzzle, on her feet...it doesn't really sound like what Ginger has though...but just another time I've dealt with red adn itchy.

I would have her thyroid checked and blood sent to Dr. Dodds for assessement if you have not already.  Sometimes thyroid can have some weird symptoms, including hair loss from the tummy and up into the sides of the dog.  I'm guessing a blood panel has been done?  All her values are normal?

[TherapyGolden]

She's on Nature's Variety Instinct. I haven't changed her food since last winter and she rarely gets treats except chews but I always use the same kind so I don't think that's it. However I was thinking of changing her food to see if that helps, and my vet suggested trying raw.
She had bloodwork done on Thursday. My vet said Her blood work wasn't too bad, her albumin is a little low but her WBC count isn't high and her liver values are fine. T4 a bit low but not dramatically.  However the bloodwork did show she has a "nonregenerative anemia".There was one thing my vet mentioned as a possibility but she said it is not likely- Euthyroid Sick Syndrome. However dogs with that are usually overweight and Ginger has had trouble keeping weight on for the last several years. Her previous bloodwork results before the most recent were all within normal levels and normal thyroid. The other thing she thought could be a possibility was MRSA. We'll have to wait for the culture results...

[Carol]

I'm with saucy....even though you haven't changed brands of food maybe they changed where they get their ingredients from or added something??  I've used Eagle Pak for years....Sonny has fall allergies to the dry grass so I use the sardine, salmon Eagle Pak and that helps....maybe you could try it??  No chance there are any fleas or parasites??

[saucyaussies]

I would email the food company and ask if they've done *anything* to the food that you're feeding.  Anything at all, even if they feel it's an "improvement"...that isn't always an improvement for all dogs.

Also, I'm assuming that this would be checked for on the blood panel, but diabetes?  Her bloodsugar is normal?  It's a bit out there, but I know when my cat was diabetic his coat looked like crap until we got him on some insulin.  he'd get little sores from tiem to time as well.  Then he lost a bunch of weight and we found the diabetes.  Just trying to think of anything at all here...

[saucyaussies]

hmmm, just looking at the nature's recipe site.  Noticed that the Instinct is a grain free/high protien.  I wonder if the high amt of protien just got too much for her?  I've heard of dogs who do really well on the high protien diets for months and then "crash" (ie, start looking awful, skin/coat etc).  My dogs did the same on Canidae, just did not work for them after awhile.  I did find it interestign that it is touted as "grain-free", but the second ingredient is tapioca.  That may not be a grain per se, but it's closer to a grain than it is to meat/vegetable!  Just found that odd is all. 

I'd try either a raw diet or if you are happy with the Nature's Variety brand and want to stick with kibble go to their Prairie which has some grains (which I do think that dogs need some higher quality grains in their diet personally) and doesn't have the high protien values.

[Carol]

hmmm, just looking at the nature's recipe site.  Noticed that the Instinct is a grain free/high protien.  I wonder if the high amt of protien just got too much for her?  I've heard of dogs who do really well on the high protien diets for months and then "crash" (ie, start looking awful, skin/coat etc).  My dogs did the same on Canidae, just did not work for them after awhile.  I did find it interestign that it is touted as "grain-free", but the second ingredient is tapioca.  That may not be a grain per se, but it's closer to a grain than it is to meat/vegetable!  Just found that odd is all. 

I'd try either a raw diet or if you are happy with the Nature's Variety brand and want to stick with kibble go to their Prairie which has some grains (which I do think that dogs need some higher quality grains in their diet personally) and doesn't have the high protien values.

could this have anything to do with the melamine (I know I spelled it wrong Joe) challenges in dog food?  I know it's now monitored but FDA isn't that hept on our animals being more than mere possessions.  Just a thought??

[TherapyGolden]

could this have anything to do with the melamine (I know I spelled it wrong Joe) challenges in dog food?  I know it's now monitored but FDA isn't that hept on our animals being more than mere possessions.  Just a thought??

I don't think so, because the food I use iis grain free and made in the US.

There was a change in the food but that was way back in January... Here is the info:
http://www.naturesvariety.com/news/2/

[TherapyGolden]

I just got the lab results from my vet, here is the info she emailed me.

We are still waiting on the Fungal culture but there were 2 pretty nasty and prevalent bacteria.  I have included the results below.    I talked with an internist and she agrees we could be dealing with some form of cancer and need to biopsy but we also need to get this infection under control. THe drug we will use is Amikacin it is sensitve for both.  The internist feels it is prob pretty safe we just want to be sure.  Also if we can clear some of it it will make the biopsy more conclusive.  Bad news is if it is cancer there isn't really any effective treatment for it BUT we can try wholistic stuff.

 
Forwarded VetConnect Lab Results
                
    IDEXX VetConnect
   
       ANAEROBIC & AEROBIC CULTURE
    Test       Result    Reference Range       
    Low    Normal    High
    SOURCE:         SKIN         
     
       
    STATUS:         FINAL         
     
       
    PRELIMINARY CULTURE RESULTS         

    09/20  GRAM NEGATIVE RODS IDENTIFICATION AND MIC TO FOLLOW
    09/22  PROTEUS MIRABILIS No growth on MIC - disc susceptibility in
    progress.
    GRAM NEGATIVE RODS IDENTIFICATION AND MIC TO FOLLOW

    COMPLETED CULTURE RESULTS         

    PROTEUS MIRABILIS - 4+
    PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA - 4+
    CULTURE OVERGROWN BY SWARMING PROTEUS.                           

    ANAEROBIC RESULTS:         

    NO ADDITIONAL ORGANISMS ISOLATED