Super helpful reply, awesome
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Okay, so, when the 2 skin scrapings were done -- did the vet just look under scope for bacteria, and didn't see anything? That's great for id'ing presence of bacteria; but, a sample should've also been grown out in culture for 10-14 days to note any presence of fungus....*most especially* ringworm, given this hair loss. Has ringworm been discussed? This is a fungus, not a worm, and often appears on dogs in a round-ish shape, and gets larger, and can be discolored, sometimes crusty. The culture would also show any yeast.
And you've given Cefpodoxime Proxetil - this is Simplicef. A couple concerning things here. This is an antibiotic - given for bacterial infections; but your vet said NO bacteria was present - so why did he give it...? Antibiotics should never, ever be given unless there is an infection; giving them when there is *not* an infection present is a huge cause of antibiotic-resistance germs ("superbugs"). This could cause them in your dog too, so please be careful
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On the Simplicef - how long was it given? 2 weeks? Just as an fyi for future...anytime there is a resistant bacterial skin infection, the gold standard treatment is to give Simplicef x a full 30 days. So if it turns out you do have a bacterial issue happening here, keep that filed away.
If this is ringworm (which can be contagious to humans and other pets, btw), it's treated most often w/ Diflucan x 6wks, then you must re-do the culture grow to see if it's gone, or not.
And then lastly...if this were me and my gut was telling me this really could be the chip, well....heck, I'd just get that thing out of there then, and see what happens. It's possible that something in her body is rejecting that chip for some reason. There is no downside, really, to having it removed -- other than it's going to cost some money to have it removed, and then later you'll have decide if you want to try another one.
You sound like a *super awesome* pet parent, and I know you'll get to the bottom of this, one way or another. Please do keep us posted, this is a unique one and I always like dermatology discussions/learning.
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