I am so glad the OP started this thread and included pictures. Demi has the exact same thing -- the bruises and dirty-looking specks.
It sounds like there are different opinions from vets on whether these are from allergies, bacterial infections, or reactions to products. This worries me, since Demi's previous owners spent a fortune on allergy tests for her (results: allergic to grass and fleas, they said, but I lived in the remote country when I got her and she was exposed to grass and fleas all the time and did not react badly).
I'm also worried about trying the shampoo because I'm afraid the drying effect will make her skin worse. Her previous owners washed her twice a week in anti-allergy shampoo and when I got her she barely had any hair. I mean, she looked like a grayish-pink dog because you could see as much skin as you could hair. I thought the drying effect of the shampoo was responsible for her thin coat, and it's true that her coat grew in quickly and thickly in my care (I used conditioner only on her, and started giving her meat in addition to her kibble).
Her scratching and skin problems are really frustrating for me. I changed her food from Iams to Canidae + Missing Link Plus, but it hasn't helped yet after 5 weeks. If anything, she's worse.
I'm almost afraid to go to the vet because every time I've taken a dog to a vet for a skin problem, it has turned into an expensive odyssey of differing opinions, and the dog's problem never gets resolved.
Very frustrating and worrisome. |