Need help in caring for Diamond
 

Hi all.....A friend of mine asked me to babysit her dogs while she is away on vacation. They are a male and female Pomeranians. Her daughter bred the 2 poms and the male is twice as large as Diamond.... needless to say the puppies were too large and she shattered her pelvis bones, hips I guess...anyway she was taken to their vet and he operated on Diamond. Now she does not walk right and is totally BALD except for her head and legs. Her skin is so dry it feels like a snake. What can we put on Diamond to make her skin feel better and help her to deal with her situation. It would be nice to be able to help this precious dog even if it is for dry skin. Thanks in advance for all your help.

I have absolutely no advice but am just shocked by those pictures! What does the vet say he thinks is wrong with her? Could it be a thyroid problem? Was she spayed after shattering her pelvis during the birth of her puppies? What about the male Pom was he neutered? Obviously they should never have been allowed to mate in the first place if he was that much larger then Diamond. I want to cry. :(

Oh, that poor little girl!! That is so heartbreaking!! I can't believe her owners were so cruel.

Has she been checked for mange? Her skin looks really raw which that with the hair loss is usually associated with mange. She will need medication and special dips otherwise it will just get worse. I can't even imagine the pain she is in. She needs to see a vet right away.

Oh the poor little thing, that is so sad :( Some people are clueless, How painful that must have been for her! It's probably best for her to get a prescription for her skin condition, it looks really bad :(

I would just keep her clean by using a baby mild pet shampoo such at this: Organic Pet Shampoo - Vermont Soap Organics I'd also use a baby sunscreen on her too. Poor little thing.

After her surgery and all the medicine all her hair fell out. Her vet just kept giving her more medacine than to make the hair grow back. That never happened. Now she rubs Skin so soft on her everyday and keeps clothes on her. This has happened a few years ago and the vet never did spay the dog. Go figure! I live hours away and this is my 2nd time seeing the dog and the 1st time she had clothes on. She is just exstremely dry and the sweetest angel you ever want to meet. i took her clothes off for the picture but she is not raw at all just dry and wrinkle looking

poms get alopecia x sounds like that is what is going on - I will get you the info

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/alopeci...ogs/page1.aspx

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_alopecia_x.html

her hair did not fall out from surgery she was probably susceptible to alopecia X as it runs heavily in pom breed. She can see a dermatologist regarding it. A skin biopsy will confirm it but i can tell it definitely is alopecia X as there are some poms on my allergy group that look just like that with alopecia X and i read alot of dermatology books as my yorkie has allergies so i am always learning about skin

Alopecia X

melatonin can help but i would be under the advice of a dermatologist. The skin so soft is good or coconut oil to keep skin moist and clothes are good too so skin does not get sunburned. My derm calls it tshirt therapy. My dd wears tshirts all the time to keep pollens off the skin and keep her from itching her self and damaging the skin

join this pom forum as they are probably very familiar with it and can make some suggestions

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/PomForum/

you guys are amazing...in a few hours I have so much wonderful information. I feel like I have gotten such an education on Poms and can now talk to the owners about getting this dog spayed and starting on some of this great info. I am also really going to find out the name of this vet I think he should be reported. How could he repair this little dog and not spay her knowing what happened to bring her into his office in the first place. Than to not properly diagnose this dog all this time till these people got to the point of saying they have had enough they can not afford to keep going and nothing else gets done. Thank you sooo sooo much I really appreciate all your help luv u guys!

Do you know if this pup has had a full workup done by the vet? This could be Alopecia X which is also pseudo cushings, BUT a full workup should be done to rule out other things such as cushings. Those two conditions are very similar and it can be difficult to differntiate between the two.

I would never just assume it is one thing without a proper workup.

I have a little bald yorkie who does have pseudo cushings and he is on Melatonin which is working a little bit. He started on it in April and does have a bit more hair. They say it takes up to two months to work. BUT, don't do that unless a vet has done a full workup. Cushings and Alopecia X are very similar and it can be difficult to differentiate. If she does not have a really good vet then I would suggest an internal med specialist.

To tell you the truth I really don't know much more about this baby than what I have mentioned above. It really sounds like they had one heck of a quack vet and he soaked them for so much money they are now saying to me your our vet we can't take any more of this we are on a limited income and we just can't drain ourselves anymore. Well she is here for 2 weeks and I would take her and get her fixed but she is in heat and guess what they brought the male not nutered here with her. She is 8 years old and a little sweetheart. I feel so uneducated on Pom's and all these illnesses. I have never had any of this with my Yorkies but I am taking many notes and I would love to find out who this vet is and have this dogs file sent over to my vet so we can see what they have or haven't done. But, now I have to wait for their return to get any more information. So, while they are gone I am getting an education thanks to YT and a plan of action so when they get back I can tell them exactly what we think needs to be done and maybe I can try and raise some money to help with her surgery and blood work. I am now planning a yard sale and putting a few old things on Ebay. Hopefully we can get Miss Diamond straightened out a little better. I am sure she will never walk right again but maybe we can help her with her other issues.

Please, please tell the owner of this pup to get checked for Cushings and have her thyroid checked. With her skin being "dry, snake-y" and also the shape of her body - she really needs to be checked for typical Cushings.

Does she pee and drink alot? Is she overly hungry? Lethargic? Does she pant? Any areas of redness on the skin? Exercise intolerance? Anything else?

i don't have any suggestions but just wanted to say that I hope you can get that poor baby some relief. :(

She seems to have a good appetite and has mainly stayed to herself since she came in late Sunday night. She is in heat with this male here so it has been difficult to just monitor her. Coupled with the fact that I am at my busy time of year with 3 litters of yorkie babies in. The poor dog does not know me or my home and animals and you know new Mommies are none to thrilled with strangers around so this has all been a bit overwhelming for us all. But, I now have her in the living room with me alone so I can monitor her. She does not seem to pee a lot and she is very protective over her food but is not consuming a whole lot of food. I have placed her food and water bowl close to her and I am not seeing her drink an abundance amount of water either. I am going to call my vet and see if she can do the blood work up. I am sure it hasn\'t been done in ages anyway, you are right let us start there.