Lip Pigmentation
 

I swear when it rains it pours. In addition to having to deal with my dog walker situation (see other post) Thumper was scratching near his lip today and when I looked it was irritated with very light bleeding. I also noticed that half of his lips lost all the black pigmentation in color.

Thumper has been diagnosed with skin allergies. I have been giving him Benadryl but it doesn't seem to be helping. The Vet is out until Monday is this something I should be concerned with?

I put some antiseptic medicine on the wound for now. He seems to be fine. Although his brother was trying to lick it off. Is the loss of pigmentation anything serious?

I plan on calling the Vet on Monday to discuss it with him. I also saw two small pimples on his underbelly.

Overall Thumper is happy and acting normal.

First, what do you mean by "skin allergies"...? Most allergies in dogs are environmental (pollens, dust, grass, mites, etc...) and then some, rarely, to food. The symptoms of allergies often come out in the skin and also result in paw licking and chewing, and itching.

Benadryl is really rarely used in alleriges bc it has such a short 1/2 life and has to be given every 4-6 hours to be therapeutic...it doesn't usually work well in dogs for that. Vet Derms will often try Claritin or Zyrtec as OTC meds for dogs.

For other meds and more on allergies, def read this thread: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/die...tart-here.html

My mistake you are correct they have environmental allergies. I spoke to my Vet today and he said I can try Claritin or Zyrtec and gave me the correct dosage for them. I like my Vet because even though he is willing to prescribe medication he tries to also be as holistic as possible. He had me start them on a probiotic that he said should take effect in about 3-4 weeks. Along with some other natural suggestions.

He is also giving me Temporal P but does not want me to use it on a consistent basis only 1/2 a tablet with the OTC Meds if they are having a bad day.

I asked about seeing a Dem Vet and he said I could if I wanted to but felt that general practitioner vets for allergies are just as good as Derm Vets and personally feels Derm Vets are quicker to just prescribe meds that if taken for long-term use can be harmful to my dogs. He said lets exhaust all of our options for the allergies naturally before subjecting them to heavy doses of meds. He feels allergy testing can be done in the future if necessary but said it is only 60-70% accurate.

As for the lip pigmentation he said as long as their aren't a lot of scabs it is fine. I also mention the two small pimples I saw but he felt it was nothing to worry about. Just said to treat them with the hydrocortisone spray I have been using.

Your vet sounds wonderful :). Most generalists are not skilled at dealing w/ allergies. But honestly, I think you're in a great spot to try the OTC meds + the Temaril-P to see how that works. Btw, make sure anytime you try an anti-hist, that you try it for 10 days before evaluating whether it's working.

You may also want to give an Omega supplement for the skin, like Ark Naturals Royal Coat...