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09-09-2007, 07:53 AM | #1 |
Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Knoxville
Posts: 10
| Skin problems Hello, This is my first post on the forums. My dog, Caymen, has skin problems. He is 5 years old and he has pretty much always had them. I have taken him to the vet several times to try to get it under control, but every time it always ends with the same thing. They charge me an obscene amount of money for the visit and prescribe either a drug, new food, or new shampoo. I should also note that he is, and always has been on the regular monthly dosage of flea medication. He is an indoor dog, and only spends about 1-2 minutes outside daily. I've tried what seems like everything. Nothing ever works. *Here are some details about Caymen: *He is ALWAYS biting or scratching himself. *He is currently on a diet of Nutra (which was the last reccomendation by the vet) *He has never eaten human food. *He gets bathed about every 7-10 days. *He usually has at least one scab somewhere on his body...at times he has up to 5 different scabs at once. *His hair is two different lengths - the front half of his body has much longer hair than his rear area - mainly because he can bite and scratch the rear of his body easier I would assume. I have included some pictures so you can see what I am talking about. I took the pictures today, and luckily for him, there are no large scabs today....only the dry skin. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please let me know. After spending well over $1000 at the vet for skin problems only, I decided to take an alternate approach..... I figured who knows Yorkies better than Yorkie owners and lovers. http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e7...ure99005-1.jpg http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e7...ure99004-1.jpg http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e7...ure99003-1.jpg |
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09-09-2007, 05:04 PM | #2 |
Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: New Jersey
Posts: 1,453
| Hi : Ouch!!!!! lota money and no relief in sight???? Have you tried another vet. Your baby doesn't sound like he has anything very rear. If it was and I hate to say this I would think the prob would be getting worse instead of staying the same. But by the same token it should be clearing up. I would definitely try another vet or animal hospital where they have some specialists that can prescribe some sort of topical for him. Also dogs get what is called hot spots. That means they are always licking the same spot and this causes a skin disturbance. That might also cause him to bite or scratch the spot. But it sounds like he just has a rash of some sort. I just had my little female Yorkie with a growth on her tail that the DUMB vet diagnosed as a tumor....it turned out it was a skin thing form some shampoo I used on her and it started to clear up the very day I put the topical on it. I would explain what had happened to her but it is more than you want to hear right now. I would definitely try a new vet that knows a little more than this guy/girl and will help you with out all this discomfort to you dog and expense to you. Tina |
09-09-2007, 05:08 PM | #3 |
Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: New Jersey
Posts: 1,453
| I would at this time hold off on bathing him so often. What you are doing is customary for Yorkies but with the skin prob it may be drying him too much right now and disturbing his PH balance. Maybe let it go at least a full two to three weeks. Give his skin an rest. Are you sure this is not from his shampoo. I used a VERY popular brand on GiGi and her skin just can not take it. Threw it in the garbage. Tina |
09-09-2007, 05:22 PM | #4 |
Loved by Layla Donating Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Canada
Posts: 11,257
| sounds like a food allergy poor little guy.... is there corn or wheat or chicken in the food he is being fed?? those are the most common food allergies.... does this come and go??? i know Layla has environmental allergies and she itches her paws and has watery eyes right now but this has only happened one other time in the summer so i know it is a seasonal thing.... if it is ALWAYS there then i'd guess it is food....you should try finding a food with no corn as that is USUALLY the culprit. |
09-09-2007, 05:35 PM | #5 | |
Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Knoxville
Posts: 10
| Quote:
The skin irriatation is always there......just at times much worse than others. The vet has said food allergies. Thats when he advised I try Royal Canin. After using the food for 6 months (and paying twice what other "good" dog food costs) and seeing no change whatsoever, I decided to put him back on the Nutra. | |
09-09-2007, 05:42 PM | #6 |
Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: New Jersey
Posts: 1,453
| Poor little guy....hope you find out what it is soon so the both of you get some relief. Tina |
09-09-2007, 05:46 PM | #7 |
Loved by Layla Donating Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Canada
Posts: 11,257
| hmm.. my guess would be food so check that out.... if you find it is becoming too much for him (until you find a permanent solution) you can use children's liquid dye free benadryl. On the days when it seems to be obsessing Layla to chew i use that.... but i try and keep it to a minumum because i'm not a huge fan of medicine for dogs (i try and do natural but having a hard time finding a cure for this one!) it is 1 ml per 5 lbs of dog.. and it WILL knock him right out!!! i usually give it once a day on the really bad days and it makes her sleep most of the day and definitly eases the itching for the rest of the day. |
09-09-2007, 06:14 PM | #8 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: North eastern Illinois Suburbs
Posts: 1,669
| Okay- http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/ar...=1046#answer_1 I'm willing to bet that if you look, there are what look like little "ulcers" or moist patches w/ slightly yellow discharge around it. Are there? They're usually quite tiny. The flakes I saw looked and awful lot like what one of my Black Russians had. It's a dietary issue. The symptoms were identical in every facet. I'm just offering my experience. Otherwise (I didn't check) if you haven't already done so, I'd get an allergy panel done up on your pup. Further, they can draw blood and check and see if he's showing any vitamin deficincies. That's why I posted the link above to kinda show you some of what is recommended as a daily intake and that he/she might be lacking, or getting too much of. The diet(s) you're feeding him may be high quality kibble, but somewhere he's either getting too much or too little of what his particular body needs! |
09-09-2007, 06:27 PM | #9 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Indiana
Posts: 55
| i took sophie to the vet just not long ago for a skin irritation similar to yours...she always bites herself, scratches and so on....i've not changed food, i bathe her on a regular basis, and so on...the vet gave me some prednazone for the itch, and told me when i bathe her to do it in lukewarm water with a mild dog shampoo. And, only bathe her like twice a month until she ceases to scratch so much. I also have her on frontline plus for her being an indoor dog who goes out to potty for fleas. But she always had scabs that were gross looking in a few places that she tended to itch the most. The scabs have gone away now, so it must have worked. I just hate to have to put my animals on meds unless it's an emergency and they really cannot do without them. yorkiemomma7 |
09-09-2007, 06:30 PM | #10 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In my house :)
Posts: 5,219
| I think, if I were you, I would try another vet if that's a possibility. Royal Canin is not a good food. There is a very good food available at PetCo called Natural Balance...try the duck and potato, it's affordable and it's made for allergies. I was feeding that to my boyz when Jo started having some skin issues...but...I was also feeding a raw beef diet at the same time so I think he was allergic to the beef. I've taken him off of the raw food and he's back on the Natural Balance with no problems...so far However, there are many other good foods available too but the Natural Balance can be found at PetCo instead of a specialty store. When I took Jo to the vet the last time he had several liquid filled blisters on his belly that he would lick and break open and I could feel one or two on his back and shoulder area, his coat seems like it's always oily between baths and he licks his feet a lot although I don't ever remember him having dandruff. Our vet thinks he has food allergies too so she put him on antibiotics and gave me some medicated shampoo called 'Pyoben' to bathe him in 2 or 3 times a week at first and then once a week after he cleared up. I also have a shampoo I bought at PetSmart called efa HyLyt shampoo...it's a soap free, hypoallergenic shampoo for routine cleansing for normal, dry and sensitive skin. The antibiotic he was on is called Simplecef. Also, if he scratches his ears alot or if his ears smell it could be a yeast infection that has spread. Has he had his ears checked? Jo is doing better now...I hope you find relief for your boy soon...allergies can be frustrating for everyone involved. |
09-09-2007, 06:42 PM | #11 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: North eastern Illinois Suburbs
Posts: 1,669
| SEBORRHOEA-----------THAT'S the word I was looking for!!!!!! THIS is what I think your pups issue is! Sorry I couldn't think of the word. My mind is elsewhere tonight...... http://www.abbey-vetgroup.co.uk/seborrhoea.htm Seborrhoeic dermatitis. |
09-09-2007, 07:33 PM | #12 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Southern California
Posts: 246
| i agree I agree with yorkiek9trainer...SEBORRHOEA! The flakiness cinched it for me. I have had the same problem, though not to the degree you have. Poor you-you must be sleep-deprived. I am going to a different vet this week. I feel so bad for my girl and myself. It is soooo hard to nail down a treatment. I have her on natural Balance food and it did help, but I think her allergies are environmental. After all I've read, food allergies are rare and I am not about to spend more money trying to find out more. All I want to know is how to help her. So, I've put her on low dose prednisone for this week and then I'll see what the vet says. we tried Atopica, but it did't do much and was super-expensive. I also, give her 1ml of baby benedryl at night. She actually likes it. I think she knows it helps her. Anyway, hang in there. This forum is really a big help. It's a good thing our babies are so cute, huh? |
09-10-2007, 09:13 AM | #13 | |
Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Knoxville
Posts: 10
| Quote:
I havent tried any types of vitamins yet....thanks for the link....I am going to call them immediately. | |
09-10-2007, 09:15 AM | #14 | |
Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Knoxville
Posts: 10
| Quote:
Definetly no problems with his ears. He did, at one point in time, have ear problems - so I know exactly what to look for there. | |
09-10-2007, 09:39 AM | #15 |
Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Knoxville
Posts: 10
| just went to the website fosters and something or other.... clicked on the live help..... they suggested a few different things - vitamins and shampoos....but said they do not carry a food which could help. guess thats a start though. i will look more into the food later on today. |
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