Skin Issues

MamaVanSwag · 01-06-2013, 12:23 AM

I have a 1 y/o male pit bull American bulldog mix named Ralphie. He came to us from a rescue missing and eye and a severe case of demodex mange.

We have had him since May 14th and were able to get the demodex mange under control with Ivermectin treatments. He had been doing well.

About a little over a month ago he started to get a very angry rash around his ears and it has now spread down his neck, on top of his head and there are spots all over his body. He has lost all his hair, again and we are now at our wits end.

We took him to the vets immediately and they thought it was a food allergy. We changed him to the Blue Buffalo grain-free, he was put on cephalaxyn because his sores were so bad the doctor did not want him to get infections.

After several weeks on the Blue Buffalo and the meds the rash has not gotten better. We were then prescribed prednisone which he has been on for two weeks. It appeared to clear up and upon weaning the rash returned.

I have attached several photos of Ralphie's neck, head and body. Has anyone seen this? And can you help???

Thank you so much, Ralphie's mom
Laura

**performanceknls** · 01-06-2013, 12:48 AM

Did they test him for mange again?
When you switched him to grain free did you also cut out every other food source? Like treats or other things he eats? Sometimes we forget to cut out grain treats or monitor other things they could be allergic too. It does take several weeks for grains to get completely out of their system. The other thing is possibly an allergy to something he came into contact with. Did you change detergents or any other change that happened around the time this started?

If he was my dog this is where I would start. Give him a bath is dawn dish soap to wash off any contaminates he may have come into contact with. Then wash his bedding in dreft or something similar. Dreft is a detergent for babies that is designed for sensitive skin. I would probably wash his blankets a few times. Then I would Order some Nutsock Nu-Stock - Topical Skin Treatment for Animals. This will help with his hair and help his skin, it's sulfur based and works wonders on many levels. It stinks to high haven so I would put it on at night and have him sleep in his crate.

Answer the questions above and maybe we can trouble shoot it.

MamaVanSwag · 01-06-2013, 01:27 AM

Thank you for responding.

Mange is out we know that, the symptoms are different and the tests came back negative.

It is funny you said something about the treats. Each morning he gets a chew that is for joint relief because he has a bad leg, it has the glucosamine in it but when I went to give it to him this morning I happened to read the ingredients. The first one is brewer's yeast! Could this be the culprit? I have no clue.

I have cleaned everything and nothing has changed as far as laundry/soaps etc. My back yard has died because of the season, I am wondering if there is something in the soil? But then if that was it why is it on his head and neck and not his feet?

When I had him at the vets on Thursday one of the vet techs had mentioned the Nu-Stock. I am definately going to pick some up for him. Not sure what it is supposed to do, but I will give it a shot even though it stinks.

Thank you so much and I hope someone else can offer some advice as well. My heart is so sad for this sweet boy. I want to get him better.

**performanceknls** · 01-06-2013, 01:40 AM

I'm also guessing he has a compromised immune system with the mange and everything else he has gone through so it can be tough. The yeast may be part of the problem. I would cut out all food, supplements, and anything else that he eats but the kibble. If he wants a treat take out some kibble and use that. It could take awhile to see results but I would start there. An allergy can do horrible things to dogs! One of my dogs eats a kibble from the other dogs and she will itch for a week!

MamaVanSwag · 01-08-2013, 09:31 PM

Thank you very much. Bump for any other opinions or information, thank you!

Skye · 01-25-2013, 04:33 PM

put him on a grain free diet (I use Taste of the wild)- Salmon kind because it has extra omegas for coat and skin. I would give him 2 TSP a day of Apple Cider vinegar (helps strengthen immune system) and 2 TSP a day of coconut oil (helps with skin and coat and immune system). I would also give him 2000 mg of omega 3 pills a day (helps with skin and coat) and a food supplement called The Missing Link- skin and coat. This is just amazing stuff period.

My blue girl was stressed from being lost for 2 weeks and came back with missing patches of fur and runny poop. I got her skin scraped for mange- negative. A lot of times the mites burrow themselves deep enough so that they don’t show up on skin scrapings. I did the above regime and she is healed (beautiful fur and skin no runny poop). I also gave her 2 shots of ivermectin (just incase it was mange). I didnt do more than that because I am not into "drugs", would rather treat naturally but I had to try a little ;0)

Skye · 01-25-2013, 04:37 PM

I also giv emy dogs glucosomine condrotin pills for joints, etc....