Archive for the ‘Skin & Coat’ Category

Richard, a 20 lb Rescue Rat Terrier’s skin is bright-pink from his chin, down his chest, to his underbelly, and down to his little toes. Richard doesn’t seem to be losing hair, but he does scratch his underbelly, and ‘clean his boots’ a lot. He doesn’t seem to scratch his face or need to scratch is back much. He just looks to be uncomfortable.

Richard is on his 3rd adoption in 5 years from the Whidbey Island Animal Shelter. Richard is thought to be 6 years old. He is black & white, with all white legs and underside. Richard lives with my 92 year old father on a remote island in the San Juans (WA state). A trip to the vet is a all-day excursion.

Richard was on limited ingredient Salmon – Sweet potato for about 4 months, with additional fish oil. We didn’t see much difference with his skin. We switched to another limited ingredient food, Duck – Potato about 3 months, ago with not much difference in his skin.

Other than a few apple slices, and blue berries, Richard is not to have any table scraps, or treats.

Richard has been on “Revolution” for about 6 months.

There is no Wool in the house that Richard he would be sitting on.

Richard is walked a couple times a day for a couple miles at a time through woods and over grasses, and along the beach.

Richard is washed with “Buddy Wash”. He seems better after bathing, but any relief doesn’t seem to last very long. His bedding is washed with mild soaps, and always has an extra rinse.

Richard has no visible bumps, scabs or bleeding.

Any suggestions what to try next ?

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I have a 7 year old male Yorkie. He has recently started bitting his back side violently and has developed a scrach and some hair lost. We live in New York and when it gets cold he doesn’t like to ware his wool sweater. Could the matireal of the sweater be the cause.

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Enter your question here Hi my name is Kathy and have 3 house dogs. and they all seem to blessed with dry skin just above their tails and have way up the back. my older dog (13years)has red spots behinds bothe the joints are her front legs and down the lower paws. I have put hydrocortisone cream on her to try to help. Is that wrong do you have any suggestions. I have taken them to vet and were given a shot of course and took benedry but that doesn’t seem to help right now. I give them a bath to try to helpthem feel better.
also would it hurt to give them yeast tablets or should I be giving them something different.
concerned Kathy at kathysue51@yahoo.com

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Dear Dr. B.
I have a Bronze Egyptian mau that came from a breeder.
His birthday is Feb24,2010 .
When I got him,he had injured his nose badly on the carrier bars,and I would have to catch him ,and give him antibiotics.Which he hated .Ergo,he allows petting,but at the first sign I might pick him up,he bolts,so catching him at all is very difficult.
His fur is silky,his ears are pristine,eating and bowel habits unchanged.
However,in the last week,he has begun scratching himself so vigorously,he’s losing hair,and has scratches all along his chest and neck.
I’ve done a cursory exam as best I can,and the skin is just bare,with scratches. It doesn’t appear to be a rash,or from bites.
Nothing in the house has changed,and none of the other cats have this. I suspect a food allergy,but no idea what or why so suddenly.
I will try to catch him to go to our vet,but its so hard to do,can you give me any advice in the mean time.

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Hello, I have a 6 year old Siberian. A wonderful and loving addition to our pet family (we have 2 aquariums, 3 dogs, and two cats all together) When we adopted her from our local vet, she was a kitten, and had short hair. Since my wife has allergies to longer-haired cats we thought she would be perfect, we did not know, nor did the vet, she was a Siberian, imagine when she lost all her hair and then when it grew back it was very, very long!! However, the problem is this, we have one large cat box for the two cats, and I myself clean it at least every-other day, if not daily, but she smells of urine constantly, and her hair is matted, and around her rear end, the mats do , sometimes, contain hardened bits of, well—#2—-. The odor , unless I am mistaken, is more of a pungent ammonia smell, more , I think/thought, associated with our other cat, a male. We bathe the Siberian, and within a day she smells the same way. We love her, and wish to keep her, and above all wish her to be happy and healthy—Obviously we cannot, or will not hold her and allow her up on us with the terrible odor. I am thinking, for whatever reason, our male may be “marking” her? The animals as a group, all interact very well, no fights, no growls, etc.. The Siberian (Orion is her name) is thus exiled to her “room” and I feel terrible about it—my wife is ready to “boot her out”, or give her away, I am not there, (yet!!!). Any ideas, help, advise on the odor, and matting problem, (we have even tried, bought, shaving her down, and grooming daily, but the smell just gets awful, and we cannot do it—my wife has COPD, which doesnt help either!!) would greatly be appreciated. Thanks, and your show should be on in the afternoons, it would get a bigger audience—You folks are awesome!

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Our 15 yr. old female lhasa chews 7 licks hers legs & feet tls she bleeds 7 pulls on hers nails, she scratches a & lot has a laonolin odor in her arm pits & ears. Diet changes haven’t helped,she whimpers when being bathed with oatmeal shampoo, eye sight is almost nil and hearing is fading but she still remembers to go outside to go potty.
Please help, she is so good & so loved.

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my dog has this discharge its deep red in color and smells really bad i do believe its yeast infection. my question is what can i treat him with so it stops the infection?

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I have a 6 year old Toy Poodle. He has developed a wart like growth on the back of his neck about the size of a small fingernail. Is this anything to be concerned about? I previously had a toy poodle that also developed skin growths as she got older. Is this indicative of the breed (Toy Poodle) or just part of the aging process? Thank you.

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I rescued a mini pin (approx 6 yo) and she has very thin, to almost no hair on her back and sides of torso. She also has very cloudy eyes–i can tell her vision is off making her skittish. I’ve tried hypo-allergenic foods but nothing changes. Is there any correlation between the skin & eye thing? Eyes don’t look like catarax. Also, would there be any type of surgery to be done to correct her eyesight?
thank you.

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I have a 14 1/2 year old Lab/Samoyed mix. For about 5-6 months, she has experienced significant hair loss, mainly on the side and back of her torso area. In most areas, the skin becomes very dry and flaky as well. The hair does eventually grow back, but only to be lost in another area. She has had hypothyroidism (and has been treated for it) for 7-8 years. I read where some dogs have allergies to wheat, soy and corn so I have changed her food to one that does not contain these ingredients. Her vet has given us medicated shampoos and lotions, but that seemed to almost exacerbate the problem. I’m at a loss, and the vet just seems to think it’s due to “old age”. If you have any thoughts as to other possibilities, I would greatly appreciate them.

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