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I have a great Dane puppy who is almost 4 months. When he arrived he had a few little wart-like bumps speckled across The back of his neck and the top of his head. Over the past eight weeks since he’s been with me the bumps are spreading and they seem to be growing bigger in size.
He’s not losing hair and the bumps are not pussy. They are dry and flaky. The breeder says that she’s never had puppy mange in any of her dogs and that she thinks it’s a bacterial infection. The vet wasn’t sure and just said to keep an eye on it to see if he started losing fur.
My puppy doesn’t seem to be in too much discomfort. He’s eating and drinking well. I feed him Diamond brand large breed puppy food. That’s what the breeder fed him and the nutritional levels are right on par with what you suggest on your website. Sometimes I feed him cold apples or carrots from the fridge, to help with teething. It seems like his gums are driving him crazy so I also give him bully stick to chew on.
The bumps have spread all down his side and his leg and even on the skin by his genitals.
We have had our female Shitz Tuz Mandie for 3 years, she was a rescue dog from a nasty place. She came to us scared of people, it took us a full year to gain her trust, and she can still be skiddish around others. The 1st yr we had her we noticed what looked to be a bug bite, a few days later we had a home visit from a local vet who checked her out, gave her shots etc. We pointed out the bite which had by that time turned into what looked like a boil, which had popped earlier that day. The vet said it was due to fleas, and gave her drops, which we keep current. Ever since that bite she has been chewing herself raw on that spot. We couldn’t find anything there, no bumps or marks that would cause it to bother her. We did notice that her skin in that spot discolored a little. We thought it could be from her licking and chewing. A few months went by and she continued to chew, we switched her shampoo to low sud/oatmeal soap, and switched up her diet to Nutro dry food, no chicken or corn. and that hasn’t helped. Its gotten to the point where she doesn’t want to play, and she sleeps more, may be because she sit up at night after we are sleeping chewing. Her skin is now bright pink all over and her chewing has now moved to any spot she can reach. Any ideas on what is causing this? And, what I should do. Our vet’s here are extremely high dollar vet’s and we just can’t afford a $1,000 vet bill. Please help I feel so bad for this little girl.
Thank you
Lori G
Hi Krista, Thanks for your advice, we figured as much. I guess we all have to pitch in on this one and get our baby healthy again. And being so hot right now I’m sure isn’t making her feel any better either. I’ll give her a nice cool bath tonight and take her in first thing tomorrow.
Again thanks for responding so fast. We all need more vets like you!
First get all grain out of her diet, including treats. Go to a good pet store (not the grocery store, or big box) and ask to be shown to the grain-free dog food and start reading lables. Pick a grain free dog food that has real meat as the first 2 , or even better 3 ingredients. Real meat is easy to spot it says lamb, elk, bison, turkey, salmon meal or whitefish meal (meal is the entire animal ground up and dried). Do not buy any food with by products listed in the ingredients – this is and indication of inferior goods. The worst grains for dogs are: wheat, corn, corn gluten, rice, soy, oats. Many dogs do alright with buckwheat since it is not a grain.
Dogs may not be allergic to grain, but it impacts their ability to fight other allergens. Most dogs do much better when grain is removed from their diet.
Next, stop washing your dog (they only need a bath if they have rolled in something!) and just rinse her instead with a mix of 1/3 vinegar (cider vinegar is her coat is colored, white vinegar if her coat is mostly white) and 2/3 water. Work this into her coat and skin and allow her to shake and dry. Do not rinse it out. You can rinse her with this every day, and if you have her coat cut very short, you can do it 2 times per day. Just be sure she dries out between applications, you don’t want her staying damp since that will lead to other problems. The vinegar smell will disappear as she dries. I recommend you do keep her coat short for the time being – it will help you keep allergens out of her coat. Brush her daily. You can keep her tail hair long since that is one of the best features of this breed!
Keep a bowl of this mix beside the door (make it fresh every day) and rinse her paws in it when she comes in from outside – this will help reduce the amount of allergen she tracks into the house.
Cover every place she sleeps or naps with towels or sheets and toss those covers in the wash once a week. This helps remove the pollen and mold spores that may be making her itch. Wash her dog bed weekly too if she has one. Vacuum the house daily with a HEPA filter in the vacuum.
If she has any raw or ‘hot spots’ dab on witch hazel with aloe vera – you will find this in any pharmacy.
If your vet told you to use Benadryl, switch to Zyrtec instead – it seems to work better. Same dosage, and generic is fine.
I agree with Dr. Krista’s advice to get the help of a vet – but after 22 years of dealing with itchy terriers I know that I have to take these other steps along with what the vet recommends.
I think you need a vet as this dog has been suffering long enough. You have tried hard to treat it at home and unfortunately it hasn’t worked. The next step is a vet and preferably not the same vet that saw her the first time. It would be no wear near $1000. Probably less than $200 including the meds. You did a great thing by rescuing this dog and to continue being a great pet parent it takes sacrifice and some occasional money with a vet. Where I live a vet consultation is a mere $39. At that point they will tell you what needs to be done. You will be feel so much better once you help this poor dog.
My female DSH is ~2yrs & suffers from allergies. She constantly has lesions on her stomach. She licks and chews effected skin often. Atopica doesn’t work. for her. I’m hesitant to use steroids for a long period of time. Suggestions?
this might sound weird, but have you had her thyroid checked? a friend of mine had a young cat with excessive grooming habits and it turned out to be thyroid problems.
Have you gotten all grains out of his/her diet? No grains in food or treats. Find a grain-free kibble that lists real meat as the first 2 or 3 ingredients. Real meat will be: beef, lamb, elk, salmon meal, etc. Do not buy anything that lists “by-products” in the ingredients – they could be nothing more than feathers.
To help the skin heal you can rinse her once per day (short haired dogs, less often for long-haired dogs, you don’t want her constantly moist) with a mix of 1/3 vinegar and 2/3 water. Allow this to dry on her skin.
Also if you have been using Benadryl try switching to a generic Zyrtec – it often works better for dogs.
For the active hot spots try Witch hazel with Aloe, you can find it in any drug store OTC, pat it on with a cotton pad and allow to dry – you can do this several times per day to help reduce itch and help the spot heal.
Good luck!
Ripley has a lick sore with broken skin on her rear leg. She already has a routine vet visit scheduled for Friday, and we would like to avoid moving that up if possible. Wondering what I can do in the interim to prevent her from chewing on it more. It is not bleeding at the moment.
I have bitter apple on hand but with the broken skin I’m afraid of irritating it further.
I’m not a vet, but have you tried putting a cone on her? You can get one at any pet supply store and they are pretty inexpensive. It will make it harder for her to get her mouth to her leg.
There was a small bump on it earlier today…i would compare it to a pressure sore from lying on a hard surface, but she hasn’t been on any hard surfaces lately.
She DOES have an allregy to something in the yard and we battled hives most of the summer as a result. Vet had her on a steroid, antihistamine, and antibiotic. She hasn’t been itchy since.
What worries me is she has been displaying some OCD behavior lately – suckling, digging, and the licking may be her way of replacing the suckling after I removed her blanket.
Her paternal grandmother is a suckler, so I anticipated some suckling. I just wish it wouldn’t escalate to destructive chewing.
Maybe i need to step up the training regimen to manage the OCD behavior. Will be discussing that with my trainer.
Anyway…what do you think i could do to manage the irritation until Friday? I am not against giving her benadryl – vet has approved our use – I just don’t know if this is a histamine reaction.
Sadly, it’s a bit late to get to the stores – they all closed about 2 hours ago. It’s a good idea, though, and I may pick one up tomorrow.
Shall do! At least she pills easily. 🙂
i may be jumping the gun, but that seemed to work – she didn’t touch her leg after i pilled her. thanks for kicking me in the buns on that one!
Laura,
Have you gotten all the grain out of her diet? Including treats? In the long run being grain-free will help her system while it tries to heal itself.
The three things I do to help a dog that is itching (other than treating them for whatever caused the itch in the first place) are:
1. Rinsing the area or the entire dog with cider vinegar and water (1/3 vinegar, 2/3 water – I like organic vinegar. If the dog is white you may want to use a white vinegar cause the cider can stain the coat). Do not rinse this out, let it dry in the coat and make sure the mix gets all the way to the skin.
2. On raw hot spots I use witch hazel with aloe. You can find this in any drug store. Just pat it on with a cotton pad and allow to dry.
3. Use a generic form of Zyrtec instead of the Benadryl — it seems to work better for most dogs.
Good luck!
i am 99.999% certain this is not diet-related. she eats Wellness CORE and has since coming home at 10 weeks. i frequently change the formulation and will throw in a different brand from time to time, but i stick to higher end foods with no grains. i believe i’ve said this a few times in the past. 😉 i’m working on researching a few food options that have lower carb content, however, as i’m not much a fan of the high amount of potatoes and peas.
prior to making this post on Sunday, i used a diluted white vinegar wash – the same wash i use on her coat prior to a show. that made her more prone to licking, to the point of running off so she could lick it off. i believe it stung a bit.
we already use witch hazel in conjunction with her other allergy – which was, as i mentioned, a contact allergy and not food related. we determined this with an elimination diet and had her on a venison-based raw diet for about 2 months. the witch hazel in conjunction with the benadryl has kept her from chewing.
benadryl has worked fine.
Did the vet do a skin scrape?