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My beagle wiener mix dog has a bad rash under his belly leading to his back legs. He is getting sores now from nibbiling and licking himself by his legs, tail, and genital area. Is this something i can take care of or should i be really concerned and take him to a vet?
My dog has excessive licking and oozing sores. He is not itching and none of the other dogs have it
Hello.
I apologize for the response being so late, but we hope everything was able to be diagnosed and treated. Sounds like this could’ve been an allergy to something or a possible flare up causing hot spots.
Please let us know if there is anymore questions/concerns we may be able to help with
About a month ago I took my fur baby to the vet because he had a get red dots on his paws that seemed like any bites but he keep licking his paws so I got him checked out to be on the safe side. When we took him in the vet didn’t seem to care much about the situation and just told us that he was not sure what the case was but he thought it was possibly an allergic reaction to something outside, which he was only outside while we worked during the day, so we started keeping him inside all day and only let him outside for potty breaks. The vet went ahead and perscriped Chomps some antibiotics and some pain medication in hopes that it would clear that “allergic reaction” while he was at the vet that day he also had a skin biopsy because when he was about 5 months he began to develop a skin disorder called demodex so we were making sure that he was still clear… All was well everything was clear. Well here we are a month later paws still red and inflammed. My poor baby is very very sensitive to his paws and is constantly licking them. He sleeps a lot more than he used to! I am very concerned but I unfortunately cannot afford to constantly take him to the vet to get unanswered diagnoses. I have been reading up on this situation and I don’t want to self diagnosed him but everything in this article is exactly what is going in with my big fur baby I just would like some professional advice please help! content://com.sec.android.app.sbrowser/readinglist/0728213356.mhtml
What do you feed? If there’s any grain or chicken in the food, try something else. You want grain free and something with a novel protein. I would also wash his feet every time he comes back inside and if this persists I would head to a veterinary dermatologist.
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.
I know that he underwent neutering on 7/7 so 5 days ago, he seemed to have some discharge coming from his incision site. I asked the woman at the desk about it and she said it was ok but he seems lethargic and its still leaking, he doesn’t lick or bite it since he is always sleeping. I’ve kept him with me from the moment I got him because I’m worried for him.
Does anybody have any advice?
Has he been to your vet yet? If not – all new dogs and cats NEED to be seen by YOUR vet for an introductory visit. Get that done before the end of the week and ask that vet.
I plan to take him to the vet asap. I had just adopted him yesterday and I was so worried but this morning he is active and trying to explore. He seems to be doing better. He isn’t leaking anymore and he was definitely interested in his water again. I called my closest emergency vet last night and they gave me some peace of mind and told me the only real red flag is his disinterest in food but that could be the change in environment since his discharge was clear and he Seems to have no problem in the potty department.
Ahh, I understand your worry. 🙂 I’m sure he’s fine.
Thank Yu, its always Nice to get other furbabies parents opinions since I’m aware I’m am over worrier lol
My dog got bit by a huge mouse outside and started bleeding, he seemed fine by licking off the blood and eating, but im worried, could there be diseases transmitted? Can i clean the wound somehow? Thank you.
A washcloth with warm soapy water should be used to clean the wound. Some diseases are transmitted by mice and could be problematic please contact your vet.
I have an 8 year old GSD. Long story short: an animal dermatologist is pretty sure he has allergic vasculitis.
Symptoms:
-Yeast/bacterial issues with skin (lots of licking, odor, grossness)
-Swelling in legs (possibly elsewhere but always noticeable in legs)
-Spikes fevers
More recent symptoms
-Eating dirt, big time. Not sure if it’s related to condition or what.
– Noticeable weight loss while we were away for ~2 weeks. Thought other dog stole his food when caregivers weren’t watching. Now thinking its from eating dirt. ?
We have ruled out food as the source of allergy problems. The vet seemed certain that it’s a local/environmental allergy as we lived in the area almost 3 years before this started. Also, he’s always seemed to have dry, itchy skin.
He gets relief for 2-3 weeks depending on meds. Hes been put on antibiotics, anti fungal, and a steroid. Two weeks on meds brings 2-3 weeks relief. Then we are back to itching, licking, odor, swelling, etc.
We did not take him back for allergy testing after the vasculitis diagnosis. It was just too costly at that time. I am hoping to get him into his usual vet very soon for his regular checkup but I really want him out back on medication.
Please tell me someone else had experience with this issue or something similar with their pup!
Thank you! I’m actually relieved that you’ve seen cases like this.
We will be getting him to the vet soon. I will try to remember to update when we do.
She seemed pretty happy earlier and there’s no blood but I don’t know how much of the pain medication I was given for her (Meloxicam) she actually ingested. I was given a syringe but it was very hard to get her to take any. Without knowing how much she’s had I don’t want to risk giving too much. Its now about three hours since I gave it and she seems more visibly in pain. She’s grinding teeth (not chattering) and her eyes have been bulging. She’s also licking the wound a lot which she wasn’t doing earlier. I’m worried for her, because of both the open wound and the thought she’s in pain! Any help?
Thanks a million, its just horrible seeing her hurting! As for the Meloxicam, I had seen a lot of stuff online saying that it’s been discovered that rats should be on much higher doses due to differences in metabolism and the fact that it’s not technically (off label) for rats. As a result vets tend to dose for equivalent body weight in dogs and they may not be getting enough. Is there possibly any accuracy to that? I have no medical background and so am absolutely not going to start adjusting prescriptions but if that’s the case I think a different painkiller would definitely be an idea. I hadn’t seen anything similar about the other medications so she may get more relief.
Ok, no worries. I hadn’t seen that you were a vet when I posted, so I hope you took that in the spirit it was intended! I’m just very aware that vets probably see a huge amount of dogs and cats for every one rat they see. It seemed plausible and didn’t exactly ease my worrying about her! Really appreciate you taking the time to help!
Also is licking that area. Is there anything we can do to calm him.
I adopted a 2 yo dog 3 mo. ago and believe his tail was docked improperly, causing him pain. Though the procedure was not done recently, it is erythematous, scaling, and inflamed. He bites, licks, and scoots on the area. He randomly yelps out in pain, sulking as if we inflicted it. He is potty trained, but has random bouts of uncontrolled minor incontinence. Assuming these sxs are truly attributed to the docking, what can be done?? (I have had dogs with docked tails before, so, yes, I realize these complications are not common, but certainly possible).
Hello
If the itching and chewing is resulting in open wounds you need to seek veterinary help. In most cases something to stop the irch is needed along with antibiotics and an ecollar. They can have him felling better very soon.
My dogs had that aswell, my vet put them on antibiotics to fight any infections and to help healing and also gave them steroids to stop them scratching so much