My husband and I adopted a 2 year old lab mix (we think possibly mixed with Newfoundland) in November 2015. He’s 94lbs and we are his 3rd owners (first two owners were within the same family).
Shortly after adopting him, he started developing sores on his belly near his penis. They didn’t seem to ooze, but were bright red, dry, and scabbing over. He also was scratching at his lips and frequently shaking his head.
We took him into the vet who suspected allergies and suggested we change his food, removing any sources of chicken and beef from his diet. She prescribed 3 weeks of cephalexin, and we switched him to a salmon and sweet potato, grain free food. This was in January 2016.
The sores did resolve with the antibiotics, but the shaking his head and scratching at his lips did not. Two weeks ago I noticed a small sore on his belly again, in the same spot as before, and today I noticed there are now two of them. I also noticed that the inside of his lips seem to be very red (unsure as to whether this is new, or I just didn’t notice beforehand).
We can’t afford to keep throwing hundreds of dollars every few months towards vet care, so I’m wondering if anyone has ideas as to what this could be. I have doubts about allergies since the lip scratching and shaking of his head never went away.
Any help or ideas greatly appreciated
It is still allergies, just less likely to be a food allergy. I would contact your vet by phone and inquire if they want to start him on an anti-histamine etc.
Good Luck
Dr Dawn
Just wondering…..Did your vet say what is causing the head shaking? Head shaking usually indicates an ear infection, but it could also be from a rash inside his ears or fluid in his ears like otitis media in children. This very likely is allergy related. Probally not a food allergy but rather something airborne like pollens or grass or dust or maybe something like a brand of carpet cleaner which is a contact allergy. I had a Chihuahua once that was allergic to the brand of laundry soap I was using. Maybe you can call your vet and see if he’ll be ok with you giving him benedryl and get the correct dosage from him.