Can anyone give me advice regarding my dog's skin disorder?
Can anyone give me advice regarding my dog's skin disorder? General Dog Discussions
My husband and I purchased our dog (half Shih-Tzu and half Maltese) from a pet store about 1 1/2 years ago. We later learned, after his first bath and grooming session, that the poor thing had symmetrical bald patches on both sides of his body (4 spots to be exact). We've made multiple visits to the vet (saw two different ones). We've had a skin-scraping done to test for mites (which came out negative). We've also tried oral antibiotics, creams/ointments, and medicated shampoo (in case it was caused by a bacterial/fungal infection). Unfortunately, nothing worked. Over time, my dog's skin disorder seems to have spread; no longer having only 4 patches, but he now has 6 that we know of and can see with the naked eye. In the past, the vets didn't seem to know what it could be; one of them, constantly referring to it as something that might have been developed due to some sort of trauma to the skin (examples he gave me include: a dog bite or excessive licking). However, after all of the treatments we've tried and failed with, the vet has given up, stopped making quick assumptions/conclusions, and finally admitted that he has absolutely no idea what it could be. I know that certain skin disorders can be caused by allergies (i.e. from the food they consume or even from their environment). Please remember that the skin disorder began well before we purchased him (I can only assume that it first developed at the pet store); and being that he has been in a safe and clean environment for the past 1 1/2 years, I can rule out the possibility that the condition arose from allergens within the environment. In addition, although he is an indoor dog, I still provide him with flea/tick preventative solutions as well as heartworm preventatives. As mentioned, I knew that it could have been caused by his diet; therefore, we went from the pet store's recommendations to a more natural and holistic approach - mostly all natural boiled chicken breasts, steamed sweet potatos, and occasional treats that provide him with the necessary crude oils, crude fats, etc. In addition to that, we are also feeding him daily vitamins that contain the omega fatty acids 3, 6, and 9 for additional supplemental purposes as well as for his skin (I had heard that omega fatty acids are good and beneficial for the skin).I took precautions for an entire year, keeping in mind the possibility that the skin condition could be contagious (i.e. by clothing my dogs to avoid direct contact with each other and by doing so, eliminating the chance of the skin disorder spreading to my other dog); however, I later learned that it is an internal skin disorder that is not contagious to other animals or people.The visible characteristics of the patches slightly vary, depending on which one you are looking at. Some have a very smooth texture (completely hairless) with a clean (no spots or marks) light pink color. Others have similar qualities to them, only that these have tiny brown specs/freckles (resembling brown pen marks). And yet, others have a slight scaly look to them - not over the entire patches but only portions of them. I typically bathe him with a dog shampoo that contains primarily oatmeal (to prevent dryness and irritation); however, as a gift, someone gave me a name-brand dog shampoo that is supposedly made for sensitive skin and contains oatmeal and aloe vera. After using this on him, three of his patches seem to be somewhat inflamed and irritated, displaying red bumps that were not present prior to the bath. Of course, I will not be using this product on him ever again! In the efforts to ease the irritation, redness and itching, I have been applying hydro-cortisone cream (1%) on him daily for about 4 days - which has seemed to irritate it even more. I am now using an anti-biotic cream on him, hoping that it will get rid of the red bumps. After using this cream, two of the patches seem to look better but one is still very much irritated. Does anyone have any recommendations/advice on how to ease his irritated/inflamed patches of skin? We are currently looking into seeking the help of an animal dermatologist; however, it is very costly AND there aren't that many to be found. In the meantime, I am asking for help from those who are in similar situations as us. If our story or any of these symptoms sound familiar to you, please share your story with us and let us know if you might know what this skin disorder is or if you believe you have the solution to this problem (perhaps a cure/another treatment option). At this point, we feel very bad for him and would try anything to finally (once and for all) be rid of this problem altogether. Although he must always feel agitated by his condition, he is a very sweet dog. Please, if anyone can point us in the right direction, we're willing to try. Thank you.