Ahhhh little bit of a moan.

soloabe

soloabe

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I can't keep Abe's skin under control.

He has a bacterial infection which the vet said has been running wild on him for months before we got him.

He has antibiotic injections 2 times a week and takes pills at home every day and i have to bath him in special shampoo every other day and put lotion on the raw parts of his skin.

He has been really good with not itching but nothing is working for him yet.

He has a week left of a 4 week course of anti b's and his skin is worse than ever.

Its so flaky in places and literally slows off in other places leaving raw patches.

His hair is coming out like crazy but you can't notice it yet and he doesn't appear distressed about it at all and doesn't mind the baths or the pills i just feel like a rubbish mum for not being able to make it better.

Ahh rant over


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Ah Katie, don't feel bad, these things are sent to try us. We've been having this on and off for over a year.

Is he atopic? If so, have you been able to work out what his trigger is?

B as you may know was dreadful over Christmas. Scratching himself raw, his skin actually blackened on his tummy
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He was on Ceporex for a month and that seemed to clear it up well.

When I changed him to raw it seemed to explode so he is now on a generic low-protein fish and rice mulch with oil, eggs, and a culture every few days to make it interesting/for coat condition.

He was also given Fuciderm steroid gel but I didn't really use it much.

He is now on anti-histamines for the foreseeable as vet still thinks his attack was the end result of prolonged exposure to tree pollen (he is always fine when he goes into kennels) but obviously only blood/allergy tests will confirm this.

As well as Malaseb I also have a wax-stripping shampoo and he will have to be washed once or twice a week for life, probably, vet was stunned that he had only been washed the day before our visit, his coat was still greasy and it is very thick, which does not help.

He mentioned that some dogs can be allergic to bacteria which exists naturally on their own skin, fun times
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Some dogs are just very sensitive to life, it seems and I have one of those!

Aloe vera gel really seemed to take the heat out of B's baldy bits.

I feel your pain, it is so frustrating! It all grows back eventually, although B's chest is still bald and probably won't improve til well into the spring.
 
Oh bless him - it's not your fault though hun.

Second the aloe vera suggestion - I used to slather it onto a horse I shared that had sweet itch which was exacerbated by his lazy-ass owners never taking his Boett off - I'm not kidding, apart from when I went down to him he was in this thing 24/7, and it was full of scratchy loose hair
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He really seemed to enjoy being aloe vera-ed, the poor sod
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Another vote for aloe vera
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- get a 100% pure version with no perfume etc so it won't matter if he licks it off. I would also get some of the aloe vera juice and put it in his water/food/syringe down his throat to help heal and soothe from the inside.
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I use it on all skin things - human, dog and equine with great results.
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The vet seems to think that he had itched flea bites and then got a staph infection which has just over run his body.

She is hoping now he is being fed better his body will put up a bit more of its own fight.

She really didn't think it was atopic but she did say if it didn't clear up she would think about the possibility that he was allergic to the natural staph bacteria on his skin, uh that would be a nightmare.

She didn't want to give him anti histamines yet because she said that it may encourage an over take of thrush combines with the anti b's.

So i guess its just a case of wait and see but when i am brushing him you can tell it feels so good to have the brush scratch his back. And the floor after you have brushed him is covered in flakes of skin some like 10p sized.
 
Good grief! But sounds as if he is in good form though, B was miserable, and cold, hence THE JUMPER!

Like Abe, I think because the hair he did have left was thick, it was actually hard for other people to see, I think people who saw me posting pics of him must have thought I was bonkers and melodramatic, but underneath he was a total mess
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Yep, that's the staph bacteria allergy/infection thing my vet was talking about - when the weather warms up I need to get his kennel powerwashed as I am sure the plastic is harbouring bacteria. I did swap him around but his sister's box is just a wee bit too small for him.

Hope you get it sorted, at least he has a forever home now and this problem is probably just a remnant from wherever he was before and you can stablilise him.
 
Ok i will get some aloe vera gel.
I have aloe vera lotion from the vets but the actual content seem to be very low compared with some of the stuff i have used from the drug store.

He is truly oblivious to it all and is currently laid outside in the sun. I am just a worry wort.

It is t-shirt weather here today finally though so he can spend his day in the garden with the door open.
 
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