Itching/fur problems

blackrose · 01-04-2009, 08:26 PM

Blackie is really having some problems with his skin and I don't know what the problem is. I'm taking him in for a medicated bath on Wednesday (to help his itching) and I'm going to see if the groomer thinks his symptoms look familiar and if she doesn't know I'm going to see if the vets can recommend anything.

Here are the symptoms:
1. Blackie has started to loose the fur on his head. Around his eyes, the tips of his ears, and the top of his head. He is also loosing fur around his collar line.

2. He is very, very itchy. The morning routine consists of him going outside, rolling on the ground, then sitting and scratching for about five minutes. His main itchy spots are a couple on his belly, behind his armpits, and on his legs by the elbows. The skin on his elbow seems very tough, flabby, and knobby.

3. His skin is OILY. Both Blackie, Rose, and Chloe were all bathed withen a week of each other and while Rose and Chloe still have nice soft, shiney coats Blackie's coat is HORRIBLE. Very oily, very dull, and he stinks. (Smells like a skin problem. Groomers know what I am talking about.) The fur around his collar line is very dandruffy/waxy as well, but he doesn't have a dandruff problem any other place.

5. His eyes are gunky.

He has a good appetite, he's not throwing up, his stool is normal. He's been on the same brand of food (Chicken Soup Senior) for the past four years or so. He's been itchy for a while now and his coat has always seemed oily (chalked it up to him being a Lab), but the major hairloss is new. A couple of months ago he started loosing the fur around his left eye, but I thought it was because he was scratched by something. That is what I originally thought was wrong with his ears and head too - that he got bit/scratched by something. He also may or may not have cancer (has a mass on his liver).

Ingredients of his food are as follows:
Chicken, turkey, chicken meal, cracked pearled barley, whole grain brown rice, oatmeal, millet, white rice, potatoes, ocean fish meal, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), tomato pomace, duck, salmon, egg product, flaxseed, natural chicken flavor, choline chloride, glucosamine hydrochloride, dried chicory root, chondroitin sulfate, kelp, carrots, peas, apples, tomatoes, blueberries, spinach, dried skim milk, cranberry powder, rosemary extract, parsley flake, yucca schidigera extract, L-carnitine, Enterococcus faecieum, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Saccharomyces cerevesiae fermentation solubles, dried Aspergillus oryzae fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

I didn't know if it was some kind of allergy (aka, a food change would help)? He doesn't have fleas and I would assume if it was mange Rose and Chloe would have the same problem...

Does it sound familiar to anyone?

Patt · 01-04-2009, 08:33 PM

IDK but it sounds like you should be checking in with a vet instead of the groomer if you haven't already. It could be a number of things, mange, allergies even a thyroid problem.

blackrose · 01-04-2009, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patt

IDK but it sounds like you should be checking in with a vet instead of the groomer if you haven't already. It could be a number of things, mange, allergies even a thyroid problem.

I do plan on having him looked over when we are at the vet's Wednesday. I work at the clinic so not only am I able to bathe him myself for free, the vets will look at him when I have him in there for no charge.

I hadn't even thought about a thyroid problem...really, really hope it isn't that as we are basically just riding out his health problems right now. He had a blood panel done awhile ago and everything was fine, but I'll see what the vet says.

Canadian Dog · 01-05-2009, 01:40 AM

Thyroid is the first thing I thought of. Years ago we had 2 small dogs and one of them had terrible coat and she started getting bare patches and she stunk. She also scratched a lot. Her skin turned blackish where her hair fell out. Changed vets and had her thyroid tested - she was put on medication and eventually the hair grew back in, and she stopped scratching and stinking, but she was never a healthy dog. The one thing that stood out was her heat seeking. She would lay so close to the wood stove I thought she would burn. Apparently that is one of the symptoms of a thyroid problem.

Hope yours is easily remedied.

blackrose · 01-05-2009, 06:26 PM

How expensive were the medications for the thyroid? I'm not sure if my parents would be willing to put him on meds - would seem sort of redundant if he has cancer.

I'm going to ask about when his last blood panel was and probably ask for another one to be done to check his thyroid...cross your fingers that everything is normal.

agility collie mom · 01-05-2009, 08:43 PM

If it is a thyroid problem the medication is not expensive. Here's a link with costs:

http://www.discountpetmedicines.com/...c-soloxine.htm

Canadian Dog · 01-05-2009, 09:17 PM

Sorry, I don't remember the price as we had to pay for medication for the other dog who had a heart murmur, and eye drops for both of them as they were losing their sight.

Keeping my fingers crossed that it won't be expensive.

cshellenberger · 01-05-2009, 09:57 PM

It could be thyroid, but it sounds like it could WELL be Demodex (though thyroid can make a dog more prone to it) ! Get a skin scrape done while you're at the clinic!

blackrose · 01-07-2009, 03:17 PM

Had him in at the vet's today. I talked to a vet tech and she said that while it could be demodex, she thought it was very unlikely as he's never had any problems with it before and isn't out around other dogs. She said a thyroid problem would be her first thought, so that is what we ran a test for.

He does have hypothyroidism. Joy joy. I'm hoping that my parents will pay for the medication (it isn't that expensive), because I don't have a lot of wiggle room at the moment...I'm soooooo glad that I work at the clinic and can have things like this done without and office visit and without having to pay right then and there or I'd be flat out broke. I got my two Guinea pigs groomed, Blackie, Rose, and Chloe bathed/groomed, and a thyriod test run on Blackie for $140...could have cost me twice that easily.

cshellenberger · 01-08-2009, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackrose

Had him in at the vet's today. I talked to a vet tech and she said that while it could be demodex, she thought it was very unlikely as he's never had any problems with it before and isn't out around other dogs. She said a thyroid problem would be her first thought, so that is what we ran a test for.

He does have hypothyroidism. Joy joy. I'm hoping that my parents will pay for the medication (it isn't that expensive), because I don't have a lot of wiggle room at the moment...I'm soooooo glad that I work at the clinic and can have things like this done without and office visit and without having to pay right then and there or I'd be flat out broke. I got my two Guinea pigs groomed, Blackie, Rose, and Chloe bathed/groomed, and a thyriod test run on Blackie for $140...could have cost me twice that easily.

Demodex isn't contagious, that's Sarcoptic mange. Every dog carries the Demodex mite, and if the immune system is compromised, they get an outbreak. Thyroid problems compromise the immune system, which can lead to a Demodex breakout. For that reason, I'd get skin scrapes done to be sure.

Patt · 01-08-2009, 06:03 PM

YAY I'm glad you found out what the problem is. My Gracie takes Soloxine .01 mg every day. It is rather inexpensive.

blackrose · 01-08-2009, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cshellenberger

Demodex isn't contagious, that's Sarcoptic mange. Every dog carries the Demodex mite, and if the immune system is compromised, they get an outbreak. Thyroid problems compromise the immune system, which can lead to a Demodex breakout. For that reason, I'd get skin scrapes done to be sure.

I'm going to wait and see if his conditon improves after being on medication before having a skin scraping done. He'll need to be on meds anyway, so I'd rather wait and see if they help with the hairloss before moving on to the next step.

Opinion heard and duly noted, however, and Demodex will be the next thing on my list should his condition worsen or not improve.

(Just trying to conserve what little money I have by waiting things out a bit.

)