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Dog Cornish rex with skin irritiation - Answered by Dr. Van Lienden
I have a Cornish rex with a skin problem. He gets little scabs, looks like small burns almost. I brought him to the vet, and they wanted to put him on a steroid. However, he has a heart murmer (hole in the heart) and if I do that, it could be fatal. However, if he gets one of these scabby things in his mouth, he could starve by not eating (although this hasn't happened, he doesn't have much weight to allow for loss). I've tried the vitamin E, a stick that looks like deodorant, food for a "healthy skin", but they are still there. They come and go in waves, but there is always a couple. If they aren't scabs, then they are bumps on the skin. Doesn't seem to bother him toooooo much, the little fella cleans a lot for not having hair though.
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Cornish Rex, 2 Miniture wienie dogs, 2 Motorcycles |
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So these lesions are not itchy? I found this info about the scabs. Don't know how much it helps.
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He's regulary given his shots including the leukemia, and I think they tested for the ringworm. I can't remember what it was actually called. May have been it though. They said that if they fix it, it could kill him, if they don't fix it, it could kill him (starvation).
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Cornish Rex, 2 Miniture wienie dogs, 2 Motorcycles |
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If he eats & drinks from plastic bowls change them now to stainless steel or cermaic, or glass bowls. Cornish Rexs are prone to allergies of this type.
Inhalent & food allergies are also a given...your vet should be able to test for these.These cats are very sensitive .....
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Be The Kind Of Person Your Dog Thinks You Are. |
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Thanks Lucky, Karin...
I'll change him over, but he seems to like to drink out of anything that doesn't "look" like a bowl. Cups, puddles of water on the counter, water in the sink.
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Cornish Rex, 2 Miniture wienie dogs, 2 Motorcycles |
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In cases with a congenital cardiac condition, I always try to have a cardiac ultrasound performed to establish baseline and severity of the condition. Thereafter, if any other medication/treatment/etc. is ever used I then have a comparison to the original defect.
It is also important to establish the cause of the chronic skin condition in order to determine the best and safest treatment given the constraints of this patient. Cortisone may indeed be the safest/best treatment for this skin problem, however this assumes you've met the previous conditions: finding out just exactly what these lesions are, and how bad is the cardiac problem. It is very tempting in medicine to act precipitously before all the data is in, and no end of mischief results from incomplete assessment. I would ask for a cardiac consult first, and then biopsy with a local anesthetic a representative skin lesion, in addition to a skin culture to rule out the more common skin infections such as streptococci or staphlycocci bacteria. Immune impairment is a very common reason for chronic skin infections. Not to be overlooked would be common ecto-parasites such as fleas and lice. I realize this is a Rex and these parasites are readily apparent...but never overlook the obvious. Other skin lesions are sebaceous and follicular in origin and have a seperate treatment regimen.There are a large number of other reasons for these lesions. Discuss a work-up plan with your veterinarian. Dr. Van Lienden Dr. Raymond Van Lienden DVM The Animal Clinic of Clifton 12702 Chapel Road, Clifton Virginia, U.S.A. 20124 703-802-0490 |
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Thanks Doc!
I'll print out your post and bring it to my vet. I REALLY appreciate the direction from you and everyone else. Thanks again, Chance and I appreciate it.
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Cornish Rex, 2 Miniture wienie dogs, 2 Motorcycles |
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More than likely you have considered this but, I know how it is to worry, any help is helpful even if I have already tried it. I have 2 cornish rex. My female has mostly peach like fuzz on her back other than that she is completely hairless. She gets scabs around her neck and she has had them all over before, the vet said she was fine when this was happening. He told me to treat the scabs with a peroxide and then neosporin. This worked somewhat. She slept on a heating pad with the lowest setting and under a down comforter. I thought maybe the heating pad was drying her skin out b/c I noticed a lot of oil on her bedding, I took her heating pad away(she just sleeps with the blanket now and the other cat if he decides he wants to sleep with her) and the itching and scabs went away. She does get a scab around her neck sometimes still, when this happens I try to keep her off the heat vents(she sits on those now for the heat that she loves)until it clears, I do treat her with the peroxide/neosporin this usually clears up in about 3 days for us. So, maybe consider where and how your kitty sleeps if she/he is getting dried out, Dr.s always think allergies first for some reason, I guess that maybe the case for most though.
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Oh my gosh!! I have a Cornish Rex with the exact same problems. She has a heart murmer as well as the skin lesions. I have brought her to multiple vets. She has had complete blood tests done and she appears to be perfectly healthy. She has tried very expensive hypo-allergenic food, and she has been put on Prednisone (the lesions go away, and as soon as the med is finished they come right back!). I have determined that the skin lesions are from dryness. I live in a very old apartment with old-school radiators that my Rex basically loves to boil herself on everyday and the apartment gets very dry. I recently bought a humidifier and I've been putting bowls of water on the radiators to help get some moisture into the air. I live in Minnesota so our winters are frigid. The radiators turned on last time in September-and that's when her lesions got bad-and again this year in September! I think she must just be super dry and she over-grooms quite a bit. I tried giving her an oatmeal bath and rubbing coconut oil on the sores but she just licks it all off....
Does anyone have any other suggestions? Also, do anyone's rexe's sneeze/cough? She has these sneezing fits that go on for quite awhile...can this be a result of the dryness as well? Please any input would help. I have spent thousands of dollars at the vet and I hate to see my baby in any discomfort!! |
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