skin condition question

[7dogs99]

our mix breed Sam is 6yr old. he's had a flea allergy since he was a puppy. we keep him on a flea prevention now. the skin problem he has now doesnt seem to be flea allergy related. we've had him to the vet many times. he's had it for years and it never completely goes away. he's a border collie mix. he's skin gets crusties on it...mainly on his belly and under regions. his toes get red between them and around his anus has gotten red and irritated but that has subsided. the vet says its contact dermatitis...and no way to really know whats causing it. we changed his food, shampoo, bedding and nothing has helped. also...where ever the crusty skin flakes off the skin stays swollen and irriated..red flaming really, i'm assuming where he licks it so much. now he has a bad scent and no matter how much i bath him it never really goes away. i use a shampoo for seborreah (SP) and it has an anti fungal and is safe for regular baths it says..its a VET brand. here are some pictures of his stomach you can see where his undercoat is patchy...i also think is from the scratching.....and a cortisone shot doesnt really help anymore. we give him benedryl at night per the vet's suggestion any ideas would be appreciated

[Shaykeija]

What kind of food are you feeding your dog? Had the vet done any skin scrapings? Poor baby looks uncomfortable.

[badger]

What exactly does he smell like? Rotten? Yeasty? Might be a clue.

[rainbow]

Yuck, that does look nasty. :sad: What foods are you feeding him?

[growler~GateKeeper]

Has the vet checked for Demodex Mange? it can be very hard to diagnose & control sometimes.

What is the flea prevention you are using? topical or oral - perhaps something in that could be causing it especially if topical

Does anyone in your area spray pesticides?

Have you changed laundry soap? What about household cleaners? ie what you use to wash the floor etc

The thing about changing food, shampoo, bedding, cleaners etc is you need to change to totally different ingredients - like the new food needs to have a different protein/grain source than the original food something that he has never had before. Sometimes it is one small ingredient in any of those items (food/shampoo/bedding/cleaners) that can trigger an allergic reaction.

Are you supplementing his coat with omega3 fatty acids? under the direction of your vet this may be a good idea to help replenish the skin & coat.

My DalxLab Cally had flea allergy dermatitis plus occasionally he would get sebborhea, but his skin was just a little itchy - not like your Sam. When Cally was taking the omega3 I saw a huge improvement in his skin condition. He also took Program year round to prevent flea invasions (even though we had no fleas) from the neighbours' dog.

[7dogs99]

right now we are feeding purina dog chow, we have tried purina one sensitive stomach, then we had the vet point out a food for us which we fed for the time he wanted us to and quickly switched back. woulda had to give up our car to keep feeding that stuff. crazy what they charge. lastly we tried home cooked meals using a recipe the vet suggested and some tips from the internet. still nothing, we switched our clothes detergent to borax i think its called, no smells, no nothing...that didnt help, we use a topical flea prevention, which we did not use the last dose we were suppose to since the freezing temps, i thought maybe it was that too...but still no change. the vet has checked for demodex, which i had to deal with with another dog, this is something different for sure, he does a skin scraping every other time we've took him...never a mite, did blood tests, nothing else is unusual....it doesnt smell yeasty really...kinda, rotten peanuts maybe?...not like rotting meat....not staph either, i learned that smell when we hand fed some puppies...one got bad off. just a deep musty dirty smell. and his fur is a bit greasy...i will talk with the vet about omega 3 and see if we can get him on that. thanks for your ideas everyone

[rainbow]

I would put her on a grain-free diet and add some salmon oil capsules and vitamin e capsules to her food.

[Linda1840]

Have you checked his thyroid? Sounds like my 10 yr old that has suffered with skin infections for yrs. She's been on steriods, allergy injections and even have been to a Derm Vet. She is on perscription rabbit and potatoes diet that has helped a lot. I just had the thyroid checked and started her on meds yesterday. She was hyprothyroid. Saw a new Vet and he thinks this will help 90 % of her problem. I've got a picture of her that looks alot like your dog. Her skin even turned dark and the smell has been tough to life with. Maybe you have checked it but if not> please talk to your Vet. It's just a simple blood test.

[Winston]

I was going to say mange or sarcoptic mites which some know as scabies....Poor thing..I would definately change his food!

Cindy

[Linda1840]

Your dog looks alot like mine. Like I said earlier when I replied to you. She has suffered skin problems for 7 yrs. She's 10 now. She's had a hard life and I have tried hard to find help! I had no ideal to check the thyroid.
I hope the picture comes through?
Guess the picture didn't . How do I send a pic?

[Linda1840]

This is my little girl with the skin problems. Looks so much like your dogs picture.
She has dealt with this for the last 7 years. I have seen many Vets. We're hoping by finding out she is hypothyroid and treating it will help. The Vet seems to think it will take care of 90% of her problems. We started the meds yesterday and he said it will be 4 to 6 wks before we will see a difference. When I saw your dog and read your thread, it sounded so much like what we have been through. I'd like to keep in touch to see how you come out.