Does she have allergies?

[magna_iallia]

Hi,

A relative of mine has a shih tzu that they found on the road that is in very bad shape. Her hair is dirty and rough looking, she is skin and bones even though she eats regularly, she smells absolutely awful even though she is bathed every week and lives in the house, her feet are swollen and either painful or itchy because she constantly licks and chews at them, her right ear itches like crazy and she is always rubbing it on the floor, and worst of all, she has this horrible build up of scabbed over patches of skin all over her mouth and chin. What is this dog going through?

The vet said she had a yeast infection and gave her medications to clear it up but nothing had very much effect and the skin patches are very bad now. I don't think the vet did their job very well, as they didn't even take a skin sample to look at under the microscope! This dog's family doesn't really care much about the quality of dog food they feed so I'm guessing nutrition is part of the problem...any suggestions?

Jill

[Jenny]

Wow Jill...poor dog! That sounds completely awful. Are your relatives willing to bring the dog to a different vet? A vet who just says it's a yeast infection, gives it medication for that, and doesn't do anything else doesn't sound like a great vet. Maybe you could get some referrals from dog lovers in the area. Like you said, nutrition is most likely part of the problem anyway, that's too bad they don't care about the quality of food. Have you heard of the brand "Halo"? I just found out about it the other day but it sounds wonderful, and they have a dietary supplement that is supposed to help dogs' coats. It's fairly expensive but could definitely help the poor little shih tzu. Even if they didn't want to feed it that as the main food maybe they coudl at least get the coat product, because from the comments from people who have used it on their dogs, it sounds wonderful. Well there's quite a few dog lovers here, hopefully someone else will give you some good advice.

[ashes0619]

Its sounds to me like she has severe allergies. And maybe some other stuff is going on too. My pug has bad allergies and she does some of the same things. She itches at her eyes a lot...they are often runny and have a lot of build up in them. She'll also itch unitl she has scabs and her hair is really thin (almost gone) under the bends of her legs (that's a sign of allergies that you may want to look at on the shi tzu.) She also chews on her paws a lot (she's doing it right now:)....I bathe Lola in an oatmeal based shampoo which helps with her itching and I also give her allergy medicine that the vet prescribed. It is not cheap, but not outrageous. It's $10 dollars for like 15-20 pills I think. And she takes two to three a day depending on how her allergies are acting up. I would suggest taking the dog back to the vet (or a differenct vet) and tell them "I think the dog has allergies, here are my reasons....Can we try her on allergy meds for a week or so and see if it helps." That's what I did with Lola and he gave me the meds and they have deffinatly helped a lot! Hope it helps!
Also, a lot of times when a dog is constantly smelly (even after regular bathing) their anal glands may just need to be expressed. It's sort of gross but only about 5 dollars at most vets. A sign of this is just scooting her bottom around on the carpet a lot.

[poodlesmom]

One suggestion that might help with what's going on around the mouth area. Have them try a different type of dish. A metal dish that is cleaned thoroughly after each meal. Plastic is not good because it is difficult to get them completely clean. I had one dog who kept breaking out around the mouth & nose and our vet suggested the dish switch & it really helped. The symptons you described do sound like allergies. Another thing that might help if it is a food allergy (which alot of them are) is switching to a high quality dog food specifically for dogs with allergies - you can find these at any pet store. It sure is worth a try.

Hope she feels better soon.

[RWDVM]

Dear Jill:

I am a veterinarian. What you are describing certainly sounds like allergies, but given the presence of lesions aroun the face I am concerned that she may have mange. To diagnose mange, a skin scraping and microscopic analysis is required. Once ectoparasites like mange are ruled out, I would then treat her as skin allergy. You can try giving her the the recommended human dose of children's benadryl up to 3 times daily as needed. Combine this with daily omega-3-fatty acid supplementation and a good anti-itch/anti-bacterial shampoo fro use as often as needed. Please refer to the "skin care" page of my veterinary advice and health management website at http://www.askdvm.com Feel free to e-mail me or simply reply to this pst if you have any further questions. Good luck.

Roger L. Welton, DVM