My dog has some unusual scabs on her face. two either side of her mouth they appear to have come away from the skin leaving raw skin, one under her chin and one on top of her muzzle which has grown quickly in size and one on where her nose meets her hair. The nose scab has been there for a while as she kept knocking the scab off but it then became a raised scab (like a scabbly lump). The other scabs appeared and i thought she'd been clumsy when scatching herself but did think it a little impossible to have two scabs either side of her mouth which appeared pretty symmetrical. She been in contact with a dog that has mites. Can i say she has been to the vets and is on medication for mites althought the vet thought this unlikely and for a bacteria infection. The vet did mention something about it being auto-immune which isn't good (didn't ask questions about this will cross this bridge if i have to) Does anyone have any idea what it could possibly be and what on earth does auto-immune mean???  Thanks

if note you said you havent asked your vet these questions?
wouldnt you be better off doing so?
no offence intended

Yes you're right but am a bit of a softie when it comes to the dogs. However, it's Saturday night had a couple of glasses of wine and can cope with the truth. (dutch courage)

i dont know the truth.
im not a vet, so unqualified.

enjoy your wine though!

auto-immune is when part of the immune system can attack the body
very technical, needs a vet to explain

My gsd had something similar as did my sisters, they hadnt been in contact with each other and  had itat different times.
Tested for mites by skin scrapping (no sign) so given antibiotics which did the trick although the vet admitted he wasnt sure what it was and chose to try that first before looking at further nasties
There is an unpleaasant auto-immune disease the name of which I've forgotten which apparently looks similar but as you say cross that bridge if you need to. Hopefully a dose of anti biotics will do the trick for you too.
My shepherd lost patches of hair aswell on his muzzle but it has all grown back and he looks great again. Keeping my fingers crossed your dog will be fine to

Hi Ang,

My dog has an auto immune illness but she doesn't have the scabs..its basically diagnosed simply with a blood test first then a more difinitive test after..if yor dog has it they would be feeling very lathargic and have very pale gums..its like anemia in humans.

It's where the white blood cells kill off permanently the red cells hence causing anemia..if the bone marrow is not making new cells quickly enough and the anemia is so bad then the dog will collapse and if the red cell count is so low the dog may have to be transfused..my dog has had one transfusion and had a relapse in November but thankfully i knew the signs so she was given immune suppresent drugs (steroids) which stopped the red cell desruction and now back on the recovery road.

Have a chat with your vet to see what tests are being carried out etc..there are many auto immune illnesses but i'm sorry i only know the one my dog has..Auto immune haemolytic anemia.

I hope your dog is feeling better soon.

Annee

Is your dog a breed that is clipped?

Does she by any chance wear a headcollar whilst being walked?
It may sound a bit obvious but if so it could be a bit tight on her.

Dog is not clipped but does wear a halti when out walking, however it doesn't touch where the scabs are so i can pretty much rule this out. Scabs are not looking much better but we are off to vets again tomorrow night so hopefully might find out more. Thanks to everyone for their replies

Hello,

Just wondering how you got on at the vets ?

me too, hope its good news

Hi ANG, it won't solve the underlying problem, but it may alleviate the worst of the symptoms--rather like eczema in humans, another auto immune disease. Try soaking oatmeal in water and then squeezing the oatmeal out--the resulting glop is a very effective skin lotion for dermatitis/eczema and at least it has none of the side effects of steroids and other potent drugs. It may just help soothe and reduce the scabbing. All the best for your pet's recovery.

Basically, an auto-immune illness is when the body suddenly decides that some part of it is a 'foriegn body' and sends in the defence mechanism for that particular situation. In my case, I have Hashimoto Syndrome whereby my body suddenly decided that my thyroid didn't belong to me and tried to destroy it. There are varying levels of severity and they can almost always be controlled by drugs. Some, such as meningoencephalomylelitis, can be life-limiting, but most people and dogs with an auto immune defiency carry on to live normal lives.

Thanks for all the replies have been to the vets who is still not sure what it is. I am due to go again this Fri when he will make a decision whether it might be necessary to do a biopsy (he says this is a last resort) Vet thinks it might be something called collienose or another long long name that i can't remember. The scabs are better but she is still getting the odd one so i don't think the outcome is going to be brilliant. Luckily she is insured. You wouldn't know there was anything wrong with her other than her face is a bit scabby.

Hopefully will b nothing serious.
My mum has lupus, more precisely Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and it initially presented itself with strange little scabs to the side of her nose and on her back and arms; I know she is a human and we are talking dogs!!! Nonetheless lupus can affect dogs as wells as cats (less frequent).

google it "lupus dogs" and you can find more info about it. it is a congenitous so it might or might never show at ant point in life. i know in humans women tend to be more prone then men.
There are 2 types for humans: skin levels (Erythematosus) and a more severe one in which internal organs are affected and can be depleteing resulting in cronic fatigue.

Don't mean to scare you, but i would suggest to have some tests done before trying medications as is your vet is also suspicious many medicines can make it worse, my mum can't touch anti-biotics and has to stay well away from the sun (again she is a human being).

http://www.provet.co.uk/health/diseases/sle.htm

how did it go at the vet's?