Hi everyone, I'm asking this for a friend at work.  She's got a young dachsund, Archie, who keeps getting abcesses on his skin,  they clear up with treatment but keep coming back.  The vet is flummoxed and doesn't know what to suggest to prevent them.  Has anyone had any experience of this or know if perhaps it could be a sign of an underlying condition?

Thanks in advance.

when I got one (due to cat bite) and went to doctor expecting it just to be lanced I was shocked to be put through diabetis testing as the doctor explained that abcesses can be a sign that one is starting to develop that.  I would get the dog tested. hope it isn't. good luck

Has he been playing with a cat who bites him? Cat bites can become infected very quickly when initially they look like nothing.

Yes boils and abscesses can be attributed to diabetes but unlikely in a young dog but worth mentioning to the vet.

Not abscesses no, but I have had problems with cysts a problem in our breed and one I have found exasperated when a dog is castrated. A sebaceous cyst does resemble an abscesses when it bursts so I do wonder if these may be cysts and not abscesses. That said I have  no idea why such a young dog would be having such a problem

The vet initially said that the first one was caused by a woman who owned a pet shop dropping him (long story - apparently she used to own dachsies and grabbed him out of my friend's arms to weigh him in her shop scales and managed me to drop him!! Friend was very very angry!) but he's had three or four I think since then.

I'll get my friend to mention diabetes to her vet, but presumably he'd have the other symptoms as well and she's not mentioned anything else.

The vet has described them as abscesses (sorry, spelled it wrong in the title!) .  They grow pretty big and then burst.

The vet initially said that the first one was caused by a woman who owned a pet shop dropping him (long story - apparently she used to own dachsies and grabbed him out of my friend's arms to weigh him in her shop scales and managed me to drop him!! Friend was very very angry!) but he's had three or four I think since then.

Your friend doesn't happen to live in the Kinross area by any chance ? sounds similar to someone who owns a pet shop round here.

A weak immune system can also cause abscesses.

No, she's in the South Manchester/Cheshire area, there must be more than one

Oh dear, the words Pet Shop and Manchester/Cheshire always sends shivers through my spine - please tell me he was not bought from a pet shop/warehouse.

there must be more than one

Yikes !!

Nooo, he wasn't bought from her, she'd gone into the pet shop for some treats for him :-).  This woman apparently used to breed dachsies and grabbed him off her saying she'd weigh him and was going on about how she should show him, then she dropped him!

He wasn't bought from that 'other' pet shop in Manchester either :-)  I've bored all my friends to death about the perils of going there!!

He wasn't bought from that 'other' pet shop in Manchester either :-)

Very pleased to hear that.

Now back to abscesses, I have no idea why this is happening but would think it unlikely to be anything to do with being dropped more likely to be some sort of infection that is effecting the skin or one of the structures in the skin like the hair follicles. perhaps a visit to a skin specialist would be the best route to take.