Hello everybody,
I am at a loss as what to do to help my male Akita.  It was last year (2003) when I noticed a scab on the soft skin just behind the main pad on his back paw.  It would not heal, it just kept coming off and bleeding.  Then he developed one on the other back paw.  Very quickly afterwards his anal area started to look very raw and started to swell.  As I checked him over I also noticed that inbetween his toes on his back paws had become raw, wet and mucousy.  Then appeared lumpy growths inbetween his toes.  He was in considerable discomfort.  The vets diagnosis was furunculosis.  I was advised to put him on ceporex anti biotics and was told these would have a 95% chance of clearing this ailment.  I also put him on Wafcol's ultra hypo allergenic dog food.  This was November 2003.  After 6 months on the anti biotics he was in much better condition but still suffered with the interdigital growth and the scabb things on each of his rear paws.  The vet reduced the anti biotic dosage to what she called 'pulse dosing'.  I had read in the Merck vet manual online that in such cases the anti biotics should be administered until everything had cleared and still be given for one full week after that.  It is now 9 months and there is one intermittently bleeding scab remaining on one of his rear paws and inbtween one of his toes still gets quite raw and mucousy.  This does not seem to be clearing as it has been like this for weeks and keeps flaring up.  I have over the past 3 months with the approval of the vet, been giving him garlic and fenugreek tablets in the hope that they might help to heal this condition but, like I say, we seem to have reached stalemate.  The condition is now like it was in the early stages and refuses to budge.  My dog, family and I would be very grateful if anybody could help.  Thank you all for your time and I do look forward to hearing from you.  Yours sincerely, Sav.

Hi Sav,

I've no experience of furunculosis but here are some ideas to look into.

Colloidal Silver is a very safe natural antibiotic which can be used both externally to treat infection and internally to boost the immune system.

Echinacea supports the immune system (though mustn't be used continually), also Vitamin C.

Tea Tree essential oil (externally, very well diluted) for infection.

Hope you find something that helps him :)

Kath.

Thanks Kath,
I will certainly try out your suggestions.  I will let you know if there is any improvement in due course.  Thank you once again, your help is very welcome and much appreciated.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for good news. :)

Kath.

I am purchasing 200ml of colloidal silver today.  Have given him a vit.c tablet for the first time this morning.  Will keep you in touch with his progress.  9 months of anti biotics can't be good for him but at least they are keeping what is potentially an horrific condition at bay.  Going to try some good quality Evening Primrose Oil too, it contains gamma linolenic acid, an essential fatty acid, I understand this may help also.  Thanks for the crossed fingers Kath. Hope to give you some good news in the very near future.  Until later my friend, take care. 

My bitch had this fungal based problem on her muzzle - thankfully it was not nearly as severe as in your poor lad's case but in addition to antibiotics we were advised to topically apply Witch Hazel - it cleared up very well.

Good luck ;-)  Teri

Hello Terri,
Thank you for your reply.  I did fail to mention that it did also start to infect his lips.  The witch hazel is now on the shopping list, thank you very much for the help, it is much appreciated.

do you delute witch hazel? where do i get colloidal silver from?

Is the vet sure that this is indeed furunculosis and not interdigital eczema?

If it is the former then you might consider Rhus Tox 1m or Hepar Sulph 30c if it is the latter although HS can be used in the former depending on the stage.

With skin diseases it is important to ensure that inflammations is kept low to this end I would recommend Fish Body Oils at a therapeutic dose of 3000 mg per day going down to 1000mg per day as a maintenance dose accompanied by natural Vitamin E at least 400 iu per day; Vitamin C in the Ester C form with bioflavonoids would be good too.  Both C and E are anti oxidants and C is also an anti inflammatory and anti histamine and FBO is a useful anti inflammatory and it is hard to OD on any of these.  You might also want to consider Co-enzme Q10 another anti oxidant at around 30 mg per day and perhaps zinc.  I would go for the FBO rather than the EPO you are considering myself.

Garlic is good and colloidal silver would be beneficial to bathe the affected areas in with possible aloe vera gel to soothe.

As he has been on antibiotics for such a length of time I would also recommend multi strain probiotics to rebalance the gut.

I would think that this sort of case would really benefit from a homoeopathic approach and you can be referred under insurance to a practitioner.

http://www.bahvs.com/vetmfhom.htm

HTH

Hello tohme,
Thank you for your help.  Yes, the vet is certain it is furunculosis.  Inbetween my dogs toes are swellings(foruncles), they get weepy sore and seem to erupt with watery blood then scab over.  As well as the ceporex and garlic and fenugreek tablets I have for the last two weeks been giving him Hepar Sulph 30c.  I have also used aloe vera directly from the plant when his condition was worse than it is currently.  At this present stage he does not seem or appear to be in too much discomfort, apart from licking his back paws now and again.  His condition did seem to be almost at an end up until about 3 weeks ago when it slightly worsened.  A homoeopathic practitioner is on my mind and has been for some time although, I am going to give my dog another 3 weeks with the help I have received so far from this excellent forum of people. I will keep you informed of any progress, or lack of it for that matter, then I think a homoepathic practice seems to be the next approach.  I sincerely thank you very much for your help and also thanks for the link.  Sav.

Hi Sav,
My name is Kelly and I to have an akita he is nearly 2. For the past few months my dog also has been suffering from the same symptoms not as bad though. We did take him to the vets for them to take scrapings they gave us some antibotics and told us it might be stress related. We where giving a lotion to bathe him in which we did. Now a month or so later it has come back again and it seems to be his back paw that he chews most. Im writing to you to see if you got a cure for your akita and if so could you give me some information on the subject. Thanks

Have you tried ekoneem, a lady up in scotland sells it and i have to say is the best skin cream i have ever used and clears up most things within a couple of days. 

Hi Kelly,
Just read your e-mail.
My dog is still taking ceporex anti biotics although now I am only pulse dosing him, 1 tablet every other day.  The ceporex is keeping his condition under control but this is a very stubborn complaint to cure if at all it can be cured.  It takes time and patience and lots of vigilance.  My dog is on a ultra hypo allergenic diet (Wafcol, salmon and potato) and only gets small quantities of apple and raw carrots as treats.  His condition has improved slightly since I started to give him daily, evening primrose oil, garlic and fenugreek tablets and colloidal silver.  I aslo gave him Hepar Sulph.  You can obtain these from Dorwest Herbs (on the internet) except colloidal silver, that I managed to purchase from another supplier again on the net.  This condition when clear can also re-occur at any time so be very vigilant.  Diet is important.  The rather worrying factor is that it could be caused by something he is breathing in, obviously this would be a far greater task to find the culprit.  I do know that a lot of dogs are allergic to Fabreeze fabric freshener.  Also it would be wise to cut out any other aerosol sprays whatsoever that is used in the house or on your person.  Aerosols have recently been linked with many other complaints  and ailments.  Dogs suffer allergic reactions to pretty much of the same things that we do.  I wish I could tell you now of a magical cure but I'm afraid that it just seems to be an on going battle.  If you read the replies I got on champdogs you will see some very good advice from Tohme and everybody else that took the time to offer help.  A homeopathic approach could well be the answer.  As yet I have not tried this but there is improvement in my dog and I feel that maybe I will see how he is after the Xmas period.  My vet is happy with his progress anyway so I am keeping my fingers crossed.  I wish you and your Akita the best of luck.  Sav.

I was also advised by my vet to stand my dogs feet in salty water for ten mins a day (half teaspoon of salt per pint of water).  Good luck, Sav.

p.s.  It is a good idea to Frontline your dog.  Fleas can cause allergic reactions, sometimes very severe.