I have a working golden retriever bitch coming up to 4 years old.  Last November she started suddenly scratching and licking at her chest and within a few hours had large self-inflicted wounds. After going backwards and forwards to the vet for 3 days and trying bathing, steroid cream, steroid tablets, antibiotics, skin scrapes and the situation getting progressively worse I was referred to a dermatologist who diagnosed sarcoptic mange and prescribed Stronghold.  As my dog was the second most itching dog he had ever seen he prescribed her being dosed at 2 weekly intervals.  She had a strong reaction to the second dose and spontaneously broke out in lesions around the back of the neck where the Stronghold had been applied.  The dermatologist then carried out a series of biopsies which came back showing an allergic response but no sign of parasites or any clear indication of the cause of her problem.  She had a long course of antibiotics to control the secondary infection in the lesions, steroid cream, anticeptic skin wash and steroid tablets.  She also had blood tests carried out for mite and flea saliva alllergy which came back negative.  The wounds have almost healed now but the hair is not growing back where the necklace of wounds was and the skin in these areas is very thickened, dry, scaly and wart-like.

Has anyone had any experience of a similar condition or got any suggestions as to where I go from here?  The dermatologist feels that there is some inflammation and/or deepseated infection in these areas which is why they are not healing completely.

Did the problems start around or soon after a booster vaccination? The symptoms sound like they could be linked to the dogs immune system and this can be challenged by boosters, especially the Leptospirosis component. Skin erruptions are a classic sign of vaccinosis, although many vets refuse to consider this as a reason for the problem.

Many years ago, we also had a bitch with similar symptoms to what you describe, and it turned out to be demodectic mange, which is much more difficult to detect in skin scrapings and is much harder to cure than scarcoptic mange.
We found that the skin irritation could be controlled by diet and had a lot of success feeding lamb. The condition was ultimately cured by spaying the bitch (we could not breed from her because the condition can be hereditary or familial). This led us to think that hormones also played a large part in the condition, because Daisy was completely cured after the operation, though this could of course just have been coincidence.

I hope this helps.

Snomaes

Hi
Thanks for the reply.  No she hadn't had any vaccinations in fact she was due when the skin problem flared up.

My dogs have only ever been fed a BARF diet so I don't think it is food related and the dermatologist said that food allergies normally show up before the dog is 12 months old.

I can understand what you're saying about a hormonal link but Maia was spayed at 11 months so I don't think it could be a hormonal imbalance.

I really appreciate your input though as it helps knowing that I don't have the only dog in the world to exhibit these symptoms.

nerakliag

A spayed bitch by definition has a hormonal imbalance, and it is not unusual to have skin and coat problems as a result.

Hi Brainless,
It has been some time since I studied Anatomy and Physiology but I thought that oestrogen and progesterone were both produced largely by the ovaries so I'm not sure why a spayed bitch by definition has a hormonal imbalance.  If she was spayed at 11 months would it suddenly have produced a reaction after 3 years?  How would you know if that was the cause?

nerakliag

The ovaries are removed at spaying so the bosy will be missing the main female hormones, hence out of balance.  It is not uncommon for it to take a long time for some side effects of spaying to develop.

Has she been tested for a Staph infection?  I had a foster who had it on the back of his neck.  It started off the way you describe and ended the way you describe.  He was on antibiotics, which cleared it up, he'd get off the ab's and then eventually the sores would come back and he'd go back on the ab's. 

Hi Mr Spock

She hasn't been tested for a bacterial infection recently.  She had 3 consecutive courses of antibiotics at the outset of the problem and the dermatologist did say last week that the areas of granulation cells could be due to a deep-seated infection although she doesn't have any apparent signs of infection and isn't running a temperature.  I am reluctant to give antibiotics speculatively but if we do end up having more biopsies done and infection is shown then antibiotics would be the way to go.

nerakliag

When a dog constantly licks itself, it usually results in what's known as 'lick granuloma' (acral pruritic dermatitis), ulcerated lesions prone to infection that makes them itchier and itchier, leading to a self-perpetuating cycle of itching and licking. The root cause of lick granuloma is a yeast infection. However, this is normally seen in the lower limb area. Since your dog's problem is in the chest area, it isn't actually lick granuloma, but is still the result of a yeast infection. The good news is that it is treatable...but NOT with antibiotics and steroids, these and other immune-suppressing drugs, along with simple carbohydrate foods, should be avoided. I have found these pages that you should look at:

1. http://www.first4pets.co.uk/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi?pg=yeastinfections
2. http://www.first4pets.co.uk/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi?pg=yeastinfectiontreatment

The way you describe the skin as very thickened, dry, scaly and wart-like is symptomatic of yeast toxins. You'll get all the information you need from these pages but basically the treatment is both systemic and topical and can be found on the 'yeastinfectiontreatment' page.

Cheers 

The only other thing which Im sure you have covered is a seed or thorn getting under the skin. It has been so mild that it may still have been an  issue in November? I know mine got really badly stung by nettles because we hadnt had a frost. Now he wont go near them  and I cant say I blame him!   

Now, I usually think really hard about alternative treatments, but do use homeopathy quite a lot, alongside conventional treatments.   However, when a friend suggested using colloidal silver on a neutered dog who had similar symptoms to yours, I was sceptical to say the least.

Anyhow, after treating him with a spray bottle of colloidal silver, rather as you would use Frontline, his skin looked much less 'angry' the next day, and after about 5 months now, he has a super coat, even for a neutered dog.

Might be worth a go

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

I now make my own c/s & as well as being used externally it can also be used internally to treat infections. Have used it with great success on various things but not the prob you`re having I`m afraid but sure it would help & certainly wouldn`t do any harm :)

Christine, Spain.

Thanks everyone for taking the trouble to reply and for your suggestions I will certainly investigate them further.

As far as the enzyme supplements are concerned have you tried them yourself stakemaster?

nerakliag

...yes, I bought some Antioxidant Treats and Oxy-Drops for my 12 year-old Boxer, more as a last resort and in the hope that maybe half of the testimonials were true (plus there was a money back guarantee if I didn't see a difference in 30 days). My dog had lost a lot of fur on his flanks and the underlying skin had gone black. He was also very lethargic. I didn't need to wait 30 days to see a difference. At the beginning of the 3rd week (the first 2 weeks are the detox period in which you give your dog a double dose, then you go on to the maintenance dose) it was as if someone had changed his batteries and given him a respray...he became very pup-like being much more alert and the dullness in his eyes had gone. His coat had improved significantly and the blackness had faded to grey.

A friend of the family has a beautiful 7 year-old flat-coated retriever that he thought was 'fit enough' and didn't need any help, but I persuaded him to try the Treats as an experiment on a 'healthy' dog. He was sceptical to say the least but he's an absolute convert now. His dog's energy levels went 'through the roof', its coat got even shinier and the slight limp it sometimes had disappeared altogether. His testimonial (with photographs) is on the first4pets website...you can find it if you do a search for his dog's name: Dylan.

I'm a real fan of these products, so much so that I take their Antioxidant Complex (Treats for people) everyday. I haven't been able to jump over the front gate yet, but my knees don't creak the way they used to ;-)