Calling Stinkwheel or anybody with vet experience +UPDATED+

[Retro-Man]

We have to dogs, one Border Collie and one Collie/terrier cross, they eat sleep & shit together.

The Border Collie is fine but the Collie cross has developed a worrying skin complaint which started with dry dandruffy skin and hair loss and has now progressed to sores and areas of raised brown nodules. (strangley the hair loss has subsided)

The Coliie is not constantly itchy but does have itching fits where he will scratch the affected areas until they seem to break open and bleed.

We have been advised to change his food, which we have done twice now, we are bathing him weekly.

Two things we are considering are bathing him daily to alleviate the itching and keep him clean (avoid infection), the other is that it has also been suggested that he could be allergic to possibly pollen (backed up by him getting visibley sore eyes when taken out in local fields )and to try antihistamine (loratadine, specifically

Any help appreciated
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[Icey]

I'm guessing you treat your dogs for fleas, have you change the flea treatment you are using?

Just a random thought.
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[Retro-Man]

Both are regulary de flead using bob martins spot on, we have not however considered changing flea treatment.

Both dogs sleep together, the other is fine, we have found no trace of fleas

Thanks for the response, at this stage any ideas will be looked at


retro
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[Icey]

I think that Stinkwheel will agree with me on this one (I do hope so) that you should drop kick the bob martin and go with a proper flea treatment from your vet.

Bob Martin contains Organophosphates which is used as a crop spray! If you do some google-fu then you'll find many bad reports of skin complaints etc.
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Mutley - 1988 Austin Mini City - Blog
Suetonius - 1966 Series Land Rover - Blog
Uma J - 1981 Honda 'Naked' Goldwing GL1100 - Blog

[Retro-Man]

Thanks for the tip on Spot on.
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[Flip]

Our Welsh Collie had that same thing. Vet give her tablets (forget what they were) and we changed the flea shampoo (bought stuff from the vet). It went away after a week.

[stinkwheel]

Without seeing it, sounds like an allergic skin disease, also known as Atopy.

They can be tricky to sort outl, often the best you can do is keep them under control rather than cure them. It is the single most common problem that comes through my surgery door.

First step is to eliminate any bacterial skin infection, usually using a long course of antibiotics.

The 'dandruff' is called sehorrhoea. There are several shampoos that can be helfpul for this.

While this is ongoing I usually recommend using a good, effective flea treatment. People have brought me Bob Martins flea drops before and I couldn't see anything that would kill fleas in the ingredient list.

Frontline is available from pharmacists, it contains fipronil which is very safe and kills fleas for up to 8 weeks after application. Do both dogs. Leave 48h without bathing before and after applying frontline, it needs the oils in the coat to spread out. Bath as much as you want thereafter.

The reason for this is about 90% of dogs with allergic skin disease are allergic to flea saliva. So assume it's fleas until proven otherwise (ie. 6 weeks of effective flea control and no more bacterial infection should see them back to normal if it's fleas).

Of the remaining 10%, 10% of those have a food allergy. The reason this is checked for so soon is because it is comparatively easy. Simply changing the food isn't always enough. To definatively rule out food allergy, you need to put them on an exclusion diet for two weeks.

If that doesn't work, I group them in my "something else" allergy group. Often a combination of allergens such as dust mites, grass pollens etc.

You can referr them for skin tests or take blood tests to do allergy screens. This is where it starts to get expensive. You can get allergy 'vaccines' made up which are sometimes effective.

Antihisthamines don't work as well in dogs as they do in humans but they can sometimes be helpful. You'd usually just need to try a few different ones to see what works.

Ultimately a lot of them land up on intermittant steroid therapy, shampoos and occasional antibiotics to control flare-ups. We try to avoid using steroids due to side effects but like any drug, it is a balance between cost, benefit and problems.

Anyone who says cost is no object is a fool or has very good insurance. Intradermal skin testing alone costs somewhere in the region of £450. Sometimes a handful of 5p tablets in the knowlege that they keep the dog comfortable but may eventually cause it health problems is the way to go.

On a happier note. Most itchy dogs have a flea allergy. Many of the "something else" allergies are very seasonal .
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Tarmacsurfer]

/offtopic

At the risk of sounding like Blue_Sv650 it never ceases to amaze me when people like Stinkwheel take time out after a busy day (particularly in this time of year for a vet) to post up free advice. Hell, he even took time out to discuss human pain medication with me via PMs a while back when I was a bit concerned about something they were trialling me on.

Thank you

No Muzza, this does not mean I wish to engage in sexual congress with him no matter how impressive his beard.
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I'm immortal. Well, so far.

[Flip]

[phantomtek]

[Retro-Man]

Thanks to everybody who has commented & offered advice, special thanks to Stinkwheel for his as ever exhaustive advice. As others have already said no matter how busy Stinkwheels got your back.......

BIG

Retro
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[Flip]

[WildGoose]

[Retro-Man]

update

Following all the advice, we have bought Frontline treatment from pets@home, it must be powerfull stuff because it is kept locked up and they have to take your name and address on purchase as well as verifying your dogs weight and correct dosage.

Following treatment to both dogs with frontline, we have also boil washed their dog bed & soft toys and used a insecticide spray, also purchased at pets@home to spray all the household furniture, carpets, etc.

We have also bought a pack of powdered vitamin supplement to add to his diet as we were advised that as he is under 18 months old he may need this to boost his immune system and improve the healing process.

Overall we are just glad to be doing something that might actually help, thanks to all who have offered advice.

I will update hopefully when we see an improvement.

Retro
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[stinkwheel]

[yuri2085]

[Retro-Man]

Update..

At the risk of speaking too soon, the red sores are now gone, what I now believe to be the bite sites have dried & scabbed over. and his skin in the affected areas is starting to look normal again already.

To everyone, (especially Stinkwheel) I now have one little pupply who seems to be feeling a lot better.


Out of interest on the antibiotic front I have added a little garlic to his diet. Which while I can't be sure seems to have helped clear up areas which were looking a little septic. (Judging from how he smells now he also has the added benefit of being protected against vampires.. )


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