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My dog is licking, biting his skin raw, vet barely helped

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For the past month or so, my six-year old "retriever mix" has been having skin issues around his crotch and butt. He licks constantly to the point where his crotch is now all red with very little skin left. There are other spots too like small raw patches on his hind legs. Sometimes his mouth will even start looking red from all the licking.

We took him to the vet a few weeks back. He said "allergies," and gave him a little more than a week's worth of steroids. The problem started going away but once the dosage ran out, his skin started going to shit again and now it's probably worse than ever. We tried putting on one of those head cones that we had from before but couldn't manage to get it on him since he made a big fuss.

I know everyone will say to take him to the vet again, but is there anything we can do to discourage him from licking at least?
 

bwahhhhh

Member
sounds like it could be mange (mites in his skin)

edit: but as others said it's probably just a hot spot. steroids might be necessary, and something to subdue the itching so that the skin is allowed to heal.
 

shuri

Banned
Get a new vet NOW, my dog had this on her face, its called HOT SPOTS, its a skin infection, my dog started looking like a battle damaged terminator as she would rip her own facial skin off with time! Nothing worst than waking up with blood and skin pieces all over your floor!

SAve your dog! go to another vet PRONTO!
 
Dog Lupus

Fleas or Mange

Try giving him a flea bath or something to help soothe his skin.

Get a new vet NOW, my dog had this on her face, its called HOT SPOTS, its a skin infection, my dog started looking like a battle damaged terminator as she would rip her own facial skin off with time! Nothing worst than waking up with blood and skin pieces all over your floor!

SAve your dog! go to another vet PRONTO!



Never heard of this, but that sounds horrible!
 

suzu

Member
Keep the cone of shame on him.

What kind of allergies? Go get a second opinion from another vet.
 

Zep

Banned
our-dog-wearing-e-collar.jpg
 

ollin

Member
Try to put some topical products that have bitter flavors such as bitter apple, lemon juice or cayenne pepper. I'm pretty sure dog stores have similar products.
 

Pezking

Member
Try feeding him some other dog food!

Many allergies and skin/coat conditons are caused by unhealthy food.

Try something like this:
http://www.koebers.de/index_e.htm
(This is a german brand, surely there are similar alternatives in other countries.)

As soon as the symptoms are gone, you could try feeding him something like Royal Canin and see how he reacts.
 

Flo

Member
If it really is allergies (which you would have to find out) the vet would have to do more than just give steroids for a week. There should be something done for the long term as well, otherwise the licking won't stop.
 
Happened to my newfoundland. He licked at certain places until they were raw, and they never really fully healed even until his death. One vet suggested it could be a tumor that he was licking at, since the spot became somewhat bulbous, but since it was on his paw we felt that removing it would hinder his mobility and cause him more pain than having the raw spot did.

Hot spot sprays didn't really work on him but definitely try it on your dog. Also, antihistamines could be a better solution than steroids. I'm not fond of those cones as a long term solution as I find them a bit cruel.
 

Somnid

Member
I've had several dogs with this. It is allergies that manifest in a really itchy hotspot. Usually you get steroids to help reduce inflammation but it's really all they can do. You may also buy specialty shampoos that help reduce itching, apply anti-itch ointment (just make sure they don't lick it all off) and it could also help to try a different food for dogs with allergies. If it gets bad give them a cone.

Also Shuri is fear-mongering.
 

Smokey

Member
For the past month or so, my six-year old "retriever mix" has been having skin issues around his crotch and butt. He licks constantly to the point where his crotch is now all red with very little skin left. There are other spots too like small raw patches on his hind legs. Sometimes his mouth will even start looking red from all the licking.

We took him to the vet a few weeks back. He said "allergies," and gave him a little more than a week's worth of steroids. The problem started going away but once the dosage ran out, his skin started going to shit again and now it's probably worse than ever. We tried putting on one of those head cones that we had from before but couldn't manage to get it on him since he made a big fuss.

I know everyone will say to take him to the vet again, but is there anything we can do to discourage him from licking at least?

My German Shepard used to have this problem bad. We took him to the vet like you and they kept giving him shots and baths and it eventually went away. My dog would do it to the point where his hair was gone and his skin was red.

Maybe go to a different vet?
 

EL Beefo

Member
Try feeding him some other dog food!

Many allergies and skin/coat conditons are caused by unhealthy food.

Try something like this:
http://www.koebers.de/index_e.htm
(This is a german brand, surely there are similar alternatives in other countries.)

As soon as the symptoms are gone, you could try feeding him something like Royal Canin and see how he reacts.

Yeah, try changing his food first. Since the steroids worked when he was taking them it sounds like it could be allergies. Our old dog was same, he would start loosing fur due to biting and itching so we would change his food and he would stop.
 

Thaedolus

Member
Definitely sounds like a hot spot. I know dogs hate them, but an e-collar, some ointment and a little time and you can take care of it. Our husky growing up always got those.
 
Dude headcones seem like torture. I imagine it's like the equivalent of keeping a human from scratching their itches.

I wish I knew something that would help. I know vets can be expensive. ):

Maybe a dog forum website would help better than gaf.
 
Happened to my newfoundland. He licked at certain places until they were raw, and they never really fully healed even until his death. One vet suggested it could be a tumor that he was licking at, since the spot became somewhat bulbous, but since it was on his paw we felt that removing it would hinder his mobility and cause him more pain than having the raw spot did.

Hot spot sprays didn't really work on him but definitely try it on your dog. Also, antihistamines could be a better solution than steroids. I'm not fond of those cones as a long term solution as I find them a bit cruel.
:(

I managed to get the cone on him and will look for a second opinion this week. What kind of topical ointments should I be looking for?
 

bluemax

Banned
I've had several dogs with this. It is allergies that manifest in a really itchy hotspot. Usually you get steroids to help reduce inflammation but it's really all they can do. You may also buy specialty shampoos that help reduce itching, apply anti-itch ointment (just make sure they don't lick it all off) and it could also help to try a different food for dogs with allergies. If it gets bad give them a cone.

Also Shuri is fear-mongering.

Yeah my scottie has this, especially when he gets flea bites. The last time I took him to the vet for it they gave him a steroid shot to reduce the inflammation, antibiotics for the dermatitis and suggested I switch him to Comfortis instead of Advantage/Frontline for flea medicine.

All this plus a nice oatmeal shampoo bath helped him out. The vet also suggested that Aloe Vera based dandruff shampoos can help.
 

bubnbob

Banned
Dude headcones seem like torture. I imagine it's like the equivalent of keeping a human from scratching their itches.

But dogs dont scratch with their head? And neither do humans. The cone is to stop them from licking it to aggrivate the area, or scratch their face. Hardly inhumane...
 
My one dog had this problem due to allergy to his food (Think it as a grain or corn thing, I forget and know we just swtiched and have been using another type the last few years)

My moms dog is nearly bald do to an allergy to flea dust. Even with Flea meds and such its impossible to eliminate all fleas 100% of the time with her having 2 other dogs and 3 cats who hang out in the yard all day. Sure she doesnt have a flea problem but even a couple fleas making it onto the dog and leaving dust on him makes has tunred him into a nealry bald dog. I know they have to give him pregnasone (sp?) a steroid.
 
Defintely sounds like a hot spot to me. My dog have had it twice already (is only 1 year old).

It's basically the dogs own bacteria(from its saliva) that turns against itself. It can spread really badly, so it's really important that you do something against it.

The treament will usaully be to cut off any fur around the infected area, then cleansed with an antiseptic solution. Furthermore your dog will need antibiotics to defeat the bacteria.

Hot spots:

hotspot2.jpg


hotspot5.jpg
 

KingK

Member
My dog had something very similar to this last year around her neck. It turned out to be Hot Spots and the vet gave us some antibiotics and a cone and it went away in about a week, I think. Luckily I convinced my mom to take her to a vet after about a week of this happening, so it hadn't gotten too bad.
 
It takes some prep work and homework, but try a raw diet. Include some egg yolks and fatty fish (or fish oil). Or switch to a better brand of dog food.
 

Speevy

Banned
My dog Dillon (a childhood pet) had this skin condition which we tried to treat over the course of a year. He would scratch himself until he bled. None of the medications we bought helped, and the veterinarians were clueless.

Ultimately, we decided that the animal was suffering and put him to sleep. It was the right thing to do, in our case. Hopefully you are able to resolve this issue.
 

kenssi

Member
My corgi had these on his paws for quite some time, the vet gave us this antiseptic shampoo that I use to wash him a few times every week. After a few weeks of washing he has stopped licking the wounds almost completely and his paws are healing nicely.
 
My corgi had these on his paws for quite some time, the vet gave us this antiseptic shampoo that I use to wash him a few times every week. After a few weeks of washing he has stopped licking the wounds almost completely and his paws are healing nicely.
Do you know the name of the shampoo?

I inspected his skin a little closer, it doesn't look like there are any scabs or any red bumps. His skin looks dry more than anything else.
 

t0mp

Member
sounds like it could be mange (mites in his skin)

edit: but as others said it's probably just a hot spot. steroids might be necessary, and something to subdue the itching so that the skin is allowed to heal.

first post is bang-on. unfortunately my girlfriends golden retriever has mites, but also has cancer. the combination of the 2 are beating her up pretty badly.

I think steroids will do the trick - with her dog it just keeps coming back because she can't fight it internally (at least that's what I think.. - could be pulling it out of my ass)
 
My dog had this on his foot before. My mom knit a little slipper and put it over his foot at night so he wouldn't lick it. He'd only lick when he was in his bed. Seemed to work. Sometimes he'd find a way to take it off but just find a way to keep the dog away from that spot for a week or two until it heals. Maybe fasten like a gauze pad over his butt area to stop him from licking.
 

Havik

Member
Our last dog started excesively licking and nibbing around his ass and balls too, turned out his anal glands where inflamed. Took him to the vet who squeezed it out, it was pretty nasty but he stopped doing it atleast.
 

Alucrid

Banned
Our last dog started excesively licking and nibbing around his ass and balls too, turned out his anal glands where inflamed. Took him to the vet who squeezed it out, it was pretty nasty but he stopped doing it atleast.

Yay for deciding not to be a vet.
 
I feel your pain with the cone issue. Our dog refused to move when he had a plastic cone on...he would just sit with his head down on the ground. We got him one of those soft comfy cones instead and he realized it had some give to it so he started running into the side of the couches/doors/chairs to bend the cone back. This went on for days until we finally gave up. He simply will not tolerate cones.

My dog had the hot spots on his feet, so when the cone didn't work out, we use antibiotics, hot spot sprays that tasted bad so dogs would be less inclined to lick, and put socks on him that we used athletic tape to keep on. We'd have to respray and change the socks at least twice a day because he would still lick through the socks (or manage to get the socks off) and it took a good two or three weeks, but the hot spots finally healed.
 
My Boston did this as well, and the best treatment we found was Ilium Neocort.

Ilium Neocort cream is a topical treatment used for dogs, cats, horses and cattle to treat skin conditions caused by bacteria that are sensitive to the antibiotic neomycin. These skin conditions include moist dermatitis, in which an initial skin irritation, which can be an insect bite, skin allergy or laceration, causes the animal to scratch so that the skin becomes red and inflamed turning into a moist open wound due to constant scratching and biting of the skin. Ilium Neocort cream combines antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and anaesthetic effect to help remove the pain and irritation of the skin lesion so that it can heal.

I think you've got to get it from the vet.

We also switched his shampoo to Douxo Chlorhexidine and that helped with general skin health, skin allergies, and scratching.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000O1HEJ0/?tag=neogaf0e-20
 

CrankyJay

Banned

My dog had a hot spot in this same area (although we didn't let it get THIS bad) after we took him swimming in a pond and didn't thoroughly clean and dry him off. Poor guy. It's got all pussy/matted. The vet gave us some cortisone spray and we bought him a comfy cone.

It was a horrible week or two for puppy and me.
 

Volimar

Member
My dog is a miniature schnauzer. She chews on herself constantly, but the vet said hers was most likely nerves. We keep her well bathed and trimmed and she still gnaws on herself, but she doesn't make it raw or open up the skin.
 
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