Thursday evening I noticed a spot on the inside of Sampson’s left leg. It looked similar to the spot he had in the beginning of October, except it hadn’t advanced as far. I’ve also noticed that both of my dogs have been scratching a lot.
Another spot, it starts out looking like a bruise.
I was picking up food on Saturday so I thought I’d run it by Sandy, she’s very knowledgeable about all things dog and she usually has a holistic solution.
Her first thought on the itching was fleas. It has been a very bad flea/tick season in the northeast for these critters. I said, “I think I’d see fleas, especially on Sampson.” She said it could have been only one or two, you need to comb him and check his tail area to see if it feels like he has crumbs there. (Ew gross.) She also said it could be mites, which really freaked me out. (I combed them both when I got home, no sign of fleas.)
As for the skin thing, she feels like his immune system is weak. 🙁
As you can imagine, I left Sandy’s and called the vet. We scheduled him for 9:30 this morning with Dr. B.
I’m here to see Dr. B, can you please tell her Sampson has arrived?
Sampson was of course excited to see Dr. B. I tried to get a picture but his excitement was very prominent in the photo, and since they shamed me good on the Human Shaming blog hop, I decided you could do without the visual imagery.
As we walked into the exam room, I noticed he had spots on the inside of each leg!
Dr. B said I just want to read through his records and refresh my memory.
You can read and pet at the same time, right? I’ve heard Vet’s are multi-taskers.
Dr. B looked him over and said, yes he has another skin infection. Thankfully we caught it before it got too bad. She gave me (she didn’t actually GIVE it to me, I had to pay for it) an anti-biotic ointment (Mupirocin) which is applied twice daily. She also gave me some Vetericin VF wound and skin care spray gel which she suggests I apply the second I notice something amiss. She said many times the gel will fix the issue before it progresses.
I was concerned about his immune system and the fact that he keeps getting infections. Dr. B put him on Welactin 3, which is a Natural Omega-3 for dogs (fish oil) and she also put him on a probiotic by Animal Essentials. We’re hoping that the combination of the two will give his immune system the boost that it needs to get him over this hump.
She also said if I don’t see an improvement within a week or so, or if it gets worse to call and she will give him the oral antibiotic again. I’m really hoping to avoid that.
As for the itching, well she ruled out fleas and mites, the official thought is the drier weather, combined with the fireplace had just dried out their skin, which hopefully the Welactin will help with.
Do you use supplements with your pets? What do you use and why?
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Poor Sampson! He has spent far too much time at the vet this year. Hopefully this will help get his infections under control and you can spend 2013 relatively worry-free!
We did used to give Shiva fish oil as a supplement but it was expensive and I never noticed a different in her coat. However, she has been lucky enough to avoid skin infections so you may find it helps Sampson. It’s worth a shot anyway.
The thing is he WAS on the fish oil for a while and then I ran out, now I am noticing the spots again. Maybe it really was working?
I agree, I think the Vet will soon be a monthly debit on my bank account. 🙁
I use Phycox for Blueberry. It’s mostly for her hips, but it contains fish oil too for her coat. She had a bit of dry skin when I first adopted her. For Linus, the rescue gave me a probiotic and some fish oil supplements to give him for a couple of weeks – just to help improve his immune system. Sometimes dogs and/or puppies that come out of the pound end up with kennel cough or other nastiness. Thankfully, Linus seems to be pretty healthy.
Sampson – sending you hugs so your immune system improves! Love, sunshine, good food – those all help, right? Good for you for catching it right away! 🙂
Thanks, I’ve never heard of Phycox, I’ll have to check that out. It wouldn’t hurt him to have some help with his hips either. Not that I consider him old, but he is eight now and not getting any younger.
When Cupcake was itchy (no fleas, no mites, no infection), my vet suggested using a humidifier at night to keep her skin from drying out. It helps a lot! She was also on the doggie fish oil pills for a while. Now she scratches once in a while, but it’s not obsessive. And my skin looks fabulous!!
Now there’s a thought, what a great idea! We have a wood burning stove and he loves to lie in front of it. I’m sure that doesn’t help either.
My skin could use some help as well. 😉
When Cupcake was itchy (no fleas, no mites, no infection), my vet suggested using a humidifier at night to keep her skin from drying out. It helps a lot! She was also on the doggie fish oil pills for a while. Now she scratches once in a while, but it’s not obsessive. And my skin looks fabulous!!
Feel better, Sampson!
Poor Sampson, hope he gets better really quickly. How cute, that he loves visiting the vet that much.
He is really a people dog. He prefers people over other animals any day of the week. 🙂
We use Animal Essentials Probiotics and Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar. The probiotics have been amazing for fixing the toots and the ACV helps maintain coat health, among other things.
Poor Sampson! I hope the new supplements do the trick for you guys.
Just a drop of ACV in their water? Or how do you administer?
I hope they do too!
We do lots of “additions” to Silas’s food, since I make it all myself. Silas gets probiotics, salmon oil, and a greens supplement. I was about to add some vitamin E to see if it would stop a bad bout of dry skin and itching, but, weirdly, adding the pork to his diet seemed to fix it. I also sometimes give him coconut oil.
I would also second the humidifier recommendation. My own skin was always a mess from the dry air when we lived up north.
They usually get coconut oil at night, salmon or olive oil in the morning. I have wanted them on a probiotic for a while but finances were tight. Guess he took care of that for me, huh? 🙂
My skin is dry too, I wonder if the humidifier will help me as well?
Boy, My Vickie has learned a lot from your post and comments today. She does give me fish oils but I bet we get a humidifier soon. That is because she has dry skin to and figures it would benefit both of us.
Thanks everyone.
Bert
I’m glad she found something that will help you both. Do you have dry skin, are you itchy?
Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Oh Sampson, I am so sorry that you had the itchies and the skin stuffs. I hope you are totally better in like 87 seconds.
Thanks Frankie and Ernie, the itchies stink! I hope you don’t get them.
Poor Sampson. We feed a salmon based food and also give a dollop of plain yogurt with each meal and a pet tab a day. I wonder if you could include some fish in his food?
I think you’re right, I have to figure out a way to incorporate fish once or twice a week. They get yogurt at night, but what is a pet tab?
Poor itchy guy 🙁 I do hope what Dr. B gave you clears him up!
Me too!!
Poor Sampson:( Hope he gets better real soon!
Thanks, it really stresses me out and worries me. 🙁
Oh no! I’m sorry the spots are back! Sampson what are we going to do with you?
I always use Vitamin E with the boys, joint supplements and always some type of fish oil.
Jen, how do you administer it? Do you rub it on, stick a pin in it and squeeze it on, or do you give it in capsule form?
Hey Sampson,
I hope you feel better soon buddy!! 🙂 Hey, I check in at the vets the same way you do – Tee Hee
I’m so looking forward to getting your calendar – Yay!! 🙂
Big wags,
Your pal Snoopy 🙂
LOL Snoopy! Going to the vet is okay, huh? It’s meeting the people, not all the other stuff that goes on. 🙂
I am sorry to hear Sampson is showing spots, I hope he is back to full health soon!
Me too Basil, it’s worrisome. 🙁
When my mastiff was about six months old, his immune system totally shut down. Interestingly, the vet at the local vet school overdosed him with heartworm medication (I forget what kind) and that restored his system to good health (his symptoms were big warts on his feet and mange on his face).
I do give Dexter fish oil and I also give him canned sardines once a week or so (packed in water of course).
Mango Momma
First, thanks for stopping by and sharing your experience, I appreciate that. 🙂
So did he overdose him on purpose or was it accidental? Poor sweetie, with warts and mange, you must have been panicked!
Is Dexter on raw? Do you supplement a whole meal with the sardines or just a portion? I know nothing about sardines, what about the bones?
Im glad that everything is ok with Sampson and its not something very serious. Fred use to get something simular to this and my vet chalked it down to heat rash due to the humidity and Fred licking the area and laying out in the grass and stuff. Hope the vet visit wasnt too much.
We give 2 supplements. I give a hip one (glucosamine and cohndroitin -sp)
and then I give a coat supplement. I have a thing about wanting a shiny coat. We also purchase tuna packed in oil (the canned type) and they get a tablespoon at each meal every other week for a few days. That way the extra boost of omega 3’s gets into their systems. I think its a cheaper route than omega 3 pills and causes the same effect.
Wow, I don’t think I knew that about Fred. Poor guy.
I would say she is probably right, we have been using the wood stove pretty consistently in the last month or so which is when I think their itchiness really amped up, plus he likes to lie in front of it. 🙂
Tuna ay? I never thought of that. I’m learning so much! Thanks Kari!!!
That sounds like the kind of thing Lamar gets in the summer. I use Chlorhexidine gluconate rinse, coupled with shaving the affected area and sometimes Tea Tree oil. The shaving seems to help a lot–when the skin can breathe free of all that undercoat, the infections seem to clear up fast. Supplements are a good idea–I hope they work for Sampson!
Thanks Kirsten. I bought an organic dog shampoo last weekend and it is filled with all kinds of oils (including tea tree) I thought maybe if I bathed them in that, it might help.