Skin Issues?????

[eeeefarm]

Losing hair around the ears I might consider demodetic mange. How old is she??

[ZolasMommy]

Zola is two now. OK….. I just looked up demodetic mange... that looks scary.

[eeeefarm]

Usually it's not that big a deal. It's more common with pups or young dogs, but adults can get it. My Border Collie used to have occasional episodes. From what I understand, the mites that cause it are carried without consequence by many (most?) dogs, and only become apparent if for some reason the dog's immune system is a bit low. I believe Ivermectin is used for it, but you shouldn't use it at the same time as Trifexis. Your vet should be able to tell you if that is the cause…..

[krunzer]

@ZolasMommy:

Zola is two now. OK….. I just looked up demodetic mange... that looks scary.

My female got demodetic mange when she had her first heat. She lost a tiny patch of hair on her cheek and still went to a conformation show and managed to get two points that weekend over the other basenji that was there. Hers went away after she went out of heat and it has never happened since. But yes some of the pictures that you can google look horrible. Do you have some pictures that we could take a look at? Demodetic mange makes the skin look really dirty….

[dcmclcm4]

Had a rescue dog that had a bad reaction to mosquitos. He developed bumps/hives all over his body. We were in Northern IN lure coursing and the mosquitos were horrible but he was the only dog that had a reaction. We gave him Benadryl.

Jennifer

[ZolasMommy]

Hey everyone. Sorry to reply to this thread so late. I do have an update. So we took Queen Zola to the vet. She ran some test and found that Zola was having a skin reaction…. but can't figure out WHAT is causing it. So I have to bathe her in Benzoyl Plus shampoo twice a week to get rid of her "Folliculitis". Well.... after two weeks of bathing her with this stuff, her bumps have INCREASED massively, and now she is always scratching herself. Her skin is irritated, and I feel like a horrible mommy.

But I don't know what to do. The vet said it may get worse before it gets better.... but I don't know if she meant THIS much worse. My husband thinks we need to find a new vet.

dcmclcm4, did the Benadryl work? How much did you give?

[tanza]

Can you ask your Vet for a referral to a specialist? I think that is your best choice

[ownedbyspencer]

Do you think it could be a reaction to the Trifexis? Sounds like something that is in her system or that she is still exposed to.

Regarding the Benadryl, Spencer used to have a terrible reaction to his rabies shot, so the vet would give him a Benadryl shot before and that would prevent it. The vet also gave us Benadryl tabs and they cleared up irritations quickly. Hope Zola feels better!

[Mimi]

My suggestion is to make sure her food does not contain wheat, corn or soy, and no animal byproducts

Stop using the shampoo it's crap, having used it myself many times as a groomer I can tell you I've never actually seen it work. Take her off the chemical flea stuff only use it if she gets fleas. Benedryl to get rid of the symptoms at her size I'd use 1/4 of the dose (this works well for any random allergy for the short term and good for bee stings) but only use it for a few days. How long before this reaction was the last set of shots? If it was within 3 months there is a good chance that is part of the problem. Stay away from all chemicals on her and for cleaning - there are MANY safe things you can use that kill bacteria and do just as good a job on your surfaces. Have you recently installed new carpet or had the carpet cleaned by a pro? I've seen this cause MASSIVE reactions on dogs that present as you have described. A picture of the problem would be helpful.

Are you also noticing a different odor on her anywhere? Perhapse in the ears?

[Mimi]

I would also consider finding a Holistic vet in your area

[ZolasMommy]

Thanks for all of your knowledge Mimi, and everyone. So…...Zola has a new vet that actually has Basenjis on his client roster, and knows the breed. She has seasonal allergies (we ruled out food or drug allergies). So instead of using the shampoo that the other vet prescribed, she is on two antibiotics. He called one of them "Benedryl on steroids" and she will likely take them for about 3 weeks.

After only two days of taking them, she has already stopped scratching herself so much, and we have not seen any new bumps. So I think the meds are doing the trick. Unfortunately, she will probably be a lifetime allergy sufferer (at least for as long as we live in Houston). So we will need to get her on a preventative once this protocol is complete.

The vet said that she had the cleanest ears he has seen in a long time. We are feeding her Blue Buffalo Basic, which has no byproducts, soy, corn, etc. We threw out that shampoo..... and will NEVER go back to that first vet.

Oh.... and I was never able to figure out how to add photos to specific posts on here.

So.... there it is. I am just glad that we found a more knowledgeable vet.... and he is right down the street from us!!!!! That is also a plus.

[tanza]

Interesting comment about the ears? I have never had a Basenji with "unclean" ears…. Especially since they are up right, typically are not a problem unless they roll is lots of dirt and/or swim.....

[Mimi]

Often an allergy will show itself as a yeast problem either in the ears or between the toes that is the reason I asked about odor coming from the ears.

[Chealsie508]

Maybe he meant a dog (of any breed) that has such clean ears for a dog with bad allergies…boh dogs and humans tend to get gucky ears with allergies, some kind of buildup I guess

[tanza]

Interesting, because I had not heard that, especially with a dog with up right ears… and the only place that I have seen yeast problems is on the belly area... and without any odor.

[Chealsie508]

I don't know the reason or cause but I have smelt many a dogs ears that have a yeasty smell with a lot of build up that isn't only wax but more of a greasy goopy wax, in particular was a puggle who is sensative to environmental allergies. I do agree it's probably not so common in dogs with upright ears….it is a very distinct and pungent smell, ugh- makes me want to clean Oakleys ears out right now!!

[tanza]

Agreed that it is not uncommon for many breeds… just not found it in Basenjis...

[TwinDogsDifferentMothers]

Its quite possible that somewhere along the line your puppy came in contact with something that caused this reaction. So maybe it is just a contact allergy, You really are not going to know if its a life long allergy until it presents itself again. At least you are better prepared if there is a next time.

The shampoo you were told to use, probably exacerbated the rash. Sometimes its not a great idea to bathe a dog who has a rash for fear of spreading it. There is also the possibility of stripping away the natural oils on the skin which will make the rash itch more. Maybe the rash that your dog experienced was something that was spread similar to how poison ivy is spread on human skin.

We think its great that you actually found a competent vet. If you do not mind we would like to know the actual names of the antibiotics that were used. We would like store this information away just in case we have a similar experience.

Sometimes, owners suffer as much as their dogs when they see them in discomfort. Have faith, maybe this will not re-occur.

[Mimi]

Great article for allergies and pet food as well as another one on pet food. Love that they mention the importance of rotating your protein sources

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/05/07/protein-diets-for-pets-allergy.aspx

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/05/10/my-top-3-pet-food-picks-from-an-upscale-boutique-shop.aspx

There are some different plants and herbs that can help with allergies - nettle for instance (I use it in capsul form but you can also do tea) is helpful wth allergies

[TwinDogsDifferentMothers]

After reading this post, and thinking about what you have experienced, we wonder if your dog possibly got into some poison Ivy or poison oak. While we have no experience ourselves, we have read that some dogs are susceptible to poison ivy. Maybe someone more experienced can add this post and tell us how susceptible Basenji's might be to this. It would also be good to know what symptoms show up and how to best treat them.