# Itching and irritated skin



## johnjcpa (Sep 22, 2010)

Hello...I'm hoping someone can give us some advice.

Here's the story:

At the end of June we boarded our Golden at a vet (not our normal vet) for the weekend. He received a grooming and bath there. There was outside play time but I don't believe there was any other contact with other dogs. A few weeks after that visit we noticed our dog scratching quite a bit and he had developed a hot spot on his right front arm. We took him to the vet and she gave us some prednisone and antibiotics to treat him. We went through the cycle of prednisone and it did not appear to take care of the problem although it did seem to help some.

At the end of July we took him to our regular groomer and they mentioned that it appeared like he hadn't been rinsed very well at his last bath. We just figured that his itching must be related to that.

We called our vet back to let her know that he did not appear to get any better and found out that she had gone out of business so we went to a different vet in town. He prescribed more prednisone, antibiotic and also an anti-fungal medication because he felt like that might be a problem as well. Here we are a few more weeks down the road and he is not any better.

Any suggestions? We have fed him Holistic Select food ever since he was young because he had allergies to other foods. We have never had any issues until now.

My thought is that if it was the soap from his bath at the kennel it would surely be cured by now after all the prednisone and several other baths using medicated shampoos, etc.

He still eats and is still a happy Golden but we know he is just miserable with the itching. He is basically scratching all day.

If anyone has any suggestions we would appreciate it. We are thinking about taking him to a different vet....I'm not sure if that is a good idea...maybe we should let the new vet keep at it?

HELP!!!


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

It sounds like the hot spot was caused by (a) fleas or (b) the shampoo. Or it could have been both. Regardless of the cause, it's possible that he's just dealing with the resulting hotspot.

And once your dog gets a hotspot, it is sheer misery getting rid of it because they won't leave it alone long enough for it to heal. You have to stop the scratching/rubbing/licking. 

Something that helped with our previous dog was squirting salmon oil in his meals every day. Also wrapping the hotspot so he couldn't bother it while it scabbed over (we washed and did neosporin every day before rewrapping). 

One little warning here... the worse the hotspot gets, the more likely your dog will have a permanent scar on the spot, even as the fur grows back.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

I know when Flora was itching that bad (to the point where she made herself bleed) she had fleas. Have you checked your dog's belly thoroughly? I found that was the easiest place to locate fleas.

Give your dog a nice bath with a good shampoo (I like micro-tek a LOT), scrub it in, and let it sit for 5 minutes or so. Rinse thoroughly with cool water, and towel dry your pup. If you find fleas on your dog, I'd suggest treating your yard and at least thoroughly vacuuming your house.

Good luck. I know what a pain this can be.


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## johnjcpa (Sep 22, 2010)

thank you!

yes this is driving us crazy....I feel so sorry for him

he doesn't have fleas for sure....we look him over very closely for that and we also treat him with Sentinel 

We called the vet and he suggested we see a dermatologist...they don't have any openings until Oct 5 which seems ridiculous to me...the vet said he has had 3 appts today for similar things so I'm guessing it is allergy related possibly to pollen or something


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

If the area isn't shaved yet, I'd look at doing that - shave around the hot spot with about an inch or so of good skin as a buffer, so it doesn't spread. 

Then, get some antibacterial soap (dettol I think is the name of one) and scrub it in, let it sit for five minutes then rinse it well. Use a blow dryer on cool to dry it completely, don't let it stay wet for long. 

Use gold bond if it's oozing and wet (unless it's really goopy and the powder makes it worse), plain listerine otherwise. You can also use strong brewed (cooled of course) tea to dab on. You may have to experiment around.

Keep him from scratching or licking the area!!!! that is the big thing. The cone of shame may be needed but it'll help prevent more damage so it can heal.

There are lots of hot spot posts on here too.

Lana


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

I agree with Bender. You need to shave the area and treat it like Bender said. Hopefully that will take care of it but if not the dermatologist will be able to get to the bottom of it.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Have you ever had him allergy tested? If not maybe the dermatologist will recommend this. Our Barkley was brought in by his original owner (a physician) due to severe skin allergies and infections. He wanted to euthanize him but the vet got him to release Barkley to her and she got him into rescue. The rescue allergy tested him and learned he had environmental allergies. We adopted him a year after he was much better, but we learned several things about pollen allergies (and it sounds like your pup may have environmental allergies):

1. It's important to get on a good antihistamine when allergies flare. We went through 3 different types, depending on how bad the pollen season was. We started on cheap over the counter Chloraphenamarine ($2.96 for 100 tablets at Walmart). Then when the pollens were high we added in hydroxyzine, and after his splenectomy, when his immune system was compromised, we ended up with a prednisone/antihistamine combo pill called Temeril-P. 

2. Frequent baths with a soothing shampoo help. I am allergic to fragrance so we couldn't use Micro-Tek. Instead our vet recommended Epi-Soothe, an oatmeal based bath. We were told to bathe as often as every other day when his allergies were the worst (we simply couldn't do it that often though). When at one point in his life they suspected a bacterial skin issue we used two prescription shampoos, starting first with one (I forgot the name) and leaving it in for 20 minutes before rinsing, and then shampooing with Malasab shampoo, leaving it in for 20 minutes before rinsing (that was one LONG bath). 

3. We put child size T-shirts and booties on him to prevent him scratching/infecting his skin. We walked him outside with a t-shirt so pollens would attach to it, then we'd change into a new one back inside. (we got a 6 pack of Hanes Boys size 5). We removed the booties for outside walks but they were worn inside. We always kept a supply of unscented baby wipes by the front door to wipe down the pollens from his coat and feet/legs. 

4. We took him to acupuncture for his hips and discovered it also helped his allergies. If you can afford it and have an acupuncture vet near you it might help a lot.

5. We kept his ears clean of the gunk, that causes more scratching and itching.

Good luck with figuring this out. It's frustrating but it helps to have a good caring veterinarian to help you come up with a good plan of action.


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## jenlaur (Jun 24, 2009)

We had the same problem with Riley. Poor thing itched constantly. I would have sworn she didn't have fleas. We had her on topical flea meds and I looked for fleas and their droppings regularly. When I started looking on her back legs, deep under thick hair is when I spotted them. I would find 4 or 5 fleas each time I looked. We switched flea meds to no avail. Finally, we put her on Comfortis and no more fleas.


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## myboy (Aug 24, 2010)

My Riley has the same problem..itcing that's driving both him and me crazy. Our vet thinks it may be a seasonal allergy and suggested we give him Benadryl 2x a day. Just started today, will let you know if it helps.


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## johnjcpa (Sep 22, 2010)

Well we finally got our answer. He has mange.

Began treatment yesterday so he should start to feel better soon.

I wish the vet would have thought of this sooner but at least we'll get him fixed.

Thanks for the replies!


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

Glad you got an answer. Hopefully now he can get onto the road to recovery. I think I would contact the vet where you boarded him and let them know.


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