# Dark flat spots on skin?



## Ashley B (Dec 14, 2013)

Hi everyone, my almost 9 yo golden Maverick has a lot of flat dark spots on his back, mostly along his spine. I noticed them during a bath but they have been spreading over the month or so. Started as a few spots. They do not seem to bother him at all, no itching or chewing. Almost look like blood blisters.

Picture below, any idea what these could be? I have several pics but can never seem to post more than 1 at a time.

A little background....Tomorrow is wk 9 of his chemo CHOP protocol treatment for b-cell lymphoma. He has been in remission for several weeks I showed the oncologist Mav's skin 3 wks ago and he was not concerned at the time. He was not sure what it is, maybe hair follicle irritation. I will let our vet know and bring it back up to the onco tomorrow.

I am concerned because he has skin allergies and we've battled terrible staph infections in the past. This looks 'much' different.


----------



## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

I'd have the vet look at it.


----------



## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

I'd go to the vet, but it looks like allergy to me.....if so, it is most likely related to food. Like people, dogs can develop an allergy at anytime.....vet can answer this question.


----------



## Ashley B (Dec 14, 2013)

Thanks, we've changed his food up over the last 6 wks to bland then recently back to high protein for multiple reasons. He is definitely an allergy dog so could be the culprit but he is not itchy at all which is strange vs. all past experiences with him....not that the past is always an indicator of what is now.

I emailed the pictures to our vet, she is out tomorrow so we'll hopefully be able to see her later in the week. I do not think our oncologist will know what it is tomorrow, he is very good but not his speciality to be fair.

Close up pic below.


----------



## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

Hope all goes well....keep us posted...

Good luck


----------



## Ashley B (Dec 14, 2013)

We saw the oncologist today and were relieved to hear he was not concerned about maverick's skin. He has seen similar skin conditions come up in Goldens he has treated so recommended we just keep an eye on it....to watch for infection vs. seeing a dermatologist. He believes it is a side effect of the chemo, change in pigmentation. 

I moved our vet appt up and she will review the pictures I sent over tomorrow. She has seen us through all of his past skin/allergy issues so it will be good to get her perspective.

I would prefer not to change his food/protein right now since we have his GI issues under control and he is not itchy, but we'll see what she says.


----------



## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

It looks a lot like the staph infection Lilah gets periodically, and we get an antibiotic from the vet to treat it.


----------



## Ashley B (Dec 14, 2013)

Hi everyone,

We saw our regular vet this week and I am happy to report that she confirmed maverick's skin spots are pigmentation changes and clogged hair follicles - side effect of his chemo treatments. She gave me pyoben shampoo to help flush the follicles. 

I've been using Douxo's antiseptic shampoo for the last 2 yrs since he had issues with staph infections. It seems to be a little harsh for him now so she recommended I switch to something mild/hypoallergenic after using the pyoben. He gets a bath every 2 weeks, fun!


----------

