Hello.

I posted first in the welcome section and it was suggested that I post my problem here.

I would be grateful for any help offered for the problem my dog has with her skin.

Below is what I posted in the welcome forum:-

am a proud owner of a wonderful German Shepherd bitch. Unfortunately a few weeks ago she was diagnosed as having a yeast infection. This has lead to her losing a lot of her fur on her belly. On top of that, she chased off an intruder in our home about two weeks after being diagnosed with the infection, and in the process broke her front leg. This has put the treatment of her skin complaint on hold until her leg heals

At first the vet put a cast on her leg, but it had to be taken off due to it rubbing on her toes and causing another infection in her foot. After a week of not wearing the cast the foot got better and another cast was fitted.

Today I have had to return to the vets as the cast was cutting into the top of her leg causing it to be very sore. Again the vet removed the cast and I have to return in a weeks time to have another cast put on.

On top of all this my poor dog has had to wear a lampshade (one of the collar things to stop them licking) which has caused her hair to fall out around her neck.

I have been told that we cannot treat the skin complaint until the leg has healed, but surely there must be something I can do to ease the discomfort. At the rate we are going I'm going to end up with a completely bald dog

Please help my dog

I did a little research and found that you can use natural baby wipes to help clean the skin.

Hopefully this, over a space of time, will help.

Any other suggestions on how to treat her skin would be gratefully received. I can't give her a bath as I was told by the vet she must not get her cast wet, and although she has not wearing a cast for the moment, it is no point starting the treatment with the special shampoo as she has to have the cast back on next week.

Many thanks in advance.

Oh i am sorry to hear about your poor dog, you have not mentioned diet for your dog are you having to give a yeast free food. My dogs sometimes get a little dry skin and i use exmarid lotion which is very good a bit smelly but it works. All of my dogs are prone so i feed hypoalergenic food only with no wheat this seems to work well for them. Do hope you get the problem sorted out soon i do hate to think of your baby suffering.

Lynn

The vet never said anything about changing her diet. She is quite a fussy eater when it comes to food. Currently we are feeding her on Winalot meat in jelly as this is the only brand she seems to like for the moment.

I will pop up to our local pet shop later and see if they have anything for her to try and hopefully this will help.

The poor thing has hardly any fur left on her belly and what with the lampshade around her head, she has started to lose it there from the rubbing.

I just feel so helpless at the moment as she has to wear the lampshade to stop her licking the wound that was caused by the cast on her leg.

The vet won't give us anything to help her skin as he wants the leg to heal first and this might be yet another month as he is going away on holiday soon.

Thanks for the tip about the lotion, I will see if I can pick some up.

Jo

what does the allergy look like rash etc, our girl has had a rash and the vet prescribed some antibiotics for the skin infection and some steriod cream, can't understand why your vet has not done something and let her continue to suffer, does she scratch a lot.

hope she's feelin better soon

What about washing the skin in some anti fungal shampoo (malaseb) and applying some aloe vera gel (99% pure), that would sooth the itch.

I can't believe a vet would leave the skin complaint until the leg heals, as for scratching there is an injection which can be given to lower any itching. My advice would be change your vet and get a second opinion

She had skin scrapings done which diagnosed the problem as a yeast infection. Unfortunately she cannot have a bath due to her leg being in a cast and it has to be kept dry. She was put on a course of antibiotics, whether this has helped I don't know as the skin looks the same. Also as she is wearing a lampshade to prevent her from chewing the cast, the skin problem has now gone round her neck area.

I have been cleansing her skin with baby wipes, which she loves. Hopefully this should ease some of the itchiness. I have also been in touch with a specialst food company that does holistic natural foods and Iwill begin weaning her onto it over the next few days. The food people said it could take up to 8 weeks to notice any improvement.

I think she was not prescribed any steriods due to it might interfere with the healing of her leg.

The saga continues.

Buff's leg, as the vet puts it, healed enough to not warrant a new cast. Yesterday she had an operation to remove a lump from her abdomen. This turns out to be a piece of ovary, that has been producing eggs for the past 5 years, left in after her emergency hysterectomy back in 20004 (she got pyometra).

As you all know, Buffy has gone through a hell of a lot for the past month or so, but I want to know is should I dispute the £620 bill as I paid over £500 back in 2004 for her to have all the bits removed.

The vet she has now is a wonderful vet and it was an associate of his that performed the original hysterectomy back in 2004. I feel very upset that the problems with her skin, and having to undergo another operation, which, in my view, is caused from the original hysterectomy not being done fully in the first place.

any thoughts?

should I ask for a reduction in the cost of the operation she had yesterday?

hi its a tough one to answer really. If your insurance is willing to pay out for the vet fees i would just go with that. I would not think her yeast problem would be anything to do with the prior operation, usually that problem is on going from a puppy. I know some insurance policies don't cover for a recurring problem after they have paid out once. I can only say no one can really advise, you can only make the decision by yourself. Sorry if i'm not very helpful i do hope Buffy makes a full recovery.

The vet did say that her skin condition was more than likely caused by the lump being there and he said he was confident, that now he has removed the lump, her skin will improve with time.