Skin Condition!?

[RamseyTheBulldog]

I have a 14 month old female. We are from Missouri. A few months back, we moved to Florida, where we have found many fire ant hills in our backyard. We have taken care of the ant hills constantly. But, my bulldog has constant bumps ALL OVER her. At first we thought it was just bug bites & we've put spray & cream on the bumps which have seemed to help with the itching. Lately, my bulldog's skin has become really flaky & the bumps have increased in numbers. I have been giving her hair & skin supplements to try to help with shedding & dry skin. She's been on them for about a week, and I haven't noticed a change so far. The bumps seem to be incredibly flaky & itchy. On her stomach, legs and arms where there is no hair, you can see circle shaped scabs. She's had ringworm before & that doesn't seem to be the case. I am trying to avoid going to the vet & spending a lot of money on a check up right now. I have searched online & found answers such as frequent bathing, heat, or a bunch of different skin conditions. I bathe my dog about once every week, which could be the cause of the dry skin, but not the bumps & scabs. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

[izstigspunks]

Eek! I'll tag a member who's in florida for her input. [MENTION=900]KMARINO[/MENTION].

What hair and skin supplement are you giving her? I'm more for the simple and true, such as salmon oil. I'm thinking the bumps and scabs are more environmental related. Have you tried giving her benedryl? 1 pill of the pink unflavoured/regular kind for every 25lb. My boys are around 50lb each, and I would give one morning and night.

 

[2BullyMama]

Can you post a picture of the scabs / bumps?

 

[Manydogs]

Did you change her food when you moved to Fla?

 

[Texas Carol]

Buy a big jar of coconut oil at Walmart's in the pharmacy/supplements section.
A good one is Nature's Way, EfaGold...it comes in a solid but melts easily. It's
organic, extra virgin, cold pressed and start with 1 tsp added as topper on food.
Just plop it on, no need to melt, they love it! Build up to 1 tsp each meal daily.
Put some in your hands to warm/soften it and rub into areas of dry skin/bumps.
It will help heal as well as protect, coconut oil is a anti viral, anti microbial & anti
inflammatory, internally as well as externally. It might take a while to notice results.
Are you sure it's not ringworm (there are different types) or staph?

 

[RamseyTheBulldog]

It's a skin & hair supplement. It contains a lot of good vitamins like fish oil & vitamin c, which I've researched a ton on and everyone recommended them. I bought them at PetSmart. I tried the benedryl & it didn't work. I actually gave in and took her to the vet. Turns out she has a skin infection. I got antibiotics & special medicated shampoo and conditioner.

 

[Manydogs]

Happy to hear that you took her to the vet. It would have gotten much worse, being that it was an infection.

 

[RamseyTheBulldog]

Thank you! So, I ended up going to the vet. She told me that it was a skin infection. I got antibiotics & special medicated shampoo and conditioner. I can already tell a difference. But, the coconut oil really interests me. What exactly will the coconut oil heal & protect? The shampoo they gave me is medicated & expensive for a small bottle that I'm supposed to use two times a week until she's better and then one time a week. It sounds like I can use the coconut oil in place of using the shampoo a couple times. I researched a lot & I actually never found anything about coconut oil! Thank you so much for this advice!

 

[ebulldoglover]

For the skin. Buy hibiclens (amazon is biggest and cheapest) put dog in tub wet apply BC liberally massage all over and leave on for 10 minutes. Rinse well. Then apply non sulfate cleansing conditioner such as Wen. This will keep the skin and hair soft and healthy. Non grain diet would be a good option