Any Thoughts On What This Could Be

[BuckeyeBullyMama]

So, about 2 1/2 weeks ago I noticed Cady scratching where hair was growing back from her spay surgery. She had a little red scabby spot there and I treated it as a hot spot with Veterycin and it seemed to be getting better. Well....this weekend I noticed redness and hair loss spreading around the same area, then yesterday noticed a spot on the back of her neck. I took her to the vet this morning and they scraped for Demodex and it was negative, they pulled some hair and are running a culture for the mites and fungus, which could take several days to grow. Vet prescribed Simpliceff and to bathe with chlorhexidine shampoo 3x in the next week-we have another appointment 1 week from today. The vet mentioned possible allergies but with her being so young probably not likely. She was on Royal Canin Bulldog Puppy when she came home from the breeder at 16 weeks and I transitioned her to Nutro Ultra Puppy 10 weeks ago. Her "treats" are leftover pieces of the Royal Canin. Shes's had a mini milk bone here and there from her Papaw and throws it up every time. Could this be allergies??? What has us most perplexed is the new spot on her neck.

 

[Manydogs]

It sure looks like the mange. [MENTION=9157]ddnene[/MENTION] [MENTION=2071]Davidh[/MENTION] [MENTION=2]bullmama[/MENTION]

 

[BuckeyeBullyMama]

Manydogs-thanks for the tags to others! Our breeder keeps saying the same thing about Demodex Mange too. I should also mention that at first examination that's what also what our vet thought and said the scrape was just to make sure, when the scrape was negative that's when maybe allergies came up.

 

[bullmama]

Poor Cady! As I was reading your post this is what came to mind:

Ok so all this started going south shortly after her spay, which I am thinking caused her some stress, which caused her immune system to flare up, which is now causing skin issues. Also the new food has had plenty of time to start showing possible reactions.

I would get her on a really good quality food to start, along with some immune system building supplements. Yogurt or probiotics, nuvet plus, coconut oil are just a few excellent supplements. I sure hope that her meds help her and please let us know how the fungal testing goes.

 

[BuckeyeBullyMama]

bullmama-thanks for the reminder about nuvet, our breeder actually encouraged it and gave us info about it but I'd totally forgot! I was real consistent about yogurt for awhile but not so much here lately....wonder if that's part of her issue????

 

[Davidh]

It could be from allergies and as [MENTION=2]bullmama[/MENTION] said her immune system is low and needs to be built back up. If she doesn't show improvement soon, you may want to try another food. We feed FROMM and have had good luck with it, 4 star grain free for the adults and FROMM Puppy Gold in the pink bag for the pups.

 

[ddnene]

It does look like mange, but if he did a scrape and it came up negative I agree w/Lisa it very well could be stress related or an allergy issue…

 

[2BullyMama]

Looks like allergies to me... I would get off the Nutro and find a good high quality food.

English Bulldog News Forums - Dog Food Ratings at English Bulldog News

 

[BuckeyeBullyMama]

I didn't think Nutro Ultra was a really bad" food. Depending on the type it's rated similarly to Fromm in some categories on Dogfoodadvisor.com and EBN. There is a store that carries Fromm that I can get to as early as Friday, one that carries Merrick and Inova as early as right now. I'm struggling with do I give the current treatment a couple of days or switch food now? If I switch food now, what should I look for as the allergy trigger from Nutro Ultra To change? Chicken? My Boxer had allergies and crude protein was his trigger in adult food, but puppy food is different. So confusing!!!!

 

[2BullyMama]

I didn't think Nutro Ultra was a really bad" food. Depending on the type it's rated similarly to Fromm in some categories on Dogfoodadvisor.com and EBN. There is a store that carries Fromm that I can get to as early as Friday, one that carries Merrick and Inova as early as right now. I'm struggling with do I give the current treatment a couple of days or switch food now? If I switch food now, what should I look for as the allergy trigger from Nutro Ultra To change? Chicken? My Boxer had allergies and crude protein was his trigger in adult food, but puppy food is different. So confusing!!!!

It is very confusing... I would hold off on switching food till you finish treatment and take time to determine if a switch is right to do. I went through a lot before changing foods even did full blood screen allergy testing, which is when we found out my two were allergic to what I was feeding

 

[bullmama]

I would wait a little before changing. You are right!

But I would certainly change, eventually. Looking at the ingredients I'm honestly a little surprised DFA gives this 4 stars.

It has 3 different rices, so combined it is likely made up of mostly rice. Ingredient splitting is a common way for manufactures to promote the top ingredient listed as a protein.

Nutro (Mars inc) doesn't make great quality foods, they are mid level, meaning not awful but not great either. They also make greenies- yuk!

I hope I don't sound like a food snob, but I did a whole year of food testing as well as research and found out that it does make a difference, especially in bulldogs.

 

[BuckeyeBullyMama]

The food stuff is so confusing! Bullmama- I think being a food snob is okay (not that you are) I want to feed my pets the best I'm all about promotion wellness through nutrition (wish I could do better at the same for myself-lol). Funny thing I know folks talk about the expense but where I found Fromm, the small bag is the exact same price as the Nutro Ultra and cheaper than the Royal Canin she came to us in from the breeder! I never would have thought about the rice content. Thanks for all of your input, it's so helpful!!!

 

[bullmama]

The food stuff is so confusing! Bullmama- I think being a food snob is okay (not that you are) I want to feed my pets the best I'm all about promotion wellness through nutrition (wish I could do better at the same for myself-lol). Funny thing I know folks talk about the expense but where I found Fromm, the small bag is the exact same price as the Nutro Ultra and cheaper than the Royal Canin she came to us in from the breeder! I never would have thought about the rice content. Thanks for all of your input, it's so helpful!!!

Crazy that is how it is but so true, Fromm doesn't advertise, only through contests, giveaways and word of mouth, so all those extra dollars the other brands charge is going into advertising.

 

[BuckeyeBullyMama]

I wanted to post a Cady update but first let me say....you all are awsome....you were right from the beginning! 3 weeks, 3 vet visits and several hundred dollars later we are FINALLY treating Cady for demodectic mange. So here's some catch up...at Cady's 2nd appointment (same practice same vet) the vet is totally perplexed that the cultures showed nothing and the scrape was negative for Demodex so, given symptoms and a consult with another vet in the practice they treat for sarcoptic mange and give her one injection of ivermectin, keep her on the simpliceff and schedule her back for a recheck and 2nd injection in 2 weeks. I'm perplexed, thinking to myself "where did she pick this up?" but go with it. In the next two weeks we aren't seeing much improvement and a few new mild spots start popping up. My husband and I talked and decided to switch her to Fromm Puppy Gold 9 days ago, just to do our own experiment on the allergies. I kid you not, after 3 days into the food transition hair started growing back on the initial big spot! But, still no significant improvement on the other newer spots.
3rd visit (same practice different vet) on Tuesday, vet does a re-scrape (no charge...gee thanks...lol) she found one demodex mite and with Cady's symptoms said that was enough for her to move forward with treatment for demodectic mange. Cady is on daily ivermectin now with the simplicef and weekly chlorhexidine baths. Does anyone have any experience with ivermectin treatment for demodectic mange? How long does it take before symptoms improve? Vet said she feels it kind of an either/or on using chlorhexidine or pyoben shampoo, we had some chlorhexidine so didn't get pyoben yet, anyone have experience with one being better than the other?
Oh yeah, and what a difference on Fromm...no more puppy farts and she's down to pooing from 3x to 2x per day and she's not even fully off the Nutro Ultra Puppy. After doing a little research I found 3 different retailers in my area that carry it too!

 

[2BullyMama]

I wanted to post a Cady update but first let me say....you all are awsome....you were right from the beginning! 3 weeks, 3 vet visits and several hundred dollars later we are FINALLY treating Cady for demodectic mange. So here's some catch up...at Cady's 2nd appointment (same practice same vet) the vet is totally perplexed that the cultures showed nothing and the scrape was negative for Demodex so, given symptoms and a consult with another vet in the practice they treat for sarcoptic mange and give her one injection of ivermectin, keep her on the simpliceff and schedule her back for a recheck and 2nd injection in 2 weeks. I'm perplexed, thinking to myself "where did she pick this up?" but go with it. In the next two weeks we aren't seeing much improvement and a few new mild spots start popping up. My husband and I talked and decided to switch her to Fromm Puppy Gold 9 days ago, just to do our own experiment on the allergies. I kid you not, after 3 days into the food transition hair started growing back on the initial big spot! But, still no significant improvement on the other newer spots.
3rd visit (same practice different vet) on Tuesday, vet does a re-scrape (no charge...gee thanks...lol) she found one demodex mite and with Cady's symptoms said that was enough for her to move forward with treatment for demodectic mange. Cady is on daily ivermectin now with the simplicef and weekly chlorhexidine baths. Does anyone have any experience with ivermectin treatment for demodectic mange? How long does it take before symptoms improve? Vet said she feels it kind of an either/or on using chlorhexidine or pyoben shampoo, we had some chlorhexidine so didn't get pyoben yet, anyone have experience with one being better than the other?
Oh yeah, and what a difference on Fromm...no more puppy farts and she's down to pooing from 3x to 2x per day and she's not even fully off the Nutro Ultra Puppy. After doing a little research I found 3 different retailers in my area that carry it too!

So glad you finally got a solid diagnosis! Now to get her all better.... I will tag a few members that I think have mange experience.... best of luck getting her all healed up! keeping you on the prayer list!