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Has anyone's dog had it, can a vet give antibiotics for it to clear it up. He's a light colored dog and his skin is pinkish under the fur but some parts get more reddish.
I don't think it's his food, it may be pesticides in the backyard in the place I'm renting but i will be gone this month.
Easy way to find out if its his food; try something else. Go down to PetSmart or Tractor supply and buy a bag of "sensitive skin" dog food. It would only take a bag or two to rule out his current food.
I have a cat that was having serious issues with his skin. I took him to the Vet twice about it and they gave him a shot that helped for a while. I finally decided to start using Purina sensitive skin food. The issue cleared up within a couple of weeks and has not returned.
To answer your questions. Yes, a vet can give him a shot that will relieve the problem short term.
I doubt it is caused by pesticides in the yard.
Definitely try switching brands of dog food if you haven't already, just to see if it makes a difference. There are hypo-allergenic foods on the market that might help. Many brands of dog food can cause problems, and what might affect one dog may not affect another. (For instance, many people find that their dogs do wonderfully well on Blue Buffalo dog food, yet my dog developed diarrhea when he was on it. Took me a few months and a light bulb going off in my head to finally realize it was his dog food that was causing the issue...within 3-4 days of switching, the diarrhea cleared up completely.)
If you haven't already, the first thing you should do is take your dog to a vet for testing. They might be able to pinpoint the exact cause of the allergies, which may or may not be food-related. Finding the cause is the first step in treating.
Also, speak to your vet about things you might be able to add to his diet. My dog doesn't have allergies, but I began giving him brewer's yeast as I'd read it is very good for the coat, and it apparently helps dogs with anxieties. Unfortunately I haven't seen any improvement in my dog's anxieties (border collie, nervous breed), but his coat is absolutely beautiful now. Shiny, less shedding, and no more dry skin, which used to cause him to scratch a bit. However, if you do decide to look into this (brewer's yeast, not any regular yeast) first consult with a vet to see if it is a good idea for your dog.
I have a pet whose dermatitis was traced to an allergy to fleas. We use a weapons-grade fleas treatment and salmon paste, plus hot spot spray when necessary, and in summer take her for shots. I'm starting to think the best carpet treatment would be DUST...fleas can't develop a resistance to it!
Good luck with your pet...It's hard to see them uncomfortable.
If you haven't already, the first thing you should do is take your dog to a vet for testing. They might be able to pinpoint the exact cause of the allergies, which may or may not be food-related. Finding the cause is the first step in treating.
I agree with this but do be aware that it is pricey (for mine it was $220.50) to have it done but you then know the dogs level of allergy to a variety of trees, grasses, pollens, mites and fungi - nearly 100 of the most common environmental causes. It does not include food allergies, for that you need to do a 12 week trial - most often it's using Hill's prescription Z-D.* One of my old black labs has strong allergies to 3 kinds of grasses, 3 kinds of weeds, 1 tree, 3 kinds of mites (which are the most significant allergy for her) and 2 kinds of fungi.
She gets an allergenic extract prescription product specifically formulated for her particular allergies, made by Heska, the lab that does the testing. It's two drops under her tongue, twice a day. Over time (about a year) it will help desensitize her to what causes her the most problems. The first 2 bottles (formula A & B) were $167.19. She will soon finish the second bottle and then it is on to Formula C for about 6 months. I assume the cost will be similar.
She also gets gentocin/myconazole to deal with her ear problems and it's been a big help, the vet can now get an otoscope in her ears, which was impossible when I first got her. She'll be on it for the rest of her life to the tune of around $175.00 a year.
She takes 75 mg of diphenhydramine twice a day. You can buy the expensive name brand product or find the Rexall bottles with 375 pills for under 7 bucks per bottle.
* Note: I would start with a change of food to something with limited ingredients and a novel protein - bison, venison, etc. available at pet stores and see if that makes much of a difference. Eliminate anything that contains chicken, turkey or duck in any form be it meat, meal or by-products. That may be all you pup needs but if it doesn't seem to make a difference then you should consider doing the allergy testing and/or trying a prescription food available from the vet.
Of the 17 dogs I've had (12 adopted as seniors) beginning back in 1988 only this one dog has had any allergies and her's just happen to be very severe, not all dogs with allergies have such complicated and expensive requirements to deal with them. Hopefully yours will not.
Thanks everyone for the responses, he has good days and bad days. Some days he bites his back or side to the point where I need to put Bacitracin on it to heal. Sometimes his hind legs get so red they are almost purple. I really can't afford spend much so I am trying all that I can but if he keeps getting worse I will take him to the vet. A friend told me it may be the pollen which has been very bad around here. He's a little guy so I try to give his 1/3 of a Benadryl crushed and in some vanilla ice cream because that's the treat he won't refuse.
I ended up taking the dog to the vet yesterday. In the bright light of the exam room his skin looked redder and worse. She did a skin scraping and checked him for mange but he didn't have it,thank God. His ears were fine, his temperature was fine. He didn't even flinch when she scraped his hot spot which cause light bleeding.
She told me he needed Prednisone so I had to buy that there and it was only $15 plus the visit cost and I asked if any of the free antibiotics at a local pharmacy would work and one can help so I got that. I told her I could not afford any expensive medicine. She told me that shampoo they had was expensive so I could buy Selsen Blue instead, so I did and he's better already.
Noe him and his brother will be having a spoon full of ice cream twice a day because that's the only way to sneak the meds for him to take it.
I ended up taking the dog to the vet yesterday. In the bright light of the exam room his skin looked redder and worse. She did a skin scraping and checked him for mange but he didn't have it,thank God. His ears were fine, his temperature was fine. He didn't even flinch when she scraped his hot spot which cause light bleeding.
She told me he needed Prednisone so I had to buy that there and it was only $15 plus the visit cost and I asked if any of the free antibiotics at a local pharmacy would work and one can help so I got that. I told her I could not afford any expensive medicine. She told me that shampoo they had was expensive so I could buy Selsen Blue instead, so I did and he's better already.
Noe him and his brother will be having a spoon full of ice cream twice a day because that's the only way to sneak the meds for him to take it.
I know you said you don't think it is his food, but be aware that is the most likely culprit, and could be either a main ingredient, a by-product, a preservative or additive, or something else entirely in the food causing the reaction/allergy/sensitivity.
I know money is tight, and good food is more expensive initially, but in the long run it will be cheaper because you feed less with good food, and your vet bills will go down due to having a healthier dog.
It will take time to see how he is reacting to the new food; you may see a difference in a week or two but it could take a month for you to see a change in his coat and skin health. You absolutely need to stick with it whether you see a change or not. At worst, your dogs will be on a quality food and you will need to do further tests to find out exactly what else other than food is causing the allergy.
I would NOT use any shampoo, medicated or otherwise on skin that is already irritated. You can "bathe" with clean COOL water (which will soothe the skin) then pat dry if you feel you need to rinse him off.
Last edited by twelvepaw; 03-26-2016 at 07:51 AM..
I know you said you don't think it is his food, but be aware that is the most likely culprit, and could be either a main ingredient, a by-product, a preservative or additive, or something else entirely in the food causing the reaction/allergy/sensitivity.
I know money is tight, and good food is more expensive initially, but in the long run it will be cheaper because you feed less with good food, and your vet bills will go down due to having a healthier dog.
I would NOT use any shampoo, medicated or otherwise on skin that is already irritated. You can "bathe" with clean COOL water then pat dry if you feel you need to rinse him off.
It's most likely pollen and the vet suggested the shampoo and he's better. also I moved from the east coast of Florida to the west so it's a different environment. I the shampoo will get the pollen off him,I will do it twice this week and then once a week for a while and then less often as long as he's better. We also have those no see um bugs and I'm living on a canal, but I'm moving next week. I switched his food and it didn't help.
He hates taking a bath but was fine once the shampoo was on him, so he felt better right away. His hot spots are healing better too and his hind legs are less red.
There are many causes, but a grass allergy is often the culprit. It is kind of expensive, but I would suggest allergy testing. I don't recommend you switch dog foods without knowing what he's allergic to; doing that is just shooting in the dark. My sister got her Cocker Spaniel allergy tested and found out he was allergic to several meats and grains, but then she switched him to a grain free beef dog food and it cured the problem. Without allergy testing, she would never have guessed all his allergies and he would always have skin rashes and infections. Now he feels so much better, and all it took was a simple allergy test. Investing in the allergy test can save you hundreds on repeated vet visits, antibiotics, and new dog foods, so it's worth it in the long run.
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Go down to PetSmart or Tractor supply and buy a bag of "sensitive skin" dog food. It would only take a bag or two to rule out his current food. 
