Hello everyone, I’m hoping for a bit if guidance. I was stroking my beloved dog this morning and he laid out on his back and I noticed a bald patch of skin near to his inner thigh on his belly. It’s very dark in colour, about 6cms across and looks wrinkled and leathery. He has dark skin under there anyway so I hadn’t noticed it before but it’s definitely balder than the other side.
Last summer he suffered from an allergy to flea bites and so was itching and biting all over. Its cleared up now thanks to the vet treatment. We also changed his food last summer and he’s now on a special dry food for sensitive skin.
I’m taking him to the vet later this week but I wondered if anyone had any ideas for any natural products or remedies that I can put on the area which might help.
Thanks very much
Jane
You couldn't have noticed it earlier unless he's permanently flipped over for tummy rubs. That's good news if it's a fungal infection - that sounds temporary and treatable so hopefully he won't be uncomfortable for too much longer. While I had the spaniel at the vet this afternoon to check progress on her torn knee ligament, I got some more tablets for the demented spitz-thing so hopefully he'll stop 'twerking' against any and every piece of furniture for a while. I love aloe vera. It's mild, natural and deals with all sorts of nonsense. If you don't have the gel just mix with a little oil. He'll probably love the massage as well (typical dog). Hope it works soon. x
Thank you for your reply Valerie, he is itching and licking it. The vet took a skin scrape and is fairly sure it’s a bacterial and fungal infection. He’s prescribed some antibacterial shampoo and antibiotics. When he saw it, he said…“ce n’est pas jolie ça”. Poor doglet, I wish I’d noticed sooner.
If it doesn’t clear up by the end of the antibiotic course, he’ll take a biopsy.
Sorry to hear about your Spitz, I might try rubbing some aloe Vera on it too to help ease the itching.
Jane
Does he seem to be itching with it at all, Jane? It doesn't sound as though it is, more like a birth mark. I've been Googling around and the most common cause seems to be Alopecia X but there are several more causes so I think it's deffo a vet diagnosis so he/she can do any necessary tests. Do let us know how he gets on.
Re the allergies, our Spitz-thing also goes insane and rubs raw, bald patches all along his back but the meds supplied by the vet only lasted a couple of weeks and it became ridiculous. He's the only one of our 3 dogs that's actually affected though they all have the same diet, run around the same areas etc etc. Now I actually mix up a bit of olive oil, aloe vera and apple cider vinegar (a tiny bit in case it stings) and put that on him. It's not 100% but seems to give him a little relief at least for a while