Playing detective and grasping at straws

I need to rename this blog: "Things that are wrong with my dogs". Seriously. I'm adding current skin photos so I have them handy when I take Jenny to the specialist. My phone has internet now so I can pull up the blog if needed. (my camera takes better photos than my phone or I would just use that) Because with my luck her skin will be back to normal by the time we have our appointment. I found out a few things today that might also be helpful. Fingers crossed. The top photo is from today. The two below are from Sunday evening.

Slightly better than her last photos but not by much. She was also super itchy that day and left some bloody spots on her chest.

I decided to look up some things using the blog to backtrack. Jenny came to us in September of 2007. Her skin looked great when we got her and there was no itching at all. She had her first breakout 2 months later. It was mild in comparison but she went on antibiotics and Temeril-P. She was also itching in January of 2008. (I blogged about looking for a food that could help.) I wont bore you will all the details of everything I found, but looking back I saw that she had a good itch free few months in spring of 2009. So I asked the store I buy her food from what she was on at the time. It turns out she was eating HealthWise Lamb and Oatmeal formula for one meal and Primal Pheasant for the other. So tonight I picked up a bag of the HW to switch her over to. I hate feeling helpless so this is at least something to try. I find it interesting that she was doing well on a food with grains in it. But like I read on a friends website, all dogs are individuals and you need to find what works for your dog. Even if it flys in the face of popular opinion. (Or in this case my own beliefs!)

I've also taken her off everything except the cipro and added Temeril-P again. (and some pro-biotics) I HAVE to get her comfortable. She is itching herself raw regardless of the antihistamines and other stuff I have tried. If anything she looks worse. Can you imagine having your whole body feel like a mosquito bite? It doesn't sound fun. (Nor is it fun to watch either.) I have also e-mailed her foster home and asked a few questions about her past and the food she was previously on. Yeah it's a long shot but again it is doing something. It is aggravating to know she has had times that she is completely itch free and it has progressed to now being so awful.

I am also considering acupuncture and Reiki at this point. There is a vet nearby that does some acupuncture and I know a person who does the Reiki. I also came across some suggestions in the comments section of a post I haven't tried yet either. (CoQ10 and Grapeseed extract - Thanks Amy.) So I'll see how the recent adjustments go once I taper her Temeril-P down. Wish us luck.

Jack had his follow up appointment today. He did great and didn't need to be sedated to be poked. Thankfully the abscess is draining well on its own. Yay for at least that bit of luck!

Turns out it can always get worse

Jenny is NOT a happy camper. Yesterday she was very red and she started to have a flare up again. So I gave her a medicated bath and put the benadryl to her. At lunch time today she didn't look to bad. I had given her things to chew to keep her busy and I thought she even looked a bit better. Then I came home tonight to this:

WTH? She was miserable. So back into the tub she went. Luckily I also picked up more cipro for the infection. I grabbed a different antihistamine to try because the benadryl seems to not be as effective as it used to be. I am SO glad I made the appointment with the specialist but I am feeling very frustrated that she has to suffer so much in the meantime. I'm really hoping there is an end in sight to this. I feel so bad for her.

(She is currently curled up beside me sleeping. Maybe this means the chlorpheniramine has kicked in. Fingers crossed.)

A skin update

I'll start with the better news first. Jenny's tail hair is growing back very well. I don't think you'll be able to see the injured area at all by the time all the fur grows back.

Here is her armpit and chest area looking much better.

And her belly. The majority of the rash is gone. However the bad news is that she is still pretty itchy.

For those interested she is currently on: Welactin omega 3 oil, Pentoxifylline 200mg twice daily, ciprofloxacin 1/2 of 250mg once daily, (for the skin infection) Allerplex 3 capsules daily, (2 am 1 pm) Dermatrophin 1 tablet twice daily, (both by Standard Process) and Benadryl 25mg 3 to 4 times daily for the itching. BTW Benadryl now comes in bottles of 100 capsules which makes life a little easier.

I've also taken her off all peanut butter just to rule that out as a cause. It wasn't included in the food testing I'm told. I've been stuffing her kongs with canned wellness chicken with her treats to freeze instead. She is also getting regular baths with a medicated shampoo. She is not impressed with that part of the regimen. She likes getting the pills though because it means a canned food treat. And of course Jack gets a spoonful too so he likes her pill routine as well.

The other good news is that I think the Pentoxifylline is starting to kick in. I swear I can see more hair growth on her than she had before which can be one of the effects. But maybe it's wishful thinking. I dunno. I can't find any really good "before this got bad" photos of those areas I see it in.

So my next step is to switch her food to see if that helps. I'm thinking of trying the new Honest Kitchen Zeal dehydrated food. It is for dogs with sensitivities. My next step after that might also have to be heading to a canine dermatologist. My bank account shudders at the thought since it sounds costly with again no guarantees.

We'll see how it goes.

Skin show

So Jenny is in the middle of another skin flare up. I swear there have been more flare ups than normal in the past few months. Maybe it just feels like that though. I hate seeing her miserable. To keep her mind off the itching I've been doing a lot of training sessions with her. We've worked on article indications for tracking and we are getting in LOTS of Rally practice. I've taken her to the prison twice to be the demo dog for signs. The good thing is that she will work for anyone so my handlers have gotten to practice with her too. Since their dogs are still learning it is good for them to get the feel of a course with a trained dog. Jenny doesn't mind. She always loves the opportunity to earn more rewards. Plus it helps wear her out while keeping her mind off the itching. Here are a few photos from her vet visit yesterday. They are a bit washed out color wise from the real thing but you can get the idea. (photos are from my phone camera)

Armpit area.

Belly and inner thighs.

And to top it off here is how her tail has healed so far from her previous incident. Hopefully the hair grows back eventually. We took some blood to send out for thyroid testing and started her on a different antibiotic (ciprofloxacin) for the skin infection. Multiple skin scrapings showed no results. (both from yesterday and past visits) She is also still on the pentoxifylline as well as benadryl when needed which is frequently at the moment. I am also bathing her in a medicated shampoo.

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The other thing I have found that seems to be helping in keeping her from itching has been chewing on stuff. I bought a new knuckle bone today and a bully stick. I don't usually do the bully sticks because of the smell but thought I'd give it a try. She loved it of course but I was worried she would eat the whole thing so after awhile I took it and traded for the knuckle bone. So far it's working. She's happily chewing away on that instead of scratching herself raw.

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A friend mentioned some homeopathic supplements for us to also try. (which will be my next internet shopping stop this evening) I'll keep you posted on our progress. If I find something that works I'll be sure to share it.