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Dermatology Photo Gallery
August 2006
Asia is a three year old female mixed breed. We do not know her heritage exactly; we adopted her when she was about 6 months old and knew little of her history.
Simba joined the household a few months later; he was 18 months old and his owner couldn't keep him anymore, so we took him on the condition that he had to get along with Asia. Well, they quickly became the best of pals. He is an American Staffordshire terrier, and is now 4 years old.
We knew Simba had had a series of ear infections in his first year. We switched diets and aggressively treated his ears with routine cleaning and medication (to this day he bolts if I get out the ear cleaner or medicine). He was also neutered (Asia was already spayed). His ears improved, although we noticed he occasionally seemed itchy, especially on his sides.
Just after Asia turned one, she had her first bout of red skin and hives in the summer just after she turned one year old. A course of corticosteroids and antibiotics cleared her skin up and we didn't think much of it.
From that point on their skin problems have consistently worsened. The signs were intermittent at first and seemed unrelated to much of anything (diet, season, etc). Mostly, they are really itchy. Both are worst on their undersides, and both chew their feet. Both have lost a lot of hair. Asia mostly just gets really red skin (sometimes with hives), whereas Simba is more prone to developing sores and scabs as well, though his skin gets quite pink and inflamed as well. He is also more prone to ear infections, though they are relatively infrequent.
We treated them at various times with antibiotics or corticosteroids, or both. At first the response was dramatic, but over time it has become harder and harder to control their symptoms. We have also tried fatty acid supplements (perhaps helped a bit) and antihistamines (which did little). Several diet changes and half-hearted diet trials have also happened over the years, culminating in a veterinary prescription diet (fish and potato) for skin allergies. This diet hasn't made them well, exactly, but other diets do seem to make them worse.
The most remarkable thing about all this is how I have become used to the "new normal". Since things progressed slowly and gradually, I kind of got used to the itchiness, and the redness, and the hair loss. This past summer I dug out some old photos of Simba, and was shocked at how he has changed over the last couple of years. Coupled with the fact that antibiotics and steroids were barely getting a response and the dogs were increasingly itchy, I knew we had to try something new. By August, Simba was also covered in sores surrounded by patches of peeling skin. I had to try to find answers, rather than blindly treating the symptoms.
I decided since we had never gone through all the steps to properly work out a skin problem, especially suspected allergies, starting from scratch would be the best way to try to sort out Asia and Simba's problems. I had hoped to see to a board-certified dermatologist, but there are none here (even though I live in a city with a Veterinary College). In July I contacted a vet in a city 6 hours away who is board-certified in general medicine with an interest in dermatology; he was the only vet I knew of that does intradermal skin (allergy) testing. He recommended one of three options: seeing a vet here in town with whom he regularly consults on skin cases, coming to see him, or waiting until September to come and see a dermatologist who would be joining his practice. By the time I got back from holidays in mid-August I decided I couldn't wait until September, nor could I wait until I could arrange to travel out of town with 2 kids and 2 dogs for an appointment. I elected to make an appointment with the local vet recommended to me by the out-of-town specialist.
This is where the journey begins.
