Sudden appearance of scabs all over Duke's body?

Kayla

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#1
I just noticed these about a week ago, at first they were only on one area near his hind quaters we were at the dog park awhile back and he was playing with two hyper black labs so at first I thought perhaps one may have nipped him and the scabs were there as a result. However over the week they have started showing up along his back and now I have found two on his right side. I managed to pull two loose ones off to get a better look at what they are. As far as I can tell its just a scab which grows around the fur so when you take the scab out a small chunk of fur gets ripped out.

I did bath him about two weeks ago at a facility which uses no name shampoo- not sure if maybe it irritated his skin. He did not have these scabs before and I have never seen anything like this. He is allergic to fish as far as I can tell as while he was on a diet based primarily on fish he started scratching all of the time and his stools became very loose- upon switching these stopped. I have anti itch oatmeal shampoo but Im not sure if this will only furthur dry his skin out.

What are some dog safe products or oitments I can put on the affected areas in the meantime to relieve his itching? Any ideas as to what is causing this?

Thanks
Kayla
 

Tazwell

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#2
I fostered a Shepherd/Lab mix last winter named Timothy, and the same thing happened to him. He went to the grooming salon, got a bath, and a few days later, scabs appeared all over his body-- and his hair started falling out a little bit.

The vet told me it could either be a reaction to the shampoo, or maybe he formed a skin infection from either not drying all the way, or vigorous brushing. Neither one happened, because I'm the one that groomed him (I worked at the grooming salon at the time...)

Antibiotics cleared it right up.
 

Kayla

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#3
Excellent thats great to hear, I groomed him and I did fully dry him/ did not brush him so I will call my vet and see about anti biotics just curious what did your vet perscribe
 

Tazwell

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#4
I can't remember exactly what my vet prescribed for him. It was quite some time ago
 

Kayla

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#5
Thats okay thanks for posting it was very helpful. I conditioned his skin today with a sensitive soothing oatmeal conditioner ( which is waterless thank gosh as he hates baths) and then gently brushed him out. I got all of the scabs from what I can see, underneath are red bumps much like a rash. They take up about 1/16th oh his back with alot covering the top of his hind quaters and lower back. I washed the area with antiseptic ( the non stinging variety), and washed dried the area. I then used about 1/4th a tube of polysporin and applied it directly to the skin where the red bumps are. I am going to try polysporin for a day or two before I call the vet.
 

Kayla

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#7
Gemp- Oh ya I know it's no fun for him. I bought pure aloe gel today and massaged him head to toe with it, he looked sooo relieved, I then covered the worst area with a blanket held on with a scarf to prevent him from chewing himself.
 
V

Vee

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#8
Try vitamin E pills

A friend of mine has a chocolate lab that had this same thing happen. Someone else told him to give Vitamin E pills from wal-mart to the dog, about 6 a day, and it actually helped reduce the itching and his skin cleared up within just over a week. You couldn't tell anything had ever been wrong.

I saw the dog myself during the "vitamin E pill" time and witnessed the improvement to the skin during that time.
 
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#9
A friend of mine has a chocolate lab that had this same thing happen. Someone else told him to give Vitamin E pills from wal-mart to the dog, about 6 a day, and it actually helped reduce the itching and his skin cleared up within just over a week. You couldn't tell anything had ever been wrong.

I saw the dog myself during the "vitamin E pill" time and witnessed the improvement to the skin during that time.
When originally reading your reply, you had changed the subject line to "Try fish oil" ... and every place that now says "Vitamin E pills" had originally said "fish oil pills".

When trying to quote your post ... it had changed. You had edited the post, as everything had been changed to "Vitamin E pills". (Guess you had gone back to re-read Kayla's original post ... and noticed where she had written that her dog is allergic to fish??)

But ... if you had personally witnessed improvement in the dog you mention ... then which one was it? Fish oil pills or Vitamin E pills? :confused:
 

borzoimom

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#10
Knowing there is a fish allergy I would use vitamin E - both dietary and also on the scabs. Also it doesnt sound like DM but your vet could rule that pretty quick with a scraping. It does sound more like an allergic reaction to that bath. I see you tried the oatmeal shampoo but another good one might be a good tar shampoo. ( like this or similar http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail....NextTag Feed&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=14429 ) While you do not have fleas, it is a very soothing shampoo. ( but it uh stinks in the washing.)
 
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Vee

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#11
It was vitamin E

Sorry for the confusion, when I first replied to the post I had in mind it was fish oil tablets, but I called my friend real quick and he said no, it was vitamin E. That's why I edited the reply. I guess in that few moments you had read it.
I just now got in from work and signed back on to see if you had gotten my suggestion. The vitamin E capsules he used were the ones from wal-mart, so the expense was reasonable. But when it comes to our doggies, cost doesn't really matter. Good luck with whatever you try for your precious one.
 

Kayla

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#12
Thanks for all of the tips guys, It is starting to look much better I did give him one benadryl yesterday and that seemed to help, I will keep everyone updated.
 

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