The best magazine
The Derm Diary series of articles was authored by Lianne McLeod DVM, who was the About.com Guide to Exotic Pets for 11 years.
Dermatology Diary Table of contents
Dermatology Photo Gallery
Derm Diary "chapters"
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 |
The Fourth Week Report
The Dogs: the first part of the fourth week is marked my almost constant rain, a rarity here. The dogs barely make it outside (Asia especially; she can barely stand to be out long enough to relieve herself).
After a couple of days of this, the dogs are getting increasingly itchy and have now started chewing on their paws, probably worse than ever. I am not sure if it the moisture or the fact that they stay indoors all the time, but the rainy weather makes matters much, much worse. Simba's skin gets pretty pink off and on still, when he has been almost exclusively indoors, so clearly it is not simply related to the outdoors. By the end of the fourth week, Asia is limping a bit and has a sore between her toes from licking. Fortunately, the weather clears and so does Asia's sore paw. Her lump continues to grow, though. It is quite ugly.
The Food Trial: Dr. G. calls to say that it is not clear if bison is a good meat for a food trial, and in fact there are some questions about the use of venison as well. She suggests goat; this is definitely something the dogs have never had before. She has tried to find a source, but only finds someone who might be able to bring in goat meat (a local producer of raw diets).
The following day a friend checks at the local Farmer's market, and locates someone who has meat goats (and feeds goat to their own dogs). I call them, and we make arrangements to buy some goat meat, but if won't be ready for another week and a half. I'm off to buy my fourth bag of prescription diet. The good news is goat is much less expensive than what I am feeding now!
Medications: I am giving the antihistamine almost every day, since on days that I skip it they definitely seem worse. Bathing doesn't seem to do a whole lot, but they have never smelled better! I am still having a hard time with the topical spray, though I use it a few times when Asia is at her worst.
The Fifth Week Report
The Dogs: both are still pretty itchy off and on. The foot chewing has decreased with drier weather, but later in the week it rained a bit more and the symptoms worsened again. Both have some sores on their necks and their feet are red again. For a couple of days, the skin around Asia's eyes had looked very red and inflamed. However, a bath definitely seems to make them feel better, and their skin settles down. I even took pictures of Simba's belly and flank since he looks so good.
Food Trial: still feeding Ultra z/d, until the goat meat arrives. The food trial is still going quite well, though the dogs are eating lots of crab apples as they fall off the tree. Simba also stole a peanut butter and jelly sandwich off the table near the end of week 5. So much for a strict food trial! The good news is that his skin is pretty good for a couple of days following the great PB & J caper - no worse than before, anyway. A bit of bad news on the goat meat: it won't be available for yet another week. That will be 6+ weeks on Ultra z/d before even trying the goat.
Medication: Still giving the antihistamine pretty much every day; I skip a day here and there to see if weaning them down will work but the itchiness seems to worsen quickly if I skip a day. They are still on their antibiotics. I try to remember to give Asia a squirt of the topical medication before we go out for a walk, so she doesn't just lick it off.
Part 2:A Major Setback
Source: ...