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Skin bumps...

ZephyrZoo

ZephyrZoo

Citizen of Zooville
Hi all,

My missus has these little bumps on her skin that come and go. They're not itchy, they're not sore, they're just there. They are similar in feel to a bump from a mosquito bite. I have been to countless (admittedly useless) vets a number of times over the issue and all I get given is some sensitive shampoo for "allergies." Anyone have any ideas? She used to only get them on her chest and neck but lately some on her underside too.

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I had an Alaskan Malamute who sometimes got rashes due to the temperature difference between my country and his home country.

My veterinarian friends at the time recommended that instead of any medication, I give him a paste mixed with olive oil from cans of sardines mixed with flaked brewer's yeast... Hey! That mixture was miraculous.
 
Calydon said:
I had an Alaskan Malamute who sometimes got rashes due to the temperature difference between my country and his home country.

My veterinarian friends at the time recommended that instead of any medication, I give him a paste mixed with olive oil from cans of sardines mixed with flaked brewer's yeast... Hey! That mixture was miraculous.
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Thanks, that's good advice. As is she gets a teaspoon of olive oil with her breakfast every day and it definitely helps her coat but doesn't seem to make a difference to the bumps. She also gets two or three sprats every now and then. It could be weather connected actually as our weather has been up and down. But it usually is in South Africa.
 
Veterinarian here.

The red bumps on your girl's groin and around her vulva looks to me like bacterial folliculitis, or multifocal inflammation of the hair follicles and secondary mild infection with regular skin microbial flora like Staph. They are similar to facial pimples in people. I see them mostly appear on the areas of the body with lesser/ thinner hair like the chest, armpits, belly, groin, genitalia.
Some dogs can be prone to getting these belly lesions from time to time as their skin can be overtly sensitive and/or due to genetics. Sometimes this can be seasonally triggered ie change in seasons/weather.

Washing the affected area regular with medicated shampoos that the active ingredient chlorhexidine can help alleviate these lesions. You may need to bathe her on a weekly basis while these folliculitis lesions are present. I like to supplement dogs with sensitive skin with omega-3s essential fatty acids ie Fish or Krill oil at a dose of 1500mg per 10kg/ 20lb body weight. You can apply daily a thin amount of extra virgin coconut oil directly onto the affected skin to provide it with some protection, and I personally do like the medical benefits of coconut oil topically.
I would also highly suggest putting her on an oral dog-specific probiotic daily containing the bacterial strains Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus coagulans to help with her skin health.

I can tell that she has hives/urticaria on her skin on the 2nd photo. This is often due to an acute hypersensitivity reaction/ allergy based reaction. It usually is environmentally triggered, ie grass, weeds, dusts, dust mites, mold, etc. It can be difficult in my experience to get rid of the these lingering allergens in your immediate environment. Reducing the amount of exposure to these allergens is the key management to these flare-ups.
You can use anti-histamines to help with these hives should they appear and flare up. I personally like the active ingredient cetirizine (Zyrtec) at 10mg per 5-10kg or 10-20lb body weight - orally once a day (up to twice daily).
 
1000extra said:
Veterinarian here.

The red bumps on your girl's groin and around her vulva looks to me like bacterial folliculitis, or multifocal inflammation of the hair follicles and secondary mild infection with regular skin microbial flora like Staph. They are similar to facial pimples in people. I see them mostly appear on the areas of the body with lesser/ thinner hair like the chest, armpits, belly, groin, genitalia.
Some dogs can be prone to getting these belly lesions from time to time as their skin can be overtly sensitive and/or due to genetics. Sometimes this can be seasonally triggered ie change in seasons/weather.
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Thanks so much for your advice. These bumps in the belly area are a recent thing. Previously she used to only get them on her back, chest and neck and only in furred areas like in the second photo. I'm currently wahsing her about once a week with this Barrier Medicated Shampoo that was prescribed to me by my vet. It's probably reduced the humps by about 40% but they still come and go seemingly of their own accord. 1000203595.jpg
1000extra said:
Washing the affected area regular with medicated shampoos that the active ingredient chlorhexidine can help alleviate these lesions. You may need to bathe her on a weekly basis while these folliculitis lesions are present. I like to supplement dogs with sensitive skin with omega-3s essential fatty acids ie Fish or Krill oil at a dose of 1500mg per 10kg/ 20lb body weight. You can apply daily a thin amount of extra virgin coconut oil directly onto the affected skin to provide it with some protection, and I personally do like the medical benefits of coconut oil topically.
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Thank you! I'm not sure if the shampoo contains these ingredients, I will copy and paste this and take it up with my vet. As for the coconut oil I will give that a try, thanks so much.
1000extra said:
I would also highly suggest putting her on an oral dog-specific probiotic daily containing the bacterial strains Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus coagulans to help with her skin health.
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She also gets a big tablespoon of plain Greek yoghurt every 2nd day or so for probiotic so I'm not sure if this is sufficient. Maybe I should do it every day.
1000extra said:
I can tell that she has hives/urticaria on her skin on the 2nd photo. This is often due to an acute hypersensitivity reaction/ allergy based reaction. It usually is environmentally triggered, ie grass, weeds, dusts, dust mites, mold, etc. It can be difficult in my experience to get rid of the these lingering allergens in your immediate environment. Reducing the amount of exposure to these allergens is the key management to these flare-ups.
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Thank you again! She goes with me everywhere and we're out in the jungle almost every day so she's exposed to a million different things so it would be so difficult to pinpoint any single one. She's always very clean and gets a bath straight after any dirty activity. I notice she sometimes has a tiny amount dry skin flakes when I massage or scratch her back. Not sure if it could be related?
1000extra said:
You can use anti-histamines to help with these hives should they appear and flare up. I personally like the active ingredient cetirizine (Zyrtec) at 10mg per 5-10kg or 10-20lb body weight - orally once a day (up to twice daily).
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I will give this a try and see. She's about 30kg for reference so she's not the biggest girl.

Appreciate your time and effort!
 
You are most welcome, always happy to help! :giggle:

I am not too familiar with Barrier medicated shampoo but if your vet has considered using it, I would follow their advice.

Greek yoghurt is alright as a light supplement for daily use. Oral probiotics for dogs from Protexin is what I suggest.

The dry flakes on her skin can be due to her sensitive skin or can also be related to Omega-3s deficiency. Again try her on marine oil supplements (Fish or Krill oil). Omega-3s are good for her skin, heart, brain and reproductive organs too ;)

For anti-histamines, try her with 2x cetirizine 10mg tablets first, if the hives still not resolved in 12 hours, try again another 2x 10mg tablets. Our 20kg GSD girl at home sometimes gets allergy flare-ups and a 2x 10mg dose is enough to help her.
 
1000extra said:
You are most welcome, always happy to help! :giggle:
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Much appreciated.
1000extra said:
I am not too familiar with Barrier medicated shampoo but if your vet has considered using it, I would follow their advice.
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My vet is pretty useless, I've been prescribed two or three different shampoos and ointments before this.
1000extra said:
Greek yoghurt is alright as a light supplement for daily use. Oral probiotics for dogs from Protexin is what I suggest.
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Will add it to the list!
1000extra said:
The dry flakes on her skin can be due to her sensitive skin or can also be related to Omega-3s deficiency. Again try her on marine oil supplements (Fish or Krill oil). Omega-3s are good for her skin, heart, brain and reproductive organs too
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Noted! She gets a few sprats from time to time raw out the freezer. But I will try maybe adding some fish oil to her food directly.
1000extra said:
For anti-histamines, try her with 2x cetirizine 10mg tablets first, if the hives still not resolved in 12 hours, try again another 2x 10mg tablets. Our 20kg GSD girl at home sometimes gets allergy flare-ups and a 2x 10mg dose is enough to help her.
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Awesome, thank you.

So I need:

-Cetirizine (Zyrtec) 10mg x2 tablets for the hives as they appear
-Fish Oil for Omega 3 added to food
-Protexin Oral Probiotic
-a Shampoo with Chlorhexidine
-Coconut oil applied topically

Will get to it.

Currently she gets two meals a day.

Breakfast she gets 800g of cooked food that I prepare. I cook it. Once a week. It ends up being about 8kg and lasts about a week. The ingredients vary and the meat varies between beef, venison, wild pig, zebra, fish, chicken etc. I buy from a local business that gets directly from Hunters and process it themselves. Breakfast includes:

-Brown rice 1 cup
+-2/3kg of the assorted meats listed above
+-500g organ mince
-Chicken necks & livers
-5 eggs
-Sweet Potato x2
-Gemsquash x1
-Green Beans x one handful
-Butternut x1
-Broccoli & Cauliflower
-Carrots x2/3
-five tablespoons olive oil
-she gets a teaspoon of "arthro-focus" joint supplement with breakfast.

I slow cook for a few hours and then let cool and refrigerate. She loves it and haven't noticed any patterns between the food and bumps.

Her 2nd meal is a sort of Satin ball I make. She gets one a day around lunchtime and I make 7 or 8 at a time, roll them up and refrigerate. They're the size of a tennis ball roundabouts. Includes:

-2 eggs
-1/2 cup rolled oats
-1/2 total cereal
-3tbsp olive oil
-1kg beef mince
-2tspn Gelatin

Not sure if there's anything in there that could cause issues? Thanks!!
 
Last edited:
ZephyrZoo said:
Breakfast she gets 800g of cooked food that I prepare. I cook it. Once a week. It ends up being about 8kg and lasts about a week. The ingredients vary and the meat varies between beef, venison, wild pig, zebra, fish, chicken etc. I buy from a local business that gets directly from Hunters and process it themselves. Breakfast includes:

-Brown rice 1 cup
+-2/3kg of the assorted meats listed above
+-500g organ mince
-Chicken necks & livers
-5 eggs
-Sweet Potato x2
-Gemsquash x1
-Green Beans x one handful
-Butternut x1
-Broccoli & Cauliflower
-Carrots x2/3
-five tablespoons olive oil
-she gets a teaspoon of "arthro-focus" joint supplement with breakfast.

I slow cook for a few hours and then let cool and refrigerate. She loves it and haven't noticed any patterns between the food and bumps.

Her 2nd meal is a sort of Satin ball I make. She gets one a day around lunchtime and I make 7 or 8 at a time, roll them up and refrigerate. They're the size of a tennis ball roundabouts. Includes:

-2 eggs
-1/2 cup rolled oats
-1/2 total cereal
-3tbsp olive oil
-1kg beef mince
-2tspn Gelatin
Click to expand...
Absolutely fantastic diet! 😍
Done well.

If even 10% of my clients feed their doggos with what you are doing for your girl on a daily basis, I would be 10x happier!

I would lay off the grains and starches little bit more, as I find them too high in caloric intake.
Add in more fresh vegetables on her second meal!
 
1000extra said:
Absolutely fantastic diet! 😍
Done well.

If even 10% of my clients feed their doggos with what you are doing for your girl on a daily basis, I would be 10x happier!
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Thank you! I try my best to make her happy and healthy. You won't believe the arguments I have with people over the food thing.
1000extra said:
I would lay off the grains and starches little bit more, as I find them too high in caloric intake.
Add in more fresh vegetables on her second meal!
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Got you. The 2nd meal is literally just a ball of those ingredients so doesn't get cooked. Would be difficult to add veggies to it.
1000205012.jpg
Just mash it all together raw. 1000205013.jpg

When you saye less grains and starches do you mean to minimise risk of diabetes?

Again, thanks for the advice!
 
1000extra said:
All the best! Let us know what happens.
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So to be totally honest I feel it was a bit of a waste of time. He didn't ask me any questions which I believe are important like where does she go, what animals does she come into contact with, what does she eat, nothing. He looked at her and spoke to me for maybe 15 minutes and then said Cytopoint was the way to go.
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So we'll see. She had the jab, but it's only good for a month, means she needs to have it every month to stay bump-free. Not what I wanted to hear but anyways. The only actually interested vets I've spoken to have been on here.
 
Kazegami said:
You might try simplifying her diet to help eliminate allergies. For example, my boxer didn't do well on turkey, but the rest was fine.
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For sure, also good advice. Every ingredient in her diet has been removed or changed at some point in time so I don't think it's anything she's eating. Might be environmental, pollen or something maybe.
 
How old is she? My dane had a had a couple bumps like that when she was younger, but it went away on it's own. Maybe a hormone thing?
 
To be clear, cytopoint will help make her less itchy but it won't stop, reverse nor prevent the urticaria or uderlying hypersensitivity reaction. @1000extra (side note, nice to see you back btw!) had some good ideas to try regarding that.

She went through the same thing last year didn't she? same-ish time of year, got better by december? wonder if you can expect the same this year... Don't know if there's seasonal stuff out your way.
 
Strayward said:
To be clear, cytopoint will help make her less itchy but it won't stop, reverse nor prevent the urticaria or uderlying hypersensitivity reaction.
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I read the same thing on the Internet about it. She doesn't really get itchy and she doesn't seem bothered by the bumps at all actually. My goal is obviously to root out the cause and eliminate it but thought I should just try cytopoint as a start. The vet said in order to find the issue that they would have to do an allergy test and said the cost would be in the region of R25k (+-$1500) and even then there's no guarantee they can find or fix the issue.
Strayward said:
She went through the same thing last year didn't she? same-ish time of year, got better by december? wonder if you can expect the same this year... Don't know if there's seasonal stuff out your way.
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That's something else I didn't think about actually, thanks! The bumps never really got better, they seen to come and go on their own so it could be seasonal or environmental. It's literally from looking perfect one day to being riddled with them the next. So I just sort of let them be seeing as they didn't bug her and nobody seemed concerned about it. But the newer issue is what @1000extra pointed out could be a type of hive. They've only appeared recently. They seem to be more of a wart type thing as they appear, harden, scab and fall off in a few days and she's uncomfortable when the scab falls off and the raw skin underneath is exposed.
 
ZephyrZoo said:
When you saye less grains and starches do you mean to minimise risk of diabetes?
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Not a question about diabetes, it is more about the caloric intake. Dogs do not process carbohydrates very well in their system so most of it goes into fat. Dogs that have been on a high carbohydrate and starchy diet tend to get overweight easily.

Grains can also be a source of allergens for the body and excessive dietary starch intake tend to promote inflammation. Given that your girl has already got an allergy issues, I would decrease dramatically the amount of grains and starches in her diet to minimise further allergen loading.
 
ZephyrZoo said:
So to be totally honest I feel it was a bit of a waste of time. He didn't ask me any questions which I believe are important like where does she go, what animals does she come into contact with, what does she eat, nothing. He looked at her and spoke to me for maybe 15 minutes and then said Cytopoint was the way to go.
View attachment 613026
So we'll see. She had the jab, but it's only good for a month, means she needs to have it every month to stay bump-free. Not what I wanted to hear but anyways. The only actually interested vets I've spoken to have been on here.
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Cytopoint is a symptomatic management strategy for itchiness in dogs. I use it quite regularly in itchy, allergic dogs.
However, it does zero effect for the allergy itself but it manages the symptoms that results from that allergy, ie itchiness.
The reason why we still use it is because itchiness makes dog scratch, lick, chew and gnaw on itchy skin and itchy body parts, such that skin becomes inflammed, irritated, damaged and subsequently promotes an infection.
Cytopoint stops the itch signal from transmitting and make an allergic dog not itchy, thus breaking the cycle of skin damage, and allowing the skin to heal and recover.
The anti-itch effect lasts usually around 4 to 6 weeks.
Your vet is helping her, you have to trust the management plan.
 
ZephyrZoo said:
The vet said in order to find the issue that they would have to do an allergy test and said the cost would be in the region of R25k (+-$1500) and even then there's no guarantee they can find or fix the issue.
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I don't usually do intradermal allergy skin testing or any blood testing to look for allergy that is seasonal or comes-and-go. UNLESS the supposed allergy poses a life-threatening reaction, in which case you should really know what exact allergen(s) is causing the the serious reaction.
You can still do allergy testing for non-critical, seasonal/environmental allergens which are affecting your girl, yes, but you cannot run away from the allergens in almost all cases. They are always going to be there, ubiquitous in the environment. Plus your girl is likely genetically predisposed to react to these allergens, so inherently there is not a cure for it sadly.

You are better off going with a comprehensive allergy management plan for seasonal and environmental allergies.
 
1000extra said:
I don't usually do intradermal allergy skin testing or any blood testing to look for allergy that is seasonal or comes-and-go. UNLESS the supposed allergy poses a life-threatening reaction, in which case you should really know what exact allergen(s) is causing the the serious reaction.
You can still do allergy testing for non-critical, seasonal/environmental allergens which are affecting your girl, yes, but you cannot run away from the allergens in almost all cases. They are always going to be there, ubiquitous in the environment. Plus your girl is likely genetically predisposed to react to these allergens, so inherently there is not a cure for it sadly.

You are better off going with a comprehensive allergy management plan for seasonal and environmental allergies.
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Thank you kindly for the help and advice. It seems as though this will be a perpetual issue so I'll just take it as it comes, if she flares up in future I'll take her for the cytopoint jab. Since the Wednesday appointment I can see a 70% reduction in the bumps. So if it lasts a month that should be sufficient for the hives to dissappear and scabs to heal.
1000extra said:
Happy to be back! Glad to help out the community with veterinary knowledge as much as I can! 😄
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Much appreciated! I wasn't joking when I said that the only place I have found genuinely good and knowledgeable veterinarians has been here on zooville. A real asset to this forum.
 
Glad to hear things are better!

I guess it should be said that technically, allergen immunotherapy (desensitzation) would be the way to try to address the root cause of her problem (i.e. her immune system reacting inadequately to certain allergens). You'd have to first identify the offending allergen(s), for which intradermal testing is the gold standard. Blood tests are kind of all over the map and more difficult to interpret results but can still give an idea. Then, using that info to make a cocktail of tailored allergens, and exposing the animal at increasing doses, sort of like they do with people.. It can be lots of time and resources, you need a vet who does that sort of thing, and results aren't guaranteed. They say you can see >50% improvement of clinical signs in about 2/3 of allergic patients undergoing this type of protocol.... it sounds like you're already doing at least that good with the cytopoint!

If you do one day end up trying antihistamines, I would be interested to know which one and if it helped with the urticaria after a few days.
 
Strayward said:
Glad to hear things are better!

I guess it should be said that technically, allergen immunotherapy (desensitzation) would be the way to try to address the root cause of her problem (i.e. her immune system reacting inadequately to certain allergens). You'd have to first identify the offending allergen(s), for which intradermal testing is the gold standard. Blood tests are kind of all over the map and more difficult to interpret results but can still give an idea. Then, using that info to make a cocktail of tailored allergens, and exposing the animal at increasing doses, sort of like they do with people.. It can be lots of time and resources, you need a vet who does that sort of thing, and results aren't guaranteed. They say you can see >50% improvement of clinical signs in about 2/3 of allergic patients undergoing this type of protocol.... it sounds like you're already doing at least that good with the cytopoint!

If you do one day end up trying antihistamines, I would be interested to know which one and if it helped with the urticaria after a few days.
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Thank you, I will keep this thread up to date with any developments. After the cytopoint wears off if it gets that bad again I will try some of the antihistamines I was recommended and refer back with results. In the meantime I'm just happy my missus' skin is looking and feeling more like the soft, velvety goodness it is rather than the face of our moon.😂
 
ZephyrZoo said:
In the meantime I'm just happy my missus' skin is looking and feeling more like the soft, velvety goodness it is rather than the face of our moon.😂
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That's good news! You are doing a terrific job with her. I can see that you are dedicated to her overall health(not just in bed😏)!
 
Hi all, so to keep a long story short the cytopoint jab seemed to reduce the bumps by about 50% but after a week or so we were back to square one. So slowly but surely I'm weeding out things in her diet that could be possible offenders, so this will probably be a lengthy trial-and-error thing.

What's concerning me are these weird blister, mole type things that she has on her soft skin. Particularly around her lady area. They're not sore or anything, they start out as soft bumps like blisters and then progress to hard scabs and fall off. Baffles me. Multiple vet visits and nobody can give me an answer or a solution.

Again thanks to all of you for your help and feedback, you're all a hell of a lot better than any of the multiple vets I've been to.

(Also it looks ten times worse on camera than it actually is.)
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