Skin Irritations Flaring Up

Ziggy's skin condition has escalated in the past week or two.  He licks and bites on his legs and feet a lot.  The bleeding spot on his foot has returned (indication of the cysts).   The skin seems to clear up and do well for a couple of weeks, then it worsens.  He smells very yeasty.  I bathe him with the Douxo shampoo and that seems to help a little but it's only temporary.

His ears seem to be doing ok.  I clean them every day or two and apply the Mometamax.  Not sure if that is keeping his ears clean or if it's the homeopathic remedies.  He's been on the latest round of remedies for about 3 weeks or so.

He's usually very lethargic but has occasional bursts of energy (usually after eating or coming in from his walk).  I'm wondering if I should add a multi-vitamin to his diet.  Current diet is turkey and vegetables (peas, corn, carrots, green beans organic frozen veggie mix) and the powdered bone meal supplement.  He also drinks a little organic whole milk after his meals.  Could the milk be causing some of the skin issues?  His snacks consist of greenies and the Bravo dry-roasted chicken breast strips.

Here are some pictures I took this morning:

Back left leg. 

Very red and raw from licking and chewing.

Inside of back legs.  It's actually redder than this picture shows.

His foot bled yesterday so I bandaged it up overnight and so the blood has dried. 

He's licking at it right now as I type.



Back on Antiobiotics

Ziggy's foot issue keeps flaring up a couple of times per month.  He seemed to be in a little discomfort this time so the doctor put him back on antibiotics and gave him some pain meds.  He licks and bites at his feet a lot but his ears have been doing better.  The doctor still wants me to clean his ears daily and use the Mometamax to keep the irritation down.

We're also using Douxo shampoo and spray which is supposed to help heal the skin irritations but not sure how well it's working.

Dehydrated Pet Food

My local pet store has dehydrated pet food (http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/).   It's minimally processed so I'm hoping that Ziggy can eat this without it affecting his allergies.  Over the weekend (Oct 23-24), I mixed some samples (the grain-free versions) with his turkey and vegetables (after rehydrating with warm water).  He really likes it and this option fits in with my long-term food storage plan so I could buy this food in bulk, separate it into oxygen-free packages with the food saver and that should store successfully for 20-30 years.  I can mix it with his turkey and veggies or serve it alone if I have no access to those other items.

I also found another dehydrated raw dog food here:
http://www.pawnaturaw.com/organic_raw_dehydrated_dog_food.html

Eventually, I'd like to have both of these in my food storage.

Back on Antibiotics

In September, Ziggy's skin condition flared up pretty badly.  The ears got infected, the skin was icky and the foot was bleeding.  My local vet felt that we really needed to get it cleared up quickly so we did a round of antibiotics (Simplicef) andKetoconazole to clear up the yeast infection.

He's doing better now but the foot bleeding has occurred two more times after that.  It seems to be cycling around about twice per month.  I'm so afraid the cysts are returning which could require another surgery to have them removed.

I made an appt with Dr Loops and I'm hoping that maybe we can find another remedy (or a change in the dosing) to get this under control.

Bleeding Foot Returns

The day after my last post, the bleeding foot returned.  It only bled a little on one day and then it healed back up.  I'm glad that's all it was but I'm concerned that there might be another cyst growing in there.  Other than that, things are good.

Leg and Feet Licking

Ziggy's ears are doing better.  I've made a habit of cleaning his ears every morning with soap and water which helps keep them mostly clear.  There's always still some dry flaky residue but a good cleaning every morning helps prevent it from escalating. 

The foot is doing ok (no swelling or bleeding) but he does still tend to lick at his legs and feet a lot although I don't see him biting at it so much lately - just licking.  I never see any major skin issues that would cause him to lick but I find his fur to be wet when I touch him.  Yesterday I gave him a bath with peroxide shampoo to clean his feet and legs. 

Overall he seems to be doing well at this time.

Wet Ears After New Sulphur

Gave the new sulphur LM/2 last night at 7pm.  He' still licking and biting at his feet a lot and this morning his ears were really wet with a white discharge.  I cleaned them with soap and water.  He rubs his face on the carpet and against the mini-blinds on the door.  They're getting pretty trashed as well.