Dog Community

Small bald spot??

Posted : 11/14/2006 8:03:26 AM

Good morning!! We have recently (Day ago) noticed a very small (size of a nickel) bald spot on Dixies front upper leg, more the under part of her shoulder. Its not bleeding or raw or anything just no fur there. Ive been looking online for a bit now and havent found much except for "hot spots" which although Im not sure what those are I dont think thats what her problem is, but since I dont know??? Hence I wondered if anyone might know what this is and if I need to do anything and what?

Shes such a sweet little gal and she doesnt even seem to notice its there.
Thanks everyone

chewbecca

Posted : 11/14/2006 8:41:58 AM

My suggestion? Take her to the vet and ask for a demodectic mange skin scrape AND a fungal culture scrape.
They can tell if it's mange, usually, as soon as they look under a microscope because they'll see mites.
The fungal culture will take a few weeks, but it's worth it.

Ella had a bald spot appear on her ear when we first got her. I didn't treat it right away because it wasn't noticeable and blended with the bend of her ear. The spot only got bigger. There was no redness or irritation and she wasn't scratching it.
She ended up having a fungal infection that we are now treating. Things like this ALWAYS look worse (once treatment begins) before they get better.

Elizabeth Lutz

Posted : 11/15/2006 8:48:02 AM

Thanks Chewbecca!! Im calling the vet first thing this Am once they open. It wont hurt to take her and Im concerned so hopefully they can get her in quick.
She still isent bothering it at all and it doesnt appear to cause her any discomfort. I just dont want it to be something that can pass to our other dog.
Thanks

chewbecca

Posted : 11/15/2006 8:58:03 AM

you are very welcome!
I just want to let you know, fungal cultures (at my vet's office) run $98. They aren't cheap. My vet gives me half off for skin scrapings, but they still aren't cheap either.
It might cost you some to get it checked out, but it's worth it to have peace of mind.
Ella's fungal infection turned out to be environmental and was not contagious. It didn't turn out to be ringworm.
My poor baby has been plagued with skin issues since we got her!

Elizabeth Lutz

Posted : 11/15/2006 9:36:03 AM

Well I just called the vet and they dont have any openings until Monday so we have an appt at 2pm. She told me to just use cortizone on it for now. So we will see how that works.....
Im glad your Ellas was easily treatable.
Thanks again!!

probe1957

Posted : 11/15/2006 9:46:01 AM

I would definitely take her in on Monday. As Becca said, the vet will have to do a skin scrape to determine how to treat the problem.

Elizabeth Lutz

Posted : 11/15/2006 11:54:45 AM

Probe1957, yep I plan on taking her.

Thanks. The vets assistant didnt seem to concern about it. She said with this time of year it could just be due to the weather and she was not concerned in fact she said to just try the cream first and then call for an appt if it didnt improve, but I went ahead and made an appt anyhow. She said once he sees it he will decide to do the scraping or not. They know how tight finances are for us so they will help us out by not doing any tests that are not necessary and they do all that lab stuff right there in the office and hopefully it wont be as expensive as the pv's $98....ouch. lol But most of the stuff since he does it literally right there in front of you, doesnt usually cost that much. He has his little lab set up right outside of the room Im always in with my pets. Its pretty neat actually.
So anyhow........thanks.

chewbecca

Posted : 11/15/2006 10:42:21 PM

good luck!
I know about tight money, but I just want to let you know that my vet had NO idea what Ella's spot was due to. She guessed completely wrong and if it were not for the fungal culture that I requested, I would have been treating her for mange and she'd still have the balding spot on her ear. Except it probably would be dried, red, cracked, and bleeding by now because the mange treatment gel they gave me was drying it out pretty badly.

Good luck, and I hope all works out for your doggy!

Bobsk8

Posted : 11/16/2006 8:45:26 PM

ORIGINAL: lizk729

Probe1957, yep I plan on taking her. Thanks. The vets assistant didnt seem to concern about it. She said with this time of year it could just be due to the weather and she was not concerned in fact she said to just try the cream first and then call for an appt if it didnt improve, but I went ahead and made an appt anyhow. She said once he sees it he will decide to do the scraping or not. They know how tight finances are for us so they will help us out by not doing any tests that are not necessary and they do all that lab stuff right there in the office and hopefully it wont be as expensive as the pv's $98....ouch. lol But most of the stuff since he does it literally right there in front of you, doesnt usually cost that much. He has his little lab set up right outside of the room Im always in with my pets. Its pretty neat actually.
So anyhow........thanks.

Let us know what you find out.

Michelle

Posted : 11/16/2006 8:57:27 PM

Hard to tell from the picture, but the description sounds like ringworm. Gracie had that when we got her, not really a big deal. Took a few rounds of cream, but what really knocked it down were a few sulpher/lime dips. But Lord she stank for weeks after each one! BTW, the scraping didn't turn up anything, but the vet said that's not unusual because it's hard to get the actual cells. What was diagnostic was using a UV light to examine the spots.

Elizabeth Lutz

Posted : 11/21/2006 10:03:04 PM

Hello Well, Dixie has what they call Puppy Mange....A parasite that is normal to puppies has just gone crazy on her and thats what is causing her bareness. So they gave her some Revolution and then I have some cream I have to put on twice a day.
The whole appt cost me $93.00 so not too bad but still not cheap. I feel better knowing what she has now though and we are working to get her better.

Thanks everyone for your insight.

rwbeagles

Posted : 11/21/2006 10:36:05 PM

Did they give you a name for the mite causing it? Demodex can be a life long immune issue triggered by stress or vaccinations, esp if it goes generalized (which it certainly doesn't always)...has she had any vaccines lately? It can also mirror the heat cycle...is she spayed yet?

Sarcoptes is communicable to humans and other pets.

I don't consider Demodex a little problem or one "puppies get". Not all puppies get it...they inherit somewhat inappropriate immune response to the mites...and the mites themselves, from their parent. And given the right amount of sensitivity it can be a pretty big deal.

Here's to hoping that is not the case and it will stay localized and not carry on coming up later in life.
[linkhttp://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1589&articleid=729]http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1589&articleid=729[/link]

Elizabeth Lutz

Posted : 11/22/2006 9:19:07 AM

Wow rwbeagles, Thanks so much for the information. Her skin scrape was positive for Demodex. They applied Revolution and then gave me
Synotic to apply to the spot twice a day. Im suppose to take her back in 10 to 14 days.
What else can I be doing?
No she is not fixed. She goes in on December 5th for that. We adopted her from a No Kill shelter and unfortunately we had to WAY wait for an appt. Considering we got her at 6 weeks old and shes now 25 weeks. I dont think she is in heat, but again I have no clue what to be watching for. She acts like she always does.

I read the article, Thank you, and there is alot of information there. More than the vet told me although she did say if it didnt improve or got worse that she would have to have dips.

Thank you so much for the information..............

Any new info you can give me would be appreciated. Also what should I bath her in? I read that shampoo in the article. So maybe Ill try to find some of that..........

Elizabeth Lutz

Posted : 11/22/2006 9:21:07 AM

Oh and she has not had any vaccines lately. Shes good until a year for now. But is that something I should consider not getting because of her condition??
Thanks

rwbeagles

Posted : 11/22/2006 2:51:58 PM

It's imperative that dogs with Demodex are watched because of the link to stressors both environmental and psychological can set them off, even years after no issues. Some get outbreaks after an attack or fight, others when a move is made or they are boarded, etc. Some never have another, ever....

Spaying is great....dogs with demodex typically suffer just before a heat cycle so I wouldn't be surprised if her first season is imminent.

Watch her vaccines and you definitely want to watch her Rabies vacc...try to get away with less often than yearly if you can...and avoid combo shots.

I don't mean to scare you at all I just didn't like that the vet seemed to think it was no biggie....it CAN be a biggie and it CAN indicate an immune system that isn't all it should be. Knowledge is power []