HELP ID'ING AND CURING DOG'S RED, SWOLLEN SKIN
Hello, I live in Seattle, WA and we own (3) Bassett Hound dogs. One of our dogs has a really bad problem. He has had it for at least 2 years now. We took him to the vet and we have tried every cream, lotion, ointment, pills, injections, etc. that you can think of. Also, our vet told us to go an allergy clinic which we did. Our dog got allergy tests and shots. Anyways, with all that said..my dog is STILL having the same problems. Nothing the vet gave us worked. My dog has loose sagging skin under his armpits and they are VERY red. His paws (in between his toes), his neck, legs, and some parts of his belly are all VERY red as well. His hair is thinning in some areas and other areas it's gone. He constantly licks, scratches, and bites all over. It looks like he has "raw" skin. The vet did say 2 years ago it was yeast that was between his toes and under his fat armpits, but nothing the vet gave us worked. Also, the problem has gotten a lot worse in the past year. The redness is spreading down his legs and parts of his belly and his paws are really bad. I read the websites information about mange and yeast infections. I still cannot tell what the differences are between the two. The website said both mange and yeast infections cause red skin, hair loss, licking, itching, etc...so how are we supposed to know the difference? Also, I read that yeast causes darkening of the skin...my dog does not have any darkening of the skin...it's just "raw red" skin all on his arms, armpits, paws, and belly. Also, I heard that if he does have yeast. his armpits and paws would smell bad, but his armpits and paws do not smell bad to me So, I do not know if it's yeast (like the vet said 2 years ago) or if something else like mange. My dog is 3 years old and we have had him since he was 5 weeks old. Also, he does not have a lot of energy like my other two dogs. It might be the raw red skin that makes it hard for him to run and play with the other two dogs. My other 2 Bassett's do NOT have this problem. Any suggestions on what I could do to help my dog would be GREATLY appreciated. PLEASE let me know how to help him soon because he is miserable. If you could provide me with home remedies to solve this problem and food choices for him and any other things you think of that would help him would be great! Thanks so much,
Dear Misty: It doesn't matter about identification since the remedy is safe. Besides regardless of the what it is, the remedy is still the same: borax in 1% hydrogen peroxide solution. Do that once every day. If no improvement (in 3 days), then it's probably a staphylococcus, in which case, I would bathe the dog or apply the lotion made of magnesium hydroxide (milk of magnesia) with some epsom salt (in one cup of milk of magnesia, I may add 2-4 tablespoon of epsom salt). If that works then I might add a small amount 1/16 teaspoon of epsom salt in one liter of drinking water for only a couple of days. If the dog has low magnesium, quite often allergy shows up. For a yeast or even most sickness of the dog, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda added to the drinking water for a couple of days will also reduce the yeast infection. The yeast infection issue is due to a fungus, which if borax 1/16 teaspoon is added along with the baking soda in one liter of water can also take care of it. Besides those remedies also addresses dog's nutritional deficiency for bicarbonates and boron, and even if it does not directly address a very specific condition, the dog will generally get better and in some cases get cured, because of a deficiency issue. It's all about trying them out when I know those remedy are designed to address deficiency issue which makes it important that those should at least be addressed first.
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