Bites/lumps on Tigger.

Hi

Had a very stressful night with Tigs last night. He simply wouldnt/couldnt sleep. Took me back to new puppydom! Am worn out now.
Just been brushing him and whilst smoothing him down with my hand, felt little spots on his chest and all over his front legs underneath! Each spot had a tiny crusty orange tip and they seem itchy for him, obviously this is what was bothering him last night!!

Any idea what they could be? I have not seen any evidence of fleas and anyway he has had those before and they didnt leave bites like these.
Unless they are not bites at all and are lumps of some kind. Some skin problem maybe?
No new diet changes, apart from giving him a small piece of cheese and also tomato a few days ago to see if he liked them. (Thinking of bribery food for training y'see)

Has been fine in himself upto yesterday evening like I said, now he is itching a lot.

Oooh, just thought, I occasionally give him some Scienceplan as treats from a sample bag the vets gave me;it couldnt do this could it?
Poor lil Tigs.

How strange, maybe you should pop down the vets so they can take a quick skin scraping, if it is a skin disease, better to cure it now than to wait for his fur to start falling out

Sounds like it could be some sort of allergic reaction, you could try ringing your vet and asking if it would be ok to give Tigger some Piriton, or a Paracetamol. It may help. Don't home dose without asking the vet first though.

HI TIGGER

sounds to me like berry bug bites - notorious at this time of year - my staffie gets them every year - i find bathing him and then either frontline him as this will kill them off or antiseptic wipe over and sometimes I put sudicrem or calamine on to stop the itch. if he lets you check between his toes and if there are sort of tiny red flexks on his feet thats berrybugs - they get them from long grass and fields.

sounds like it but obvioously might not be

Thanks guys

Brundog,
I suppose the 'orange' heads I thought I was seeing could quite easily be these berry bug bites. We regularly walk (and leap) through long grass along the river so the diagnosis sounds promising.
I shall have a google and see if I can find a piccy or two.

I have just received some Frontline from hyperdrug so I suppose we'll be killing two birds, or rather a few annoying little critters , at the same time.


He was much better last night, slept through and so did I, thank god.

Look what I just found with the help of your name for the critters, Brundog. Thanks again, at least now I know what Im dealing with. What a lovely alternative name for them too, Chiggers.

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Chiggers

Chiggers: aka harvest mites, red bugs, jiggers, berry bugs or bracken bugs. They put in an appearance during the late summer and early fall. Orange in color, they are barely visible to the human eye. Chiggers are not true insects; they are mites belonging to the Arachnid group that includes spiders, ticks and scorpions. Chiggers maintain a home deep within tall grassy areas, lawns and underbrush.

For chiggers to become mature mites they must first feed off a warm-blooded animal. They lie in wait while their prey (humans or other animals including pets) work or play blissfully unaware of the torment about to befall them. Chiggers tend to attach themselves within protective body creases or crevices, where they can proceed to feast in safety.

However, chiggers do not feed off of blood. This is a myth. It is likely this misconception arose from the chigger’s orange coloration. Chiggers are barely visible to the naked eye, but en masse, they impart an orange color to the skin when attached in large numbers.

Chiggers have mouthparts similar to ticks and affix themselves to the skin with their strong jaws. They inject their saliva into the epidermis initially causing skin to harden around the mouthpart, creating a “straw” through which it feeds. The saliva actually liquefies the skin cells. It is this cellular soup that provides nourishment, not blood. Feeding lasts for 2 to 3 days and then the chigger drops back to the ground to complete its life cycle. Chiggers do not burrow beneath the skin’s surface or set up permanent residence upon its hapless victim. These again are common myths.

After a chigger has matured into the adult stage, nourishment is limited to vegetation.

The host animal will ultimately experience a delayed reaction to the proteins in the chigger’s saliva which results in intense itching, ranging from 24-48 hours after the chigger has bitten. In fact, the chigger may be long gone by the time the itching has begun. With this in mind, treatment is aimed at helping soothe the discomfort, not trying to smother a non-existent chigger.
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(This was actually from dermadoctor, believe it or not. Hope its ok for me to have posted the above-thought it may help someone else.)

Thanks for the info on this as my staff has small lumps on her and now I know what caused it. Where she had scratched she was quite sore so I bought some cream on a animal chemist on the internet which healed the sores within 24 hours.

glad that it helped both of you - I know that Bruno got it every year and I know he will get it every year loads of calamine and some tlc usually sorts him out though !!!