You sound in a right state about your poor dog and well you might!!! I've been suffering with mine for over 4 years now with a similar condition although his is called atopy (same thing as wet ecezma, moist pyoderma etc. etc. etc.).

You say you used a flea treatment - did you use the Frontline spot on??? That one will NOT kill mites, whereas if you had used Advocate, Advantage or Stronghold this spot on treatment WOULD have killed the mites. I don't know why your vet said not to bath your dog either, maybe he has his reasons, but you should ask him if you can use Hibiscrub (I don't know any vet who would advise you NOT to do this with skin like that anyway!!!). You are better off getting the Hibiscrub from a large chemist such as Boots, get it from behind the counter, and it's cheap. You must make sure you froth it up when you apply it, and I sort of mix it with some water first so it froths up easier when applied. Leave it on the dog for a few minutes and rinse off thoroughly, and I'm sure you will find he will stop scratchin'! Your vet should also have told you that it is quite safe to give your dog those Piritons every day, maybe twice, maybe 3 times, maybe even 4 times a day, especially as this might have been an allergic reaction in which case they are the proper things to use anyway. They will stop the itch so to speak, because they act on the immune system by way of making it less sensitive to just about everything the dog comes into contact with, they sort of calm it down if you know what I mean!

Shampoos: Malaseb and Sebomild are from the vets and I have found them to be useless! Better off getting a tea trea based shampoo, a coal tar based (Ecezma Rid from P@H for Westies)or an oatmeal based from your vet (which isn't particularly good at killing off things but is good for soothing his skin!) The very best you can use is the Hibiscrub though. It is also safe for open wounds too, so no worries there if some of his sores are really sore and bleeding, and as I say, your vet should really have given you some of this!!!

If he had a steroid jab, then that should really calm everything down and stop your dog scratching. If you need to get all that gunk out of his ears if it keeps erupting, then get some tea tree oil wipes from Superdrug, they're cheap and effective, clean them all out. Those drops he gave you will increase the amount of gunk coming out and you MUST keep cleaning it all out the best you can.

Poor poor you and poor dog, hope some of this helps!

So in short, I can use the Hibiscrub as a REGULAR shampoo?, and I'm talking about weekly detailed baths.
Because its hot here, we used to give him a water bath everyday.
The ears seem fine, I'm going for a ear mite treatment too, Vet has prescribed some ear-mite killing drops. So for a week I'll use the gunk-drops along with the earmite drops...and clean his ears out regularly.
When he's normal, would you suggest weekly ear clean outs or monthly ?

He is very stable right now, has gathered about 80% of his strength back. Vet says, let the scabs pus etc dry out, then give the bath.

So to summaries, in the long run and his recovery period.
I use the earmite drops, along with the gunk-drops and clean his ears out daily for a week.
At the end of the week or may be Thursday I give him a bath.
I use Hibiscrub as the shampoo give him weekly baths with that ? It'll kill mites and pests away ?
I use Fuciderm or Polyfax creams, and apply them topically? They have anit-biotics in them.
And for the scale type thingies on his elbows, what should I use?

I've ordered all the chores, so that I don't forget anything :P and this would work as a reminder for me.

I would be interested to know what flea prevention drops or tablets you gave your dog before he broke out in this reaction?

It may or may not be related but I do know several people whos dogs have had similar and prolonged reactions when treated with flea prevention drops. You might also have washed him in something that doesn't agree with him... Accidentally making it worse

I think the vet is right in suggesting that you don't bathe him again for a while. Washing him in potentially unsuitable products could just make his skin dry and more uncomfortable :-\

I don't really know what to suggest other than keep up the treatment with your vet and hope for the best. If it's something that keeps coming back have you considered a diet evaluation? Have you changed his food at all over the past few weeks or month? Have you considered doing an all natural or wheat free one?

I hope his condition clears up :\

oh also, (you probably know this already!) but don't just wash the dog - make sure you wash all of his bedding and any other fabric he sits on, also make sure your grass in the garden is kept short... just incase theres some nasty creatures lingering that cause his condition to keep coming back

I don't know, my Vet gave it to me, it could be anything starting from frontline, advocate or malaseb. What I asked was for a Tick remedy, not a flea one sorry, but he said it is used generally for many things, could be advocate. :/

Well Yes ssmith you are right, it was the bath that got to him. I guess it was the body wash, or Detol (an antiseptic) because the Vet nurse said Dog Skins donot like Detol. :/
But I only bathe him in that Tick/flea thingie because he has bumps all over his body, and I thought it could have been anything from mites to ticks.

He got the eruptions after that bath, so to clean them off I bathe him the next day in Detol and body wash/shampoo. That made him worse I guess.

My Vet still insists that the Tick/flea thingie he gave me is benign and he has never seen any animal get an allergic reaction from it.

My dog agrees to wheat, I doubt it if food is the culprit. But still I'm on a look out for that as well.

Hi again, seems like you got it all right in your list, and the cream for the elbows, I'm wondering if you can get some Sudocreme over there???? This will be brilliant for healing and soothing your dog's skin. It's a bit messy, very tacky white cream, but once it sinks in it really will do a power of good for his sore skin!

Use the Hibiscrub ONCE, and you really will notice a difference and he'll stop itching if there's anything alive on him that is pestering him. Then, give him another bath in a week's time in something soothing like an oatmeal based shampoo or a tea tree oil based shampoo. No, you should never have used DETOL on his skin poor boy!! It's far too astringent, it's for surfaces and suchlike but not for bodies themselves be it dogs or humans! The Hibiscrub will not do what the Detol did to him, don't worry, it it just a mild antesceptic shampoo, and afterall, as I said, our surgeons use it day in day out for scrubbing up their hands and arms and they wouldn't use it 10 times a day if it was harmful to THEIR skin would they!!! We used to use it on horses legs that were raw and sore with mud fever, so I know it's safe for open sores like your dog possibly has.

All the very best, keep us informed of how he's doing please. I hope you have your little man back the way he was very quickly!

Oh your poor dog and how awful for you! I hope he gets sorted. Rosie had foul smelling ears!.. it took me a while to realise that was where the horrible pong was coming from... you could tell which rooms she had been in just by the smell.. the one she WAS in was just horrendous! Are you sure he doesn't have infected ears on top of the skin problems.. Rosie had a lot of nasty gunk coming out of them thats how I realised that the smell was from there when I tried to clean them up a bit. I haven't been much help but I am thinking of you bothx

Thanks Helena!

Yes he might have ear mites Rosie, that is causing the infection. The ears look very normal now, I guess the anti-allergic shots have worked. Still I'll continue treating it, cause the smell hasn't disappeared yet.

Thanks everyone for your support, my dog is much better now!
It seems some type of eczema now, and has dry scabs all over. Some of his skin is still tender underneath. Vet has still advised me to hold of the bath, suggestion ?

Hiya

Im really glad to hear that its clearing up

No definitely don't start bathing him again, you'll end up getting rid of the scabs and opening up the wounds again if you do that.

(Plus it doesnt seem like bathing him helped much last time if im correct?)

If he doesnt have any infestation like fleas or ticks then he shouldnt need to be bathed again, stick with the creams and other treatment, wait for the skin to dry out fully.

Thats my advice anyway! Fingers crossed for you!