My poor dog has a skin problem

i have a 3yr old staffy cross lab.. he went into a kennel over the xmas period and came back with there horrible black scabs on his neck. he went to the vets and they been giving him steroids, anti-biotics, stronghold flea and tick drops but nothing is working. some days is seems to look worse than others.. they dont affect him he is still the manic bouncy dog as always. the vets are useless! im spending around £80 per week on vet bills. i have changed his food and shampoo to the hypoallergenic stuff too

please click here to view the same subject it has some pictures of it

[mod edit/link removed]he has just come out the shower, the pictures are of his neck.. you will notice that from this condition he is missing fur too... it is only the top of his neck thats like this no where else

i just dont know what to do, i cant afford to keep paying this money for something that doesnt work! please can someone give me advice

I would ask to be put in touch with a vet who specialises in skin conditions, maybe at one of the university hospitals or get a 2nd opinion from another vet.

omg! your poor dog! that looks terrible! and so painful.

have you spoken to the kennels about it? it maybe something they have done, or he has caught...

i noticed in that link you said he got one dose of stronghold, my dog had a skin thing and was given stronghold but it was a course over 4 weeks, with 3 dosages in it. i will find a pic to show you his, although his was around his eyes.

have the vets done a skin scrape? or anything like that?

Have you done any research by yourself on the skin conditions that can affect the breeds that your dog is mixed with...I'm not saying to go and put the dog on your own regimine or go buy some expensive lotion but if you can figure out what it MIGHT be maybe you could ask the vet why or why it couldn't be this skin condition. Your arent a vet but a good bit of research on your end couldn't hurt

this is what my jake had...

it started like this...


and then started to get sores and bled...


he had it one both eyes, and it looked a lot worse to what the pictures show. i actually came in one night, to find it bleeding and i started crying coz it looked soooo painful. it started to go around his mouth as well, but luckily the stronghold kept that under control. he also had it in his ears.

the last time i went to the vet was 2 weeks ago.... they gave me another 2 weeks of tablets which he finished today and there is no improvement, they said the next step would be to take skin scrapes



and as for the stronghold all that was on the box was what it was, how to apply and the vet details there was nothing about more treatment it was just a plain white box....

Have you talked to the vet and asked if they could explain why they THINK is no improvement? I mean you need to sit down with you vet and have a good long talk, tell them to explain what is supposed to do what, how long it is supposed to take etc. Explain that you cant keep spending money when nothing helps, ask what the best route to take is to try and make sure your dog gets the help he needs without facing so many monetary difficulties.

I'm sorry your dog isn't well, I think the next best thing is a skin scrape.....It costs around £50 but it should give some answers to get your dog feeling bettter.......

My dog had a skin scrape, it confirmed he had Mange, he's now on Advocate

Good Luck x

I would agree with Lou skin scrapings will be the next thing to do, if there has been no improvement then, there is a good possibility it is not the right treatment. If you arent sure of the vet you could always get a second opinion.