Dog needs help... what can we do?

It's a bit of an odd situation and I'm at a loss for how I can offer more help, but thought with the clever people on Dogsey, you may be able to advise..

I have been helping a friend with some problems she is having with her grandmother.

Her grandmother has a young Pekinese cross dog who has developed a bad skin problem. over the course of a year all it's fur has fallen out and its skin has thickened up with constant scratching. Granny dresses the dog up in dog clothes at all times and would not accept any help as she is afraid they will take the dog away from her, or put it down. After some chats, my friend convinced her that she could listen to me as I have a lot of dogs and have experience with them and I won't let them put the dog to sleep.

We have managed to get the dog to the vets with the support of the RSPCA and have had skin scrapings and blood tests.. unfortunately the tests have been inconclusive. No sign of mange mites, or obvious problem... The dog did respond to the cream and baths they prescribed, but Granny was unable to keep them up consistently or for long enough to break the itch/scratch cycle... Unfortunately some of the family are being unhelpful and have said to her that the dog needs to be put to sleep, they have threatened to tell the next vet she takes it to and make sure that he is PTS... As you can imagine this has rather set the old lady off...

I am trying at the moment to pursue advice with the PDSA to see if they can take the dog away and put it in kennels, treat the skin condition while we completely steam clean and deflea the house on the off chance it is all some sort of flea allergy...

What else can we do?

She really loves this little dog and can't bear the thought of losing him...

Hi Magpye can anyone pinpoint when the problem began?

Do you think it might be fleas, you talk about cleaning the house. You can test for fleas do you know how?.

I would get rid of the dog clothes , the dog may be allergic to something in the fabric or may be too hot and this started the scratching which has become a habit and caused a reaction/skin irritation .

I'm with Mini regarding the dog clothes - especially in the house where it's probably warm (I'm guessing....).

Not sure what else to suggest, particularly as her family are being a bit obstructive - perhaps they don't want the "bother" of helping.....

Mini - I didn't know you could "test" for fleas.... how please?

I agree, check for flea's around the house and ditch the clothes. Hope it all turns out well, you are a star xx

if it were me..
OK if the old dear wants to keep the clothes - loose cotton or linen only - She could adapt a vest or shirt. NOT washed in detergent though. . You can get very mild washing products. Besides the fact that these should not provoke an allergy - it will also allow the skin to breathe.
I`d then put the dog on an elimination diet. No it`s not about poo - It`s about eliminating anything the dog is sensitive to.
1. Only feed the dog boiled chicken (or fish, or lamb etc) . NO treats, cups of tea or stolen bickies.
2. If after 3 days the skin improves, add one more ingredient - rice or potato. If the skin worsens, change the single ingredient.
3. Continue along these lines till you`ve found which things are tolerated until you have a diet the dog can support.

If there is no discernable improvement, it`s probably not linked to diet, so you need to look closer at the environment for the trigger.

At the very least it will give this lady something positive to do for her dog.

hi i hate dog clothes there the worst thing ever they shouldent be alowed its cruel on the dog when pp put clothes on. any way is there any on that can contin to do the bath cream. getting in tuch with PDSA a good idea hope they can help. cant any one try talking to the family and talk them round to helping this laidy instead of talking her out of haveing the dog. any way its grait ur frend has u helpin its sound like ur doin all u cen and the word could do with more pp that care like u.

Poor little mite and how worrying for the old lady

Does she feed it just dog food, or loads of human treats, too many of these may affect the skin, what is the dogs bed/clothes/blanket etc. washed in, maybe the dog is having a reaction to the soap powder or conditioner she uses, maybe she could try feeding something like JWB food which is hypo-allergenic (sp), what is the dogs collar made of, we used to have a leather one for Jack and it made him itch like mad other than this I have no idea what to sugest

Good luck

Christine

Hi Vicki fleas don't live on dogs they only jump on and off for meals so if your dog has picked up a flea it may have jumped off in the house and be lurking in the carpet. So when you check your dog you may not be able to see a flea/fleas, but if there are any they will have left droppings behind.

To check for droppings take an old white sheet or towel and place your dog on this, now comb it with a fine tooth comb and look for any black bits. If you find any put them on a wet tissue. Flea droppings contain the residue of the 'bloody' meal taken from the dog and they will leave a reddish brown mark on the wet tissue.

Thanks for all the advice...

We're not allowed to mention the 'F' word at the moment... Granny is adamant it isn't fleas, that her house is clean, blah, blah, blah.... Dog currently doesn't have a hair on it's body, so no where for flea dirt to gather, so haven't been able to do a check for fleas on the dog...

I am pushing at the moment that someone takes the dog away for a fortnight or so and the house is steam cleaned and flea treated 'as preventative only. not that she has fleas, but just to stop them coming in'... Flea allergy was my first thought as well..

I should stress that she did not dress the dog up before all of it's fur fell out . She was initially advised to put a t.shirt on the dog to try and stop it from itching. Since the hair continued to fall out, she keeps clothes on to cover the poor thing...

I agree the clothes are probably aggravating the situation and have advised that she doesn't put anything on during the day while she can watch her except a buster collar and socks on her back feet to try to curb the itching. She stopped using the buster collar apparently because the little dog would get stuck places that were difficult for granny to get it out from... My solution is until we break the itch/scratch cycle, doggy is on a lead around the house at all times and in a crate at night. I have offered the loan of Jackjack's old crate...

I hadn't considered the food allergy route, thanks ClaireandDaisy and CLMG. I'll suggest that... as you say cooking a special diet for the dog, will probably help make her feel she has something she can do to help... I feed JWB and have some I can send over for her to try...

I wish I could offer to take the little dog for a fortnight, but with three big dogs, just dealing with the little one's socialisation problems would be a challenge in itself (little dog syndrome - has always been picked up around big dogs now is over dominant)...

I'll let you know what the PDSA advise....