Black Skin Disease-anybody Heard Of It?

[Finleyfoofoo]

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Hi,

We have a lovely Blonde Lurcher called Spike.He has a skin problem that occurs a couple of times a year,and for which he has steroids,gels,Phytopica as well as SA37.He has had various tests,all came back negative.The vet is baffled,but when he gets this he gets very fed up,and out of sorts.

Before he gets a breakout,his skin colour on his tummy goes really dark,almost black,followed by his legs.His fur goes quite wirey,even though he is rough coated,his fur is soft normally.I have been doing some browsing,and came across something called Black Skin disease.It seems to be liinked with dogs Spikes colour.I am at my wits end now.Its costing a fortune in various remedies,none of which seem to work.He is not too bad at the mo,but had a breakout about 1 month ago.We have been using Bionic Biotic,just to see if that helps.

If anyone has any experience,advice etc,i would be very greatful.I love my dogs,and will do whatever it takes.

Amandaxx

 

[~Annie~]

Have you tried CSJ's Resist herbal supplement ... it worked with Wilbur's skin problems when all else failed :thumbsup:

 

[Finleyfoofoo]

Have you tried CSJ's Resist herbal supplement ... it worked with Wilbur's skin problems when all else failed :thumbsup:

No,i have never heard of it.Is it a herbal supplement?I would try anything.I have heard of there food.

Thanks for the advice

Amandaxx

 

[rodders]

Never heard of Black Skin Disease Amanda.Is it the same time every year?Is he coming into contact with something thats triggering this reaction? Poor mite,it must be awful for him and for you

 

[Finleyfoofoo]

Never heard of Black Skin Disease Amanda.Is it the same time every year?Is he coming into contact with something thats triggering this reaction? Poor mite,it must be awful for him and for you

Hiya Karen,

Its all sorts of times a year.He has had alergy testing,came back inconclusive.The other route is if it is hormonal,in which case,he may have to have his bits off.He had every test going last year,skin scrapes etc.As it is,he is Frontlined every 4 weeks,instead of the usual 3 monthly,as with going to dog shows,we have to be very careful.He gets so fed up.It got so bad 2 years ago,we really thought we were going to have him PTS.He literally bled if if ran,the skin was that delicate.But with a lot of time,and effort,we keep it mainly under control.He is also on Phyhtopica,due to lack of sebum in his skin.

Spike had a very bad start,we bought home the pup covered in pooh,which was so full of worms,terrible trots,he went to the vets the very same day,and nearly died.He stayed in the vets for a week,but i think his immune system is very weak due to the lack of nurturing from a young age.

Amandaxx

 

[FeeFee]

Poor Spike, it sounds really uncomfortable for him

I've heard of black skin disease, but as a description of a symptom that can be caused by various conditions - often a hormone imbalance so neutering may help, but there's no guarantee.

Has your vet tested for thyroid problems and Cushings, as these can also cause skin discolouration and inflammation?

I really hope you find something that helps :luck:

 

[orvil]

Ahh poor spike, I wonder what it could be. Have you tried getting a different vets to have a look? sometimes different vets have different answers!! Hope he's ok, lucky he has such good owners!! bless him.

 

[Finleyfoofoo]

Ahh poor spike, I wonder what it could be. Have you tried getting a different vets to have a look? sometimes different vets have different answers!! Hope he's ok, lucky he has such good owners!! bless him.

Thankyou for everyones advice.I have added a little pic of Spike when he was a poorly pup.

All our friends thought we were mad,but he pulled through,bless him.I think nuturing may be the next step.

 

[billyboy45]

Ive had this black skin thing with almost all the red fawn bithches ive had.The mother of the pups i have at the moment,also goes darh skinned every once in a while.Ive seen it in loads of dogs.Especialy greyhounds,and they were all fawn.My Tarn bitch,was qualified fir Chatsworth a few times,and on the 2nd time,her skin was so black,that it looked weird.The judge faulted her for being too marcked up for her liking,but never mentioned her skin color.I just leave it.As it goes away in a month or so,and leaves no trace of anything wrong,when it goes.You may be throwing good money away on nothing.I think it's got something to do with the pigmentation in the skin or summit.Used to think it as sunburn.Just like what a fair haired person suffers from,more than dark haired folk.Just my oppinion mind.But i will follow youre quest for an answer,with interest.

 

[Finleyfoofoo]

Ive had this black skin thing with almost all the red fawn bithches ive had.The mother of the pups i have at the moment,also goes darh skinned every once in a while.Ive seen it in loads of dogs.Especialy greyhounds,and they were all fawn.My Tarn bitch,was qualified fir Chatsworth a few times,and on the 2nd time,her skin was so black,that it looked weird.The judge faulted her for being too marcked up for her liking,but never mentioned her skin color.I just leave it.As it goes away in a month or so,and leaves no trace of anything wrong,when it goes.You may be throwing good money away on nothing.I think it's got something to do with the pigmentation in the skin or summit.Used to think it as sunburn.Just like what a fair haired person suffers from,more than dark haired folk.Just my oppinion mind.But i will follow youre quest for an answer,with interest.

Hiya,

It does,nt just go black,it seems that after his skin goes dark,it becomes fragile and gets itchy and dry.Its really frustrating,but i do agree that i am throwing money away,but you know how it is,you have to try,i suppose i hope that i will

hit on something.He is back on Steroids and steriod gel at the moment,but that in itself can make the skin thin.

Right,off to get ready for Pride of the Peaks.

Thanks for the advice.

Amandaxx

 

[Trish]

Our greyhound use to get episodes of her skin going black and she use to itch an awful lot with it, our vet said it was a reaction to fleas,i had not seen any fleas on her so was suprised ,he said it could be just 1 flea that can cause it.

when she scratched herself the skin would turn black so our vets tried her on malaseb shampoo and it did the trick made her coat so soft and stopped her itching , she was like a new dog afterwards . i always used it on her after that when the same symptoms started up .

 

[whippetfan]

Has the vet done a skin scraping and looked under the microscope?

My best guess would be a yeast infection.

 

[whippetfan]

Has the vet done a skin scraping and looked under the microscope?

My best guess would be a yeast infection.

 

[Finleyfoofoo]

Hiya,

Yep,he has had deep skin scrapings,found nothing .Was tested for yeast infection,nothing.Vet says it is too isolated,ie ,his feet and knuckles,to be flea allery.He is Frontlined every four weeks,to rule this out.He has been treated with malaseb baths,this did,nt help at all.He has also been on a course of Advocate for 6 months,incase it was deep mites, in case the skin scrapes missed them.We really have tried everything.I am now stopping his SA37,incase he is reacting to something in those.Will keep on trying different things.Thanks for everybodys help.

Amandax

 

[marielou]

I know its probably a long shot but as you say you've tried everything. Have you tried giving him a teaspoon of manuka honey everyday. I swear by this stuff for boosting the bodies own immune system and I've seen it do some pretty spectacular things. I dont claim to know how it works or what it does but then people a lot cleverer than me are still working on that one.

Hope your dog is better soon

 

[J.T.]

My red rough coated lurcher Scrumpy changed skin colour this summer, I did put a post up on here and someone suggested it could be due to the sun. when i took Scrumpy to the vet just to make sure, she also reckoned it was a suntan :b

Scrumpys skin also turned very dark, starting on her tummy & spreading down all 4 legs. She looked grubby but luckily didn't have any of the other horrible symptoms like poor Spike

She still looks darker than normal but I've sort of got used to it now.

I hope you find the answer to the problem. The honey sounds like a good idea

Julie.

 

[FeeFee]

Taz's skin goes very dark in the sun too, that's just a normal reaction to sunlight, it's not the same as Spike's condition.

Has your vet thyroid tested? Thyroid problems aren't easy to diagnose and often get overlooked, but I've heard of another dog with problems that sound very similar to Spike's which turned out to be a thyroid imbalance. He's on tablets and is absolutely fine now.

 

[whippetfan]

I know its probably a long shot but as you say you've tried everything. Have you tried giving him a teaspoon of manuka honey everyday.

I was going to suggest immune system boosters. If you can get medicinal grade Manuka honey, it's anti bacterial properties also work if applied topically. It's wonderful for cuts - really works to prevent scarring.

Unless fleas are an issue, I'd stop the spot applications - they all impact on the immune system. The fewer the chemical assaults on his system, the better.

More controversially, when was he last vaccinated?

EFS