Sick Lab

[sdstatekid]

Sorry for the long post,

My dad's 5 year old black lab has been sick for a couple months now. He was scratching alot at the end of summer but we thought it was mosquitos or something so we didnt' take him in. I came back home for pheasant openor and quite a bit of the hair on his legs was gone and there were some sores on each leg. My dad said he thought it was the cement pavers (the floor of his kennel). Well after the weekend of hunting he was realy sore so my dad took him in.

The vet said it was scaroptic(sp) mange and a staff infection. No problem, antibiotic and another medication should take care of it within a couple weeks. 3 weeks later my brother brings him out to south dakota, we hunt fri-sun and he is really really sore, but by tuesday he looked better again. My dad and brother came out and we hunted that fri-mon. By monday we were leaving him in the truck he was so sore.

My dad takes him back in when he gets back to MN, now the vet says he has a fungus in his coat, a fever, and a thyroid problem, gives him an antibiotic, he was on for 3 weeks, and he is still taking the thyroid medication. We gave him a couple weeks off. My dad took him out last weekend and he was jumping all over. We thought he was better, my dad was going to come out to hunt today thru sat. but yesterday our dog was real sore and he had bitten out a couple chunks of skin. So today my dad takes him in again 3rd time, the vet says something else is wrong, says he needs shampoo and different medication.

My Question is should we take him to a different vet or trust the one who has given our dog numerous different medications for him in the past 2 months when nothing has worked?

[LABS4ME]

My initial guess was thyroid... and he may have some allergies too... the throid issues are usually loss of coat, a lack luster personality, depression, loss of weight, over all poor health. It is imperative that he be given the exact dose of medicine needed to bring his levels back into the normal range, no more, no less.

When dealing with chronic illness, it is never a bad idea to get a second opinion. Find a real good SMALL ANIMAL vet and see what their prognosis is. They'll probably start with an all over physical and a full blood panel and go from there. Make sure you know all the names of the meds prescribed and the doses...

Hope you get to the bottom of this!

Good Luck!

Ken

[LABS4ME]

By the way, most thyroid issues manifest them selves at 4-5 years of age.... just another piece of the puzzle that seems to be fitting.

Good Luck!

Ken

[sdstatekid]

Thanks Ken.

My dad said he has made sure he is giving the exact amount. He wont let anyone else give him the medication because of this. I think he is going to take him to the vet in waconia tomorow to see what they think.

[LABS4ME]

It's not so much that he is giving the prescribed dose... but is the dose you're giving him bringing his blood levels back into the normal range. Therein lies the question... You usually need to do a blood draw afte giving the med for 10-14 days and see where he sits and then make an adjustment.

Hope the new vet can find what is ailing your pooch.... let us know!

Good Luck!

Ken

[MEP]

Thanks for the replys Ken: Here is a summary of what is going on.

Our first visit 10/15. He said it was sarcoptic mange; he did some scrapings, however, I don't know that he ever checked with a microscope. My dog was scratching constantly when we went in, scratched a lot of hair off. On his legs where there was no hair it was thick like scab. He had a temp of 103.4 and lymph nodes were swollen. He gave him. Polyflex 200 MG 1cc - 2cc's; Dexamethosone 2MG 1cc - 1.5cc's; Clavamox 250MG 2 tabs bid; Prednisone tabs 20MG 2 tabs bid for two days then 1 tab bid for 3 days; Ivomec 1ML 3.6 split in three doses two weeks between.

Second visit 11/14 temp 102.9 enlarge lymph nodes, real scaly where no hair. Did scrape which they said came back positive after 14 days. Asked today what it was positive for & was told ringworm/fungus. Prescribed Depo-Medroll 20MG 1cc -2cc's; Doxcycline caps 100MG 1 tid; Malaseb shampoo; did serum protein lab test & fungal culture.

Third visit 12/6 enlarged lymph nodes, temp 103.2 he just didn't look good. Did comprehensive screen, canine T-4 profile. Put him on a thyroid tablet .5MG 1.5 per day said to come in and check levels in 6-8 weeks, and Uniprim said it was sulfa two teaspoons bid.

Fourth visit 12/20; temp 103.3, enlarged lymph nodes and bit out hair on both rear hips. Seem to have yellowish scales in hair. Vet shampooed with Ketochlor 1st, then Zymox and then Chlorhexidin. Diagnosed serbies (sp). Prescribed Depo-Medrol 20MG 1cc - 2cc's; Zinc 50MG 1 per day - said it was for enlarged lymph node, I asked if enlarged lymph nodes indicated infection and he said that the antibiotics he has been on should have taken care of the infection. However, he also prescribed Amoxicillin Cap 250 MG 3 per day. Said I should shampoo with Malaseb shampoo on Sunday and bring back on Thursday.

I have to say that the hair is starting to come back on his legs; however, something is wrong when he bites out hair. Every time I bring him in he seems to get a little better at first & then goes down hill. I am going to try and make an appointment with another vet. As I said earlier I feel somewhat guilty that he has had to deal with this for two months.

Sorry for the long post.

Mark

[311Hemi]

Man...sorry to hear that. Hope they figure it out soon.

As a last resort and I know it's a little drive for you if you are located in Arlington, but the U of MN would be worth checking out if you can't get it resolved locally.

[MEP]

Quick update:

I took him to a new vet yesterday. He did some scrapings which were different then the first vet. He shaved hair in four different spots and then did the scrapings. The scrapings came back negative which I think he expected. He mentioned that we will want to get the thyroid levels again in a few weeks. Since he was just started on the amoxicillin he wanted to keep him on it for the week. He said that he likes to us Keflex as it seems to do better with bacterial skin issues. He also gave him a shot of penicillin, he needs a boost and he is hoping that and the amoxicillin. My question was could this latest issue been a adverse reaction to the sulfa? He also communicates with a dermatologist and said if it doesn’t get better soon, the dermatologist will have to see him.

He gave him a dose of ProMeris - which supposedly has been effective in trials with scabies and sarcoptic mange.

Today he seemed a little better, hopefully it is the start but we have been here before.