Foot Fungus

[KF_in_Georgia]

tbhounds--I'll talk to my vet about a referral to a board certified vet dermatologist. There are half a dozen of them about five miles from me. (There's a veterinary dermatology practice in the same building as the e-vet I use...where I spent several days in August with Silver's predecessor.) I don't mind spending the money to find out what's wrong. What's frustrating is that we're not finding out what's wrong. Instead of figuring out what she's got and giving her the meds to fix it, we keep throwing meds at her in hopes that we'll figure out what she's got by finding out what works. Very back-asswards.

 

Batmom--one scary thing about Silver is that we have no idea where she was for two and a half years after she finished racing in Alabama. On the bright side, Silver had lab work two weeks ago and everything looked okay. She's got nice, firm poop, great appetite, lymph nodes were fine, no fever--none of the other scary symptoms. Except the cough. And the vet, on a quick look down her throat while I held her mouth open, saw redness and irritation; he attributed her cough to the throat irritation, and said her lungs sounded fine.

[Walliered]

I read one time that many dogs are allergic to Tide. I double rinse the dog bed covers.

[JJNg]

I think a limited antigen/elimination/hypoallergenic diet trial would be a good idea for both Remy and Silver to try to rule out food allergies. A grain free diet is not the same thing and is often not effective for food allergies, since many dogs can be allergic to the protein source as well.

 

Chronic skin/derm issues are often one of the most frustrating problems we deal with, and I believe that holistic/alternative approaches may be helpful when traditional medicine has proven to be inadequate. Often the hardest thing is finding a good holistic practitioner to guide you in that area.

 

In the meantime, my poor boy doesn't feel good and looks awful. (See pic below, taken yesterday.)

When you say he doesn't feel good, what other signs is he showing? I couldn't really tell for sure from the pic, but does he have really thin hair/bare areas on his legs and feet? Or are his feet just wet? Has he had skin scrapes done to rule out mites?

 

Are the drugs we are giving just not effective on greyhounds? I know some antibiotics just didn't work on one of my previous hounds, and we had to experiment until we found the right one for her.

There really aren't any particular antibiotics or anti-inflammatories that don't work on greyhounds. They should work if they are appropriate for his condition. So if the treatments you're using aren't effective, it usually means his condition hasn't been adequately diagnosed yet.

 

Instead of figuring out what she's got and giving her the meds to fix it, we keep throwing meds at her in hopes that we'll figure out what she's got by finding out what works. Very back-asswards.

If this is what all the vets you've taken Silver to have done, and they haven't more actively pursued more diagnostics after her lack of response to therapy, I would definitely second the recommendation to see a board-certified vet dermatologist.

 

And the vet, on a quick look down her throat while I held her mouth open, saw redness and irritation; he attributed her cough to the throat irritation, and said her lungs sounded fine.

Given the persistence of the cough, I'd suggest doing chest x-rays. If it was just due to throat irritation, it should have cleared up long ago.

[Batmom]

I think a limited antigen/elimination/hypoallergenic diet trial would be a good idea for both Remy and Silver to try to rule out food allergies. A grain free diet is not the same thing

One option I didn't think of would be to use Z/D Ultra. Expensive, but you're only talking 12 weeks to start with. Sorry to keep harping on 12 weeks but if you choose a diet trial, you do want to use that length of time, not shorter. You want the dog to be 100% symptom free for AT LEAST 3 weeks before you add anything else to the diet.

 

Given the persistence of the cough, I'd suggest doing chest x-rays. If it was just due to throat irritation, it should have cleared up long ago.

Ditto.

 

One last thing to note is that if either of the dogs in question does have a fungal condition: Fungus is hard to kill. Usually you're talking AT LEAST a month of meds and often more, and sometimes you don't see a lot of improvement before that. So it's very important to do (and redo, if need be) skin scrapings etc. to get an accurate diagnosis.

Edited December 29, 2011 by Batmom

[CherylB]

It is oddly comforting to know that it can take a long time to kill fungus. That was my original reason for posting about Remy--to understand what others' experiences were. After a month on the wrong meds, I was unrealistically hoping for faster results from the new treatment.

 

Batmom, the patchy hair loss is only on the foot where the fungus is. It looks the way it does partly because of the topical we're using (Resi KetoChlor); you have to wet the fur/skin first then apply the lotion. As far as him not feeling well--the secondary infection between his toes causes him some discomfort (he favors the leg a little when he's standing still; shifts his weight to his other leg) and the meds affect his appetite and energy level. He also is a nervous dog by nature, and stands and shakes when I come near him in the kitchen because that's where we do the treatment. Otherwise, he's fine, but a little pitful.

 

I have suspected that the underlying cause might be allergy all along. At first I thought no, because it was only on one foot. But you never know how these things will manifest. I will try elimination diet and see if it helps. It surely can't hurt.

 

I talked to my derm vet about Malassezia dermatitis this morning--he agreed that it may be that and can do tests to confirm. The symptoms fit, except for evidence of itchiness. However, the treatment we're pursuing is appropriate for that diagnosis anyway. Resi KetoChlor is basically the same thing as a Cholrhexidine shampoo, but in a lotion form that keeps contact with the affected skin for a longer period of time. There's another board certified derm at the University of Missouri, just a coupole of hours away so that's an option, too. I'm not trying to self diagnose, just to be informed and an active participant in my dog's care. I have to be his advocate, as I'm all he's got.

 

Ironically, the leg looks better since my original post:

 

[CherylB]

Also, for Silver's mom:

 

Everything you described is exactly how I feel. It's hard to throw meds at a problem and wait to see if they work. Especially when there's no feedback mechanism from the dog, other than visual appearance. And you have to worry about whether your other dog or someone in your family is going to also get the crud and then you'll have two problems instead of one.

 

hope a derm vet consult will help you. When a previous dog had skin problems coupled with SLO, ours here was a rockstar. Unfortunately, this time has been a little more problematic.