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Raw Nose And Peeling Feet


Guest mhall

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Jasper started got a couple red itchy patches on his face about a week ago. We had recently switched his food, and thought it might be an allergic reaction. We switched him back, and figured we'd take him to the vet if going back to the original food and a few days of benedryl didn't clear things up.

 

We noticed today that the redness was worse, and and also that the top layer of skin on his front feet is starting to peel off. His feet don't seem to be bothering him yet, though the fact that they're peeling can't be good. The red skin on his face is by his lips and around the edges of his nose. He seems to be losing hair in those spots as well.

 

He has a vet appointment on Saturday (the soonest we could get in to see our preferred vet), but I was wondering if anyone had any idea what might be going on. I'm wondering if it might be discoid lupus, especially since we recently moved from RI to NM and he has definitely been getting more sun here. I'm sure there's many other possibilities as well.

 

Any thoughts? Also, any idea how to protect his feet until we figure out what's going on and try to fix it? He hates wearing any sort of boots or foot covering, but I suspect he may start licking them if they get worse.

 

Thanks :)

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I just realized I wasn't very clear in my original post - it's Jasper's foot pads (the large ones on the bottom of his feet) that are starting to peel.

 

Could be discoid lupus... our friend has a white ticked greyhound whose nose is always peeling. He's ultra sensitive to grain-based foods. How long have you had Jasper?

 

Interesting. Both our pups eat grain free food. It's certainly possible the new food we tried is the culprit, but since he's been off of it for close to a week I would expect things to be getting better, not worse.

 

We've had Jasper for about 3 years and this is the first time he's had these sorts of issues. He's 6.

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Ziggy has allergies and he licks his feet raw. I put Neosporin on his feet and put a pair of my DS's socks on him and tape them above his ankle bone making sure that it is not too tight. He is also on some allergy meds but I can't remember what it's called. This is the only time of year that he has this reaction, but he has it every year.

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Discoid lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease. It may or may not be allergy related. As with SLO, symmetrical lupoid onychodystrophy, some dogs seem to manifest DLE symptoms in correlation with allergy symptoms. With other dogs it appears unrelated. It could be allergies alone & not DLE. Must admit that discoid lupus was the first thing that came to mind when reading your post. His age is within the common range when it can first show up. Could be a reaction to something else though. Could think of some other possibilities but those would be much rarer than allergies or DLE so much to soon to even consider.

 

Glad he doesn't seem bothered by it. Hope it doesn't get worse. Let us know what the vet says.

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It's also possible he got something really caustic on his feet.

 

Or it could be another type of allergy--to carpet shampoo for example. Everyone jumps to food allergies! Dogs, like people, can be allergic to anything!

 

I would not wait for my "preferred vet" if there is another vet who can see you sooner. He must be pretty uncomfortable.


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I just realized I wasn't very clear in my original post - it's Jasper's foot pads (the large ones on the bottom of his feet) that are starting to peel.

 

Could be discoid lupus... our friend has a white ticked greyhound whose nose is always peeling. He's ultra sensitive to grain-based foods. How long have you had Jasper?

 

Interesting. Both our pups eat grain free food. It's certainly possible the new food we tried is the culprit, but since he's been off of it for close to a week I would expect things to be getting better, not worse.

 

We've had Jasper for about 3 years and this is the first time he's had these sorts of issues. He's 6.

 

I'm still leaning toward discoid lupus since you've had him for three years and have never experienced these types of issues before. I feel like if he had an allergy or a reaction to something, you would've seen it by now. I'm curious now. Let us know what your vet says.

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A belated thanks for the responses. School has been very busy this week!

 

Ziggy has allergies and he licks his feet raw.

 

What do Ziggy's feet look like when his allergies get bad? Do they ever peel?

 

It's also possible he got something really caustic on his feet.

 

Or it could be another type of allergy--to carpet shampoo for example. Everyone jumps to food allergies! Dogs, like people, can be allergic to anything!

 

I would not wait for my "preferred vet" if there is another vet who can see you sooner. He must be pretty uncomfortable.

 

It's highly unlikely that he got into something caustic, as there's nothing caustic in our house or yard or anywhere else we've walked. From what I've read, contact allergies usually tend to affect all four feet, not just one or two.

 

The peeling looks like the peeling you would get with a bad sunburn, or like the noses of dogs I've seen that have DLE. It's not on a part of his pads that he steps on when walking, and while I'm concerned about it I don't think it's an emergency (and an e-vet would be our only other option). Since we may be dealing with a weird allergy or autoimmune issue, I'd rather see our regular vet, who may be better at helping us pinpoint what exactly is going on.

 

I'll update after our appointment tomorrow afternoon. Thanks everyone :)

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Little Dude had a peeling nose. It looked like a handlebar moustache at times.

My vet never would pinpoint it as it being discoid lupus or pemphagus. The only treatment we did was rub it with vitamin E oil.

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We spent a couple hours at the vet yesterday and we still don't really know what's going on. They looked at cells from J's itchy face spots. They found neutrophils and some opportunistic bacteria there (in addition to the usual round the mouth stuff) so he's on antibiotics for three weeks. The vet is also having us up his benadryl in case allergies are playing a role as well.

 

J's feet have everyone perplexed. Both vets in the practice examined them, and they consulted with a dermatologist as well. The conclusion was that it didn't look like any autoimmune or infectious disease they were familiar with. They see a lot of dogs with pads burned from hot asphalt in the summer and said that was what the damage most resembled, except the peeling is on part of his pads that don't make contact with the ground and we never walk them when it's hot. AM walk is before sun up, and evening walk is around 8pm. Vet said to keep putting coconut oil on his feet which I've been doing for a few days, and to come back if we're not seeing improvement.

 

Next step if either issue doesn't resolve is to do a biopsy and see a dermatologist. Hopefully we can sort this out soon, as J is really unhappy that he can't run in the backyard or go on hikes.

 

Little Dude had a peeling nose. It looked like a handlebar moustache at times.

My vet never would pinpoint it as it being discoid lupus or pemphagus. The only treatment we did was rub it with vitamin E oil.

008.jpg

 

Poor (and adorable) guy! Did you find that the vitamin E was effective?

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The vitamin E made his nose a bit softer with constant use but the peeling never stopped. That coconut oil should help.

 

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I wonder if you should do a Valley Fever test(?) Ask the vet if there are any cases around your area, or do a search on line.

 

Interesting thought, but no Valley fever in our part of the state and very little in NM in general. When we took J and Em to their NM vet for the first time i had asked if it was something we needed to be aware of/worry about. She said the only valley fever case she's ever seen was in a dog that had just moved from AZ.

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At our clinic we see a lot of peeling pads usually from goofball labs running around in-ground pools. I guess the cement used around pools is gritty (non slip). Any chance your boy has been poolside?

 

Nope, but thanks for asking! Good to know to be careful around pools.

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