Puppy skin infection
Submitted by clintf07 on December 21, 2011 - 11:10pmHi - Anyone have any input/experience with simplicef?
On Saturday we noticed Bean (18wks) had a small patch of hair loss on his back. It is only noticable when looking at him from the rear (against the grain). I had just given him a bath the day before and chalked it up to me being too aggressive with the rubber hand scrubber. Then a few nights later (Monday-ish) we noticed he had small bumps all over his body. Looked like his hair was just ruffled all over. (It looked very similar to when our previous bully had an allergy flare). The next morning the bumps were still there but appeared to have gotten better. Then last night my wife was petting him while on couch and noticed he had more hair loss along the ridge of his back only (again only noticable against grain). We had also been noticing he would have tiny scabs that when picked would take a small clump of hair with them (small like size of needle).
Took him to vet this morning as wife was concerned about mange. Vet did a skin scrap and said no mites found. Also he said location wasn't common w/ mange as it was only on his back. He asked about changes in food, detergent or anything else that might explain the hives but nothing we can think of. He mentioned that he did have pimples and some were infected. So he concluded that it was just a skin infection without a specific cause/reason. Although he did say picking at scab not good (Shame on us). He put us on 14 days of simplicef 100mg and bpo-3 medicated shampoo for next couple weeks and we are scheduled for followup next Fri.
Does anyone have any advice or comments? We're gonna follow vets direction but curious if anyone else here might have some additional thoughts or ideas.
Ohhhh, he's adorabull!
We've used simplicef in the past and it worked well. The medicated shampoo is also good, make sure you follow directions, you usually have to leave it on for 10 minutes of so before rinsing. If he had a negative skin scraping, that's a good sign, a lot of pups get demodex mange at that age after having a rabies shot. I would see how he is when the antibiotics are finished and try to figure out what could be causing it - Tide is extremely bad for dog's skin and there are any number of carpet cleaners, bug sprays, etc that can cause reactions. What kind of food is he on? At his age you could get him on an adult food and I recommend grain free to help with skin problems.
Thx for repsonse. Have been
Thx for repsonse. Have been reading about detergents, cleaners etc.. and not coming up with anything out of ordinary the past few days/week. One thing I could think of (and shared w/ vet) was the day before we had a dog visitor (family) and while out shopping she borrowed his kennel and had a tee-tee accident. We cleaned it with clorox wipes that night but allowed it to air dry before putting Bean back in. (we've also done that in past when he had his own accidents so not conclusive).
He did get his rabies shot a few days prior. (Rabies shot Monday, 1st sign came on Friday) but skin scrap was negative.
As for food, he's on Taste of Wild - Lamb. So already on adult/grain free. Prior he was on Royal Canin Bulldog Pup but we switch aprox 1mnth back due to loose stools. Have been very happy with stools since switch but is 1mnth still to soon to rule out food reaction?
Hair loss on back....
Does it look like buckshot? If yes, this is a fairly common occurence, antibiotic seems to help, but also just medicated baths and applying whatever topicals you have: animax or calm coat, might help. I can't see your puppy's condition, so I don't know if it's the same, but I don't go to the vet for this anymore. It just seems to be something that occurs to one or another of our dogs now and then. Good luck!~
TOTW lamb is good...
we have two of our guys on it and the other is on the salmon sweet potato because he didn't do well on the lamb (itching and tear stains). It sounds like you're doing everything the right way, I would just see how he is when the meds are over.
Did they say it was staph?
Onslow has these problems every now and again and its an allergy. Hope your little guy feels better soon. We just finished a round of simplicef and it cleared it right up. Cephalexin works too....but it takes longer.
no mention of staph. But may
no mention of staph. But may be onto the culprit...
My mom who got a bully around same time we did just bathed her girl yesterday with the same bar shampoo I used on Bean a week back. She called today and mentioned Maggie has signs of hives now. So thinking it may be reaction to the shampoo. Although vet diagnosed it as two seperate things. Hives and skin infection, but thinking maybe hives started then picking at pimples/scabs caused infection.
bathed him earlier today with the medicated shampoo and noticed he shed alot during the bath. good to hear good reviews of simplicef hope to see improvement soon.
thx.
Poor baby pinto
nice to have some confirmation with Mamma and her bulldog to know that it probably is something simple like the use of a bar of soap!
We have had great success using goat milk soap on Kippah, the first time we used a very simple blend of goat milk soap and shay butter, no fragrance. Then this last time we used a goat milk and coconut oil soap.
Loves and Smooches, Kippa and Mama (Annette)
simplicef
this is exactly what my vet would prescribe. It is good stuff for skin infections, staph, etc. Kohl had exactly what you are discribing and we did do a round of Simplicef and it eventually went away. IMO it can also be a food related issue.
Arrgh, it's always something...
after the infection is under control, try to find a nice, mild oatmeal shampoo, that usually works well and doesn't cause a lot of problems. Glad you found the problem.