Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 5/9/2009

Question
i have 4 1/2yr old daschound who has really bad skin problems, her skin is dry and bumps come out all over her body mostly on her feet, belly,and under her neck. which makes her scratch which turns into scabs and they become infected, then her hair starts falling out. her eyes and noise are runny it. started about 3yrs ago. she went to the vet and he said it was allergies. we had her allergy tested and she got on allergy shots for about a yr. then it got worse, so i took her to another vet and he also said it was allergies and it was so bad that she got a staff infection. he put her on clavamox (antibotic) for the staff and atiopica for the allergies, which once she was finish the antiobotic everything came back. Once again we went to see another vet and he said it was not her allergies it was something else so he referred us to a dermatologist. we went to see them and they ran all kind of test on her from 2 kinds biopsy and 3 different cultures and put her on some more antibotics and vitamins. all of the test came back inconclusvie, they think she may have an immune problem but they are not sure. it is getting very costly and my dogs looks like she is in pain they still do not think that all of this has anything to do with her allergies but i think it does. has anyone ever heard of this?



Optional Information:
Age: 4; Female; Breed: dog/ daschound

Already Tried:
clavamox 125mg also 250mg , atopica 50mg, allergy shots, injection of depomedrol(small), currtenly on niacinamide 250mg (source of vit. b3) and tetracycline 250mg. 3x's daily also she takes a bath with malaseb shampoo and also sulfodene medicated shampoo. she has multiple nodules and ulcers located primarily on her face, neck and interdigitally on all four paws. her skin is scaly, her right lymph node is enlarged.  they have also told me that she may have cancer, but like i said the test came back inconculsive.. do you really think if it was cancer that there would be so many bumps on her belly? and if it was an immune disease, couldn't they test her blood to see?


Answer
WIth all of the vets and the specialists you have seen, it is hard for me to guess what may be the cause.  I can say that some of these diseases take long term antibiotics and antifungal medications to treat the secondary infections.  YOu did not mention whether the dog has been tested for low thyroid hormone levels.  The dermatologist may be thinking that there is an autoimmune disease because of the tetracycline and niacinamide.  

If the Atopica helped, then there may be an allergy.  Why not just keep the dog on it for along time to see if it will help clear up the skin?