Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 2/22/2011

Question
I have a 9 year old American cocker spaniel who has had skin problems for years.  As she is aging, it is getting worse.  They are flaky scabs that seem to have some sort of liquid under them until they dry out and they itch her alot. I keep her cut short (not a cocker cut) for her comfort.  She has had all her vaccinations and has had blood work done for just about everything (thyroid, cushings, diabetes, CBC, BMP, etc. - I am a nurse by the way) and all has come back normal.  She has had glaucoma with both eyes now removed and is doing well despite no eyes.  Other than that, no other major medical issues. All the research I've done shows skin issues are typical in cockers - I have tried changing her food to rule out food allergy, multiple vet visits to control itching (we have tried antibiotics too).  The only thing that works is prednisone or Temaril-P or steroid injection but only for a short while.  To me that indicates a autoimmune issue.  Benadryl (or other antihistamines) don't seem to be helping much for itching.  I bathe her 1 - 2 times a week (have tried every medicated & seborrhea shampoo that is out there- most recent being Duoxo shampoo) and only can somewhat control the severity of her itching/comfort. My real question is- is it worth going to see a dermatologist for?  I have an appointment scheduled but it is $350 (covers allergy testing) and I am not sure it is worth it.  I have spent thousands of dollars already and don't want to spend thousands more for a trial and error of medications and shots, etc. from a dermatologist.  do I settle for just controlling it?  By the way, she travels between my house and my moms, so I am almost certain it is not environmental as far as house goes.  I also moved at some point and she has had problem in both houses.  Thank you for your time and opinions.

Answer
Poor thing! We have seen so many of these dogs suffer from these types of skin problems. When you say that you have changed her food, what have you changed it to?
What kind of treats does she eat? These can also contribute to skin problems.

Cockers are very prone to having these issues, as you know. Allergy issues in dogs do not always indicate an autoimmune disease. The fact that the steroids control these problems indicates allergies even more. Steroids work much better than antihistamines for dogs.

Dogs are very prone to atopic allergies. Atopic means that these allergens are from many sources- inhalant, environment, etc. These are very hard to treat without allergy injections. The most common anti-histamines don't work well on dogs, such as chloraphenaramine, Benadryl, etc. They work a bit but as you can see, they don't work for long.

Another issue that is going on here is the bathing is too often. Bathing this many times a week dries out the skin and washes the natural oils away from the skin which protects it.

Dogs, even those on special shampoos, shouldn't be bathed more than once a week or every other week. She needs to let her skin recover from the assault the shampoos are making on her skin. If they don't help, all they do is dry her out.

Dogs that don't have secondary skin infections will not show any improvement on anti-biotics but it is always a good idea to do a trial run with them.


I would get tested for the allergies if you can and give her the injections. We do see an improvement in most dogs with these injections. If you cannot swing that, the best thing to do is keep her on a low dose of prednisone (low enough to control it). Dogs fair much better than humans do on prednisone and as long as the dosage is low, it probably will not cause her many problems. She might have some weight gain that you can offset with proper diet and her thirst will increase, but as long as she is monitored she should be fine.

Otherwise I would still put her on a low-allergen diet as it will remove one source of allergens. Controlling it is all you can do Beth. If you can do that at least, she will be a lot happier.