Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 7/13/2011

Question
Hi there,

I have a 6m/o Catahoula FE who recently broke out with some pustule-like bumps on her lower abdomen (and a couple on the inner side of her ears), which is free of fur. The next day, I broke out with severe poison ivy/oak (I'm not really sure which was gotten into#. I know based on many internet sites that dogs are supposed to be more resistant to the reactive chemical, and that their fur acts to further protect them from any reaction, but is it possible that she could have gotten poison ivy? She is suddenly itchy, whereas she was not before, and nothing about her environment or food has been changed recently. She did have parvo about a month ago, so I wonder if somehow her immune system would be compromised to where it isn't as resistant to poison ivy as before #of course, it may not work that way and I am just totally off the ball#. I gave her a good long oatmeal bath as soon as she started breaking out, but I don't want to bathe her too much and dry out her skin. The rest of her coat is as full and shiny as ever #though she still is underweight from being sick). Please let me know if it is possible she is sensitive to poison ivy! Also, would that be considered an atopic allergy?

Answer
She is too young to be atopic.  Poison oak and poison ivy resins can get to dogs on the unhaired areas of the skin.  The treatment requires steroids to treat.  The more likely reason for this breaking out may be something like a food allergy or mange mites in the skin.  Your vet can check these things for you.