Expert: Heather - 2/5/2007

Question
Hello Heather,

I have a long-haired daschund, about 1-year old.

Recently, he has developed these wounds in different parts of his body (tip of his right ear, above the nose, and neck) that doesn't seem to heal. He keeps on scratching these parts that is why it becomes a wound. Although, the 'above the nose' part has healed, it did leave a hairless spot on him. And the neck part was also healed but it also left a hairless spot with a reddish lump on his skin that he still scratches.

We once have this cat in our house which had these symptoms before. She doesn't come in contact with my daschund after we noticed her skin to have the same wounds due to scratching. But it was after a few weeks that my daschund got the same kind of rashes. Now, our cat has lost almost all of her hair in her face with little wounds and rashes all over. So i figured he might have gotten this from our cat before.

It has been months now that they haven't been in contact with each other, and yet my daschund still has these wounds. The good thing is that the wounds doesn't spread. The three parts that I mentioned above are the only ones affected. But I'm afraid that they might spread if not treated.

I'm more concerned with the one in his ear. It was big at first, but when I treated it with Betadine Iodine once it became 50% smaller. But after that, the smaller wound just won't heal.

Also, if I may add, my dog sneezes sometimes. Big sneezes. But it only happens when he smells perfume or smelly things.

Could you give me some advise on how to treat this wounds?

Many thanks,

Anthony  

Answer
Hey Anthony. Seems like your pup has something serious going on. Sounds like it might be a bacterial/fungal infection of some sort. If the cat had it & now the dog has it, that's probably what the problem is. The both need to go to the vet ASAP. Especially if the cat has lost all her hair on her face. The vet will be able to determine what the bacteria/fungus is & then prescribe the appropriate medication. You won't be able to treat this at home & I fear it will continue to get worse as time goes by. Please bring them to the vet soon! Thanks.
-Heather