Skin Problem

[Evie]

Hi,

Now I know this isn't a substitute for a vet, and we will be heading off to the vet hopefully at the end of the week, but I thought I'd ask around and see if anyone else has had similar problems.

Evie's had, on or off for a month or so now, these strange little blister type bubbles on her belly. To begin with, I didn't even realise they were there because they along a scratch on her belly which made me think the scratch had gotten infected and caused these little blister type bubbles. Anyway, I treated what I then thought was a tiny infection on the scratch, and noticed that well after the scratch had healed, that the bubbles were still there..... and now more bubbles have appeared! Evie doesnt seem to care about them, it hasn't effected her health in any other way (still active, eating, drinking, pooping, crazy as per usual) and she's not overly concerned about them either. Occasionally she will lick them, but it's usually just for 5-10 seconds and then goes back to pretending they don't exist.

Now these little blister/bubbles what ever they are go from being bubbly, to 'popping' and scabbing over. The strange thing is that last week, they had completely disappeared, then 2 days later, they were back with a vengeance! this is the worst I've seen them yet.

Any ideas?

I'm thinking it could maybe be an allergic reaction, some sort of fungal disease or ... well... not really sure. For the allergic reaction, I can't think of anything that she's been near, then WASN'T near for the few weeks when it went away.... For the record, evie is fully vaccinated. Oh and it's not contagious. The first time i noticed it was when she came back from playing with my brother's husky, and they've played many many times since and the husky doesn't have a mark on her, nor do any of Evie's other friends.

Like I said, we'll be heading up to the vet later this week (once i get paid) and hopefully they'll sort us out. I was just interested to see if anyone knows what it is or if they've seen anything similar.

These pictures are from today. All of these lumps are at the 'scab' stage. These scabs come off like every other wound and then that spot will disappear but more will come back in new places. They were originally located only on the middle of her belly on the pink and black skin, but they are slowly creeping up the inside of her legs

Poor Evie.

 

[tigerlily46514]

hope Charmed Wolf sees this thread! She rocks at this type of thing, bet she will have an idea. GOOD LUCK!

 

[orpheum]

If your dog is still "young" it could be Demodex skin mite. But normally you should also see a pink edge around the eyes as wel (due to hairloss). The treatment should be determined with care, because border collies do NOT react well to the traditional medicine for this.
Anyway, this causes redness (alltough this is an atypical body region), small wounds, itchy skin and scabs.
But the pictures are a bit small to realy have a good luck

 

[Anneke]

Does the bubble look like a bad case of a pimple(acne)?
If so, the vet will probably give you an antibiotic. It is probably some bacterial infection.
Both my Jinx and Cooper have had something like this when they were young. It wasn't itchy, untill the bubble burst and it started to heal.
This can be caused by almost anything, sometimes even by water(that they had a swim in)

And orpheum is right, do mention the MDR (Multi Drug Resistance) This means that some collie type dogs(australian shepherd, border collie, shelti, and all the others) have a problem with some components used in drugs, that can cause them to die. The vet should have a list with all the drug that are unsafe to use.
There is a test that can be done on your dog, to see if she has this gene(the one that causes this sensitivity)
Good breeders have their dogs tested for this gene.
I know my Jinx doesn't have this, because both her parents are free of this. But a dog can also be a carrier of this gene, meaning he has no problems himself, but can pass it on to his/ her offspring.
Since I don't know anything about Cooper's lines, I had the vet put a warning in his file.
The other day he gave me deworming tablets, and when I came home and read the box, it said it wasn't tested for MDR. So I took it back. He didn't notice it, because all the other products from this manufacturer have been tested. He contacted them about it.

 

[charmedwolf]

I would keep the idea of an allergic reaction open. It might be the simplist thing that causes all the problems. Last summer we found out that Isis developed hives up her legs when she would swim in chlorine treated waters and I would have never guessed Chlorine would be the problem!!

Keep us posted if anything should happen!

 

[Evie]

If your dog is still "young" it could be Demodex skin mite. But normally you should also see a pink edge around the eyes as wel (due to hairloss). The treatment should be determined with care, because border collies do NOT react well to the traditional medicine for this.
Anyway, this causes redness (alltough this is an atypical body region), small wounds, itchy skin and scabs.
But the pictures are a bit small to realy have a good luck

Hrm, well there isn't any hair loss around the eyes, and yes, sorry, i'm aware the pictures are terrible but as soon as Evie see's me get the camera out for ANYTHING she wont sit still I only managed to get those pictures because i gave her a belly scratch with one hand and took the picture with the other

I'll definitely ask the vet about MDR and Evie and see if we can get her tested. I'd be absolutely devastated if something happened to her because the vet gave me drugs she was allergic to ..

I've been thinking it could be a reaction to raw beef bones? It's the only thing that I can think of that she's been having around the same time as the bubbles appear. Previously we were thinking it might have been something she was allergic to in my brother garden, because we had noticed them becoming worse after visiting the husky, but that theory went out the window when they returned a couple of days ago she hadn't seen the husky or been to my brothers house for weeks.

 

[Evie]

If it's due to something in the water then we have serious problems because Evie is water obsessive

 

[orpheum]

Don't panis yet. It could be something that's easily fixed.
Just wait what the vet has to say ...
I've got my fungers crossed for you and Evie.

 

[Adrianna & Calvin]

Hi

The 'bubbles' you describe are typical for contact dermatitis; dogs often get this in the groin area because there is so little hair there (so the skin is unprotected). As they contract they get a bit hard and scabby-ish, but shouldn't look like a typical wound scab unless they've been scratched open. You can give her a bath with a gentle dog soap in case there is something on her skin right now, but it's more likely something that she's coming into contact with regularly, if she's getting new blisters. It could be anything from prickly grass (so an actual physical irritant) to a new detergent used on her dog bed (a contact allergy). Dogs can even react to the 'poison' plants (ivy, oak, sumac). It may stop abruptly without you finding out what caused it initially.

Dermatitis can lead to a skin infection esp if the dog is scratching and breaking her skin open, and dog skin infections tend smell awful so you'll know if that's the case :-) Do let us know what your vet says.