My dog, Elvis recently had surgery to remove what we thought

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My dog, Elvis recently had surgery to remove what we thought was a mast cell. Came back benign, it was only a cyst. We thought we were out of the woods, but now has developed several oozing areas where the hair follicles are falling out on several areas of the torso and legs. He has been put on Rimadyl and cephalexin as we wait for the skin scrtapings to be analysed. I am concerned that he may have a bad infection from the operation which isn't healing. He had no previous problems prior to the surgery accept he did show low thyroid. We are still waiting for the tests to come back and it has been 5 days. Elvis is eathing OK, eliminating OK, but has lossed his old spunk, which could be from the Rimadyl. Is there anything else we can do to help our little guy. His surgery was 6/24, So it has been over a month. Some of the hair grew back, but with all these little pustules all over him I just can't figure out what is causing it. Bev Barnes XXXXX@XXXXXX.XXX

Optional Information:
Age: 6; Breed: boston terrier

Already Tried:
cephalexin, pyoben Shampoo, Rimadyl/p>

Customer (name blocked for privacy)

Status: Closed Value: $15

I think that a post-op infection is unlikely this far out from the date of surgery. Plus, if it were related to the surgery, the problem would have been at the actual incision site, not throughout the coat.

Cephalexin is a very good choice for skin infections, however, I do not understand the use of Rimadyl in this case. Rimadyl is in a class of drug called non steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID), meant to be taken for pain and inflammation. It is great for painful conditions like post-op pain, arthritis or other orthopedic pain, but it is not going to do much to alleivate irritated skin. A better choice to help reduce irritation and inflmmation would be a steroid or antihistamine.

Also, if the dog was found to found to have hypothyroidism (low thyoroid), then he really should be maintained on thyroid hormone supplementation. If he is not already on thyroid hormone, I would talk to your vet about starting hiim on it immediately. While the low thyroid is not likely the primary problem that is setting off the skin inflammation, it certainly does not help, as low thyroid can cause chronic skin infections and hair loss. Also, the dog's overall quality of life would be improved by stablizing thyroid levels, as thyroid hormone is a very important metabolic mediator.

Returning mainly to the skin problem, I feel strongly that the main issue is skin allergy, given the history you provided, combined with the time of year. We are currently in the midst of one of the peak allergy seasons. Howeveer, there could also be a component in the dog's diet that is contributing to the allergy. For more information on both environmental and food related skin allergies, what causes them, and how to treat them, please refer to this indepth article I recently wrote about the topic:

http://www.maybeckvet.com/skinallergies.html

Thank for posting oon JustAnswer, and best of luck to you. Please feel free to let me know if I may be of further assistance.

Best of luck to you, and thank you for choosing JustAnswer! Please do not hesitate to let me know if I may be of any further assistance.

Sincerely,

Roger L. Welton, DVM
President, Maybeck Animal Hospital
Author, "Canine And Feline 101"

Reply to Roger L. Welton, DVM's Post: Elvis did suffer from pain. I couldn't pick him up without him yelping. What we did not know was whether it was from these oozing areas or whether it was post opt. He bit me a week ago prior to the rimadyl being administered. Elvis is not a biter so I know he must be suffering. If he is suffering from a allergy or mite, would I not see any signs of improvement. He is just on dry dog good and pedigree that we give him a little in the morning and a little at night. The shampoo is helping to take off the dead hair, but I keep seeing knew patches of the same stuff developing. We have the dogs mother and she is fed the same diet and she doesn't seem to have the problem. Her coat is shiny and thick. I will try to talk to the vet today about the rimadyl. I hate having him on this either as it could make him sicker later down the line. What antihistamine would you suggest?

The fact that he is not improving despite being on the antibiotics is because the infection may not be getting knocked out due to continual allergic induced inflammation.

As far as his mom being on the same diet and having no problems, it does not rule out food allergy for him by any strectch. While food and environmental allergy is genetically inheritted it could have been inheritted from the sire or other even more distant relative.

The antihistamine I tend to favor for dogs is Atarax. However, with the dog in such bad shape, I don't think an antihistamine at this point may be strong enough to cut it. This is why you should talk to your vet about augmenting antibiotic treatment with a tapering course of a steroid. In situations like this, along with cephalexin, I like to administer a tapering course of prednisone, dosed at 0.5 mg per kg of body weight.

This dose is given twice daily orally for 4 days, followed by once daily for 10 days, followed by every other day for 7 days. This treatment course serves to knock out the inflammmation, then gradually back the patient off. However, the patient must be off Rimadyl for 48 hours before starting prednisone. This is because the combination of NSAID and steroidal commonly causes gastric ulcers. The 48 washout of Rimadyl effectively prevents this problem.

Statistically, as well as historically, your dog has a greater likelihood of being allergic to the environment rather than his food. But just to cover that base, I would recommend a hypoallergenic food trial anyway, especially since sometimes they have elements of both. My hypoallergenic diets of choice are the prescription diets: IVD venison and potato or Hill's Z/D Ultra. Your vet should have at least one or maybe both of these available for you.

Best of luck to you. You are welcome to discuss the contents of my posts with your vet, so that you may better formulate a plan together. Again, don't hesitate to contact me if I may be of any further assistance.

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