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Glad to hear the infection has at least calmed down some...that's a start :) You'll probably look at a lengthy antibiotic course this time. And a skinbiopsy, and possibly allergietesting, will definately be in place here. There must be some underlying, most likely immune-system, cause.
I am really, really curious as what may be the outcome of this eventually..as I am sure you are too :) Good luck with the vetvisit, today or tomorrow :)
Sas :)
Right now, I think I'm actually hoping for it to be the staph hypersensitvity because apparently that can be diagnosed just from a biopsy and the treatment seems to be pretty straightforward and successful (a series of injections of small amounts of staph with the goal of reprogramming the immune system)? But apparently that disorder is pretty rare.
I'm more downhearted about the prospect of allergy testing or trying to diagnose a more illusive immune system disorder :o. We do not have insurance for either of the girls, and I'm told that allergy testing here is very, very expensive. And since everything else appears to be normal right now for Luna (labwork, behavior), it's hard to know what direction in which to look in terms of other disorders. But that's why we have the vets here to guide us, after all!
I will be taking her in either later this afternoon or first thing tomorrow. I will definitely report back after I get a report.
Hopefully you can find out enough by just a skin biopsy to not need to do other things. If it's a staph, then it could just be a very resistant one. Staphs in humans can be tricky to get rid of entirely, so makes sense it might be the same for dog. The least little thing can bring it back out.
Let us know what the vet says.
big hugs to you and belly rubs to Luna and Peg
We are back, and overall I feel better about things :). We have a short-term gameplan, so that's good. First off, even though he did not see her two weeks ago, he said it's evident that the treatment is improving things even though she is still sprouting some new spots. Like you say, Sharlene, skin infections can just get very entrenched and take persistent treatment to eradicate. He wants us to give the antibiotics and baths a full month before moving onward, with one exception. And that is to change her food to a novel protein, limited ingredient formula. I was pretty much expecting that and probably should have tried it earlier, but she's just always done so well on her current food that I hated to switch. Food sensitivity may not play any role in this at all, but that's an easy thing for us to alter.
If the infection recurs or persists beyond the month, he will certainly consider a biopsy. He said it will involve sedating her and taking six "punch" samples from areas with lesions. Each punch will take a couple of stitches to sew up. But even before doing that, we may want to consider trying the treatment for staph hypersensitivity. He is well familiar with it, and printed out the technical professional blurb given to the vets there by the immunotherapeutics lab that supplies them with the antigen. They (the lab) don't necessarily even recommend a biopsy beforehand. They say the treatment can be tried on any dog with recurrent idiopathic staph that "ought" to be responsive to antibiotics. Either it will work or it won't. But there's a specific protocol that has to be followed re: concurrent antibiotic treatment and we do not fit that right now. And really, you have to first establish that antibiotics alone will not resolve the infection. Since Luna is showing improvement right now, we need to just try a longer course first.
He also made me feel better by telling me that staph skin infections are really common in dogs, and Luna's case really is not all that bad in comparison to many he has seen. This is not to minimize the fact that we need to treat it seriously, but he really thought she looked pretty good today. So I feel better, and she is glad to be home again although she wasn't quite the scaredy-cat today that she sometimes is :o.
And Kathy, I actually think Peg may wish she was getting all the baths ("dog massages") that Luna is getting. But for sure, Peg is glad that Luna is the one being hauled in to the vet!!! ;) ;)
Happy you are feeling better about things :) And eventhough Luna is not atopic, with the staph infections these past couple of months, there's no way her skinbarrier is in good shape at this moment. In atopic dogs, the focus has shifted very much to repairing the skinbarrier. Here's a link to an artice that explains the skinbarrier, what it means when it is not functioning properly and what you can do to help repair it. There are spot-on's, sprays and shampoos especially to help repair the skinbarrier. And of course, you need to bath Luna with her medicated shampoo (at least for now) but you can for example use a moisterizing product that will help the skinbarrier after her medicated bath.
I use 2 different spot-on's with Quincy (they both adress another part of the skinbarrier), the Allerderm Spot-On and the Dermoscent Essential 6, both mentioned in the article. And I use the Douxo shampoo and spray, also mentioned in the article :)
Well, just read the article, I am sure you will find it very informational and give you perhaps some good ideas to support Luna and her skin :)
http://www.avsg.net/files/5514/0511/...useDVMACVD.pdf
Have a nice evening,
Sas :)
Almost 2 weeks since your last update on Luna...curious if the continued antibiotic and medicated baths are improving her skin/staph infection :)
Sas :)
I was thinking the same thing.:confused:
Awww girls, thanks so much for asking. Luna will be finished with 30 days of the Simplicef on Friday. Right now, we are still bathing her twice weekly and as of this week she is fully transitioned to the limited ingredient food. Overall, her symptoms have definitely subsided. I did find yet one more fresh lesion over the weekend, but I did not find any when we bathed her today. I am supposed to report to our vet by the end of the week, and we'll decide where to go from here.
My own thought is that there will probably be value in continuing with the antibiotic for a bit longer. It seems as though we may be on the cusp of turning the tide and I do not want to lose ground again now.
That article was definitely interesting, Sas. We are giving Luna oral omega 3,6,9 supplementation, but I will ask about adding a topical spray or spot-on product. I see Duoxo has several different shampoos and sprays -- what are you using on Quince?
Marianne
Good to hear that Luna's symptoms are subsiding :) I agree with your idea of prolongueing the antibiotics (and bathing) since it could take even 8 weeks of treatment and it would be a shame if you stopped now :)
For Quincy I use the Douxo Seborrhea shampoo and conditioner, since she has Seborrhea so that makes sense, right? :p But they also have anti bacterial shampoos and conditioner. But since you are already using a medicated shampoo, I would stay with that. I think I would go for a good spot-on to support the skin (function and barrier) and don't use a shampoo at this time. You can start with a shampoo/conditioner when the current infection has cleared and the medicated baths are no longer needed. Then you could start using a supporting shampoo and conditioner to help Luna's skin in maintaining the best possible condition which will increase her natural abbility to fight off skin infections :)
Let us know what your vet thinks and what he suggests...
Sas :)
Yes, I think your advice makes sense, Sas. ;)
Here's another question for you, though. I am looking into both the Allerderm and Dermoscent spot-ons, and see that the Dermoscent Essential 6 contains essential oils. I know that Leslie has been cautioning folks about using essential oils with dogs because of possible toxicity issues. Maybe she'll have a chance to comment on this specific product, but I was just wondering whether you have any general concerns yourself about the essential oils contained in the Dermoscent.
The Allerderm seems to be a lipid complex and I do see a couple of positive research studies relating to its use, so I'm thinking I might be more inclined to start first with it?
Marianne