Poor José

1543 Views 21 Replies 13 Participants Last post by joebeans, Oct 19, 2004

joebeans

Discussion Starter · Oct 17, 2004

Hi All,

I just found out today that poor José has Pyoderma. A bacterial skin infection. I knew his coat was kinda thinning out and he was itching at his paws alot and I took him for his rabies shot yesterday at a low cost vaccination clinic and they said it looked like mange! I wasn't happy to hear that, but I took him to Banfield inside Petsmart today and they did a skin scraping (poor guy, nothing like someone taking a scalpel blade and raking it across your skin cutting off the hair and scraping your skin till it bleeds) and luckily it wasn't mange, but Pyoderma, so now he is on antibiotics for the next 14 days, luckily it smells good and it orange-pineapple flavor, but he still doesn't really care to take it much. I feel so bad for him, I just thought he had allergies, turned out he has the infection. The vet says it should be cleared up by the time he finishes the antibiotics. Anyone else had problems with this?

1 - 20 of 22 Posts

Kelly

· #2 · Oct 17, 2004

Awww I feel so bad for him. No I have not had this problem but when I take mikey in this week to get his splint freshened up I need them to look at his leg. He's been biting it and it's irritated but I think it may be from boredom. he can't do too much w/ a broken leg.

czarina

· #3 · Oct 17, 2004

Awww...poor dog.

I hope he recovers quickly.

Harley's Mama

· #4 · Oct 17, 2004

Harley never had any of that. Instead he had one spot on his hip where the hair was gone. Then there was one that showed up on his knee. They (vets) did a skin scrape and it didn't come back as anything. They gave him some strong antibotics cream and the spot on his knee went away.

The vets just think it was some kind of skin bacterial infection that we got soon enough on his knee but not on his hip. Oh well. Just as long as it's not getting bigger or getting red, he should be fine.

joebeans

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 17, 2004

Aww poor Mikey, hope his leg heals quickly. When we were finishing up at the vet today, a lady rushed in with her dog that had fallen off a 2 story balcony!!! I didn't see what kind of dog it was, but I'm sure it suffered some sort of major injury as they were cancelling alot of appointments after mine. Luckily we were done, just waiting for the tech to mix up the antibiotics for us. Hope that doggie is ok too.

OzzyAndLilysMom

· #6 · Oct 17, 2004

get well soon jose

Boogaloo

· #7 · Oct 17, 2004

Poor Jose! Get well soon!

Joebeans - is this something that can re-occur? I hope it clears up quickly!

SC

· #8 · Oct 17, 2004

Get well soon Jose!

joebeans

Discussion Starter · #9 · Oct 17, 2004

The vet said that if it comes back after he finishes these antibiotics, that there has to be an underlying cause for the infections, usually some type of allergy, fleas being the most common allergy he said. He's never had any fleas, didn't come with any, and I protect both of them with Frontline. I think it was just the stress of getting used to a new home, plus getting used to Chiquita and establishing his position in the pack. The vet said it is caused by a type of Staph, which all dogs and even humans have living on their skin as a normal flora, just takes some immunocompromise in pups and they overpopulate and throw a big party on their poor little bodies. Poor dog, he got a shot friday (4th DHLPP), a shot on saturday (RABIES), then today mean ole mommy takes him to the vet and gets a thermometer shoved up his rear end, and skin scraped off his back and then the nasty lady makes him choke down some yucky medicine. Sheesh, what a day! LOL

Too late for a nap?

MammaDog

· #10 · Oct 17, 2004

never had to deal with that, however my Abby (GSD) like most will just lick and chew like crazy at the smallest thing until she has no hair and raw skin when the spot is.

I wish you the best of luck,
MD

NoahFL

· #11 · Oct 17, 2004

Poor Jose

Hope he gets well soon. Did the vet give you any special shampoo like DVM Relief Shampoo with Pramoxine HCI? My beagle is very prone to skin problems and this shampoo has really made a difference in her skin. Good luck and keep us posted

joebeans

Discussion Starter · #12 · Oct 17, 2004

No, we didn't get any special shampoo, just the oral antibiotics to take for two weeks, and I give him some benadryl to help with his itching until the antibiotics start taking effect. I put some triple antibiotic ointment on his feet, which has pramoxine hcl in it, which is just a mild analgesic, and he seems to be ok for now. Hopefully it clears up soon.

KB

· #13 · Oct 18, 2004

Poor

Jose, hope he gets better soon!

Kari

· #14 · Oct 18, 2004

I hope Jose feels better soon!

Auggies Mom

· #15 · Oct 18, 2004

I hope Jose feels better soon too. This is the second thread I have read recently which talked about giving benadryl. Exactly how do you do that or measure the dosage. The only thing I have is benadryl capsules. Do you have something different. I am asking because if I would ever need to give Auggie any I would hate to do research at a critical time. Being a worrying mom I am always afraid he will get stung by a bee or God forbid bitten by a centipede. Any info about this would be appreciated :roll:

NoahFL

· #16 · Oct 18, 2004

Good rule of thumb for Benadryl is 1mg/pound, but double check w/ your vet. That's the dosage I've always used with my dogs. Benadryl comes in 25mg and 50mg tabs.

joebeans

Discussion Starter · #17 · Oct 18, 2004

Auggies Mom

I put a thread up about a handy medicine chest to keep for your chi, but here it is again:

Handy Medicine Chest

Get the liquid Benadryl for Children. I calculated the concentration of it to be 2.5mg/ml. Use up to 2mg/lb as a rule when getting a dosage, this is what I use, as it is considered a max strength dosage. So you take the number of lbs your chi weighs, and multiply it by 2 (for the mg/lb) and then divide that number by 2.5 (for the concentration of the liquid) and this tells you the correct amount of ml's (cc's) to give for a dosage for your chi's weight.

So for example:

Jose weighs 6 lbs.

6 x 2 = 12 mg
12/2.5 = 4.8 ml

So Jose would be receiving 12 mg, but i just round this up to 5 ml which equals 1 teaspoon, and 5 ml = 12.5 mg.
I warn you, this stuff tastes awful! Your chi will gag on this most definately, I squeeze all of it out of the dropper at the back of the throat so it goes straight down before they spit it out. If your pharmacy (I know Target does this) will put a flavor in your OTC medicine, have them do it, it makes giving a dog medicine so much easier! If anyone needs metric instructions on dosing Benadryl (for Kilos instead of lbs) send me a message and let me know.

Hope I didn't confuse anyone. Any questions about giving meds to your dog at home should be directed to your vet if you are unsure on the correct dosage to give.

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Auggies Mom

· #18 · Oct 18, 2004

Thanks Joebeans I did look at that when you posted it but it didn't give all the good info you did. I guess I need to buy some liquid benadryl ( didn't know there was any ) to keep on hand. Hope i never need it but would rather have it. :lol:

joebeans

Discussion Starter · #19 · Oct 18, 2004

I work in the NICU of a hospital and in many other areas as well, so I am used to helping calculate dosages of medicines based on weight.

Vala

· #20 · Oct 18, 2004

aw, poor Jose, I really hope he gets better soon!

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