Boxer Problem
- From: "Tee" <crappolagozhere@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 22:17:51 -0400
My sister's 2.5yo spayed female Boxer has been exhibiting some strange
symptoms that the vet hasn't had much luck with. Mary has a history of
allergy (seasonal, grass, pollen, etc) and irritable skin. Due to neglect
by original owner she was once fully bald with a secondary skin infection
that had open sores and crusting sores growing on her (age 10-12 months).
After intensive treatment she was ok and her coat grew back although there
was about 30% scar tissue and permanent balding.
It was normal for Mary to have bright red skin that showed through her very
thin coat and would be accompanied by bumps, similar to hives, on her neck
and chin. My sister has had Mary on salmon oil and a quality food and has
seen her coat thicken slightly, hair grow where none had regrown before and
a complete disappearance of the bright red skin. Mary hasn't been itchy
this season nor has the conjunctivitis she used to suffer with allergy
outbreaks returned. End history.
My sister too Mary to Maine in April to visit family for a week. Mary's
food bowls, bedding, etc went along as did the other Boxer, Hunter. About 3
days after arriving back home in NC Mary went bald on her mouth and around
each eye. She suddenly dropped 10+ lbs as well. Vet puts her on prednisone
after doing negative skin scrape and deciding it wasn't demodex (not sure I
agree with that). Prednisone caused all kinds of the usual ugly side
effects but hasn't helped with the bald spots. Mary is still in the
weaning-off stage of this medicine.
Vet also prescribed antiobiotics just in case she had an infection
somewhere. No thyroid was done, no treatment for demodex just in case or
subsequent skin scrapes done, and the next step is supposedly a biopsy to
see if "the body is attacking itself."
I told my sister to demand a thyroid test and ask about the possibility of
treating for demodex to see if it helps. The only thing that concerns me is
the sudden and persistent weight loss. I haven't seen sudden weight loss in
other hypothyroid Boxers but neither have I seen the weight gain people
often say accompanies it. I'm not terribly happy that one negative skin
scrape caused a vet to rule out demodex and I'm concerned that a thyroid
test wasn't thought of. Maybe its not common to the vet world in general
but IME hypothyroidism and Boxers is very common and often accompanied by
demodex.
Anyway, do these symptoms, taken together, sound like anything anyone has
seen before? Is there something more I can research and recommend that my
sister speak with her vet about? These bald spots are not red, swollen or
obviously irritable. A couple of hairs have grown back, something like four
hairs, and they've come in snow white where the hair used to be black. One
other thing to note is that Mary came from NC, fostered with me in SC where
her skin condition/allergies improved, then moved back to NC to live with my
sister and had an outbreak (as described in paragraph 2). Its possible that
leaving NC for Maine then re-entering NC was the catalyst but the symptoms
are unlike previous symptoms.
--
Tara
.
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