Where to begin?

I'm in Southern California. The flea population and pollen count exploded this year. I use Frontline monthly, but couldn't keep ahead of the fleas. Many dog owners in my neighborhood complained their dogs were more itchy than ever. Many found fleas for the first time.

My dog, 3.5 yo, male, GSD Mix, chewed at his backside until he had raw hairless spots and thickened dark skin. This has subsided and is looking much healthier now that the weather is cooling. We're down to 55 degrees F at night (ha ha).

About 2 months ago he was treated for an ear infection, yeast.

About one month ago he had a gastrointestinal incident (Vet said, perhaps a bug or indiscriminate ingestion). It required anti-vomiting, anti-diahrrea medication, and a subcutaneous fluid injection. He recovered fully and rapidly with this treatment.

Over the past couple of months, his itching/scratching intensified. With his hind legs he scratched the backs of his front legs raw; they are now healed. He now uses his back legs to scratch, while standing, at his belly. I assumed a yeast overgrowth, though he has never had such, other than in his ears. With the stress of illness it made sense to me. But now, I'm not so sure.

His ears have cleared up and currently look great.
He licks at his paws a little. They still look healthy. I see no irritation between the toes.
I do not smell a foul odor.
He is not greasy.
I thought he may be waxy, but actually, I think it is dried saliva where he has chewed and licked himself.
I now see dark spots on his belly; it's best described as looking like mold. AND he has open sores at the base of his abdomen, in the crease where his abdomen and penis meet.





A google search has suggested a bacterial skin infection.
I'm looking for suggestions for treatment and prevention.

Thank you.

I think (strongly) that you need a derm vet.

I think you are probably seeing a staph infection on his skin, and that the darkened thicker areas are from malassezia. (This is classic malassezia.)

I'm afraid of the open sores because they are a huge breach in the protection from the skin., and that skin is infected with both yeast and bacteria (almost surely, IMO, although I'm not a health professional).

Because of those open sores, now I hesitate about the shampoo and leave-in creme I mentioned in a PM. I'm afraid of it badly irritating/inflaming such open sores. (KetoChlor says on the label, "If skin irritation develops or increases, discontinue use.") In the pics, I'm not really seeing open sores, but they're a little blurry.

I do think he needs bathing. Therapeutic bathing is a top tool against a whole range of skin stuff, along with oral meds when needed (and I betcha you are going to need them). Not only that, but a bath done right will rid him of fleas at least temporarily, and flea shampoo is not required.

While the bath is happening is when you would vacuum thoroughly, disposing of the vacuum bag outside (not in the indoor trash) and the dog's bedding changed. This isn't a one-time thing, I'm sorry to say; it will take a round of these actions to knock back the flea population (and again, it doesn't matter whether you see or are bothered by them; a dog with flea hypersensitivity is affected by a single exposure).

We have the flea-bath protocol here somewhere and I'll see if I can find it instead of re-typing it.

This would be done just before applying the Frontline. (Also, you might be seeing a situation where Frontline needs to be applied every three weeks for a while. This too is a good derm-vet question.)

All of this can actually be from fleas alone. A dog who is allergic to flea saliva (and this can happen at any age, although usually starting over age 1, commonly at age 3 or so) typically gets worse rather than better. (Flea saliva contains dozens of antigens, from amino acids to polypeptides and many more.)

Any allergy, including flea hypersensitivity, can cause an overgrowth in either normal yeast or normal staph (both present on healthy dogs), or both.

In addition, a dog with flea allergy often suffers from recurring tapeworms (from biting at and swallowing the fleas).

Fleas don't reproduce on the dog, which is why the environment needs to be de-flead while the dog is being bathed. The larvae are not on the dog; they are in his bed, in the carpet, in area rugs, etc. In fact, this is where most of the fleas will be, too. The dog is removing them from his body as fast and as furiously as he can, so even though he is continually being bitten, the biggest population is usually in his living area.

On a dog who is not allergic, the topical is kind of a bait-and-poison. That is, the flea jumps on the dog, bites, and is killed.

When the dog is allergic, though, this isn't good enough. The dog is damaging his protective shield, his skin, and this is where malassezia and/or staph gain a big toe-hold.

I'd get a derm vet referral. Then while waiting, I'd de-flea the home as assiduously as possible, and bathe the dog as often as possible. I'd probably also ask the vet about doing the Frontline every three weeks.

But this isn't going to be enough. It's only a start. I think you're likely to end up with an antibiotic as well as an oral antifungal. Unfortunately, an oral antibiotic is also a way to allow yeast to gain the upper hand, but the derm vet will be well aware of this balancing challenge.

I'm going to look for the flea-bath protocol, and also email Lori to take a look here and see if she sees that I've left anything out. (Lori too has had experience in this area.)

Please know that I have sincere sympathy. There are few challenges as frustrating (for the owner AND the dog) as allergies. Poor dogs, with their skin-site histamine receptors, can be maddened by allergic reactions. And then the secondary stuff -- the infections -- are awful as well.

Everything Connie said! Nancy, I live in So CA too. Why don't you PM me and let me know where - I have a great derma vet.

Good idea, Lori!

Nancy I am sorry for your poor boy's skin issues.

I live in a climate where we need to treat fleas all year round. I have used Advantix, Frontline Plus and many others.

Here our vets keep switching, because they know the fleas,ticks, etc. seem to get resistant to the meds.

Currently, I am using a topical called Parastar Plus and it is better than the others so far.

I also bathe Ramsey with Douxo Chlorhexidine PS Shampoo every week.

I have had my share of skin stuff with previous dogs so I feel for you. Hope you can cure this soon... it's a real bummer!!