Bulldogs World

He should be able to see the mites under a microscope.  Hope you get answers, it looks painful.

We've done skin scrapes 3 times... nothing.  But, I've read and been told that sarcoptic mites sometimes aren't detected.  It is painful for him, he is so tender to the touch on his back... his skin jumps when you touch him. :(

I've got an old boy that has had reoccurring skin funk that looks similar to what your photo shows. He had had more skin scrapings than I can count, and they always come back negative or inconclusive. He has been on pred, antibiotics, etc. but what has done more for him than ANYTHING ELSE is medicated baths in Maleseb or Chlorhexiderm shampoos. Unfortunately neither of those shampoos are available due to a government compliance problem at the manufactures.

However, there are a few other shampoos on the market that are considered similar or replacements for Maleseb and Chlorhexiderm. KetoChlor is one and another that is readily available (I got a huge bottle at Tractor Supply for about $30) is Main and Tail brand 'Pro-Tect' marketed for horses. Bathe him 2 to 3 times a week in it and do something to boost his immune system too, like give him Probiotics and Vitamin C. Keep his diet and treats as natural as possible too.

goin through the exact same thing with my guys,  all five of them!!!!  Been there done that.  A s you said, pred does work, but I don't want to keep them on this either.  I give them baths with Ketochlor medicated shampoo three times a week, my vet also gave me this spray called Malacetic contioner that I mke arinse with 8 caps/ half gallon of water, add 1 tsp. liquid chlorine bleach and use as a final rinse after bthing do not rinse off.  Towel dry.  Mal a Ket wipes for skin folds  Neosporin cream or ointment apply to skin lesion (pstules, crusts, red lesions nodules) twce daily until healed.  Clean skin lesions with Mal A Ket prior to putting on the neosporin.  Medicated powder apply to moistskin folds as needed, (twice weekly) as an example to keep dry.  Antibacterial powder (eg Gold Bond) miconazole antifungal powder ( Micatin, Zeasorb, other)  Keep skin very dry.  For the itching :  Termaril P (2 mg pred + 5 mg trimeprazine anthistamine)  When sever itching flares,  give the mnimum efffective dose (1 -2 tablets every 12-24 hours) for 1-5 days.  Minimize use of this medication since it can predispose the skin to infections.

Zyrtec- 10mg- 1 tablet every 12 hours to prevent allgeries.

Topical meds:  Dermacoollidocaine spray or sulfodene spray- apply to itchy areas as needed.

I also have them all on Purina HA (hypoallergenic) food, that I get at the vets, and finally the flares are geting better.  They get no treats other than frozen green beans.  And they get 1 cup of the food twice a day.  Every so often, I have to do the corse of pred again, but the zyrtec is very helpful.

All this information I got came from a animal dermatologist clinic  Hope this helps, it's sad for them to be so itchy and red.

  Also one of mine is on Atopica, I can't say that there is anydifference in him other than his skin folds are better and his face is less red.  The others don't seems to have the red fold or face, especially since they are on the HA food.

had skin issues that looked identical to these. They were funky/yeasty and painfule for him. We found that antibiotics only "fueled the fire" in that the yeast problem got worse while on the meds. The chlorhexiderm shampoo helped......but the baths were painful as well. We also gave him plain yogurt which helped with the yeast. Unfortunatley is my guys case, his was something that we dealed with that went away on it's own. We had been to numerous vets and nothing any of them done helped. It just sort of ran it's course and went away. I'm sorry you are going throught this (and anyone else) because I do know what you all are going through! Good Luck :)

Mike