Staffordshire Bull Terrier

lisawood78

I'd have said ringworm, but clearly not.
I'm intrigued now

Fosterdog

One of my staffy fosters had this and the vet just said it was a fungal infection, he tested it under a UV light which shows up fungal infections.

Although I also had another foster get it who was a completely different breed and when both dogs got it OH got athletes foot. As they are both fungal infections the vet did say that they were probably linked. Our other dog and myself remained unaffected even though the dogs slept in the same bed as did me and OH.

OH has only had athletes foot twice in his life and both times were when the dogs had fungal infections so we have no way of knowing whether OH passed it to the dogs or the dogs passed it to OH.

With both dogs this started as flakey patches and eventually looked like burn marks, they started in one area of the body and spread out from there. They varied in size from a few mm to the size of a 10p coin but most were completely circular and the size of 5p.

Did the vet use a UV light to test it, if he didn't use the light I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be able to diagnose correctly without a skin scraping and looking under a microscope. They are the two standard tests with skin conditions.

Lozzy88

Sorry people I think my oh was just talking out of his a@se yesterday.

The vet thinks it seasonal flank alopecia, she took a scraping off his skin and a blood test as she said he has gained a lot of weight in the last 2 months since we were last there, so there could be something else :eek: his diet hasn't changed tho, I hope its not a sign of something worse.

rising_from_the_ashes

I'm another one who thought it was going to be ringworm .....

Fingers crossed it settles down soon & best of luck with the blood tests - please let us know how it goes

Rev

My staffy has terrible skin problems, anything sets it off. We can't change washing powder, use air freshness, fabreeze etc. his new blankets have to be washed a few times in the washing powder he's used to before he can use them. Can't wear perfume or anything but imperial leather pink deodorant etc.

His first flair up was caused by rice, when he was two and a half, took months to figure out what it was.

I have steroids and antihistamines at the ready all the time, and I use dermacton soap, cream and spray to help the itching when he gets a flare up.

Hope you find the cause and cure soon.

Fosterdog

It still doesn't sound right to me that the vet would go straight in for skin scrape and blood tests when the most obvious thing with the symptoms just needs the room lights turned off and a uv light passed over the area. It's completely unobtrusive and doesn't even touch the dog let alone cause pain, discomfort or stress. So either it was done and your OH just hasn't mentioned it or your vet is going straight to an unusual diagnosis and running tests that may not need doing before ruling out the most obvious.

As for the weight gain, have you maybe reduced his exercise recently with the cold and wet weather through December and January? Even cutting his walk short in the worst downpours? Has he spent less time playing at home and more time cuddled up for warmth?
How about spoiling him over xmas? Did he get any foody presents? Has he had more treats over the festive period? Any visitors sneaking him the odd treat? Has he had more human food and table scraps? Did he have his own xmas dinner?

It's not just people who change their habits and routines at this time of year, it's quite common for pets to also get some festive weight gain, but getting back to a good routine should fix that quick enough. Hopefully the blood tests will rule out anything nasty though and give you some peace of mind.