# skin pigment change?



## nicolemcgray (Aug 15, 2008)

I have a 17 month old male bichon/poodle. It seems that overnight the skin on his belly turned spotted. His skin was all pink now there are brown markings almost like a cow. Does anyone know why this would happen? Shouild I take him to the vet?


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## tut078620 (Feb 5, 2009)

My Shih Tzu got his spots last year all around his body like a cow (kinda like those chinese crested dogs). I freaked out too and called the vet and did some research online. It turns out this is normal, some dogs get them around the summer/spring or due to allergies and then they disappear and come back. I just noticed my Shih Tzu's gotten some more on his belly this year. 

They're not raised, just skin pigmentation on his pink belly and around his body (back, neck, butt, etc.)

I still get paranoid about this, so I, like you, would like to hear some more of others' inputs regarding this.


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## mskity333 (Mar 12, 2010)

My Lhasa has a flea allergy or hypersensitivity, and when summer finally hit this year she was attacked by a ton of fleas. Her skin got hot and red all over within 24 hours, and after that a lot of dry skin with itching followed after the fleas were gone, and during that time she went from nearly all pink, to being spotted like a dalmation the next day, and the day after that it became a bunch of big blotches and she was probably 60% black/grey and 40% pink. It looked very natural.

I read of changes with severe long-term allergies or certain infections, but they all included a loss of hair, scaly texture, and possible flaking of the skin. She had a little dryness in areas she was bitten, however it didn't go along with the black/grey spots, it was in random areas and covered both pink and black. I thought it might be dry skin causing it, but I didn't notice any change in texture of her skin between the black and pink, only around spots where she was bitten and focusing her chewing/itching on.

It's been almost 2 weeks now, she is flea-free and nearly back to normal. Residual itchiness, but I think it's a bit of a habit at this point. Right now, she is back to the dalmation-like spots of black/grey, on her upper chest and neck, and lower belly. Some of it has gone away, some of it hasn't.

Since it came and somewhat went with her allergic reaction, I was quite concerned, however couldn't find anything similar online about what it really meant. I know this is an old thread, however this is one of the very few posts I'd found with something similar - mentioning the almost overnight transformation, and not a gradual pigment change as she aged. I may not get any answers from this, but I wanted to add my experience, hopefully it might help someone else. I still have no clue why her skin changed... and then partially changed back.


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## ciaralynne87 (Sep 8, 2010)

My 150lb mastiff/rot mix had the same skin pigment change last summer. We took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with a bacteria/yeast infection. The gave us Malacetic Wet Wipes to use to clean the area and Cephalexin caplets and Prednisolone for treatment also. It cleared up quickly and the color has returned to normal.


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## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

I know this is an old thread but I have a similar question. I noticed a single area of darker pigment on Soro. In hindsight, it might have been there since forever but I just thought I'd ask and see if anyone else has had similar experiences. It's on the skin in his armpit area. No roughness, raised bumps or anything. Just this darker spot.


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