# Dog has bumps on his skin.



## helpmeplease (Aug 10, 2008)

I acquired a pit bull from a lady that had saved him from being put down. He's a really nice dog and when she gave him over to me she said she thought that he may have an allergy to grass but wasn't really sure. He has a lot of bumps on his skin, especially on his hind legs and was wondering what are the possibilites of it being? I called the vet and they can't get me in until next week sometime so I'm just asking around for opinions. If needed I could probably get a picture of the bumps that are on his back leg, just let me know.

He doesn't seem to be infested with fleas. My other dog has never had a problem with fleas so I don't know if this is something that happened from the owners who the dog was taken from or not. I know it wasn't something that happened from since I got him about a week ago. Just want to get it taken care of. Thanks!

Just for good measure...here he is...










Might even be able to see a little bit of what I'm talking about in this picture.


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## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

It could be many things from a skin infection (which is usually secondary to another problem) to allergies to ringworm or Demodex mange , which most bullie bredds are very prone to. Be sure you have the vet do a skin scrape(for mites) and possibly a skin culture (for ringworm). Once thiose are eliminated you can start working on finding any allergies and get any secondary skin infections healed up.


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## helpmeplease (Aug 10, 2008)

i gave him some benedryl a few times last week to see if it helped any and it seemed like it did a bit, but it neve did completely go away, with mange, wouldn't the dog be losing hair? he isn't losing any hair which is one reason why i was kind of ruling that out.

when just looking at some info on Demodex mange it says there are a 2 medications to treat it should it be the problem, one being Milbemycin and the other Ivermectin. I typed in both on 1800petmeds.com and both of them bring up medications for ringworms and or heartworms....not any mention of mites.


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## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

Thats because niether has been FDA approved for that purpose, though they ARE effective for it. Sarcoptic mange doesn't always have hair loss and often demodex, in the early stages there is no hair loss. A skin scrape is usually around $25.00 and can just give you peace of mind that there's no infestation. I guess after my experience with having a misdiagnosis of Pyoderma (skin infection) when in fact that was secondary and the Demodex got out of control makes me a little more paranoid about it. 

There are also quite a few natural treatments that are effective IF it's Demodex, one of the best I've found is NEEM, both the pure, cold pressed oil externally and the leaf powder internally. That along with building a dogs immune system has shown great results, it's also good for the secondary infections as NEEM is also a fungicide, inseticide, and antibacterial.


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## helpmeplease (Aug 10, 2008)

not sure if this might help anyone but here are the bumps that are on his legs....this is the main spot where he has them....


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## kimel (Jul 9, 2008)

Are those pustules on the skin or just sores and scabs?

May just be the pic but it looks like there is hair loss.

Time to see your trusty vet and get this taken care of.

It does look very, very similar to a food allergy problem we dealt with here but can't rule out other stuff until the vet does the tests. We only went after the food allergy after the vet had tested for fleas, mites, mange, etc. Once we found the right food it was very easy to tell we had hit the button as things started clearing up almost overnight.

Good luck and keep us posted.


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## Mach1girl (Apr 17, 2006)

Get the skin scrapings, make sure two are done to confirm either way.

However having seen that pic, I am confident to say it is an allergy.
Most likely an environmental allergy, however a food allergy may be there as well.

I personally suggest, with any dog that suffers food allergy, switching to a raw diet. If possible, this will eliminate allergies from food and is much healthier for your baby as well. 
If environmental your vet can prescribe an allergy medicine for him. Benedryl in the meantime will not hurt. Remember to give it round the clock for maximum effectivness-until you can see your vet. Most likely as well, once cool weather rolls around, the spots will go away for the most part if not all the way.

he also looks to maybe have a secondary problem, maybe a yeast infection, from the scratching and such. This has got to be treated with an antibiotic.

Remember with changing food, you will not see a change over night-give the dog 3 weeks to respond.

Good luck. I have had many a problem with bullies and allergies!


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## helpmeplease (Aug 10, 2008)

i've been giving him a brewers yeast suplement for about a week now and also got him eating science diet food, and also giving him 1 benedryl per day, not sure if i should be giving him more or not? any idea about this?


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## Mach1girl (Apr 17, 2006)

Not sure of the mg off hand, but Daozy got stung awhile back, like a few weeks ago, and they told me to give her 1 1/2 caplets every 6 hours. She is 50 lbs. Cato takes two every six hours-he is 100 lbs. The vet was adament on the 6 hour thing- Your vet would be able to tell you more-just over the phone.


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## helpmeplease (Aug 10, 2008)

Mach1girl said:


> Not sure of the mg off hand, but Daozy got stung awhile back, like a few weeks ago, and they told me to give her 1 1/2 caplets every 6 hours. She is 50 lbs. Cato takes two every six hours-he is 100 lbs. The vet was adament on the 6 hour thing- Your vet would be able to tell you more-just over the phone.


ok thank you!


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## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

helpmeplease said:


> i've been giving him a brewers yeast suplement for about a week now and also got him eating science diet food, and also giving him 1 benedryl per day, not sure if i should be giving him more or not? any idea about this?


I hate to burst your bubble, but Science diet is FULL of allergens (wheat, soy, corn just to name a few) and harmful preservatives! It is in fact crap food and you may be able to get better for not too much more. IF you suspect food allergies I'd reccomend a limited ingredient food such as Natural Balance Fish and Sweet potato or Duck and Potato. Wellness also has some limited ingredient formulas, though they still have grain in them. That or Raw as suggested may help.


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## helpmeplease (Aug 10, 2008)

cshellenberger said:


> I hate to burst your bubble, but Science diet is FULL of allergens (wheat, soy, corn just to name a few) and harmful preservatives! It is in fact crap food and you may be able to get better for not too much more. IF you suspect food allergies I'd reccomend a limited ingredient food such as Natural Balance Fish and Sweet potato or Duck and Potato. Wellness also has some limited ingredient formulas, though they still have grain in them. That or Raw as suggested may help.


well i started feeding him that about 3 or 4 days ago, i have no idea what the previous owners fed him, but im guessing the same stuff cause they gave it to me when i took him over. i'll check out some other foods that dont have grains in them and see if that helps at all.


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## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

good  remember that it won't be immediate, it tekes a couple weeks to see good results


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## helpmeplease (Aug 10, 2008)

well just an update.

I had my vet appointment today and they did a skin scrape from his rear legs. She said they didn't find any mites but said there was very little yeast and some bacteria. She's got me giving him some antibiotics and a steroid right now to control the itching and also gave me a medicated shampoo that I'm supposed to use on him once a week. She said it should be clearing up really well within a few days and that she wanted to do a checkup on him again in about 3 weeks.


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## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

I'm VERY glad to hear there are no mites.  Hope he clears up soon!


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