My dog's nose wound won't heal after 2 years and many vets. Help!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Based on the picture you have provided, it appears that this could be bacterial or a skin parasite causing the lesion. The skin may need to be cultured and if a skin scraping has not been performed, I would certainly recommend having this done to make sure this is not due to a skin mite such as demodex. If this is not due to a mite and is still there, I would recommend a culture / biopsy of the area for a more definitive diagnosis. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Poor Belle. This could be a bacterial infection, fungal infection, or even a type of skin mite. Especially since it is getting worse, I would have your vet take a look at it. Your vet will be able to determine what has caused the infection and the best treatment plan to make it better. She is likely going to need some oral medication to help it heal. I hope this helps!

I am so sorry to hear about Drako! It is definitely quite possible given the appearance and his breed that he could be suffering from an autoimmune disease such as lupus. Other possibilities would include bacterial and fungal infections, solar dermatosis (sensitivity to sun) and zinc responsive dermatosis, and less commonly cancer. It looks like if your dog didn't respond to the antibiotics and steroids then some additional testing needs to be done. A biopsy is the fastest way to determine what the problem here could be. I would recommend discussing this with your vet and if they don't feel comfortable asking for a referral to a specialist.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This could be due to an infection though it could also be due to an immune mediated disease for instance. Most of the time these require a biopsy to determine the origin. Antibiotics can help in these cases though again it depends on what is the actual cause of these lesions. I recommend that you have Max evaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Good luck and have a good night!

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Sasha. I would advise taking Sasha to your veterinarian for an evaluation. These are odd lesions and one concern I would have is an immune-mediated skin disease. It is possible it is something else but problems affecting mucocutaneous junctions are oftentimes immune-mediated in nature. Other possibilities include bacterial infection, nutritional problem, etc. Your veterinarian is likely to advise some tests if this condition persists. A skin biopsy might be necessary to diagnose this. Once a diagnosis is made a sound treatment plan can be implemented. Good luck with Sasha.

Lesions in this location can be a little tricky to treat with topical medications because most dogs are able to lick them off, at least to some degree. You can try to clean this area with an antiseptic chlorhexidine cleanser twice a day (Hibiclens is one brand), but take care to rinse it well and do not let Bella lick it while you are cleaning. Breaking open a vitamin E capsule and rubbing it on this area may be mildly helpful, but it won't hurt if she licks a little off. As Jessica mentioned, one of the most important things to do is to keep an e-collar on Bella to prevent her from rubbing at this area further. If this lesion persists for another week or worsens at any point, you'll need to take her to a vet for evaluation. It's possible that she may need oral antibiotics or anti-inflammatory medications to help get this area under control. I hope that everything goes well!

I am sorry to hear about your dog. If he is a dog who tries to escape his crate and these could be wounds from excessive rubbing of his face on the bars, you can try a topical antibiotic ointment. We do, however, worry when we have lesions on the nose or where the skin of the nose meets the fur about immune disorders like lupus which require veterinary care. I would recommend bringing him to the vet for an exam if he is not an excessive rubber on the cage bars.