Why isn't my Labrador's severe skin infection healing after treatment?

Poor girl. It looks like Gowrl has either a fungal or bacterial infection on her skin that can be secondary to either a Demodexx mite problem or skin allergies. I would first have her skin tested for mites. If mites are the cause then her therapy will continue to fail until the mites are treated for first. You should also consider getting her skin cultured to see what antibiotic will completely rid the problem, especially if this is deemded to be a bacterial infection after she has a skin impression done. There is no easy fix for a skin condition this severe. You will have to go through the appropriate process of elimination with the help of your local vet to get her properly diagnosed with a specific skin condition and then treated appropriately. As a general rule of thumb, daily oral pet formulated fish oils are good for generalized skin conditions and can help when used in conjunction with other skin treatments. You can get her started on this right away by visiting your local pet store. No specific brand is needed, since they all are pretty equal in efficacy. I wish you all the best moving forward with Gowri's skin condition. And if she has already been diagnosed with a specific skin problem, then please feel free to repost your question with this information so that we can go over specific treatment recommendations for that skin condition. Best of luck and take care!

Hi. If she isnt getting better on the treatment, I would recommend getting her back in to see your veterinarian. It could be that it isnt a skin infection. It could be an autoimmune condition or even a type of skin cancer. I would recommend a biopsy as well as the recheck

This is probably due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is hard to know without knowing more about the case and examining him. However, if these infections are recurrent, I would have to assume that this could be due to allergies. An examination and gathering more information would help tremendously. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection. First of all, you will need to ask the vet to perform a skin scrape (or similar test) - this might reveal an infection. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

I am suspicious that this could be a lesion caused by either demodex mite or ringworm. I would highly encourage you to have a follow up appointment with your veterinarian. A skin scrape can be done to look for mites, they may consider a trial anti mite therapy in addition to an a topical anti fungal medication. If it still won’t heal then my next step would be a skin biopsy for more information on what the underlying problem is. Best of luck and I hope she improves soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

It looks as if your dog has a skin infection, most commonly caused by an allergy, a skin mite (Demodex) or fleas. 

The allergy could be a due to a protein in your dog’s food or an environmental allergy like to dust, pollens, grasses, etc. 

The allergy causes your dog to itch and chew at the skin which breaks down the skin barrier. This then leads to infection. Skin infections are typically characterized by large areas of hair loss, redness, crusting, flaking, and pustules. A thorough skin examination by your veterinarian should be able to determine the cause of the itch so it can be treated appropriately. A skin scraping and skin cytology should be performed to rule out mites and to determine the type of infection present (bacterial vs fungal). Your dog will most likely need antibiotics/antifungals longterm to help clear up the infection and possibly an allergy/anti-itch medication like Apoquel, Atopica, or Cytopoint to give some relief while the infection clears up. A medicated shampoo will be beneficial as well. I would also recommend he be on a good flea control routinely too. Once the infection has resolved a long term allergy medication (like Apoquel or Cytopoint) can be given on a regular basis to prevent any future problems. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.