[tnichole18]

I'm looking for someone to help me figure out what could have caused this skin reaction on my dog. 4 days ago, it was just a little blood blister type thing on his back. Now, his skin is cracking and falling off. I took him to the vet on day 1 after I saw the blood blister. She mentioned that his whole back seems to be one large scab and that it will eventually fall off (after much time). We've had blood tests done and fungal cultures. Everything came back clean. The vet seems to think that the dead skin will just fall off and then we will need to wait for the skin to grow back. He's on medications now to help prevent infection. The vet said they COULD do surgery to remove the dead skin. However she did note that it will just fall off on its own. Attached is a picture of how he looks today. Keep in mind, only 4 days ago, it was just a small blood blister. Any idea what could have caused this??

 

[Freemare]

It could all most anything. I have had horses have the same thing. What food is he on? Did you take him anyplace such as open grass lands....etc

 

[tnichole18]

He's had stomach issues as well, so he's on RoyalCanin Gastrointestinal High Energy Dry dog food. He's been on that for probably the past year

 

[tnichole18]

And he hasn't been outside much. We don't have a fenced in back yard, so we have a lead for him that we let him out on to go to the bathroom... besides that, he's an inside dog.

 

[MrsCunningham]

I would take him back to the vet, that looks painful and very infected.

 

[timber]

Could it be proud flesh??

 

[Rain]

It looks exactly like what happened to a pit bull puppy I know. In his case it was lymph fluid that built up under the skin causing the skin to crack like that. He had been rescued from a man who was abusing him, and the injuries he sustained to his back is what caused the lymphatic reaction. He had surgery to remove the dead tissue, and the new owners was given a cream to put on the wound. He's now a healthy, rambunctious young dog, but he does have a good sized scar on his back.

 

[JetBlackSteel]

My first gut reaction is to say a food allergy. Especially if you say he's had stomach issues. I would go for a grain-free dog food, the food you are feeding him has rice, corn, and brewers yeast. I feed my dogs Earthborn which is a lot better and not so costly.

If removing the grain does not work then the main protein (chicken, lamb etc) may be doing it. I would definitely recommend changing his food.

 

[animalcraker]

It looks like some sort of burn to me. Has anyone possibly poured hot water on him or has he layed next to anything that's hot like a heater or something?

 

[StormyPeak]

^That was my first thought...was maybe hot water, or some chemical was dumped on his back, or he rolled in some chemicals freshly sprayed on a lawn or something.

Other's here suggesting lymph fluid to to injury... maybe the dog tried to jump up on something and fell backwards onto his back and caused some kind of injury that way???

I hope the injuries heal up soon, poor guy.

Stormy

 

[tnichole18]

Thank you all for your suggestions!! The vet did mention that it was fluid all built up along his whole back. So the lymphatic reaction isn't a bad suggestion!! However, I'm just not sure how he could have gotten that. We certainly don't abuse him... (he's a very loved/spoiled dog!!). The only thing I could think of is that we also have his brother and they play around a lot, like play wrestling. But I can't imagine that would have that much of an impact.

As far as the burning goes, I can't think of anything that could have caused that. My first theory was the possibility of sun burn from when he was outside a couple weeks ago for a while (and by a while, i mean 30 min max) one day when it was really hot out. But I mentioned that to the vet and she said she didn't think that would cause this vicious of a reaction.

I'm taking him to a specialist/dermatologist today to have them give it a second look. So we'll see what they think about this!

 

[crazy]

oh OWWWWW OUCH! thats so ever painful im so thankful that my dogs skin has only had mild inflammation/hot skin and pimples and hair loss at one stage.

 

[cos]

Poor lamb that looks awfully painful! It looks like a pretty extreme sunburn to me. Perhaps keeping him inside all the time and then exposing him to half an hour of heat caused this reaction in his skin? If he's not used to direct sunlight it may have just affected him strongly?