[BiancaSnoopy]

Hello. Our story is quite long so I hope you’ll want to read it and hopefully I will have some new perspectives.
So my little buddy is a shih-tzu,12 yrs old,male. He started to lose his hair about 1yr ago,and his skin started to get blackheads,pimples,infections. His paws get very swallen,and he gets those cysts between his fingers. Now he is mostly bald,and his skin is dry,thin,and very flaky. So we went to a load pile of vets..we tried everything they suggested. He was diagnosed with cushing,but they said he might actually NOT have it. They say it’s very hard to diagnose and he does not have other symptoms other than his skin.
He also has hypothyroidism,gallbladder problem. He takes a lot of meds daily,which are :
Ursofalk,enapril,thyroxanil,liver and gallbladder supplements,digestive supplements. His food is royal canin low fat,as it’s the only one his gall ladder does ok on.
we tried every shampoo,antibiotics,creams,baths,everything. He does not have demodex,any fungus.I’ll try any suggestion you have. I’ll attach some photos of his skin.
he is very happy and active Other than that.
Thank u all.

 

[JoanneF]

Sorry I can’t help but didn’t want to read and run. Hopefully one or more of our other members will have some advice.

 

[myhellopet.com]

So sorry to hear about your troubles but glad to hear your little guy is happy and active still. The set of details you describe, the progression of blackheads along the backline, and the set of complications you are combatting (e.g., blood pressure) certainly sounds like presentations of Cushing's. It's super important to reduce the amount of cortisol in the body as it is causing all the problems if Cushings is the diagnosis. There are simple meds for this - It's always difficult when you are already trying to treat so many problems but I would really recommend seeking advice from a vet you trust most on the question of Cushings again. Cheers, Matthew

 

[Magsie]

Is it possible that he’s allergic to his food? You might try a different low fat food, perhaps grain free.
Is he neutered? In my research it said that there’s a remote possibility of a testicular tumor if not.
If the vets don’t agree, there’s not much we can say. I’m not a veterinarian after all!
If he’s otherwise healthy, it may just be time to accept a bald little dog. You might give him a sweater or some such in cold weather, though.

 

[Arctic_foxy]

Look for a vet that specializes in dermatology, they will be able to do more in depth testing than a general practice vet. There are some autoimmune diseases that can cause this.

Autoimmune Skin Disease in Dogs | VCA Animal Hospital

The body has an immune system that protects from foreign invaders that can cause disease and infection, however, if with an autoimmune disease, the immune system attacks itself by mistake, causing illness.

vcahospitals.com

 

[BiancaSnoopy]

Is it possible that he’s allergic to his food? You might try a different low fat food, perhaps grain free.
Is he neutered? In my research it said that there’s a remote possibility of a testicular tumor if not.
If the vets don’t agree, there’s not much we can say. I’m not a veterinarian after all!
If he’s otherwise healthy, it may just be time to accept a bald little dog. You might give him a sweater or some such in cold weather, though.

He is neutered!also,we tried to switch his food but it didn’t seem to have any impact,it was grain free. Tbh I don’t have a problem with his baldness haha,just with the cysts that form,they must be painful. Thank you so much for the reply x