itchy skin, red ears, and sebaceous cysts

[EquestrianRunner]

My dog, Bailey (6 year old mini poodle), is having some skin and ear issues lately. I need some COTH advice. I will call vet first thing Monday morning! She is NOT in pain

In the past, she has had three small (lima bean size) sebaceous cysts drained by our vet. But she still has small ones (approximately the size of a ball point pen), all over her body- more than I can count. Usually if I don’t try to pop/pick them, and just leave them alone she doesn’t bother them either. But the past week or so, they seem to be bothering her more. If I am petting her or something and I accidentally touch one, she grumbles and tells me that it hurts. She is not a grumbly, aggressive or anything like that type of dog…she is a therapy dog, very submissive, so the grumbles are pain related.

This fall, our vet prescribed 3.6mg Apoquel for her, since she had been itching her ears and chewing her legs excessively. She has been taking the Apoquel and it does seem to help (I notice she itches more when I forget to give it to her). She was treated for an ear infection the week before Thanksgiving, and it cleared up. I noticed that her ears are red today…not sure why.

Does anyone have any ideas as to links between skin zits/sebaceous cysts, itching/chewing, and red ears/ear infections?

Other potentially helpful info:

She is a very picky eater, and we had tried to do an elimination diet for food allergies, but she wouldn’t eat the prescription food, wouldn’t touch it… So I don’t know how realistic it would be for us to try that again… Any thoughts would be really appreciated!!!

She is not currently going to the farm anymore, and wears her jacket when she goes outside. We have washed the jacket and her bed(s) with gentle detergent. She gets groomed every 6 weeks, and has been using Maleceb (sp?) shampoo the past several grooming. Last grooming was 11/28.

Thanks!!!

[2tempe]

Florida dogs here. My past chow mix had itchies, red ears and some skin thing on his back - coat got oily, flakey. Apparently allergies, but basic anti itch did NOT clear it up. He required a double course of antibiotics as well, and a shaving down of his body in the summer months. Vet said it was a Yeast infection.

Current little dog gets itchies this time of year. no skin problems. Apoquel seems to work ok, but IMO a course of prednisone knocks it out better and for longer.

Dog allergy responses here in Fla are very common, most are environment related rather than food.

[EquestrianRunner]

For the prednisone, is it like one round of pred, and then you are done for a while? Or how does that work? Sorry if that is a silly question! I don’t know how pred works. But I do know that it makes you hungry!

I honestly don’t think it is food allergies, especially since we spent several weeks at my sisters house in Northern VA this fall and the ithcing totally stopped when we were there, and immediately started again when we got home. I think it is environmental, but trying to figure out how to treat that. Our vet originally said that once we get a solid hard freeze, that the allergens should become dormant which would help lessen the symptoms. But our weather here in Maryland has been crazy (60 degree swings within 48 hours!), so that hasn’t helped.

Thanks 2Tempe!

[2tempe]

ER- Yes, one round of Pred, not 100% sure of quantity, but something like 1 every day for x days then every other day; did it for maybe 2 weeks total. My dog is 27 lbs, pretty sure they were 5 mg pills. He didn’t seem to pee excessively…

With him I generally get one or two flare ups/year.

[betsyk]

Have been through all that and more… Apoquel was a life saver. I think it was the first time in her life, or at least in recent years, when she wasn’t miserable somehow, someplace. Changing food helped her ears but Apoquel let her skin finally heal.

We’ve done prednisone as well but she has some other autoimmune issues and have to be careful with prednisone. I want to find a miracle cure for her entire body - my totally non-veterinary intuition says if we could figure out what her entire body needs, many of her various allergy and immune system problems might work themselves out. But I haven’t won the lottery or met the right practitioner who can tell me what the real cure is.

[csaper58]

My dog’s sebaceous cysts were related to flea prevention medication that was applied to the skin. She reacted to all skin applied meds.

She was also prone to ear issues.

Keeping the hair around the ear trimmed so she had good air circulation in that area helped her a lot.

Cleaning her ears with Nolvasan Solution, instead of the vinegar smelling ear cleaners also helped.

[csaper58]

Are you sure these are sebaceous cysts and not ingrown hairs?

Could it be due to a reaction to being bathed/shaved/clipped or a product the groomer uses?

Don’t pick/pop them, that can lead to infection.

[EquestrianRunner]

[QUOTE=2tempe;8978409]
ER- Yes, one round of Pred, not 100% sure of quantity, but something like 1 every day for x days then every other day; did it for maybe 2 weeks total. My dog is 27 lbs, pretty sure they were 5 mg pills. He didn’t seem to pee excessively…

With him I generally get one or two flare ups/year.[/QUOTE]

OK Thank you!!! I will talk to the vet about that! I do remember our vet saying something at one point about how pred clears it up much faster, but then he thought the Apoquel would minimize the itching so we wouldn’t need the pred.

[EquestrianRunner]

[QUOTE=betsyk;8978804]
Have been through all that and more… Apoquel was a life saver. I think it was the first time in her life, or at least in recent years, when she wasn’t miserable somehow, someplace. Changing food helped her ears but Apoquel let her skin finally heal.

We’ve done prednisone as well but she has some other autoimmune issues and have to be careful with prednisone. I want to find a miracle cure for her entire body - my totally non-veterinary intuition says if we could figure out what her entire body needs, many of her various allergy and immune system problems might work themselves out. But I haven’t won the lottery or met the right practitioner who can tell me what the real cure is.[/QUOTE]

The Apoquel does seem to help a lot. If you find a fix all solution, let me know! :yes:

[EquestrianRunner]

[QUOTE=csaper58;8978880]
My dog’s sebaceous cysts were related to flea prevention medication that was applied to the skin. She reacted to all skin applied meds.

She was also prone to ear issues.

Keeping the hair around the ear trimmed so she had good air circulation in that area helped her a lot.

Cleaning her ears with Nolvasan Solution, instead of the vinegar smelling ear cleaners also helped.[/QUOTE]

I use the NextGuard pill for flea/tick prevention.

I will try to clean out her ears really well…I will try to keep the ear hair trimmed short. Did your dog have in ear hair? Bailey has hair in her ears (I think it is a poodle thing mostly), so I know that when she gets nasty hairy ears, they itch more. It is hard to keep them trimmed short, but I will try!

The same Nolvosan at the tack stores?

[EquestrianRunner]

[QUOTE=csaper58;8978895]
Are you sure these are sebaceous cysts and not ingrown hairs?

Could it be due to a reaction to being bathed/shaved/clipped or a product the groomer uses?

Don’t pick/pop them, that can lead to infection.[/QUOTE]

I think they are cysts… sometimes they pop on their own, and white cheezy junk comes out. These are more small round bumps, and I think the ingrown hairs are more like when a human gets an ingrown hair – small pointy/prickly?

She has not gotten any new bumpies since we started using the Maleceb shampoo – we take it to the groomer, and I know they are using it, since she doesn’t have that fresh scent anymore that she used to get after the groomer with regular shampoo.

I don’t intentionally pick/pop them, but sometimes I am just petting her and I hit a scab and junk comes out.

[csaper58]

In grown hairs are a result of curly hair being cut or broken below the skin. If the clipper blades are not sharp they can pull out hairs so it is a possibility.

My dog was a Cocker x Aussie mix. She had hair everywhere. I used a pair of round tip, [nose hair] scissors to remove hair from in and around her ears.

The itch is often caused by a yeast. the nolvasan solution was most effective for my dog. Just make sure it is the Solution, not the Scrub. The Scrub is a soap that needs to be rinsed off.

[EquestrianRunner]

Casper-- Thank you for informing me about ingrown hairs!!! I didn’t know how dogs got them! I will try the round tip scissors for Bailey’s ears! Thank you for the clarification-- I probably would have grabbed the scrub not realizing the difference

[jetsmom]

Have you tried a grain free alternative protein food like Taste of the Wild, High prairie formula (bison and venison)? Most dogs seem to like it, it’s priced reasonably and seems to work well for many.

[EquestrianRunner]

[QUOTE=jetsmom;8979464]
Have you tried a grain free alternative protein food like Taste of the Wild, High prairie formula (bison and venison)? Most dogs seem to like it, it’s priced reasonably and seems to work well for many.[/QUOTE]

Yes-- she is on grain free blue buffalo wilderness, and only gets grain free treats

[vxf111]

I believe poodle ear hair you’re supposed to PULL (or at least that was the protocol in ye olden days when I had poodles). Mine did get ear infections/scabs if I didn’t PULL the hair.

[EquestrianRunner]

[QUOTE=vxf111;8980266]
I believe poodle ear hair you’re supposed to PULL (or at least that was the protocol in ye olden days when I had poodles). Mine did get ear infections/scabs if I didn’t PULL the hair.[/QUOTE]

OK so I have heard you are supposed to pull it too, but I never figured out how to do it? So I ask the groomer to do it when she gets groomed, but that is every 6ish weeks…

[EquestrianRunner]

So I forgot to call the vet Monday for Bailey (was working on getting a new horse transported)…but I called today when I noticed she had popped one that as on her lip…and it is all crusty and yellow and icky…so most likely another round of antibiotics :(, and I am going to try and figure out what else we can do to prevent these flair ups!!!

Does anyone in central MD or DC/Northern VA know of any dog allergy specialists? Or have any experiences you want to share? Good or bad? THANKS!!!

[vxf111]

[QUOTE=EquestrianRunner;8980505]
OK so I have heard you are supposed to pull it too, but I never figured out how to do it? So I ask the groomer to do it when she gets groomed, but that is every 6ish weeks…[/QUOTE]

There’s a powder you sprinkle on (you can use cornstarch in a pinch) that makes the hair dry/easy to grab. And they you grab a small clump and just pull swiftly out. Kind of like pulling mane but without the combing/tweezing.

[EquestrianRunner]

[QUOTE=vxf111;8980526]
There’s a powder you sprinkle on (you can use cornstarch in a pinch) that makes the hair dry/easy to grab. And they you grab a small clump and just pull swiftly out. Kind of like pulling mane but without the combing/tweezing.[/QUOTE]

Thank you!!! I really appreciate it!