Clindamicin? Hendrix gnaws/lick skin to point of bleeding
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| Oscar's dermatologist prescribed Clindamycin for Oscar after we went from one drug resistant infection to another. He only took it for a short period of time, as I noticed that he seemed to have an inflammatory reaction to it. Clindamycin is an antibiotic, so there is an assumption that Hendrix is dealing with some sort of bacteria that would be susceptible to it. (In humans with troublesome or recurring staph infections, or acne, they use this drug for a three month period and have seen some positive results.) I think Clindamycin use for dogs with skin problems is fairly recent, in the last couple of years, as Cephalexin used to be the broad spectrum antibiotic frequently prescribed for skin troubles. How long was Hendrix on Clindamycin? Laurie and Oscar |
| Thanks for responding! Hendrix's vet said it was a drug used for inflamation of the gums and just recently seen success in skin. Hendrix was on it for 3 weeks and it cleared up the sores by the time we were out of pills. Then about 10 days after being off the pils, bam! A sore errupted and he's back on the meds. We've been battling this sore problem since October 10th. Poor guy has been a cone, on and off, for almost 2 months now. I'm into day 2 of having him back on Clindamicin. Would giving him a short hair cut help? My vet suggested allergy testing, it's expensive. I've already got him on high grade dog food, Fish and Potato as he was having ear infections, hot spots and bad bowl movements when on cheap food. So I feel like we've conquered that and then bam this started! |
| You may think allergy testing is expensive but in the long run it is cheaper than this "hit & miss" stuff. Believe me. Find a reputable veterinary allergy/dermotologist. They will get to the root of the problem within 1 or 2 visits & have you & your dog on to be better & more comfortable life. It sounds like it could be an inhalant allergy which would not be affected whatsoever by what he is eting. |
So sorry to hear about poor Hendricks  I had the allergy test, the RASP test I think its called, on Bowie a few years ago when he was licking his feet and getting alot of ear infections. I found it to be a waste of time personally. I don't give him wheat, corn, or soy anyway. We use a food called Orijen, 6 fresh fish formula kibble. His itchy feet turned out to be a yeast infection and occasionally he gets it if the ground has been wet and damp a while. We use a spray for that. The ear infection turned out to be the MRSA virus and that was a bigger problem. If the medication is helping him, ask the Vet about keeping him on it long term but not as often. Maybe instead of two a day, go down to one for a few weeks...then down to every other day...then three times a week, then once a week...We had to do that with ear drops with the MRSA until eventually we don't need them any more...but it took quite a few months. Good luck. Keep us posted. |
| Ashley that is a great idea, sort of giving him the pills greatest strength and then going down. The vet also suggested take a scrape of his sore and sending that for testing. That would run $90. But she said that may come back that the more advanced allergy testing works. I will keep you all posted. I really enjoy everyones help. My husband and I think you are all great! |
| It's probably time to see a board certified veterinary dermatologist to see if they can help you figure it out. He/she will likely test the skin to see if yeast/fungus/mites/etc. are present, culture the sores to be sure the antibiotic is one that is effective for the type of bacteria present and finally do allergy testing see if they can pinpoint the allergen if it's not food. Then figure out the best approach. Hendrix's Mom wrote: He's been on a restricted diet since 2007 eating just Fish and Potato. Bumble has a food allergy too.  Was his skin controlled pretty well previously while on this diet? With this flare, is there a chance that he might have gotten something other than his restricted diet? A treat, chew, oral heartworm preventative, etc? Something that might help get things under control is bathing him with a shampoo like Douxo Chlorhexidine PS... if your vet feels it's appropriate. Laurie and I have hairy kids that should be poster children for the product. I wet the dog down, suds the dog up, let the dog set for 10 minutes, rinse well and dry thoroughly. I do this twice a week but was able to drop down to once a week before Bumble was diagnosed with a rare condition... he couldn't be bathed for 3 weeks so he back slid and again got a staph infection. We're hoping we can replicate the previous good skin results. Douxo also makes Chlorhexidine wipes for problem areas between baths. Hoping Hendrix will be feeling better again soon. |
| Yes, we were bathing him twice a week in Dermachlor Shampoo. Then the vet suggested just doing the problem areas, so we've been continuining that. Looking at the bottle now it says Chlorhexidine 4%. Yes, for the past 3 years or so his skin was great on his diet. I haven't given him the same oral heartworm for years. No strange treats either. And since the skin has gone bad we've kept him out of the kitchen when we eat dinner to avoid him getting anything the baby drops. Was his skin controlled pretty well previously while on this diet? With this flare, is there a chance that he might have gotten something other than his restricted diet? A treat, chew, oral heartworm preventative, etc? Now this all started in early October. Now that I think about, I think the problem was gone for about 3 weeks ago. Because when the vet checked his skin she noticed an ear in fection. So we had ointment for that. Then 2 days later I came back with this the gnawing skin. He's had no skin problems or ear infections since 2007. This is just so frustrating. |
| Groan... I know. It's horribly frustrating. Bumble's problems started at just over 1 year of age and that was over 2 years ago. But it sounds like you've got things covered. When Bumble came home from a hospital stay, I shaved his coat off a few days later. I found he had bald spots that his dermatologist was able to identify through pictures as a low grade staph infection. We were unable to bathe him for 3 weeks because of both his health and large incisions. But he was scratching like crazy... we tried to treat topically but had to start the antibiotics again. Still, he continued to scratch like crazy and shirts weren't heavy enough to protect his skin. I have a heavy material... I bought it 4-5 years ago. The back side is tightly woven, the outside is more... fleecy/fuzzy? It's thick. I made two more coats for Bumble to protect his skin. His itchy areas are his shoulders, sides and he chews at his hips. And they can do damage to their skin so quickly!!  I can't sew worth a diddle but it didn't matter... the heavy material has been wonderful because there were times when I could allow him to scratch a bit knowing that he wasn't causing harm to his skin. As the itching has again begun to subside, I was able to use shirts again and he's now both coatless and shirtless. Hoping things will begin to look up again. Not sure if this would be appropriate for Hendrix or not but thought I'd mention it. |
| I would do the 90 bucks for the culture. With a culture they can tell you what antibiotics will work. If you are giving an antibiotic that the virus is not suseptible to, its useless and infection will keep coming back. The idea of the weaning was my specialist idea when Bowie had MRSA. Towards the end we were giving him the meds one week, waiting four to pass, etc... Good luck. I know how upsetting it is when babies are sick! |
| Man, way too many of us on this forum have experience in this area!!! A few thoughts. If Hendrix's scratching/chewing is causing the sores, then a skin scraping might be helpful to determine if there is a bacterial infection that has taken root, but it won't address the reason Hendrix is scratching in the first place. If the bacteria is what is making him itchy, then the antibiotic alone should work, but why is he getting infections? Our first OES, Quincy, was what we called "itchy twitchy". He was also always battling a low level staph infection on his rump. We did the RAST Testing, determined he had an inhalant allergy to dust mites and a few other things, and I started him on the desensitizing allergy shots. In addition, he took Cephalexin (broad spectrum antibiotic) every Fri, Sat, and Sun. My vets called this "pulse therapy" and it kept the staph down to a dull roar. I think I would try a longer course of Clindamycin, as long as that isn't harmful. It's possible that Hendrix is dealing with a seasonal allergy of some kind, in which case a longer course of antibiotic might get him through the rough patch. You might also want to try adding diphenhydramine (generic Benadryl) to see if that helps with the scratching. If he is getting worse, or he starts to have trouble again when you discontinue the meds, I would look into the allergy testing. Laurie and Oscar |
| Jaci - Those coats are amazing! It would be perfect for Hendrix. I can barely sew a button on. I'll have to find the material and see if a friend can do it. That would be so much better then a cone. Thanks for the idea! |
| Laurie and Oscar - Hendrix has also been taking Costco Benedryl too. She'd like to see him remain on that indefinitly. I appreciate everyones suggestions and ideas, so much to take in! So far since he's been wearing the cone he hasn't licked the sore and no new ones have popped up. But that could be the drug helping him. |
| This is really interesting! I've been worrying about Caly's itchies. She had scratched herself into a staph infection and my Vet put her on Cephalexin and she healed quickly. But a couple weeks went by and she was getting increasingly itchy, even with antihistamines. She's back on the antibiotic and she's doing better. It seems strange but whatever helps seems good. |
| Wow, sounds just like Hendrix! My sister in law's lab just had the same thing too. |
| My vet also wants to treat with Revolution in case she has a undetectable case of mites. Revolution because it doesn't contain Ivermectin, which can be dangerous for sheepdogs. It is a might as well rule it out treatment plan and maybe it will help. |
Valerie wrote: My vet also wants to treat with Revolution in case she has a undetectable case of mites. Revolution because it doesn't contain Ivermectin, which can be dangerous for sheepdogs. It is a might as well rule it out treatment plan and maybe it will help. That's actually a good idea - I hope it works out. Our cat Tipup is on Revolution too - selected because he is both indoors/outdoors and hunts & catches stuff. |
Hoping it works for Caly.  Never found mites on Bumble either... but we too went the Revolution route just to be sure. It didn't fix the problem but as we continued to try to figure things out, we put the whole pack on Revolution including the granddog. I figured mites and fleas would be two less things I need to consider as the cause. |
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