Sick sheepdog- Anyone else have this diagnosis or any ideas?
Our sheepdog is 2 years/ 4 months old and her name is Belle. She is a beautiful, loving girl but is sick and the vet says there is nothing else he can do for her. She has had these lumps that come on her left side in the same spot. Before I had a lump biopsied the dermatology vet thought her condition was nodular panniculitis. She has had surgery to remove these lumps 3 times. Is there anyone out there that has dealt with this health problem in their sheepdog? I am going to start Belle on a raw diet to see if this will help. Any help, ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. |
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| Welcome to the forum, I'm sorry you found us under difficult circumstances. I've not heard of the disease. I hope someone else can tell us about it. |
| That is a very broad diagnosis and can encompass many conditions. Nodular panniculitis can be a part of that diagnosis. All of this may be autoimmune related. I would suggest you get in touch with a vet school and see if they can help you pinpoint a specific diagnosis and treatment. They are able to do more complex biopsies and immunofluorescense testing to come up with answers. If it truly is an autoimmune response it will probably be a lifelong issue. Hope this helps. |
| Thank-you for your responses and suggestions. Yes, I also feel this disease is related to Belle's immune system. I will contact a vet school and see what knowledge they may have. I'be been told by the.l vet that Belle's condition is chronic. ☹️ I am heartbroken for her but not giving up. |
| Well, I have had Belle on a raw diet for 3 weeks now and she really enjoys the food. She is still getting the lumps on her side but not as big or as bad. I was wondering has anyone ever taken their sheepdog to a Holistic Vet and what you thought about your experience? I'm considering taking Belle to a Holistic Vet to see if they have any more insight into her problem. Thanks |
| My friend takes here English sheepdog to one a swears it is the best thing she ever did. I have seen the improvement in her dog but she also changed his brand of dried kibble so could be that or both. xx |
| Thank-you for reply. I am going to book an appointment for Belle with the Holistic Vet. |
Let us know the outcome. I am nosey!!!! No, nice to know how fellow fluff lumps are doing- bit like "the old days" when we had daily reports of who was up to what. xx    |
| I took Belle to the Holistic Vet last Tuesday. I had my consult with Belle and bought all the prescribed treatments needed to be given to her. I followed what they said to do. Her lesions actually got worse and she smells like she is rotting from the inside out. I am heart broken and very sad as I felt this was my last option. I took her to my regular vet today to start her on some antibiotics but I am really at a cross roads. I am not taking her back to the Holistic Vet as that was a $1,000.00 (including consult and all the tinctures etc) and it made it worse. They told me if she is worse to discontinue the treatment. I'm considering doing 14 days of antibiotics but if this does not work it realistically may be time to euthanize my beautiful Belle. I love her but what quality of life is she having? She still has her appetite, gets excited to see me but with this last Holistic treatment she is tired and sleeping a lot. Are there any thoughts out there? |
| I took Belle to the Holistic Vet last Tuesday. I had my consult with Belle and bought all the prescribed treatments needed to be given to her. I followed what they said to do. Her lesions actually got worse and she smells like she is rotting from the inside out. I am heart broken and very sad as I felt this was my last option. I took her to my regular vet today to start her on some antibiotics but I am really at a cross roads. I am not taking her back to the Holistic Vet as that was a $1,000.00 (including consult and all the tinctures etc) and it made it worse. They told me if she is worse to discontinue the treatment. I'm considering doing 14 days of antibiotics but if this does not work it realistically may be time to euthanize my beautiful Belle. I love her but what quality of life is she having? She still has her appetite, gets excited to see me but with this last Holistic treatment she is tired and sleeping a lot. Are there any thoughts out there? |
| Maybe get a second opinion? Are you near a veterinary teaching college? If so, take her there. |
| I wouldn't give up on her yet. It seems that it can be treated with antibiotics or antifungals (depending on the cause), steroids, and vitamin E. Looks like they can live a good life with treatment. See this: http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/ski ... nniculitis |
| I appreciate your replies and input. Unfortunately, we do not have a veterinary teaching school around here. I did email the 3 teaching schools that are in other provinces and got only 1 vague reply. When I took Belle to my vet yesterday they thoroughly cleaned the 2 lesions on her side. I also got a prescription for Clavaseptin 500mg tablets 2 a day for 14 days. Already after 1 day the rotting smell is gone. I will inquire with my vet next week if Belle would benefit from steroids. My sister-in-law and brother breed and show Lowchens. They are in town next Saturday for a dog show. There will be all breeds there and showing. I'm going to approach the sheepdog breeders and inquire what they think or if they have any suggestions about Belle's lesions. I've got to just keep asking the questions and one day someone will have the right answer. Yesterday, I was feeling hopeless for Belle's condition and today I'm back on my feet ready to be Belle's voice again. Anyone that has any suggestions or options that would help Belle and I are greatly appreciated. I will continue to update on Belle as we continue down this journey together to make Belle well. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart. |
| I'm sorry |
So sorry the holistic treatment made things worse - they certainly know how to charge, was a lot cheaper than that in England!! Yes, you do have to keep on asking and as you say there may be a "drug" to help her and you can continue daily life with Belle, as long as she is happy. Do hope the "stuff!" she is on does the job-sounding good so far. Big hugs for you both. xx  |
J. Bathgate wrote: I appreciate your replies and input. Unfortunately, we do not have a veterinary teaching school around here. I did email the 3 teaching schools that are in other provinces and got only 1 vague reply. When I took Belle to my vet yesterday they thoroughly cleaned the 2 lesions on her side. I also got a prescription for Clavaseptin 500mg tablets 2 a day for 14 days. Already after 1 day the rotting smell is gone. I will inquire with my vet next week if Belle would benefit from steroids. My sister-in-law and brother breed and show Lowchens. They are in town next Saturday for a dog show. There will be all breeds there and showing. I'm going to approach the sheepdog breeders and inquire what they think or if they have any suggestions about Belle's lesions. I've got to just keep asking the questions and one day someone will have the right answer. Yesterday, I was feeling hopeless for Belle's condition and today I'm back on my feet ready to be Belle's voice again. Anyone that has any suggestions or options that would help Belle and I are greatly appreciated. I will continue to update on Belle as we continue down this journey together to make Belle well. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart. Good. If you're not getting the right answers or your confidence in your current vet is low, don't be afraid to seek out a new vet. My experience with Brick's Cushing's disease has taught me that. Nobody knows Belle like you. You've got to continue to be her voice. |
| I've decided to do the 14 days of antibiotics (500 mg twice daily). I am going to a dog show this weekend as my sister-in-law and brother breed and show Lowchens. There will be Old English Sheepdogs being shown and I'm hoping to talk with a Sheepdog owner and/or breeder and see if they have any recommendations. Depending on how Belle responds to this round of antibiotics, I am considering treating her with some steroids.I have done some research on steroid treatment; the short term and long term side effects. But I also need to take into consideration how Belle is feeling. She still has a good appetite but she has been quite tired from the Holistic treatments and now the antibiotics. I wish Belle could talk and give me her input. Thanks for the article regarding treating nodules. |
| Well Belle is now on a maintenance dose of antibiotics of Clavaseptin 500 mg tablets of 1 tablet once a day for 14 days then 1 tablet every other day until finished. Currently, her lesions are not totally cleared up but they are not getting bigger. The vet thought we should do the maintenance antibiotics and see how Belle responds before thinking of putting her on steroids. I went to a local dog show but there were no Old English Sheepdogs showing any of the 3 days. I did meet 2 judges from England that were judging the Lowchens (my brother and sister-in-law breed and show these dogs). I spoke with the one judge about Belle and she is going to see what resources/breeders in England that may be able to help. With the current maintenance antibiotic schedule Belle will be done this set of medication on October 26th. I am trying to be optimistic but also realistic from what I've seen and experienced with Belle already. I've been told this is a chronic skin condition with no known cause and no known cure. If I can figure out what can keep the lesions at bay so Belle is not suffering with the open, oozing lesions that she finds itchy and wants to lick to keep clean. She has certainly been a trooper when she has stop where the big clear cone. Initially when she had to wear the cone she was so disoriented but because this has been an ongoing problem for at least 15 months she has had to adjust. If anyone has any thoughts please let me know. I also tried contacting the breeder from Georgia for a second time and she did not respond. I just wanted to know if she has experienced this problem with any other of her Sheepdogs. It is very frustrating when people are not accountable. |
| I hope that the anti-biotics do the trick-let us know how it goes. |
| Belle has now been on the maintenance antibiotics for 5 days now The original 2 previous open lesions she had are dried up but a new lesion in that same area has popped out of her fur. I took Belle in to get her nails trimmed yesterday and Annette said she can see Belle is smaller than she used to be. My daughter also said to me Belle's legs are thinner. I also notice it looks like her legs have atrophied. My vet said these lesions are not cancerous. Is there more blood work I could have done that could detect if Belle has cancer? I worry if Belle is in pain. Are dogs good at hiding their pain? She still is so happy to see me and our family; wagging her tail and wanting us to pet her. Also, she is still running around in the yard and loves her raw dog food (she would eat until she exploded if we let her). I am feeding her the recommended amount for a moderate active dog but she seems like she is always hungry? What is Belle lacking? On a separate note, a year ago I phoned the breeder in Georgia and she never returned my call. About 2 weeks ago I went on-line and looked up Old English Sheepdog breeder under AKC and her name was there. I emailed the breeder asking for some help if she may know or has had any other puppies/dogs with the current, chronic health problem Belle has and she still never got back to me. Honestly, before I emailed her I didn't expect she would respond but I am so desperate for some answers to help Belle. Should I contact the AKC and let them know of this breeder? Any and all ideas, opinions and thoughts on the above is greatly appreciated by Belle and I. Thanking you in advance. |
| Oh yes definitely do report to AKC Hope Belle is better |
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