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Anonymous
My dog's ears are rotting away. I've paid his vet about 400 dollars for him to tell me "lol i dunno" and give me some 60 dollar canine anti-fungal medicine that I'm sure is the same athletes foot creme I can buy for 5 bucks at Albertson's. I first noticed it about a year ago, and it seemed to come and go, and I didn't worry about it. It doesn't seem to bother him and I'm sure he doesn't give a shit about having bald spots on the ends of his ears. In the past few months though, it has gotten worse and began to show up on other specific spots. When I first took him in about 9 months ago the vet said that it was not fungal. I've read that poor circulation in older small dogs can cause hair loss and scabs to form on the ear tips, but he is 90lbs and turning two next month.

Tonight I was rubbing the back of his head when he seemed to wince and pull away, I felt around under his fur a bit (he has got thick dense white fur under a coarse black coat, hes a mutt) and found about a dozen (roughly) large-ish scabs around the back of his head. The largest one is the size and shape of a dime cut in half the others, about the size of the flat end of a nail, are clustered about all over the place. My first thought was that maybe he had gotten a bit rough in play with a friend's dog (they wrestle and bite eachother and whatnot, and he has gotten a cut before on his backleg when they got too rough) but they just don't look right, most of the scabs have already separated from the skin, they are just held in place by the hair growing through them.

I was able to get some photos, I was only successful in getting him to sit still under a lamp for one photo of an ear, the others I had to resort to using flash.

First image is him reading the sportspage as I don't want OP photo to be a gross fucking rotting ear.

(Also, I'm considering getting a second opinion at another vet as soon as I can afford it, but would like some input from the asshole of the internet first, obviously)
>> Anonymous
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BLARG
>> Anonymous
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One of the larger ones on the back of his head.

(level fuckery has altered the colors a bit because of flash, it's more crusty-scab-red and pink than yellow)
>> Anonymous
>>211483

You know what that looks like? It looks like your dog has red mange.

Yes. Mange.

Pretty uncommon these days, which is why your vet probably said "I dunno lol".

The "rotting" effect is probably a secondary infection caused from the damned mites.

Regardless of WHAT the actual infection is, you will be recommended by the vet to shave your dog to find out if it has spread to any other areas, given that your dog's thick coat prevents anyone from taking a good look at them.
>> Anonymous
lupus.
>> Anonymous
>>211493Mange
Holy fuck beans... Maybe I'll try and get him in earlier.

What the fuck causes mange? It's a parasite thing right? I didn't even consider it honestly, I mean, he's a 'house dog'. He gets a pound and a half of dry food a day, I bathe him every few months. Could it be an immune system thing? He's never been sick. Aw fuck anon you've got me worried.

I hope I don't have to get him shaved, I had to do that to a dog of mine a few years ago, god he looked like a retard.
>> Anonymous
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>>211498

mange is caused by an overpopulation of microscopic mites living on the dog's skin. All dogs will always have these mites, it's just that sometimes, they overpopulate.

Humans have similar mites too, and when they overpopulate, we get pimples. :D

Dogs get ... well, you've seen what your dog got.

From the fact that you said it seemed to "come and go" and that they are in localised areas rather than growing or evenly spread out, I'd say it's mange. It rules out most food allergies and dog shampoo allergies.

There is only 1 medication used for treating mange, and for the duration of the medication, your vet will recommend that your dog look like a hairless retard.

Mind you, I'd still much rather you got a second opinion from a different vet.

Mange is not really common nowadays due to excessive dog-washing. It's seriously not that big a problem by itself, but if you let the places get secondary infections, said secondary infections can threaten your dog's life.

Here's a pic of a localised mange spot I found on google. Does your dog's spots look similar?
>> Anonymous
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Alright, broke out some clippers so I could prep him for a visit to the vet. I dunno, it doesn't really look like the photos of mange I've seen on the internet. One thing I realized was that he had a bath at the groomers exactly a week ago, before that I can't remember ever feeling these scabs all over his body. Could it be a reaction to a shampoo or something like that? Odd how it is concentrated on the back of his head, though I do feel bumps and 3 or four similar scabs on his back along the spine.
>> Anonymous
>>211686
It may be an allergic reaction. Have you gotten him allergy tested?
>> Anonymous
Just got back from the new vet, this doctor said "lol i dunno" too, however she felt it would be a good idea to throw some antibiotics (cephalexin) at it, which I'm totally cool with because even after the cost of the medicine it still came to 60 bucks, which is 40 less than his regular vet charges for just a visit. She believes the ear crusty scab things aren't related to the scabs on his back/neck. I'm going to call the groomers tomorrow and ask them if they used a different shampoo, or perfumed him or something. Needless to say I'm not going to take him back there again regardless, and as soon as its warm enough to wash him outside I will (he's too big/unruly to wash in the tub)
>> Anonymous
>>211757
Require updates. Where do you live? Sounds like all your vets suck.
>> Anonymous
>>212208

Spokane, WA.

I'm hoping the scabs on his neck and back are from the perfume they use at the groomers. Talking with my parents, this is the first time we think they used a perfume on him, and a call to the groomers confirms that they did give him a spray. If it doesn't clear up in a few weeks I'm going to go ask them for a sample so I can have my vet use it in an allergy test. I'm going to keep giving him the antibiotics, hoping that it clears up the ???? on his ears, as I highly doubt it is related to this new shit.
>> Anonymous
sounds like ringworm, look it up
>> Anonymous
>>212389
Drive down to Oregon and take him to Northwest Vet Specialists in Clackamas. They hire the doctors there to work on animals in zoos, and do lectures all over the world. That hospital is where all the simple little vet hospitals send animals when they can't figure it out or don't have the skills to do it, or fuckups like Dove Lewis sends their misdiagnoses.