Author Topic: black skin spots  (Read 24897 times)

Offline +four+leaf+clover+

  • Ankle Biter
  • *
  • Posts: 46
    • View Profile
black skin spots
« on: July 23, 2008, 09:49:21 pm »
My male Irish, Brannigan, is pretty old (11 1/2) and he has been getting more black spots (coin size) on the insides of his back legs for some time now.  Is it an age thing?  Anyone know?

Offline kealoha812

  • Veteran Dog Chomper
  • **
  • Posts: 150
  • "Life is short, Buy the shoes!"
    • View Profile
Re: black skin spots
« Reply #1 on: July 24, 2008, 07:04:38 am »
First off, Brannigan is gorgeous!  My golden is 10 1/2 and she started getting black spots on her stomach about a year ago. Eventually they had covered the whole belly! Vet said it was allergies. With time and meds, they went away and now she is pretty pink again. She gets yogurt every morning and takes Claritin every day. She is also on an aspirin and a dermcap every day. That combination works better than anything the vet gave although she did need something in the beginning to kick her body back into action. Good luck with the invasion of the black dots!  let us know what the vet says...
"A righteous man regardeth the life of his animals" Proverbs 12:10
Meli - Golden retriever
Timber - newfie/border collie X
2 skin kids - ages 5 & 8
2 cats - Maui and Maea (who own us all)

Offline +four+leaf+clover+

  • Ankle Biter
  • *
  • Posts: 46
    • View Profile
Re: black skin spots
« Reply #2 on: July 24, 2008, 11:05:52 pm »
I should have been a bit more detailed.  They are not generally uniform and are irregular in shape, but I said coin-size  so no-one thought dots instead of spots.  It's a bit hard to tell if there is hair loss - there is not much hair  in that region anyway!  And it is weird because on one inside leg he has been licking them and they are red around the edges, but on the other leg he hasn't!  He has already been tested for thyroid problems - doesn't have any, and he is on Advocate so that takes care of mites and fleas.  It is mid-winter here, so there is not much about, I would imagine, for him to be allergic to as well and our house situation has not changed at all, or his food.  It's so weird.  Since he was a young dog, he has had an amount of woolly hair dating from some mystery illness that was eventually put down to some autoimmune disorder (he limped, collapsed and got very skeletal).  I don't know if that comes into this or not.  He also has (since summer)a swollen region around his throat which he had a lot antibiotics and anti-inflammatories for and that helped a bit but it is still there.  I suspect he  has some non-malignant growth on his parathyroid gland: it's all I can think of.  He's happy enough with the throat thing, but the spots baffle me.  I never get much satisfaction out of the local vets: they charge a bomb and over-prescribe.  What I need is an old vet who has been around for years and seen everything and has good lateral thinking and deductive abilities.  Actually, that has given me a good idea: ring his breeder and go and see her vet.  Does anyone have any ideas what his underlying problem could be ?

P.S.  Forgot to thank you all for the suggestions already - I am investigating them.  With the claritin, is that prescribed by a vet or is it the same as human antihistamine bought at the chemist?  I used to take a product called Claratyne.  How much do you give your dog?
« Last Edit: July 24, 2008, 11:11:07 pm by +four+leaf+clover+ »